Mauceri - For the Love of Music

John Mauceri is a protégé of Leonard Bernstein so no wonder I resonated (no musical pun intended) to For the Love of Music (2019). This book falls at the intersection of leadership and creativity, a place that has become infinitely more critical in the 21^st century. Mauceri provides background on what Western classical music includes, addresses why it is important to the human condition, and invites readers to explore it more deeply through study and concert attendance.

Music of all sorts (i.e. jazz, folk, world, rock-and-roll) can be embraced at many different depths. One of the most important things for advocates of any type of music to do is to invite family, friends, and colleagues into enjoying it without arrogance of culture or training and with an open mind. Mauceri unapologetically defines “Western music” as being derived from the Western cultural cannon, which began in early Greco-Roman civilizations as one of the four quadrivium of knowledge. Mauceri further distinguishes Western classical music as the music most often performed in concert halls that was composed, and came to prominence, in the 250 years from early 18^th to mid 20^th centuries. He says that this music “celebrates community, nature, humanity’s aspirations, triumphs, and foibles, and our desire to apply form to chaos” (Introduction, locator 108). Most composers who we now view as part of the Western classical tradition are chronologically bracketed between the births of Bach and Handel in 1685 and concluding with the death of Richard Strauss in 1949. The only exceptions were Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and Sergie Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) who were eschewed for different reasons in their own days but in the 20^th century were fully embraced in the Western classical canon.

Mauceri makes particular note of his early experiences with classical music and suggests that others' first encounters are pivotal in their appreciation of classical music. This is certainly my case in that my first vinyl LP records were of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Ravel’s Bolero. These two pieces are time stamped for me at age 10 when I first encountered them. I will always carry the people, places, and experiences related to these compositions with me as I engage and interpret the world around me. Although the setting may change and our understanding of a piece of music change over time, “our relationship with music is a relationship with an eternal and necessary unifying force” (locator 821).

Music is a unifying force for a variety of reasons but one is that, while compositions are unique, they share a number of common structures. It is these structures that offer just enough familiarity for listeners to be able to move from one piece to another while feeling somewhat “at home” with what they hear. Mauceri provides some basic insight into these structures including key structures, rhythm, melody, and overall compositional form. The creativity with which these structures are used is what causes listeners to resonate with them and sometimes the structure is quite compelling – for example the rhythmic persistence in Ravel’s “Bolero” or the upside down variation no. 18 of Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.”

Mauceri says that, “classical music is bound up in humanity’s desire to tell its stories through symbols” (locator 389). Although the Western classical canon is heavily dominated by men of Astro-German heritage, their compositions clearly tapped much broader cultures than just central Europe. And the Western classical canon includes a few female composers (many of them married to men whose names are more commonly known to us today) and extended to American composers such as George Gershwin, Aaron Copeland, and Leonard Bernstein. These three Americans were most appreciated for their incorporation of diverse musical languages into their compositions with African American, Jewish American, and native peoples most notable. Some classical music was composed to simply create something beautiful but other compositions were designed to communicate a specific message. Regardless of the purposefulness of the message, a listener’s appreciation is always enhanced by understanding the historical, social, and other context of the time when the composer conceived the piece. Here again, some compositions came quickly to their composers and others took years of labored inspiration or were part of a long sequence of compositions where questions of life and existence were explored through multiple musical lenses.

One of Mauceri’s most important messages is that classical music should never be portrayed or perceived as throwing up a wall to define any particular socio-economic, religious, cultural, or national group. In fact, much of classical music was composed to provide a bridge among people of all sorts. Although all compositions are created in a specific time, music is timeless as it speaks across boundaries and generations to send messages of love, warning, cataclysm, and triumph. Some pieces are short and profound (i.e. Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise"), some melancholic (i.e. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata), and others, such as the symphonies of Bruckner or Mahler, may be quite long, and some are noted for their power (i.e. Beethoven’s Symphony #9 or Shostakovich’s #5). Loving a piece of music is often a matter of personal taste, what it communicates to you, or your experience with the specific composition. Mauceri makes it clear that study and contextual understanding may be required in order to deeply know a composition but he also says that, “You should never be embarrassed to reject the music you just don’t like” (locator 495).

Coaching for cultural and organizational success

I recently returned from my first trip back to Qatar since I left in November of 2014. Five years makes an incredible difference in a country such as Qatar. Places that were a pile of dirt five years ago are now transportation hubs, plateaus for skyscrapers, and museums (pictures here include the new subway system, Lusail development, the National Museum of Qatar, and the National Library). Besides seeing how Qatar has physically changed, I renewed several treasured relationships from my years living and working at Education City. The renewal of these relationships has caused me to want to do anything I can to support Qatar’s continuing progress, especially in the higher education sector.

I’ve coached numerous candidates for posts at Education City, served as a “mindfulness” reflector for those who are presently in Doha, and advised colleagues as they’ve repatriated from working in Qatar. I awoke from a dream this morning realizing that the role I’ve played informally is probably the most important thing I can continue to do to support Qatar from afar. Thus, this post and my commitment to offer cultural and organizational coaching to anyone considering, engaged in, or sorting out their experience from Qatar.

Most of those who have worked in Qatar have had terrific experiences. And then there are those for whom it was pretty difficult, one might even say disastrous. When I look at why some people have struggled, it is easy to conclude that there are three elements that contributed to their failure – a lack of curiosity, impatience, and cultural neglect or ignorance. As positive traits, curiosity and patience are somewhat stable characteristics but cultural intelligence is clearly cultivated. The problem is that improving cultural intelligence is most easily built on a foundation of curiosity and patience. Consequently, coaching is required to call attention to the necessity of drawing on whatever curiosity and patience one has while striving to learn about and engage across cultures.

One of the biggest problems I’ve observed is that those who have been successful in higher education in Europe and the U.S.A. often have a sense of superiority that results in arrogance and unresponsiveness to working in Qatar. I was very lucky during my days in Qatar because I reported to a Qatari national who was thoughtful and patient with me and I also had a number of Qatari colleagues from whom I could seek advice. In essence, I was enveloped in the cultural context and this was immensely helpful during the steepest portion of my learning curve. I might add that the learning curve never ceased; it continued until the day I left Qatar. The bottom line is really quite simple – I tried to engage with humility, which allowed for constant learning and set the stage for me to acquire knowledge about the cultural context and how that impacted the organization climate in which I worked.

Qatar is deceiving in a number of very important ways. To begin with, Qatar looks amazingly contemporary and westernized, leading to some expatriates assuming that they can simply drop in and expect to be successful based on past experiences. Assuming easy transference of skills and insights that have made educators successful in western settings is actually a vestige of colonialism. The new era of colonialism now underway is similar to the colonialism of 200 and more years ago – it neglects and actually seeks to extinguish what is unique about the culture where colonizers go. This view demeans the local culture. Especially in the case of Qatar, a country that exhibits both a strong commitment to modernization and a desire to retain its own local culture, the superiority and disrespect of colonizers' views are a recipe for failure. In addition to the external appearance of westernization that occurs along side the preservation of local culture, other complexities exist in relation to; western (i.e. U.S.A. and European) entities undertaking work that interfaces with Arab and Islamic based organizations, the diversity of the work force that proscribes specific functions to different cultural groups, and the dynamics of growing pluralism in the views of Qatari citizens themselves. The confluence of these factors requires a highly nuanced awareness of how to engage with and work across difference, which in turn requires the use of a cultural lens in practically every interaction.

