These Reflections represent ideas I believe are relevant to small players in a world hostile to those who don’t have economic power, military might, or friends in high places.
Yet Reflections are also images in a mirror.
Brings to mind a masterful political speech given by the Father of Barbadian Independence the Rt. Excellent Errol Walton Barrow back in 1986. At a pivotal moment in Barbados’ journey as a sovereign nation, he asked Barbadians:
What kind of mirror image do you have of yourself? Do you really like yourselves? Because you can never really like anybody unless you first like yourself. … Why should only one man have a mirror image of you that you do not want to have of yourself? What kind of society are we striving for?
More than 30 years later, the significance of Prime Minister Barrow’s questions remains.
As technological change speeds up time, reduces distance, and hastens the consequences of action or inaction; as social, cultural, political and economic customs take on universal meaning, changing accepted norms and behaviours, reasonable people can’t help but question what they see when they look in the mirror, and what that reflection shows to the world.
What’s Our Mirror Image?
What mirror image do we have of ourselves amid relentless global change?
What do we choose to represent in a modern world?
Do we embrace digital transformation that empowers individuals and improves people’s lives?
In the face of economic, social and political pressures, do we choose to live out the best aspects of ourselves, empowering others to do the same?
What do our actions and alliances, our friendships and connections, say about who we are?
Do we step back and bow to the destructive thinking and behaviours of a past when slavery, indentured servitude, racism, sexism, intolerance and various forms of discrimination were thought normal?
Or do we lean in and fight for more just, sustainable societies for our children and ourselves?
Understanding Our Potential
When Prime Minister Barrow asked what mirror image we have of ourselves, he also wondered why a tiny island in the Caribbean couldn’t dream of putting people on the moon.
He wondered why we couldn’t commit $100 million to developing the potential of our young scientists and doctors.
He wondered why so many despaired so much for Barbadian society they would run to the four corners of the earth to make a life and a living rather than stay through tough times to help transform their nation.
In the end, he suggested that while there is no point striving for Utopia, Barbadians are farther from seeing their potential than any self-respecting people have a right to be.
What will it take to move countries like Barbados beyond talk to transformation? Reform begins when new thinking overrides destructive patterns of behaviour, producing guiding principles and strategies that galvanise people to action, resourcing and empowering them to live up to their promises and deliver value, creating endless cycles of learning and growth.
Perhaps what he did not say, though he must have understood, is how difficult it is to transform unhealthy, outmoded structures, systems, processes and institutions sustained by conscious and unconscious thinking that keeps people in their places and the status quo intact.
What will it take to move countries like Barbados beyond talk to transformation?
Reform begins when new thinking overrides destructive patterns of behaviour, producing guiding principles and strategies that galvanise people to action, resourcing and empowering them to live up to their promises and deliver value, creating endless cycles of learning and growth.
While it might be pointless to strive for Utopia, there are disciplined steps or pathways that help align our words with what we actually do, making it possible to achieve meaningful transformation through persistence, ingenuity, and good old-fashioned effort.
This is what I’ve spent my professional life exploring.
My next posts reflect what I’ve learned along the way.
