Philosophy and the workplace

We have a rich history of philosophy ranging from ancient writers like Plato and Aristole to modern day philosophers like Sartre. Can philosophy have any relevance to a workplace or service? Or is it something mainly for the academic books and university classrooms. In this post I will offer the words of Hegel, the 19th century philosopher, as an insight into some of the problems and challenges we face in our work and life. Philosophy should be something that has relevance in the streets and offices of the world. Indeed the likes of the ancient philosopher Socrates went into the streets to listen and engage on his ideas.

Georg Wilhelm Hegel was a philosopher who died in 1831. He has had a massive impact on philosophy and there are still people today who call themselves 'Hegelians' in honour of this eminent philosophers ideas. What I will present in this post is my understanding of Hegel and what he can teach us as we try to make the best cultures for staff and create the best care for patients. In doing so I offer what I understand the words to mean. It may be that eminent Hegelians may correct me on my understanding. That's fine, I accept that. It's all part of the process. So here we are and here we go.

 “Nothing great in the world was accomplished without passion.”

Passion is the engine and fire that drives work and development. A friend of mine who sometimes delivers talks and speeches often gets the kind compliments such as, 'We felt your passion coming through' and 'Your passion shone through.' This gives us an important clue. Passion connects us with others. It shares with them what matters to us. It is a fire burning brightly in our heart and mind and is capable of enkindling light and flame in others. Hegel tells us we need passion. Without it we will not accomplish anything great.

Passion is actually very common. It's just that we don't always recognise it. We see it when a young mum is battling to get the kids ready for school and gets them there day in day out. We observe it when perhaps after the bereavement of a loved one a person devotes themselves to raising money for a charity. They will offer their time, resources, voice and energy for this to occur. This is all passion and i'm sure we have all seen it and been touched by its presence. The sad thing is where someone has lost their passion. This is also the scary thing. Where did those high ideals, commitment to others and good intentions go? I suppose it's often not a sudden thing but a slow wearing away of vision, values and hope. Andrew Harvey, a writer, talks in one of his books about growing up in a house with his family. One day one of the walls fell in. Termites had been eating away at it for ages and no one know. It then fell. This eating away of our passion and principles takes place whenever we allow cynicism, negativity and nastiness to enter our work and thinking. Passion also need to be kept alive. The furnace needs constant fuel to keep it burning well. Positive and visionary people and networks, a big vision, good reading and the development of a deep and abiding hope are all wonderful helps that ensure the nurturing and sustaining of passion. Hegel's message is so needed because with passion we can do great things.

“Only one man ever understood me, and he didn't understand me.”

This hits on a very true thing which is that we as human beings are or can be,  very complex people. We are not robots or computers ( although we are learning that modern technology sometimes seems to have a mind of its own and what worked well yesterday won't today but will tomorrow ). We may remember at school we would have those puzzles that said 'If it takes three men two days to dig a ditch how long will it take two?' There was a mathematical answer. However, in real life it really depends on the people. There may be two of the best and strongest people and will do it quickly or may be the opposite. Complexity is a feature of humanity. Humanity is actually a mystery. We have so many commonalities and yet such differences. We can sing like angels, paint things that take our breathe away and show world changing compassion. We can also as a race kill, hurt and betray. It seems we have in different human beings such variations of good and bad. Hegel points us to this. We can never really be understood in our depths. We may know lots about our self and others. We may know ourselves and others incredibly well. And yet there are parts of us we do not see or cannot fathom. This bears on work as while we have policies and processes to follow, we should also try always to see through to the human standing in front of us. We may not know, may never know, what the issues are in their life. They may not know fully either. This should lead us to be always polite and professional with all while following whatever process has to be followed. If a chink of light shines through and we see the problem or issue then we can offer help and support.

“The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.”

Sometimes in a  work setting a person with an issue repeats the same behaviour again and again. Nothing seems to work. We need to balance this with the fact that people do change and 'we live and we learn.' Work Systems can also be like this. We keep going on with them even when they have stopped working. We even re-invent them and call them by new names! The truth I believe is that if we don't change the way we look at something we just get keep getting the results of the old thinking. Einstein once said that 'No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.' This points us to the need to learn from history by transcending the mental boxes the old answers and problems come in. Fresh thinking on old problems will help us avoid that 'Groundhog Day' syndrome.

“The length of the journey has to be borne with, for every moment is necessary.”

Hegel is here telling us a vital truth. We are all on a journey. We walk along a life strewn with lessons and possibilities. To get to where we need to be we need each moment. I remember working with a homeless client at York Street who had so many awful issues going right back to childhood. The recovery and transformation of that man has been incredible. Yet his journey, long, difficult and unpicking so many things, could probably not have occurred in any other way. He could not jump over all the scaring issues and be whole and sorted all at once. That would have been a very nice event but the lessons probably would not be there. It was in the journey that he found himself and meaning and purpose in life.

The good news here is that even the winter seasons of life have purpose and promise. We can even find in these somewhere sometimes the first shoots of spring. Our life is really about discovering who we are and what we are. That is a deep and wonderful journey. We can't achieve it in a day. It takes days and nights and even the tough times can help us grow and live if we can accept and transform them. Sometimes life or others have really hurt us. We might feel cut, hurt and incredibly let down. In this state we actually stand at a precipice. We can either from this become either wounded healers or wounded hurters. Our pain can cause us to somehow become more empathic and caring or make us bitter and project it outwards onto others. The late Henri Nouwen wrote a book about wounded healers. These are the people who themselves bear wounds but don't transmit them. Somehow they have transformed them into service, kindness and vision.

So Georg Wilhelm Hegel tells us some home truths about the need for authentic passion, the complexity of ourselves and others, the need of fresh thinking and the  difficulty and glory of the life journey. If we look at this in terms of a manifesto for work and change we might find the following

        * Be passionate

        * If we have lost our passion we need to re-kindle it

        * Know humanity can be difficult to understand at times and be tolerant 

        * Follow processes but always see the person stood there in front of us

        * Old thinking will create what it already existing as the problem

        * Fresh thinking can bring creative solutions for the future

        * The challenge is to stop reading and own the story. To consciously own our life and make it the best for our self and others.

        * Life can be really tough but even from these dark places we can grow and deepen

I don't think this would be such a bad manifesto for us all. In fact it might even lead us to a re-energised and renewed service. We have much to learn from these giants of history like Hegel. And as someone once said if we stand on the shoulders of a giant we can see for miles and miles.

John Walsh. York Street Health Practice.