Considering the profound changes that occurred in my life as a result of living/working in Qatar, the least I can do is offer my perspective through whatever means I can to urge those visiting and working in Qatar to acquire and enhance their cultural understanding and dexterity. I have done this through several publications in the last five years and will continue to do so in writing and in informal and formal networks. My goal is to encourage cultural understanding/respect and to cultivate habits in colleagues and acquaintances of curiosity, patience, and cultural intelligence that will help them be more successful.

Kendi - How to be an antiracist

Ibram Kendi's How to be an antiracist (2019) challenges numerous ideas and terms that are typical to discourse and writing on racism. After establishing the foundation for why antiracism should be the goal, he provides ideas about how we can get there and how we can change the way our society functions so that the disease of racism is eradicated. After reading his book, I dedicate myself to questioning my assumptions, changing my language, and striving to do all I can to be antiracist and to share this commitment with others.

Kendi asserted that racist ideas can be harbored by anyone, a point that I have not previously thought was possible, primarily because I related racism to exercising power over others based on race. Kendi indicated that when racist ideas are held by people of color, they think less of themselves, and when held by White people, they think more of themselves. Racist ideas also have layers that can perpetuate racist beliefs within groups or extend them to intersectional identities such as gender, sexual orientation, class, and more. Kendi asserted that the opposite of racist is not "not racist" but "antiracist." A person who claims to be "not racist" still "believes problems are rooted in groups of people" rather than the antiracist who "locates the roots of problems in power and policies" (locator 149 in Kindle version). Kendi also rejects terms such as institutional, structural or systemic racism, because the adjectives are redundant - each is simply a way racism is expressed. He challenges the idea that anyone can be race neutral or doesn't see race; the reality is too persuasive that race is seen and Kendi believes it should be transparently recognized as a dynamic that impacts all of our lives. Kendi dismisses the idea of "microaggressions," rejecting the idea that any denigration is minor by any reasonable measure.

A common thought expressed by many White and people of color from the 1950s through 1990s, and advocated by W.E.B. Du Bois as early as 1903, was that people of color needed to be uplifted through hard work, aspiration, and right conduct. As an African American youth, Kendi recognized that he bought into this idea but that he now recognizes the racist implications of seeing groups of people as needing to be fixed rather than the policies and practices that guarantee inequity. The idea of uplift is part of the narrative of temporary inferiority that justifies assimilation which is almost as bad as the permanent inferiority embraced by segregationists. Whether segregationist or assimilationist, Kendi asserts that the root problem is self-interest that drives racist power, which includes hoarding wealth and resources in ways that perpetuate an inequitable society.

Kendi spends several chapters exploring racism through lenses of biology, ethnicity, body, culture, behavior, color, class, space, gender, and sexuality, exposing the pervasive influence of racism in all these forms and in their intersections. In "Failure," Kendi indicts those who blame racists for being unaware, belligerent, and hateful by turning the spotlight on the processes of those who seek to be antiracist. He advocates that if the attempts to change minds and hearts are not working, take a critical look at what's not working and find a better way to create change. Creating this change likely includes a long-term commitment to personal and group protests that force racists to change their policies and practices.

"Antiracism is a powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity and are substantiated by antiracist ideas" (locator 308) and requires those dedicated to being antiracist to seek self-awareness, self-criticism, and self-examination. The idea that anyone, regardless of identity, is powerless "underestimates Black people and overestimates White people" (locator 2195), an idea proposed in other language by Dr. Martin Luther Kind, Jr. in 1967 when he said, "As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free" (locator 1636). Kendi comments "...but our generation ignores King's words about the 'problem of power, a confrontation between the forces of power demanding change and the forces of power dedicated to the preserving of the status quo'" (locator 3257).

Kendi continued with, "The problem of race has always been at its core the problem of power, not the problem of immorality or ignorance" (locator 3257). In order to confront power, he identifies what must be done by antiracists in order to confront and reverse racism in Chapter 17, "Success." He said that, "Racism has always been terminal and curable" (locator 3490). Confronting ignorance and hate and expecting it to shrink is like treating only the symptoms of cancer, rather than the cause. The steps Kendi advocates in order to become an antiracist include (locator 3540 to 3551):

• Stop using "I'm not racist" or "I can't be racist" as a denial.
• Admit the definition of racists - someone who supports racist policies and expresses racist ideas.
• Confess the racist policies you support and racist ideas you express.
• Accept the source of your racism.
• Acknowledge the definition of antiracist - someone who is supporting antiracist policies or expressing antiracist ideas.
• Struggle for antiracist power and policy in your spaces.
• Struggle to remain at the antiracist intersections where racism is mixed with other bigotries.
• Struggle to think antiracist ideas.

Antiracist teams should start at the local level and the national and international change will follow. The steps Kendi recommends for teams include (locator 3624 to 3635):

• Admit racial inequity is a problem of bad policy, not bad people.
• Identify racial inequity in all its intersections and manifestations.
• Investigate and uncover the racist policies causing racial inequity. Invent or find antiracist policy that can eliminate racial inequity.
• Figure out who or what group has the power to institute antiracist policy.
• Disseminate and educate about the uncovered racist policy and antiracist policy correctives.
• Work with sympathetic antiracist policymakers to institute the antiracist policy.
• Deploy antiracist power to compel or drive from power the unsympathetic racist policymakers in order to institute the antiracist policy.
• Monitor closely to ensure the antiracist policy reduces and eliminates racial inequity.
• When policies fail, do not blame the people. Start over and seek out new and more effective antiracist treatments until they work.
• Monitor closely to prevent new racist policies from being instituted.

These are the steps Kendi proposes will be effective in arresting the metastatic cancer of racism that impacts everyone. By offering recommendations for personal and collective action, Kendi helps us see a way forward toward an antiracist world where opportunity truly is equitable. While Kendi's ideas have been controversial in some circles, editorial reviews are positive with the Washington Post and Time endorsing Kendi's new take on racism and how to eliminate it as a cancer on our culture.

Fajgenbaum - Chasing my cure

“Before I got Castleman disease, I was well on my way to an education and career that promised close to supreme authority. We live in a mostly secular, individualistic age, but can you tell me there’s nothing sacred about the symbols of medicine” (locator 3060 in Kindle version)? David Fajgenbaum’s statement late in the text of Chasing my cure: A doctor's race to turn hope into action: A memoir (2019) captured the core of the challenge he faced – trusting in medical experts but realizing that they had little knowledge and fewer treatments for the life-threatening ‘orphan’ disease that had invaded his body.

