Who is Iranian

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گفتار یکم: ایرانی کیست؟

سوال اولی که باید پاسخ داده شود این است که ایرانی کیست ‌بر چه اساس و معیارهایی ایرانی بودن افراد را می توان تشخیص داد؟

چرا اصلا این سوال مهم است؟ چون در طول تاریخ معاصر ‌و باستانی ایران، نمونه های بسیاری وجود دارد که اقوام و اقلیت‌های مذهبی به بهانه های مختلف ایرانی ‌بودنشان زیر سوال رفته، از فرایندهای دموکراتیک حذف شدند، شهروند درجه ۲ به حساب آمدند، مجبور به ترک وطن شدند یا در وطن خود احساس بیگانگی کردند۰

این بهانه در درجه اول کیش و مذهب افراد بود و در درجه دوم قومیت ‌آنها. از زمانی که ایران در مقاطع مختلف دین رسمی پیدا کرد یا توسط دولت‌های دین مدار اداره شد یا نفوذ روحانیون بالا رفت، گروههایی که اعتقادات متفاوت داشتند به کنار رانده شدند و از سمتهای کلیدی آکادمیک، دولتی، مدیریتی محروم شدند۰

نمونه بارز آن بحث هویت «ملی مذهبی» است که توجه و طرفداری بسیاری را جلب کرده بود ولی به همان دلایل بالا می تواند در نفسش اقلیت ستیز باشد. مذهب در عبارت ملی مذهبی نه هر مذهبی است بلکه اشاره به دین اسلام و آن هم نوع خاصی از اسلام دارد. وقتی ملی مذهبیون سر کار باشند، طبق تعریف، ایرانیانی که شیعه دوازده امامی نیستند از دور مرکزی خارج فرض می شوند و ممکن است فقط حق زندگی یا شهروندی داشته باشند ولی در تصمیمات کلان و احراز پستهای کلیدی قطعا اولویت ندارند یا به کل‌ حذف می شوند. تصور کنید آیا در یک نظام‌ ملی مذهبی، آیا یک فرد سنی، صوفی، بهایی، زرتشتی، کلیمی یا ارمنی این امکان را خواهد داشت که رییس جمهور که سهل است، مدیر کل یک اداره باشد، هر چقدر هم که میهن پرست باشد؟ نمونه بالا مثال خوبی است که اگر واقعا در‌ جستجوی هویت ایرانی هستیم، لاجرم تعریف آن را باید از مذهب فرد جدا کنیم وگرنه دوباره دچار چنددستگی و فرآیندهای حذف سیستماتیک می شویم۰

قومیت چطور؟ آیا به نظر شما قومیت و‌ نژاد در درجه ایرانی بودن شهروندان تاثیر دارد؟ آیا یک ایرانی کرد، عرب، بلوچ، لر یا آذری نسبت به یک ایرانی فارس کمتر ایرانی به حساب می آید؟ شاید یک ایرانی با قومیت فارس کنه این قضیه را به این شدت احساس نکند ولی هموطنان کرد و ترک و بلوچ و لر و عرب و غیره بخوبی می دانند که چگونه حکومت‌های مرکزی در‌ مقاطع مختلف تبعیض‌هایی را بر اساس قومیت افراد اعمال کردند و آنها را به حاشیه راندند۰

در فردای روشن پس از انقلاب یکی از نقاط خیلی مهم و بنیادی، گذر از دین مداری و قومیت گرایی از یک‌ سو و تاکید درست بر هویت دربرگیرنده ایرانی است۰

حال که دیدیم دین و قومیت در برساخت مفهوم ایرانی نقش مثبت که ندارند هیچ، نقش منفی هم دارند، این سوال پیش می آید که ایرانی بودن را چگونه می توان تعریف کرد. در یک تعریف پیشنهادی دربرگیرنده، ایرانی را می توان کسی دانست که سه شرط زیر را احراز کند۰

