David Werdiger - founder of Familosophy,
writes a great article on how to protect your home from collapsing.
Some people think that building a big house with adequate security - will prevent you and your family from danger .
Your family, community or organisation is like a house - not only does it need adequate security from external dangers such as the big bad wolf - and a strong foundation to cope with internal crises !!!
A strong foundation of a family , says David , is based on 3 core qualities
- Communication & trust
- Shared vision & purpose and
- Good governance
The wolf - external threats
From time to time, wolves will come to the door.
Wolves are crises that you need to deal with immediately. They are usually things external to the family – changes in market conditions or the economic environment, or competitive factors that affect operating business.
These external challenges can relate to financial capital. You can keep the wolves from the door by ensuring that you (as a family) are aligned on purpose, have well-articulated investment policy and governance, and are suitably diversified.
While you can’t control or prevent those external factors, you can be ready to weather them when they happen.
The termites - internal threats
Be aware of these tiny dangerous creatures!!
A family flare-up that relates to non-financial capital, such as family dynamics, succession & the rising gen, might seem like another wolf at the door. But it’s not.
These things don’t come out of the blue; they often fester and relate to longstanding and unresolved issues between family members.
These are the termites in the floor.
Either you don’t notice them, you pretend they are not there, or you consider them important but not urgent.
Dealing with them is much harder than things like investment policies.
They relate to deeply held emotions. It’s much easier to put them on the back burner, find other priorities etc.
… until they explode and the house collapses.
This is the important difference: wolves are external threats, termites are internal.
Most empires , organisations and families are destroyed from internal decay - the termites within!!
If an empire/family is internally strong, not only can it withstand wolves, but it is vigilant about staying termite free.
If it is weak internally – poor communication, lack of trust, no shared vision, poor governance – then it’s just a matter of time before it will collapse.
How to be termite-free?
1. Build a strong foundation (see above)
2. Be on the lookout for termites
3. Don’t delay in dealing with them
Why Trump won (in my view)
How does this relate to countries ?
USA 9/11
Israel 7/10
Russia / Ukraine conflict
China / Taiwan conflict
These Are the threats dealing with the wolves - the external forces !!
And there are normally solutions to these being resolved - by force and diplomacy
The ultimate threat of a country will be the termites gnawing at the core - national disunity !!
- Far right and far left
- the Woke crowd.
- Proud Boys.
- Black Lives Matter.
- Kkk
- Antifa.
- QAnon.
- The divisive forces.
Both parties in the UsA election recognised the threat of the wolves and the termites. Trump , in my view, was chosen , because he showed the qualities of strong leadership!
Listen
Empathy
Attitude
Determination
Energy
Resilience
To reestablish national unity will require strong leadership and the bravery to commit ourselves to embracing qualities of kindness, decency, and grace towards those we disagree with ideologically .
Wishing Trump and the Global Leaders and their teams all the best to lead USA and the rest of the world - 🌎- based on strong foundations !