Castleman disease, and the particular type Fajgenbaum had, sets off a chain reaction in the immune system that attacks vital organs, resulting in multiple system organ failure (MSOF in medical shorthand), and leads to death for all but one out of eight who are diagnosed with it (locator 1038). Fajgenbaum had five such episodes, resulting in him saying good-bye to family and loved ones and given last rights during one episode. He went from a highly physically fit quarterback on the Georgetown University football team to life support for months of recovery. Through Fajgenbaum’s journey and dedication to finding a cure for himself and others, Castelman disease now has a diagnostic classification, is understood to be at the intersection of autoimmunity and lymphoma, and has medications that can slow and, in the best cases, reverse the disease. Fajgenbaum is now engaged in research and treatment of orphan diseases at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and is an advocate for precision medicine (treatment based on “genetic makeup and specific disease characteristics,” locator 2954).

The advances in treatment of Castleman disease don’t stop there. Fajgenbaum’s research has demonstrated relevance to other diseases, most notably cancer. And this journey has surfaced questions and found solutions in medical research and practice, in particular the fact that coordination among researchers and among physicians is often very fragmented. And, information is not well coordinated across the research and practice threshold.

David Fajgenbaum isn’t just any author or physician but someone with whom I had a brief, yet important encounter. He was a participant in a LeaderShape Institute that I facilitated at the Allerton Retreat Center in 2006. David was passionate at that time about founding a group to support college students who were mourning the loss of a parent. This organization is thriving and is now called Actively Moving Forward and is designed to support the 1 in 3 college students who experience the death of a family member or close friend during their years of study. I met David after the death of his mother from brain cancer and before he was diagnosed with Castleman disease. Little did I know what David would face as he continued his studies and his own struggle against a catastrophic disease. David’s courage is humbling and the light he sheds on medical research and practice is instructive for all.

I hope not to forget a number of quotes from Fajgenbaum’s emerging conclusions related to his medical education and life experience:

“I need to live every day the way I’d want the people I love to remember me.” (locator 947)

“…living in overtime (referring to having survived near-death experiences) liberated me to be my best self.” (locator 1528)

“I stopped believing in an omniscient medical system.” (locator 3067)

“I rejected the belief that any institution had all the answers or represented all the available knowledge in the world.” (locator 3067)

“It feels like my soul has stretched its borders, and it has come into contact with others’ in a way I could never have anticipated.” (locator 3067)

“I got a larger life, one more connected to others, and a shared sense of responsibility.” (locator 3067)

“I’ve learned the difference between being hopeful and being invincible in hope.” (locator 3233)

“My greatest regrets on my deathbed were actions I didn’t take… make every second count, because the truth is: We’re all in overtime.” (locator 3395)

Chasing my cure is extraordinarily well written. It chronicles Fajgenbaum’s medical school years, provides detailed scientific evidence, offers some wonderful moments of humor, and folds in anecdotes with family, friends, and Caitlin (the woman who became the love of his life). Perhaps my own struggle in understanding my prostate cancer and my concerns over my treatment choices caused me to be more acutely interested in Fajgenbaum’s book; to say that I was riveted throughout the text is an understatement. This is a book that should be read by anyone diagnosed with a life-threatening disease as well as care-takers who are helping them cope with the difficult choices they face.

Lewis - Mere Christianity

“If anyone will take the trouble to compare the moral teaching of, say, the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Hindus, Chinese, Greeks and Romans, what will really strike him will be how very like they are to each other and to our own” (loc 177 in Kindle addition). This statement, asserted early in the text of Mere Christianity, first published by C.S. Lewis in 1952 (Lewis, 2015, update), captures one of the most important insights of the entire book – the realization that many of history’s greatest philosophers, sages, and prophets agree on the essentials of what it means to be God-centered.

Mere Christianity, establishes the goal of “presenting an agreed, or common, or central, or ‘mere’ Christianity” (loc 59). The idea of God-centered life begins with the question of how we came to be. Lewis addressed this by harmonizing the knowledge science so elegantly describes in the vast, unfathomable complexity, of the earth and broader universe with the simple reality of our individual lives. The vastness and beauty of it all persuaded Lewis that, indeed, there was a power behind the universe that cannot be explained but cannot be denied. Additionally, “the Being behind the universe is intensely interested in right conduct” (loc 432) and this Being has granted free will to his most complicated creation (humankind). This free will allows decisions for good and ill with the choice for good being “the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having” (loc 599).

Lewis asserts that the frequent human choice to violate God’s plan is only resolvable by embracing the Christian belief, “that Christ’s death has somehow put us right with God and given us a fresh start” (loc 665) and this fresh start is possible only by yielding to the omnipresence of God and the resulting discipline of adopting a moral life. He says that morality concerns three things; “fair play and harmony between individuals, tidying up or harmonizing the things inside each individual, and the general purpose of human life as a whole.” (loc 840).

The core beliefs Lewis proposed as common to multiple faith perspectives include:

Humans are both broken and whole.

The agency one has in free will is what distinguishes humanity from other creatures.

Free will offers the opportunity to choose humility, compassion and love over pride, selfishness, and hatred.

The choice for love then introduces the potential for charity toward others but Lewis acknowledged that “… the great obstacle to charity lies not in our luxurious living or desire for more money, but in our fear – fear of insecurity” (loc 991). Conquering this fear requires a depth of faith that is anchored in one’s beliefs and seeking to “make some serious attempt to practice the Christian virtues” (loc 1606).

Christian theology or the “science of God” says that “Christ is the Son of God (whatever that means). They say that those who give Him their confidence can also become Sons of God (whatever that means). They say that His death saved us from our sins (whatever that means)” (loc 1742). The parenthetical “whatever that means” may seem odd but, as I read it, the purpose is to convey the important point of how one’s faith evolves through life’s experience. In Lewis’ words “… as you advance to more real and more complicated levels, you do not leave behind you the things you found on the simpler levels; you still have them, but combined in new ways – in ways you could not imagine if you knew only the simpler levels” (loc 1802). The development portrayed by advancing to “more real and more complicated levels” may seem difficult because it requires turning one’s whole self over to Christ but Lewis asserts “…it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead” (loc 2173), that being rejection of faith and refusal to live a Christ-centered life.

Mere Christianity proposed essentials that Lewis believed should be at the core of the numerous sub-groups that embrace Christian beliefs. He started with an inclusive perspective and, although he did not reiterate this point in his conclusion, his ideas offer a platform to connect across faith perspectives that could create wholeness and affirmation among the many who are faithful to God, no matter what name she is given. 

Leadership and Democracy

This blog deals with many twists and turns related to understanding and fostering leadership. One of the most consistent themes that serves as a backdrop for this exploration of leadership is "for what purpose." The Kettering Foundation addresses a very important, and they seem to propose a primary, purpose for leadership in their Higher Education Exchange 2019 - Leadership and Democracy journal.

