This Thinking Coach Insight addresses directly the reality we find ourselves in.

In my view what is taking place out there is first and foremost a humanity crisis which we see as a financial crisis.

In other words, the humanity crisis is the cause while the financial crisis is the symptom.

What do I mean by that? Well, we have created a system which is quite limited in its scope and perception of the big picture of the human story, which is the story of each and every one of us.

The system we have created deals with a limited perception of bottom lines that try to quantify everything into numbers, dollars and cents and therefore never tell the complete and true story.

Here are some examples:

How can one quantify the destructive impact that the greed that took over Wall Street had upon trust, confidence and mental and emotional stability? Sure we can all gasp when we hear how much money was “confiscated” by Wall Street executives, but can we truly quantify, calculate and perceive the extent of the break down in moral values that caused it in the first place?

How can one quantify the enormity of feeling when comparing the plight of a single mother trying to raise her 3 children on her own, works 3 jobs to put food on the table, pay the bills and fill the gas tank of her falling-apart car with her last pennies, while oil companies report each quarter thousands upon thousands of …millions of dollars (called Billions) in profit. When you compare the two, can you make sense of it?

Or, the lust for personal power that got into elected officials who regularly betray the trust invested in them by the public, who seek for personal glory at the expense of truly being in service to the common good of the nation. What does the quest for personal ego have in common with true service?

Or, how can one quantify the feelings of uselessness, low self worth and betrayal of people who get laid off abruptly after giving the best years of their lives to companies who only consider the bottom line of money but not the bottom line of human decency and loyalty- we rationalize it to be normal, but is it? (After all many companies say they are a family-is it a family only when the company makes money, one asks)

There are so many stories out there and they are symptomatic of a narrow consideration and application of the term Bottom Line, by which hasty and sometimes morally cruel decisions are often made.

To have an inroad to all this without turning into a bitter complaining person (which is definitely not a good idea) it is important to grasp the broader meaning of Bottom Line.

We understand Bottom Line to be a position that one agrees to or finds themselves in, which is the point below which they will not go. This can be easily perceived when money comes into question, when we determine the price below which we will not sell or the price above which we will not pay. That is the classic quantified bottom line that we all understand.

There is, however, another context to bottom line, which opens the window to the bigger picture of strategic thinking and that is where you come in.

It concerns the bottom line of what a person will not do even if it means they will lose a deal. This refers to a person consciously and strategically thinking through & building a platform of standards and qualities which, are not for sale, by which, they are known and trusted.

The government, the corporate world, that are often complained about, are the sum total of the individuals who make it or elected it, and therefore their conduct reflect on each and every one of us. In other words the moral bottom line is determined by people, like you, like me, and it is best to own to that linkage and responsibility rather then avoid it.

Yes, humans are at the core of the government and every company and the question becomes what is their moral bottom line?

This is strategic and critical thinking in its broader context, which addresses the linkage between personal and collective success, where the success of the individual is the success of the many. It is no different to the principle of successful team work in business. The only difference is that the result is not just more money, but rather more trust, a peace of mind, a sense of knowing who one is, greater happiness and a calming sense of satisfaction, all of which yield long term results even in monetary terms.

It is critical to determine your bottom line, where your standards and qualities are concerned, below which you will not go, to write them down and declare them often. These attitude changes are small adjustments that are made at the core but have huge impact in their extensions and are the catalysts for lasting changes.

Change is always internal first and external second and the best time for change is when we have our backs against the wall, which is where we are now.

Carpe Diem!

Eli Harari
The Thinking Coach