“I am because you are; you are because we are.  Every person is a person through other people.”*

We need a tribe.

Some would argue, it is the only way we can become Human.  This has been my experience – it will continue to be.

Erich Fromm held that every encounter changes us in at least some small (probably unnoticed) way.  When we use encounters intentionally and creatively I can only imagine the world becoming better:

‘In one sense, the work of innovators … comes down to helping people recognise that seeing systems ultimately means seeing one another.’**

It means valuing different perspectives which are brought honestly and humbly.  Systems thinker and practitioner David Kantor holds that four perspectives are important to creating better systems: Movers – who initiate action and provide direction; Opposers – who oppose to correct and refine; Followers – who support an action to completion; and, Bystanders – who observe and offer a (different) perspective.**

I enjoy the way Kantor posits the possibility of each of these perspectives being offered positively – tribes need to be more than a homogeny.

(*An African proverb quoted by Steve Chalke in Being Human.)
(**From Peter Senge’s The Necessary Revolution.)