In the three blog entries below, I listed three values that I consider important for Yankee Farm Credit: integrity, competence and entrepreneurship. (UPDATE 8/26/08: Added a fourth value: relationships.) I hope you will agree that these are worthy values.
But, alas, we have a problem. It is possible for our values to conflict. What do we do when that happens?
First, let me explain why there is a conflict.
One aspect of integrity is that you must always consider the possibility that you might be wrong. "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself–and you are the easiest person to fool." You must have humility; you must doubt yourself.
Now consider that one aspect of entrepreneurship is that you must believe. You must believe that your dream is possible; you must believe that things can be made better; you must believe in what you are selling; you must believe in yourself.
How can we simultaneously hold both doubt and belief within ourselves? Aren't they opposites? Don't they contradict each other?
There is something in us that abhors a contradiction. Consider the current presidential election. What is the most scandalous thing that can be said about a candidate? It is that they have been caught in a contradiction. Or--what amounts to saying the same thing but in more inflammatory language--that they are hypocrites. We are too hard on our political candidates, and we are too hard on ourselves.
Let us consider some wisdom from the ancient Greeks. At Delphi in ancient Greece there was a temple to the god Apollo. There were two maxims inscribed on this temple. The ancient Greeks thought of them as instructions from the gods to us humans. In English they are only five words:
Know Thyself: Know that you are human–not a god and not an animal. A god is immortal. An animal is mortal but does not know it. A human is mortal and knows it. Being human means being full of wonder and possibility, but it also means having all the imperfections, frailty and limitations of flesh and blood and emotions. It is likely that some element of inconsistency and contradiction is part of being human. (I am quite certain that this is true for at least the female half of the human race!)
Nothing in Excess: Many things in our world are polar opposites and yet life requires both. Night and day. Life and death. Male and female. Perhaps belief and doubt are like this, too. Perhaps it isn't possible to find complete logical consistency in everything. Perhaps, sometimes, the best we can do is to seek a good balance.
If you find yourself faced with a contradiction that cannot be logically resolved, consider the possibility that it might not be a problem to be solved. It might be an adventure to be enjoyed.