The Forward by Derek W.M. Barker and Alex Lovit indicates that educating for democratic participation through leadership education "is one of the few remaining public functions of higher education" (p.1). Matthew R. Johnson advocates that student affairs educators have a critical role to play in leadership education that fosters an understanding of group engagement for social change in his subsequent chapter "The role of student affairs in fostering democratic engagement" (p. 15).

The Kettering Foundation has long served as a voice urging attention to deliberation on important public questions. This issue of their journal offers important additional evidence that more attention is required by higher education.

Brooks - The Second Mountain

David Brooks writes for the New York Times and works with the Aspen Institute’s Weave: The Social Fabric Project. The second mountain: The quest for a moral life (Brooks, 2019) reads more like a personal memoir and recounts his struggle with finding meaning after a period of awakening brought on by divorce.

The second mountain metaphor is based on the idea that in the early years of adult life, many of us climb a first mountain of achievement. In the ascent to the top of the first mountain or once it is conquered, we are either awakened to the reality that the pinnacle is unfulfilling or we are crushed by not achieving what we thought was so important. The result of this awakening or failure can be the same – we return to the valley where our motivations for the second mountain shift from being self-centered to other-centered. The essential difference is that the first mountain is about acquisition and the second is about contribution.

The first mountain, which Brooks asserts is hyper-individualistic, “has led to a society where people live further and further apart from one another – socially, emotionally, even physically” (Kindle Locator 876). This hyper-individualism has spawned several critical problems; a loneliness crisis, distrust, a crisis of meaning, tribalism, and suffering. Rather than shrink from the tragedy of the first mountain, Brooks proposes that, in this moment of suffering, we should pick ourselves up by turning to others for help. The valley after the first mountain offers a wilderness in which we are able to discover our heart and soul by connecting with and serving others.

Brooks proposes that those exploring the second mountain have made a commitment to one or all of: a vocation, a spouse and family, a philosophy of faith, and/or a community. According to Brooks, character is formed from emerging commitments – “If you want to inculcate character in someone else, teach them how to form commitments – temporary ones in childhood, provisional ones in youth, permanent ones in adulthood” (Loc 1316).

He describes the “summons to vocation” as a “very holy thing… like a call from deep to deep” (Loc 1795). In relation to life partners, Brooks suggests that “Passion peaks among the young, but marriage is the thing that peaks in old age” (Loc 2479) and involves deriving true joy from each other’s accomplishments. After a chapter calling out the shortcomings of higher education in preparing students to face the ultimate existential questions of living, he cited Victor Frankl’s argument that “human beings’ primary motive is not for money or even happiness, but for meaning” (Loc 3488). The search for meaning for Brooks was navigated through his search for faith. The faith that came to him, Christianity, included a loss of inhibition, or unshackling, and giving of himself to mercy and perfect love (he notes these as similar to C.S. Lewis’ ideas). Brooks describes community as focused on the collective, the neighborhood together that replaces distance with intimacy and connection. Utilizing the four dimensions of framing, narrative, identity, and behavior, community can be woven by the mutual commitment of its members.

Brooks provides considerable detail on the four commitments, including examples from his life and others. The shift in perspective from the individual to the relational is central to all four. And he also says that abandoning expectations of reward is key in an era where capitalism and presumed meritocracy so heavily dominate the self-interested pursuit of money, status, and power. 

In his conclusion, Brooks proposed “The Relationalist Manifesto” that among numerous other points rejects hyper-individualism, embraces the web of connections among us all, moves self to service, embraces humanity as both broken and whole, and assumes personal and social transformation happen simultaneously.

Brooks’ book raised a number of questions for me. First off, he assumes that everyone is motivated by the climb of the first mountain of acquisition, self-interest, and individualistic achievement. There is lots of evidence that Brooks is telling the story of the stereotypical western white male. Many men and certainly women and people from other cultures may never have embraced this type of individualism. Second, he attributes today’s expressive individualism to the lifestyle advocated in the 1960s when so many norms of previous eras were challenged by the youth of the day. Brooks says that the right-wing version of this advocates unregulated economic competition and the left-wing expression of it advocates unregulated social and personal lifestyle. I’m not sure that either the economic realists or social idealists of the 1960s would embrace Brooks’ descriptions.

Summatively, reading Brooks’ ideas triggered some reflection on purpose and the transformation to deeper commitments in life. However, his lack of embracing world perspectives outside his own and the platitudes that were so often posed as substance left me yearning for greater depth. Perhaps seeking greater depth is just the work each of us has to do through our own lenses, experiences, and striving.

Living with Prostate Cancer

Why a post about “Living with Prostate Cancer?” Because maintaining health and long life require honesty and transparency so that all men and women have access to helpful information. Offering one’s perspective might help others by breaking the silence about something that can be life threatening. I consider this to be a form of leadership – at least by offering opinion and role modeling about what we can all do to remain healthy.

The last almost six months has been a roller coaster beginning with my annual physical and progressing through numerous diagnostic steps to determine that I have prostate cancer, surgery/recovery, and now settling into selecting treatment options that will deter the cancer from returning. I have shared this journey with Diane, our daughters, and select friends who we thought might be able to help us cope with and navigate a way forward.

I am sharing now more publicly to reinforce the importance of September 2019 as the U.S.A. National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. This month is important because too many men put themselves at risk by not doing annual check-ups, by not insisting on PSA tests (for anyone 55+ and even younger if there is family history), and by being complacent about prostate cancer treatment. The problem is that 1 in 9 men will have prostate cancer in their lifetime with many living their lives after diagnosis with either “wait to see” or minimally invasive treatment. A common folklore statement is, “most men die with prostate cancer but few die from it.” I’m here to debunk the complacency and urge men 55 and older, their partners, loved ones, and acquaintances to take prostate cancer seriously.

This is a long post and you may want to navigate to the topics that are of greater interest to you. The broad topics include; prevention through healthy living, anyone can get a surprise, determining how serious your case is, controlling the panic, treatment choices and combinations, radiation therapy and moving on, living with prostate cancer, and general concerns about medical policy and practice.

Prevention through healthy living

My lifestyle has included normal weight, eating healthy, exercising every day, and for the most part being a picture of health throughout my youth and adult years. I am 70+ and schedule my annual physical on a routine basis. I assumed I would hear nothing new during one of my check-ups; I had no symptoms of anything other than pesky arthritis to bring to my physician’s attention. To my surprise, I was informed that my PSA had risen to a level of concern for my primary physician; it was 6.6, which is just barely over the line from the normal range. After my physician checked my family history (my oldest brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer in his mid-70s), he decided that referral to an urologist was in order.

