g Inc. 2007
AUTHORITY RESPONSIBILITY POWER EXPANDING
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Authority, Responsibility and Power e</i>xpanding (ARP<i>e)
Richard Bents
Saint Paul, MN USA
January 2007
Rugby can be brutal. He heard a ghastly scream and for a split second thought that
someone else was hurt, until he realized it was him. He could feel his knee joint tearing
apart. A terrible pain spread throughout his leg as he rolled in agonized slow motion on
the field. It was now impossible to move. All his future plans imploded.
Struggling with dyslexia for years, it had become painfully obvious to Rickie that he
would be lucky to graduate from high school. So, like many kids who suffer academic
humiliation, he had hoped to go to college on an athletic scholarship. But now, these
were broken dreams, and that hurt more than the knee.
He did manage to get back on his feet, but Rickie would never go to college. As he
battled toward a high school diploma, his headmaster said, I predict that you will either
go to prison or become a millionaire.
Why did the headmaster predict such extremes? What were the clues? And, why was the
headmaster unable to provide a more accurate future? Was high potential evident? Or,
just something out of the ordinary? How could the headmaster accurately predict
ultimate success? These are the questions we grapple with in our attempts to predict
leadership potential. Rickie in this story is Richard Branson of a company named Virgin.
The story is found in the book Success Built to Last by Porras, Emery and Thompson.
Introduction
How are competencies, talents, skills of human endeavor created, developed, discovered,
nurtured, and/or employed? What are some clues that move us toward a more purposeful
life? How can we tap our resources and represent ourselves in ever more human ways?
Perhaps we need to start with a brief exploration of the very basics of our existence
who am I (being)? And; where am I going (becoming)? In an attempt to make these
notions practical, we would also like to suggest another terminology for being and DRAFT For Discussion Only
� Future Systems Consulting Inc. 2007
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becoming. Who am I? is a question of being. It is a question of personal authority. I
think, therefore I am (Descartes) is a statement of being, of authority. We suggest that
authority is in effect being. Where am I going? is a question of becoming. When we add
a value dimension, it is a question of responsibility. Becoming holds a value or ethical
dimension of responsibility as we work to create a sustainable universe. Responsibility is
in effect becoming. We are purposeful beings. Who we are, and where we are going
form the essential building blocks for the development of competencies, talents, skills of
human endeavor.
Context
Historically, Socrates first discussed the concept of the relation between the particular
and the general and as a germ of a new meaning of the general question concerning
being. This meaning emerged in its full purity when the Socratic eidos went on to unfold
into the (transcendental) Platonic Idea. The notions of immanence (being) and
transcendence (becoming) were first articulated by Plato. Plato's philosophy recognized
two seemingly contrary forms of representation one is valid for the realm of being and
the other for the realm of becoming. And for Plato, the soul was an intermediary between
the two. The student, Aristotle wanted to ensure becoming of its rightful place, because
he was convinced that only in this way could philosophy be transformed from a mere
theory of concepts into a theory of reality. Form and matter, being and becoming, must
become correlative, Aristotle argued. However, Platos characterization of being and
becoming set up a dichotomy that continued to spawn consideration. Ever since,
Philosophers and the physical sciences have taken the path of articulating the realm of
being. Other theorists and philosophers of the social sciences have championed the realm
of becoming. And, those steeped in spirituality and metaphysics attempted to answer
how the soul acts an intermediary.
In the main, for the social sciences like archeology, history, psychology, or sociology, it
is clear that tomorrow is not the same as today. Time cannot reverse directions. We live
in time. Our human experience suggests a linear progression. Clearly, we are becoming
as time passes. But the philosophers and theorists of the physical sciences suggest that
the universe is time reversible; that the present determined the future just as it could
serve to reconstruct the past. From this perspective, the basic processes of nature were
seen to be static and deterministic, with time playing absolutely no role. In effect, for
classical science being was the same as becoming. And, as Plato suggested, those
dealing with spiritual or metaphysical considerations argue that God is primarily
immanent (Spinoza), transcendent (Heidigger), or both (Buber). The theme of being and
becoming with some sort of interaction or relationship is a clear thread in the centuries-
long discussion.
German philosopher Ernst Cassirer emphatically contributed to this discussion as he
attempted to move beyond the seeming dichotomy to a new understanding of the basic
structures of human knowledge. For Cassirer, scientific laws, religion, and language were DRAFT For Discussion Only
� Future Systems Consulting Inc. 2007
AUTHORITY RESPONSIBILITY POWER EXPANDING
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all symbols created by the mind in attempting to produce understanding of the world
around us. His greatest interest involved a search for the form of knowledge - how it can
be created out of the chaos of perceptions humans face daily. According to Cassirer
(1942), form thinking belongs to being, while causal thinking belongs to becoming.
In this context, being relates to authority and belonging relates to responsibility.
Strict knowledge is only possible of the always-being - authority. That which is
becoming responsibility - can only be described, if at all, in the language of myth
dealing with primary questions of what and where.
More recently, Ilya Prigogine (1984) attempted to reconcile being and becoming in
theories of irreversible processes, whose system state is associated with being, but whose
laws of temporal change are associated with becoming. Prigogine wrote:
Finally, we can move beyond the classical conflict between being and becoming.
Being is no longer the primordial element, just as becoming is no longer an
illusion, the product of ignorance not at all. Today, we see that becoming, which
is the expression of instability in the universe, is the primordial element. Yet, in
order to express this, we also need elements that are permanent. We can not have
becoming without being, just as we can not have light without darkness or music
without silence (p. 310).
Prigogine continued noting that as a scientist I cannot talk about linear progress, or even
progress at all. And we certainly cannot speak about destiny. What one can speak about,
however is novelty and rules within randomness. Novelty and rules within randomness
are the results/effects of the interaction of being and becoming. The elements of being
(authority) and becoming (responsibility) exist, and as Plato suggested, the soul - some
dynamic effect - may be the intermediary. Here we use the term power as the
intermediary, and not only the intermediary, but the result of the dynamic interaction
between being (Authority) and becoming (Responsibility). Power can be considered the
novelty and rules within randomness.
Consider: Power is the energy created by two or more individuals who are acting on their
authority in a responsible manner. Power is invariably personal; that is, it does not exist
without a holder. Power is not unleashed or experienced in isolation. It is social. Shared
understanding that every person is empowered (has authority and is responsible)
unleashes great potential resident in all communities. Power requires both being and
becoming.
Consider further: The dynamic interaction of authority (being) and responsibility
(becoming) create power. Authority, Responsibility, and Power are in relation. They are
interdependent, when you effect a change in one, you effect a change in all three. They
all impact one another, and combined in appropriate measure, they create the potential for
transformation. DRAFT For Discussion Only
� Future Systems Consulting Inc. 2007
AUTHORITY RESPONSIBILITY POWER EXPANDING
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Definitions
Power is the energy created by two or more individuals who are acting on their authority
in a responsible manner (see above).
Authority is that which gives you confidence at the deepest level; that which makes you
authentic. Authority is found in self-knowledge and self-acceptance. It is the exacting of
self-discipline, obedience, or commands. It is the accepted source of expert information
or advice. Authority provides justification or the grounds for who you are. It is the
authenticity derived from understanding self, experience, and practice.
Authority is in a sense Being that is; knowing - realizing authenticity and having
confidence in and trusting self.
Responsibility is acting on commitment, will, determination, and obligation.
Responsibility implies the satisfactory performance of duties, the adequate discharge of
obligations, the trustworthy care for or di