One Apple A Day #552 - responsibility and freedom
Bureaucracy. This is the word that emerged and filled up my mind this morning. Not a fanciest or most inspiring word in my dictionary, for sure.
I have a complicated relationship with bureaucracy. At any levels and in any context. Sure, the worst experience is when I have to do with the public administration. In those cases, I feel as if bureaucracy has been carefully designed to create uncertainty and doubts. But to be honest, I struggle anytime some rules and procedures overshadow human relationships to make things happen.
To me, bureaucracy is the epitome of a form depleted of the energy from which it manifested.
So, I woke up with this word in mind, and I want to do something with it, not just vent out my annoyances.
I remember a quote that I read a while ago.
"Bureaucracy is a construction by which a person is conveniently separated from the consequences of his or her actions." ― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
That made me immediately think about the relationship between freedom and responsibility.
In a workshop that I did a few months ago precisely on this topic, I've been reminded that responsibility is the "Ability to respond" to situations.
"Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation." — Viktor Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning
So, freedom and responsibility are strongly linked.
"Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness." — Viktor Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning
If we don't feel free, we won't take responsibility. But if we don't take responsibility for our words and actions, we can't be free.
I recollect many conflictual conversations in different organisations, where employees were asking for more freedom and the manager were asking for more responsibility. And they couldn't find an agreement; apparently, they were asking for two different things without realising that they were just talking about two sides of the same coin.
Great! So, where do we start? From responsibility or from freedom?
It looks like a typical chicken or egg problem.
"The first step toward personal freedom is awareness." — Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements
My feeling is that we should always start by expanding our awareness.