Anyone can get a surprise

The urologist conducted the routine examination and found nothing but, again, said that based on the slight rise in PSA and family history, I should do a biopsy. I won’t go into the details of what a prostate biopsy involves but rest assured, it isn’t the most fun I’d had. I was told that the urologist would get back to me on results in about a week. Instead, I was informed by telephone only four days after the biopsy that prostate cancer had been confirmed, that it was a particularly aggressive type that was likely to spread, and that the first step was to see where the prostate cancer might have already gone - thus a full-body bone scan. Immediately after that, abdomen/pelvis and chest scans were also ordered. I was referred to a surgeon for consultation on what options I might consider in dealing with my diagnosis. I was in shock and panicked and requested that my primary physician refer me to a general oncologist for a second opinion.

Determining how serious your case is and determining a course of treatment

Once I passed through the denial phase of “this can’t be happening to me,” I started to reach out to find resources – family, friends, web-based support groups, and research that would help me determine how bad things really were. I found that the prognosis for men with the type of cancer I had was not good. The biopsy included samples from my prostate rated at Gleason 8 and 9, coming close to the highest and most dangerous ratings. But my PSA had never been that high, I had no symptoms, and I couldn’t imagine being under threat of serious illness.

Ultimately, I determined that my case had the potential to be very serious, including the possibility of metastasis elsewhere in my body and/or recurrence within 3-5 years after any treatment. I knew that the threat was real and I desperately wanted to move forward with treatment and I wanted to protect my loved ones from the fallout of what was happening. I had to accept the reality of prostate cancer that would be part of my life from here on (although prostate cancer can be controlled, at present there is no cure for it) and I had to accept that considerations about treatment needed to be more invasive in order to have the peace of mind that I was doing all I could to address my cancer.

Controlling the panic

I sought a lot of information, journaling every day about what I had discovered, recording my weight and assessing my pain and emotional status as I went along. Gradually I was able to seek information that informed and helped me, reducing my inclination to overreact to everything I heard or read. The first weeks were extremely difficult and support from my wife and a couple of close friends were my lifeline. One particular night I was so distressed that the only thing that allowed me to sleep was my wife wrapping her arms around me in bed and holding me tight until I could fall asleep. My best friend in high school had been very public about his previous diagnosis with prostate cancer so, although we had not been in touch for many years, I reached out to him.

My friend provided basic information for me, recognizing that all cases are somewhat unique. But, most of all he reassured me that this early phase after diagnosis is the worst – the questions, fear, and sorrow were overwhelming. My friend said that this was natural and that I should work to educate myself and that I should trust that the medical staff who were treating me knew what they were doing and would work diligently to help me. In addition to this reassurance and the research I was doing, the physician to whom I was referred for a second opinion immediately recognized my panic and affirmed that my fear was only natural. He also offered additional objective information about my case that helped me see my diagnosis in context.

Treatment choices and combinations

Treatment choices for men diagnosed with prostate cancer vary widely. The individual variables considered include age at onset, the size of the cancer tumor and its location, the aggressiveness of the cancer itself (measured by Gleason score or Grade designation), and the potential for metastasis. At the low end of the spectrum oncologists may recommend a “wait and watch” approach to see if the prostate cancer grows or spreads (measured by changes in PSA). Mid-range recommendations include radiation and/or hormone therapy. The more serious cases result in a recommendation for more invasive radiation therapy and/or surgical removal of the prostate (radical prostatectomy). The most serious cases where the prostate cancer has spread beyond the prostate are likely to require a combination of the previous treatments plus chemotherapy to address the cancer throughout the body.

Ultimately, based on the risk of my particular type of prostate cancer, I couldn’t act fast enough to take the most decisive action possible – radical prostatectomy. Had I chosen radiation as an alternative, it would have been more difficult to determine the actual pathology of the cancer and therefore more difficult to settle on the best treatment. The surgery was done robotically which is a much less invasive procedure than open surgery. The surgery itself was four hours long and considered major surgery. The pain immediately after the surgery was tough but it was adequately managed during my two and a half day stay at the hospital. I went home with meds that helped me through the next couple of weeks but by week three, I was down to one Tylenol per day. By the fifth week after surgery, I was exercising regularly, returned to normal diet, and pretty much returned to my previous routine.

The lab pathology of my prostate revealed both a little bad news and more good news. The bad news was that the Gleason rating was overall rated at 8, which is high. In addition, the cancer had invaded the seminal vesicle, qualifying the cancer as Stage 3 (T3b classification), which was a very scary thing to here. On the positive side, the cancer had not penetrated to the margins of the prostate, there was no tumor, and cancer cells were found in only 5% of the prostate. These characteristics paint a picture of a potentially very dangerous form of cancer that we had detected very early, thus not allowing it to spread beyond the prostate and seminal vesicle. Beyond the pathology report from surgery, additional genetic testing caused my doctor to recommend follow-up radiation therapy to kill any remaining cancer cells that might remain in the local area of the prostate. This type of follow-up treatment does not usually begin until at least three months after surgery and so a period of waiting and anticipation ensued.

Radiation therapy and moving on

The radiation oncologist with whom I worked started our first appointment by saying, “You had a very good surgeon and our hope is that your cancer is cured. However, because of the adverse features of your pathology analysis, further treatment is recommended.” The encouragement and candor were both appreciated. My surgical oncologist gave me a Lupon injection (hormone therapy to suppress testosterone production) to prepare me for radiation therapy and I started treatment in December. Radiation therapy requires exact imaging of the prostate and pelvic area so that the radiation can be targeted in ways to avoid side effects that can be either temporary or long term.

I was so fortunate to have a radiation therapy center within five minutes of our home. Therefore, all I had to do was get up, observe a constant routine of preparation, and then run to my morning treatment thirty-eight times - weekends were off. The picture here is of "Robby" who was the robot who delivered the radiation therapy. Patients are in the room with the robot and technicians guide the process from a separate room where they look at scan images and match them to the doses. In the lower center of the robot is a carbon slab which extends out and this is where I would lie. The big part at the top is what emits the radiation. The entire robot rotates around the extended carbon slab so that the dose can be delivered with precision and consistency.

The hormone therapy and radiation therapy experience had a couple of side-effects that ended up being very manageable. The main issue was that my energy level would sag, especially as we got into the advanced stages of the treatment. The hormone therapy caused "hot flashes" like women experience in menopause so this was a great empathy exercise for me - annoying but tolerable. I finished treatment at the end of January 2020, almost ten months after starting this journey with prostate cancer. Follow-up appointments and PSA testing occurred in March and June to determine if radiation therapy and hormone therapy was successful. The results for both were very low and hopefully indicate that spread or long-term problems are unlikely.

I provide these details (and there are more) in order to call attention to a key issue related to prostate cancer – it is a very individualized disease and treatment must be done in very personalized and targeted ways. And, it's important to stay fully aware of everything involved - physical condition, emotional status, financial management, and relationships. Not to draw attention to myself, but I received the certificate to the left on my last day of radiation therapy. It means the world to me that those caring for me recognized the journey and congratulated me on the completion of this stage.

