Conclusion 211How could this value help me?
How could it hinder me if I took it to extremes?
What would happen if I allowed the first value to dom-
inate the second, balancing value?
What would happen if I allowed the balancing value to
dominate the first?
At what point would each value start to undermine its
opposite?
How would I know if this were to happen?Remember the starlings, flying in formation, somehow stay-
ing together and keeping their alignment without any single
bird as permanent leader? Researchers have been able to
simulate flocking behaviour on a computer by making the
birds follow three simple rules. First each bird must maintain
a minimum distance from others. In other words, the rela-
tionships between the birds is important – not too near and
not too far. Secondly, each bird must try to match velocity
with those around it. So everyone moves at the same pace.
Thirdly, each bird should try to move towards the perceived
centre of the mass of birds in its neighbourhood.
We know that very complex behaviour can be built up
from very simple rules. The intricate pattern of flocking
emerges out of simple rules operating at the individual level,
but the rules are about the individual’s relationship to the
whole group. When migratory birds fly together no one bird
could reach its destination on its own. The birds need each
other. When the leader tires, it drops back and flies behind,
supported by other birds. I wonder what simple rules apply
to an aligned team, each person capable of being a leader,
each supporting the others when necessary, each being able
to take over a leadership role, and all heading for the same
destination. I suspect they may be to do with trust, balance
of change and making the right sort of connections.
Finally, a leader inspires action. Vision without action is
impotent, just as action without vision is meaningless. The
two greatest orators in ancient Greece were Socrates and
Demosthenes. Both men spoke to the assembled army