The King and the Clown

Young as I am I have a natural sense of urgency and seriousness about life and hence the focus on strategy in my day to day work. I do however feel the tension within myself which is evident in the world around us: On the one hand we need to plan, look into the future and try to make some form of predicitons so we can adequately apply our resources. On the other hand we do live in a world of uncertainty and applying constructs that are too rigorous around us will smother creativity. The chinese have long looked at this problem and we are all familiar with the Ying and Yang - it is a philosophy of synergy, not balance. Balance is taking a little from both to act as counter weights in order to reach a desirable position/situation.

Synergy on the other hand is where the two actually compliment, or coexist to form a interdependent relationship. This is true in my personal life as well - off course whatever you learn in your personal life you will apply in your professional career (and vice versa) and in this manner it is also synergy. It becomes a kind of synergy within synergy. Knowing how much planning is necessary to guide spontaneity to reach greater levels of effectiveness is necessary in your professional career. It is also necessary in your personal life where yo need to grow - structure - yet you can't do it without spontaneity, e.g. humor. What would life be without humor?! The two spheres then interact to form an interdependent whole that creates the synergy, not balance, to generate growth. In the end it is like the king and the clown: we need visionary leadership that can prepare responsibly and yet be as spontaneous as a clown to overcome the unseen challenges.

What are you?