Living with prostate cancer

My journey with prostate cancer has been a real awakening. At my age, health problems emerge and I’m lucky that I’ve had so few problems in my life thus far. I’ve found so many helpful medical professionals who have been gracious, patient, and caring and I’ve enjoyed engaging with them and working to remain humane and loving toward them. The response has been amazing in almost all cases. I also now appreciate everything more – my wife, family, faith, music, and every little encounter that allows me to affirm another human being. Living with the knowledge that there is a disease inside me causes me to appreciate everything more. My hope after the next step in my treatment is to come back to pre-cancer living but I know that I will always be watching over my shoulder and hoping that doctors’ appointments and tests will confirm that the prostate cancer does not come back. I can’t control what will happen and I have accepted that. I will live to the fullest and appreciate every moment all the more!

We need a commitment to health, not sickness in the U.S.A.

An urgent realization I’ve come to in this process is that our sickness industry (forget calling what we have in the U.S.A. as “health”) is broken! Because I carry lots of privilege as a white male with advanced education, I have numerous resources and the basic literacy to negotiate for my health. This is not the case for everyone! Our insurance company has bungled multiple issues, has billed us for thousands of dollars in error, and has generally made our lives unpredictable and miserable while we’ve tried to manage the emotional impact of this disease. 

In addition to the bungling and bureaucratization of the insurance industry, there are amazing public policies in place today that make no sense. One example is that the Veterans’ Administration will not treat veterans with prostate cancer over 70. This is based on the presumption that prostate cancer progresses slowly enough that it will not be life threatening to veterans who are diagnosed with it. Another example is related to PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) testing; because the average age of onset of prostate cancer is 65, some physicians believe that PSA tests are only necessary from age 60 to 70. This is insane because men with family history may have prostate cancer far before age 60 and men over 70 (myself included) need to be diagnosed before symptoms are present, especially in cases of aggressive cancer. These examples simply scratch the surface of what’s not working and activism is the only thing that will bring about change.

The U.S.A. must begin to own the fact that it does not support health, even though there are numerous wonderful medical professionals who care deeply and want to help. Medical professionals struggle every day to provide the care that we need but they fight the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies all the way. THIS MUST CHANGE! This is a travesty that needs to be addressed and the current political environment in the U.S.A. is standing in the way of change rather than helping citizens acquire the medical care that we each deserve as a basic human right.

Willliams - Plato III: All that Matters

My family recently had dinner with a former student from Miami University who is now married and lives in Chicago. Her husband’s father is Ieuan Williams, author of All That Matters: PLATO III (2013). As I was leaving dinner, I was offered a copy of the book and invited to meet Williams when he visits the U.S.A. later this year.

The book (only 150 pages) offered a tight overview of Plato’s views and their relevance to the modern day. Most of those who have bachelor’s degrees have some familiarity with Plato but it was very useful to have the core of his philosophy boiled down to essential points. Plato’s view of the world derived from his mentor, Socrates. Concerns about the state of Athens and the growing influence of money, greater inequality and unfairness, compelled Socrates to challenge his fellow citizens, a challenge which resulted in his being sentenced to death, a sentence he enforced upon himself by taking hemlock. Much of Plato’s early writing reflected on Socrates’ teaching and life.

Socrates was dedicated to learning and believed that it was critical for citizens to give up confusing or false ideas, thereby contributing to a better life for the individual and broader community. The essence of this view was that all wisdom amounted to one central assumption – ‘that I do not think that I know what I do not know’ (p. 14). The problem of knowing what we do not know was and continues to be complicated. Plato believed that the Sophists of ancient Athens muddied our understanding by relying on oratory, a process of investigating the relationship between language and speakers. By contrast, Plato believed that seeking understanding should focus on the relationship between language and the real world in which we live. Oratory, as practiced in ancient Athens, often resulted in injustice and unhappiness due to the selfish pursuit of benefit for those able to persuade others. Another important point Plato asserted was that to improve the quality of thinking, information (disputable, practical, and transient) needed to be distinguished from knowledge (real, permanent, and true). And, because of the close associations among human beings, the condition of individual souls is inextricably linked to the “moral, cultural and political ethos of the society” (p. 62).

Plato believed in the creation of a just society where all citizens dedicated themselves to pursuing the single purpose for which they were most suited. Again, the importance of education (and knowledge acquisition) was reiterated. “Plato’s theory is this: education can only succeed in fostering good citizenship, and thus promote a just society, by bringing about moral unity and order in individual souls, and it can only do this by ensuring that the virtues of moderation, courage, and wisdom, in both the soul and the state, prevail over the vices of excess cowardice and folly” (p. 86). Williams recognized that some criticize Plato for advocating a hierarchical and rigid society where individuals are directed into niche roles, educated to perform the role, and possess little awareness of the needs and contributions of others. In response, Williams proposed that individual citizens perform their roles, engage in real community discourse and rely on “public servants” as experts in community governance. Indeed, Plato asserted in The Republicthat these “public servants” should have no family, receive no salary, and would thereby be separated from any special interest that might contaminate their commitment to serving others. 

Williams’ summary of Plato provided an important grounding in philosophy, a discipline that is essential for the discernment of wisdom that serves the greater good of all. Especially in an era of human striving where acquisition of wealth has become preeminent and where the neglect of justice for all has become commonplace, Plato’s core views have stood the course of time. In ancient Athens as well as today, Plato would have advised that, “the economic life of a society can and ought to be made subject to human decision and control and should be made to work for justice rather than for feeding the avarice of private individuals and institutions” (p. 26).

Suchet - Beethoven: The Man Revealed

Beethoven is recognized as one of the great, if not the greatest, composers of all time. He was prolific and his compositions span a mind-boggling array of styles and forms. He is typically portrayed as a troubled, enigmatic genius, and this view of him is reinforced by John Suchet in Beethoven: The Man Revealed (2012). However, Suchet adds a more personal dimension to Beethoven that stirs empathy and compassion for a man whose life experiences were challenging. He was a survivor and persevered against incredible obstacles and the difficulty of his life likely contributed much to the great art he contributed to humanity.

This book isn’t a definitive biography. In fact, Suchet frequently notes other researchers and authors who have documented Beethoven’s life. What the book does is provide a chronology of Beethoven’s life and the personal context behind many of his compositions. Although never married, Suchet recounts relationships Beethoven had with women he hoped to marry and he quotes from correspondence back and forth with those who were the object of his affection. Because he never married, he had no children of his own but more or less forced himself into the life of his deceased brother’s son, Karl. Beethoven was deeply dedicated to Karl’s care and sought to disallow any contact with Karl’s natural mother because Beethoven believed she was unfit to parent him.

One of Beethoven’s most notable works is the Symphony #9, a monumental work in symphonic form but concluding with solo voices and chorus. The description of the conclusion of the first full performance of the ninth conveyed by Suchet sent chills down my spine as I read:

            The bass singer was soon on his feet, and the words ‘O Freunde, nicht diese Tone!’ rang out over the audience.

