Our Values and the American Experiment

Wow, what a roller coaster week! As the dust starts to settle, I am dismayed and fascinated by what just happened in America as we elected the 45th President of the United States, and I bet you are too, whether you’re an American or an America-watcher.

I am dismayed, because I was wrong in projecting that Hillary Rodham Clinton would win. I feel much sadness in realizing we will never know the kind of president she could have been for us; it could have been revitalizing. Given the agenda President-elect Trump has promised, it is also unlikely we will witness progress on President Obama’s legacy, unless he manages to champion them via his own newly chartered foundation.

However, my life in business has taught me this lesson several times over:
When you’re wrong, say so, and move on as quickly as possible— allow your curiosity about “Why?” and your fascination to set in; learn what you can about whatever just happened.

The strength of American goodness survives today: #Election2016 is the day we reject the intolerance of blatant fascism —we reject Trumpism pic.twitter.com/KSZunWSsrk

— Rosa Say (@rosasay) November 8, 2016

I was so wrong about this. We can’t call #Election2016 a true election: We’ve just experienced an uprising. A new American experiment begins https://t.co/OTS9VTh9UG

— Rosa Say (@rosasay) November 9, 2016

[Link to Twitter if these images do not display correctly for you.]

I am fascinated, as someone who is ever the student of cultural and social anthropology, tuned into the roles our values play: Values in Healthy Work. Given what I do as a workplace culture coach, whenever we experience a shift in culture and in our society, my first instinct is to ask myself;
What role did our values play in this? How so?

Sometimes, the question is;
Our values sat this one out—why?

The latter question started to form for me this time, then I reminded myself of something else I’ve constantly learned to be true:
Our values never sit things out.
They may have just worked in a way we have yet to fully understand…

I still don’t understand this, but as someone who teaches values-centered working (and living w/Aloha) I’m trying to… https://t.co/fCRs9PqX9H

— Rosa Say (@rosasay) November 9, 2016

So, we work to understand this, and we move on.

Giving up on one’s country, is simply not an option.

I see today, November 9, 2016, as Day 1 of our newest American experiment.

Pundits are going crazy right now in their quest to be our master explainers… as recently as a week ago, they spoke of how the Republican party is imploding amidst a dearth of truly conservative values; now they are focused on the uncertain future of Democrats and all things liberal. As I write this, Clinton won the popular vote, and Trump won the Electoral College, and the validity of our very messy ‘democracy’ is again being questioned:

“[Ours] is not a democratic system. It is a constitutional republic. ‘Democracy’ is a misnomer.”
—Dan Zak, newspaperman at The Washington Post

We have much to learn, and much of the truth is quite simple: A new experiment IS beginning, and we will have to wait and see.

This much is certain: People voted for change, and they, we, will get it.

Move forward: Put one step in front of the other, and trust in Ka lā hiki ola, ‘the dawning of a new day.’

Know too, that having faith and trust in the future is easier when you are involved and participating in it, and not satisfied with being a bystander… just ask anyone now regretting that they did not vote.

Need more? Related reading in the MWA Archives:

KA LĀ HIKI OLA is the value of optimistic beginnings, and it can stay with you moment by moment. Ka lā hiki ola is a brand of self-leadership, and a Sense of Hope:

• October, 2013: Tough Times are Rough Draft Times
• January, 2014: Ka lā hiki ola and Leadership: A Sense of Hope
• …and a reminder that motivation is an inside job: Life’s 3 Stops in Motivation: Happiness, Meaning, Service

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