یک) با سرزمین ایران ارتباط زادگاهی، اصالتی و یا اقامتی داشته باشد. منظور از ارتباط زادگاهی این است که صرف نظر از اصالت یا ملیت پدر و مادر اگر کسی در خاک ایران زاده شده باشد، حق ایرانی بودن را داشته باشد. منظور از ارتباط اصالتی این است که اگر کسی خارج از ایران هم زاده شده باشد، ولی اگر پدر، مادر یا اجداد ایرانی داشته باشد، بتواند از حق ایرانی بودن برخوردار باشد. شرط سوم هم که اقامت است. به عنوان مثال، ایران هم در آینده می تواند به عنوان یک کشور مهاجر پذیر به شهروندان کشورهای دیگر در صورت اقامت کافی و مستمر در ایران (مثلا ۵ یا ۷ سال) این اجازه را بدهد که ایرانی شوند. البته در صورت احراز دو شرط دیگر که در زیر آمده است.

دو) قادر است به زبان فارسی تکلم کند (هر چند لزومی ندارد که فارسی زبان مادری اش باشد.)۰

سه) به تاریخ و تمدن کهن این مرز و بوم واقف است و به آن افتخار کند. همچنین از میراث غنی فرهنگی ایران اطلاع داشته و به آن پایبند باشد، مثلا نوروز و شب یلدا را جشن بگیرد و با ادبیات و بخصوص شعر و هنر و موسیقی ایرانی بتواند ارتباط برقرار کند۰

ممکن‌ است برای بعضی تعجب آور باشد که چرا دانستن زبان فارسی یکی از ارکان ایرانی بودن است، ولی با مراجعه به تاریخ خواهید دید که همین زبان فارسی تسلسل‌ مفهوم ایران و ایرانی بودن را به عنوان یک ملت شکل داده است. پیش از توضیح معیار سوم لازم‌ است دو مورد را درباره زبان فارسی بیشتر توضیح دهم. اول اینکه فارسی لزومی ندارد زبان مادری کسی باشد. زبان مادری می تواند کردی، آذری، عربی یا هر چیزی باشد. ولی دانستن زبان فارسی شالوده مشترکی‌ ایجاد می‌کند که تمام شهروندان این ملت را به هم متصل می کند. دوم اینکه که اگر روزی ایران تصمیم بگیرد کشوری مهاجر پذیر باشد و به مهاجرانش‌ حق شهروندی اعطا کند، مانند خیلی کشورهای دیگر یکی از شروط اصلی، قابلیت فرد مهاجر به ایجاد ارتباط به زبان فارسی خواهد بود۰

تاریخ و تمدن یکی از شاخص های اصلی ایرانی بودن است. هر هویتی با افتخار به عناصر وابسته به آن معنا پیدا می کند. هویت ایرانی متصل به تمدنی‌ عظیم، با شکوه، قدرتمند و با قدمت است. جدا کردن هویت ایرانی از تاریخ و تمدن ایران زمین نتیجه ای جز تضعیف هویت ‌و روحیه ایرانی نخواهد داشت. البته باید واقف بود که تاریخ هیچ کشوری خالی از نقاط تاریک، تنگناهای پیچیده و فراز و نشیبهای عبرت انگیز نیست و وقتی صبحت از تاریخ ایران می شود، بر‌ هر ایرانی است که خودآگاهی کافی نسبت به هم فرازها و هم نشیبهای این تاریخ پیدا کند که همانند برخی صرفا دچار خودبزرگ‌ بینی یا خودشیفتگی تاریخی نشود۰

جنبه دوم معیار سوم فرهنگ به عنوان وجه مشترک یک ملت است. همانند چسبی که تک تک افراد آن جامعه را بر اساس ارزش‌هایی مشترک به هم می چسباند. حال این فرهنگ می تواند شامل آیین های مشترک‌ ملی مانند نوروز، شب یلدا، جشن مهرگان یا چهارشنبه سوری باشد یا می‌تواند به صورت جنبه های رفتاری مانند مهمان نواری خاص ایرانی، آداب دانی، نوع دوستی، یا عشق به خانه و خانواده خود را نشان دهد. هر چه باشد، یک ایرانی در‌ تمام دنیا ویژگی های فرهنگی و رفتاری خاصی دارد که منحصر به خود می باشد (چه مثبت، چه منفی)۰