            Umlauf (a conductor assisting Beethoven due to his complete deafness), knowing now he and the musicians were creating something extraordinary, drove the pace on, players and singers performing as if somehow knowing this was a defining moment in the history of music.

            Suddenly, it all stops, total silence. A small beat on bass drum and deep wind. Syncopated dotted rhythm. Martial music. Tenor summons all forces.

            In unison, in harmony, faultlessly, the music drives to its conclusion. Umlauf held it all perfectly together, singers, chorus and orchestra giving the performance of their lives.

            Again, just before the end, a tremendous slowing down, almost to a stop, before full forces drive to the final flourish.

            Umlauf brought his arms down for the final great chord. It was over. The audience erupted, rose to their feet, cheered and shouted, handkerchiefs and hats waved in the air. Beethoven! Beethoven! Beethoven! 

            Umlauf looked to his side. Beethoven, oblivious to what was happening, continued to wave his arms, conducting the orchestra he was hearing in his head. Karoline Unger, the contralto who had so berated him in rehearsal, stepped forward. Gently she touched Beethoven on the shoulder, nodded encouragingly at the bewildered face, and turned him to face the cheering audience.

            At that moment Beethoven knew the gift he had given to the world.

After a lengthy decline in his health, Beethoven died on March 23, 1827. After signing his will which would leave all that he had to nephew Karl, Beethoven turned to the small group gathered around him and said, “Plaudite, amici, comedia finite est” which means “Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over.” Irony and humor at the end of a tumultuous, brilliant, and difficult life…

Hopcke - There Are No Accidents in Love and Relationships

I picked up Hopcke’s book, There are No Accidents In Love and Relationships (2018), because Nancy Schlossberg recommended it in her book that I recently reviewed. Hopcke noted the origin of the way he views synchronicity as coming from Carl Jung’s Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle (1950). Many stories are woven throughout Hopcke’s book, including clients with whom he worked in counseling and his own life experience.

Jung and Hopcke view synchronicity as a principle of psychological connection. Synchronicity occurs when we strive to connect our unconscious and conscious lives, when our present informs our future, and when our deepest internal reflections reach up and out to bond with others. Deeper awareness of our present circumstances then surfaces the opportunity to connect with family and loved ones at a deeper level, and by doing this we discover the ways our experiences relate and mirror those who are closest to us. Four important aspects of synchronistic experiences include acausality, emotional impact, symbolic nature, and transitional times around which synchronistic occurrences tend to cluster (locator 294 in Kindle version). In simplest terms, synchronistic events are coincidences that are beyond the ordinary and therefore have a dimension of subjective meaningfulness to those involved.

Some may describe synchronous experiences as uncanny. What is meant by this is that the event brings to our awareness something that we may have already known unconsciously. Two examples in my life occurred in anticipation of job changes that I would eventually make; in both cases I spoke with colleagues who could not have known, and I myself did not know, that I would be drawn to a job change. Yet, the conversations seemed to anticipate rather dramatic changes in my career. Hopcke indicated that uncanny circumstances occur more often among family and I have found this as well.

One of the possibilities that captivated me about synchronicity is that being more aware of our experiences opens a window to a larger self, one previously hidden as a result of inattention or unconsciousness. This larger self emerges unintentionally, without really trying, and offers the possibility of achieving a “Supra-ordinate Self, as Jung put it, that capacity for wholeness – to see how all is connected in the universe around us and to see how we ourselves fit into that infinity of completion” (locator 849 in Kindle version). Hopcke noted that this fuller self and resulting deeper meaning in life often occurs during times of transition and may occur “when we are pulling away from one way of being and have not yet found our way forward to the next” (locator 2158 in Kindle version).

Reading There are no accidents in love and relationships felt somewhat like reading a memoir but in other cases it felt like a psychology textbook. The essential message, whether personal or intellectual, is that striving to be more aware, watching for connections, and seeking meaning in life’s experiences deepens our life’s work and is likely to foster more meaningfully relationships with others.

Schlossberg - To Young to Be Old

Nancy Schlossberg is a former colleague from University of Maryland days and it was exciting to see that she was still writing at age 90 and still pushing the envelop on ideas that are helpful in negotiating life transitions. The essence of her book, Too Young to Be Old (2017), is that we should move from a deficit perspective of all that is going wrong for us as we age to “positive aging” perspective.

Research has found that many people actually become happier as they age. One’s emotional state, life circumstances, and intentional activity impact this sense of happiness. But the bottom line is that we can’t control the ups and downs we will face but we can control the way we deal with it, and our resilience in coping with it.

Managing change and transition is key to cultivating resilience and Schlossberg has literally researched and written about every generation from adolescents through seniors in this area. Without understanding the changes we face and without the ability to know how to manage them, we are all vulnerable. She found three key factors that impact the outcome of any given transition; the degree of change we face (they can be major or minor), the timing of the transition (they can be on, off, out-of-time, or nonevents in relation to what is typical), and the transition process itself  (preparedness and supports available during the transition). These dynamics are explained in greater detail in Chapter 3 but four questions that are relevant in assessing the challenges we face are: 1) Can I change the situation? 2) Can I change the meaning of the situation? 3) Can I relax? 4) Or should I do nothing?

Specific to retirement, Schlossberg indicates that there are six major paths which are followed; continuers who modify but continue down the same path, adventurers who pursue unrealized dreams, easy gliders who just back off and relax, involved spectators who still engage in their previous work, searchers who are still looking for their niche, and retreaters who disengage or just become couch potatoes. Although there are some value loadings to these different approaches, what is important is being intentional about the type of retirement one seeks, where it will take place, and the social supports available in the retirement setting.

Individual experiences vary so much across the aging spectrum when it comes to health and that makes it one of the most complicated aspects of aging. Positive aging can be achieved here by taking charge of our perceptions of the health challenges we face and then examining and mobilizing the resources to help us cope.  Schlossberg notes several poignant examples, including the loss of her husband and facing debilitating physical problems herself at the same time. The keys of perception and marshaling resources were essential in all these examples.

Schlossberg concludes with a familiar reminder – how important it is to maintain old, reach out to new, and to welcome the transition of key friendships as we age. Acquaintances can fall into intimate (family, life-long colleagues), associates and neighbors, and institutional support systems. Although the weight of each is different, each level is important to maintaining a sense that we matter to someone else, that we love and are loved, and that we are appreciated. And, beyond the relationships, it’s important to have something to hope for and that has meaning for us and gives our lives purpose.

Reich - The Art of Inventing Hope: Intimate Conversations with Elie Wiesel

I’m always looking for hope so the title of Howard Reich’s book, The Art of Inventing Hope (2019), was a natural for me. The added bonus in the second part of the title was that this book comes from conversations with one of the world’s most revered holocaust survivors, Elie Wiesel.

Reich’s book is about the children of holocaust survivors and the burden of responsibility they shoulder for hearing their parents’ stories of inhumanity and brutality. It is also about making sure that those stories are not lost. Reich discerned through his interactions with Wiesel that children of survivors, himself included, have an important responsibility to remember what happened, how it happened, and guard against such atrocities ever taking place again.

