To Unify or Diversify?

Nature Sports Both

Swathes of leaves a kind of neutral green, of trees of a similar height, with similar branch structures, pivoted at a similar angle all over the mountain side. As each torrent of wind blew, the trees and their leaves moved in synchronicity. A kind of telepathy, creating a beautiful movement along the mountain path. Pleasing to the eyes in a way that penetrated to depths of consciousness, leaving memories that would never fade, but become more sacred. Such was the nature of walks along the path towards Mui Wo, in Lantau. On a different tract of mountain, this time towards Cheung Sha, in the opposite direction, a different dynamic had been laid to play out over the past decades, and perhaps longer. This time tropical palm trees standing high. Below them, a layer of trees that looked almost like slightly taller bushes, sporting the beautiful plumeria flowers of yellow and white hue. In between them, medium sized pineapple trees, with fruits and their spikes. To their left jackfruit trees, with huge sized jackfruits. As the breeze whistled through, the impact on each plant so different. Some remaining resolute and not moving at all, whilst others, the palm trees with their huge leaves swaying in a slow motion. The beauty of the unified, with synchronisation pleasing to the eyes in a matter so different to the diversity of the latter with a range of at least six different types of vegetation that formed the backbone of the landscape. Nature has beauty in standardisation, and a different kind of beauty in diversification. The environment has everything to do with the make-up of it’s composition. If the environment makes it impossible for certain design to coexist, then naturally it will be unified. It is cactus plant that survive and unify in the dry heat of the dessert. Spending time working in Norway, I recall the stretches of coastal conifer forests, a breathtaking sight to behold, but that’s all there was, coastal conifer and very little else. The rich biodiversity in the topics caters for a different standard of diversification once again. Composition is a product of environment. Nature set the precedent, and follows suite by producing the composition.

Respect The Unknown

Familiarity breeds contempt so they say. The opening minutes of bout between two fighters almost invariably consists of a minute or more of “feeling out”, or vetting. Once something is known, attacks can begin. Once strengths and weaknesses are known then they can be exploited by the opponent. It begins with respect, of the unknown. Once things are seemingly known, this opens up the avenue of disrespect. If someone knows your language, your priorities, your habits, your routine, they’re naturally in an easier position to exploit. On a recent visit to Little India, Singapore, I noticed an individual dressed rather scantily, standing in front of the temple though it was closed, with his shoes taken off, and his hands in prayer. He was serious and stout in posture and clearly absorbed despite of the commotion all around. An individuals faith is something that cannot be understood very well, as it is unique and sometimes serious. Singapore is a country that has grasped and accommodated for this aspect holistically by providing places of worship, public holidays to respect these individual needs. If someones faith is causing clear harm to others, as we have seen in France recently, then absolutely this is not the kind of respect we are talking about. We are talking about the natural tendency to respect the unknown. Recently in a wildlife preservation initiative, they had robots observe the behaviour of lions in a semi-controlled compound. The lions reaction to the robot was peculiar. It was cautious, it tested the robot. Was the robot reactive to it? Was the robot going to attack it? Was the robot afraid? There is a natural tendency of living beings to show caution or respect to the things they realise they don’t know so well. This is non-different to the workplace, and global business. In an environment where every single person is different there will be less of a tendency to impose one culture over another, to look down at anothers’ ability to grasp a language or the “in thing.” Appreciating difference creates respect. To believe we are superior is to fall trap to illusion rather than interact with reality. When we say narrow-minded, this means that rather than respect the unknown, to presume you are superior to all aspects of it. The robot could have lethal bullet being discharged from it. The lion must be cautious. Similarly, we may not know what destruction we are causing on a subtle level by disrespecting others we do not know. Ultimately we do not ever harm anyone except ourselves. Imposing superiority complexes on others distorts the extent to which we are in touch with the truth, so it is ultimately those disrespecting that are harmed.

We Decide Our Environment

The Srimad Bhagavatam, the ancient Vedic scripture, in Canto 5 talks of a mountainous region called Jambudvipa, which has dwelling regions for different groups of people, who are segregated in tern by mountains, which it cites are boundaries that would not encourage mixing of different groups. It is not always that diversity was encouraged by the scriptural injunctions, sometimes there was an abundance of diversity in the case of Lord Rama’s army for instance, and everyone worked harmoniously towards the goals set, and other times there was uniformity in the societal structure like where Jambudvipa separates the various varshas, or races, with physical formations or mountains in order to maintain harmony. Like the forest ranges on the Hong Kong mountains, some with trees almost identical for miles, and then others with complete diversity, there is rarely ever a ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer. The composition is determined by the environment. The environment in the case of trees is set by nature, as is the composition given its loom by nature. Whether it be countries, or corporates, or businesses we may be running, the environment is set by the leaders. The example leaders set is key in defining culture. Why? Because we live in a result-orientated world. If someone is capable of getting results, they are respected, and they will be accepted as leaders. If they don’t get results, they won’t lead for so long. This is the law of survival aspect in our psyche; whether consciously or subconsciously, it is something we play by. Leaders therefore need to think about what it is they want to achieve, and how. This will shape the environment, and in tern be a cause for it’s composition. How conscious we are in doing this can vary, and it is in our power to choose this. 

"Existence and non-existence, pleasure and pain, all have Time at their root. Time createth all things, and Time destroyeth all creatures. Time alone is awake when all things are asleep. Time is incapable of being overcome."

Sage Sauti to King Janamejaya, Adi Parva, Mahabharata