Howard Reich has been an arts reviewer for the Chicago Tribune and grew up in Skokie, Illinois, a community literally blocks away from my current home. Both Reich’s parents were survivors but he knew little of their story because neither wanted to revisit the horror of their experience; they had come to America and to Skokie after WWII to begin again and they didn’t want their children to be captive to the story of their survival. Fate resulted in Reich being asked to interview Elie Wiesel at Symphony Center in Chicago, which led to a series of long meetings that drove Reich deeper into his own family’s story and created a lasting relationship between the two men.

Although Skokie was a growing suburb in the 1950s that welcomed Jewish families and provided synagogues for worship, Reich was told to not reveal that he was Jewish unless he knew he was absolutely safe in doing so. Regardless of the secrecy about being Jewish, Skokie became one of the most prominent areas in the U.S.A. for Jewish immigrants to settle. Skokie drew national attention when neo-Nazi Frank Collin threatened to stage a Nazi march in its streets, an issue that terrified the Jewish residents in the community. Ultimately the question of the neo-Nazi march turned into one of contested First Amendment (U.S. Constitutions) rights. While Jewish citizens support open speech and journalism as a general matter of principle, Skokie village attorney Harvey Schwartz captured the sentiments of many who experienced the threat of active neo-Nazi presence by saying, “What I realized at that moment was that what we were facing had nothing to do with the First Amendment. When someone wants to come marching into your town, with the announced intention to kill you, there was hardly anything left to discuss” (p. 6).

“If you are a child of a survivor, the story is always there with you, whether you recognize it or not, acknowledge it or not, discuss it or not” (p. 19). The shadow of the holocaust changed the survivors so dramatically that their world view, their habits, and relationships are all influenced in ways that cause their children to be almost as traumatized as the survivors themselves. It is this burden that calls the children of survivors to probe more deeply and to learn so that they can tell the stories that their parents dared not tell. Instead of living from the emptiness of lost grandparents and aunts/uncles to Hitler’s genocide, Wiesel contended that the next generation, the children of survivors, have to turn their parents’ tragedies into something positive – a love of humanity not to be wasted but to be used in “helping others, understanding others, living with others” (p. 46). This is one of the primary ways that hope in the future is invented, regardless of the atrocities that still take place around the world today.

Reich shared many stories of his interactions with Wiesel, including numerous quotes that stand as a testament to hope. Indeed, Wiesel and other survivors overcame unjustified and vicious bigotry by answering barbarity with civility, renouncing revenge in favor of advocating for fairness and justice for all. In the United Nations’ special session on January 24, 2005, marking sixty years since the Nazi death camps, Wiesel said “The Jewish witness speaks of his people’s suffering as a warning” (p. 108), which calls for an active pessimism “Not to give up. Because of genocide, you must do more, you must work harder.”

Bahcall - Loonshots - How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas that Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries

Safi Bahcall’s Loonshots (2019) is a must read for anyone who values creativity and innovation. Bahcall utilizes a variety of historic and contemporary examples as well as disciplines to explore why creativity and innovation thrive in certain individual and group situations. Although he deals with a number of very scientifically based ideas, his writing is infinitely understandable and a pleasure to read.

The name Loonshots refers to “widely dismissed ideas whose champions are written off as crazy” (Bahcall, p. 2). “Being good at nurturing loonshots is a phase of human organization, in the same way that being liquid is a phase of matter” (p.12). What is most important is that phase transitions occur when competing forces are simultaneously being driven apart and drawn together. Maintaining the tension of competing forces, affirming the value that each contributes, results in heightened commitment and performance within an organization. The early phase of creative organizational life usually involves smaller numbers of people who maintain a shared view of what they are attempting to accomplish – all are committed to an outcome that transcends any particular individual or group. The problem is that, once success is achieved and “teams and companies grow larger, the stakes in outcome decrease while the perks of rank increase” (p. 13).

Bahcall differentiates two broad categories of organization performance – franchises and loonshots. Franchises are important and helpful ideas that spin out of previous processes or products. By contrast, when loonshots are successful, they change the world. An organization that can only produce franchise initiatives will lack innovation potential but can be a solid, average performer in its niche. The organization that focuses exclusively on loonshots will produce an occasional brilliant breakthrough, lots of failures, and will ultimately be unsustainable. The key then is to establish structure and cultivate culture that maintains both franchise and loonshot capability, which he calls phase separation. Once these two phases exist, the leadership challenge is to see that the two do not undermine or overwhelm each other, a state he calls dynamic equilibrium.

Phase separation is critical because “People responsible for developing high risk, early-stage ideas (call them ‘artists’) need to be sheltered from the ‘soldiers’ responsible for the already-successful, steady-growth part of an organization” (p. 38). Bahcall singles out current efficiency systems such as Six Sigma or TQM as being particularly destructive to innovators; phase separation protects creatives from attack by bureaucratic measures such as these. Loonshots are also of two types – P-type which are “There’s no way that could every work” ideas and S-type which are “There’s no way that could ever make money” (p. 66) ideas. Creative and entrepreneurial types need to be skilled at both types of loonshots. In the mid-20th century airline industry, Pan-American Airlines sought to innovate through launching new aircraft (i.e. jet engines) which was an example of a P-type loonshot while American Airlines eclipsed Pan-Am through innovative tracking and booking strategies, an example of a S-type loonshot. The Pan-Am example demonstrated how P-type loonshots can result in tunnel vision focused on innovation itself without the grounded realization that the innovation has to create a sustainable economic outcome (S-type loonshot).

Organizations that strive to create breakthrough ideas are plagued by two problems – one is the complacency of success and the second is that, with success, organizations increase in size and complexity and are overtaken by the growing focus of employees on advancement of their careers. One hundred fifty staff is the number that is most commonly identified as the barrier beyond which innovation declines (a number also identified by Malcolm Gladwell in Tipping Point) but this number can decrease or increase as a result of intervention in four areas – equity, management span, organization fitness, and salary rate up the hierarchy. Defining these variables in detail and describing strategies to adjust them to maintain a loonshot environment are addressed in Chapters 7 and 8. Managing these variables in order to maintain the capacity for loonshots should then be the focus of leadership which Bahcall summarizes in “Raise the magic number” (p.224). In addition, Bahcall provides Appendix A (p. 273) as a summary of all the variables associated with creating and maintaining a loonshot organization.

Examples cited by Bahcall are numerous and diverse in every way. They include the emergence of scientific method (i.e. Kepler) itself, the creation of radar to detect German U-boats in the Atlantic during WWII, the launch of new pharmaceutical treatments for chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer, and the success of Pixar in animated films. The detailed stories of how these innovations came about demonstrate that the pathways to innovation are never direct and include many obstacles. In addition, the examples demonstrate the importance of creating “loonshot nurseries” within organizations and then balancing the types of loonshots and the franchise innovations that will insure longevity.