حال که به مختصات اصلی ایرانی بودن که به طور خلاصه شامل ارتباط مکانی (به عنوان زادگاه، اصالت یا محل اقامت)، ارتباط زبانی، و ارتباط فرهنگی و احساسی است اشاره کردیم، وقت آن است که به چند سوال اساسی که مربوط‌ به ایران پس از انقلاب حاضر و با تعاملات به مراتب بیشتر با جامعه جهانی می باشد، فکر‌ کنیم۰

 سوال اول) اگر یک ایرانی و یک غیر ایرانی با هم ازدواج کنند، آیا فرزندشان ایرانی خواهد بود؟ در بیشتر کشورهای دنیا این قانون وجود دارد که حق‌ شهروندی از طریق یک والد به کودک داده می شود. ولی احراز هویت ایرانی بحث دیگری است و علاوه بر ارتباط پدر و مادری، می تواند منوط به این‌ باشد که این فرزندان فارسی بیاموزند، با فرهنگ و آداب و رسوم ایرانی آشنا باشند و به هویت ایرانی خود نیز افتخار‌ کنند. این فرزندان به اصطلاح دورگه‌ و یا زاده شده در خارج همان اندازه می‌توانند از هویت ایرانی بهره مند‌ باشند‌ که هر ایرانی زاده شده از پدر‌ و مادر ایرانی یا زاده شده در ایران۰

سول دوم) آیا هویت ایرانی که اصل اول شهروندی است، مادرزادی است یا قابل اکتساب؟ به طور تاریخی، می دانیم که مهاجرپذیری ایران بیشتر از کشورهای همسایه یا در راستای شاهراه های ارتباطی مانند جاده ابریشم بوده است. اما دور از ذهن نیست که به سبب کاهش رشد جمعیت و کاهش جمعیت شاغل، درهای ایران در آینده به سوی شهروندان کشورهای دوردست هم گشوده شود. همانگونه که ایرانیان به سوی جوامع دیگر مهاجرت کردند، ممکن است در مقطعی نیاز به نیروی کار ماهر پیدا شود و یا ایران جاذبه های مهاجرپذیری پیدا کند. در آن هنگام است که تسهیل‌ کسب هویت ایرانی به مهاجران این امکان را می دهد که در جامعه بزرگ ایران و به عنوان یک ایرانی پذیرفته شوند و احساس شهروندی درجه دومی یا مهمان موقت نکنند۰

سوال سوم) با توجه به سه معیار بالا، آیا یک ایران شناس آمریکایی یا انگلیسی که فارسی می داند و به فرهنگ ایران هم عشق می ورزد، ایرانی به شمار می رود؟ طبق بحث بالا، این شخص معیار اول را ندارد چون زاده ایران نیست، از پدر و مادر یا اجداد ایرانی نیست، و مقیم ایران هم نیست. همانگونه که می بینید، با در نظر گرفتن سه شرط ذکر شده، براحتی می توان سناریوهای مختلف را بررسی کرد و در مورد احراز شروط ایرانی بودن و قوی بودن آنها نظر داد۰

سوال چهارم) پرسش سختی که وجود دارد این است که در فردای پس از انقلاب، تکلیف کسانی که در برابر ملت ایران ایستادند و به دلیل عقاید افراطی مذهبی یا نفع شخصی و گروهی، دست به برادرکشی‌ و خواهرکشی زدند، چیست؟ آیا همانند انقلاب قبلی این بار نوبت حذف آنها (فیزیکی یا معنوی) خواهد بود؟ آیا از آنها خواهیم خواست که به کشورهایی که مامن‌ خوبی برای افراطی گرایی است مهاجرت کنند؟ آیا آنها را در ایران نگاه می داریم ولی مانند شهروند درجه دوم با آنها رفتار می کنیم؟ یا آغوش میهن را برایشان باز می گذاریم تا بمانند و همانند هر شهروند دیگری خوشبختی خود را از نو تعریف کنند؟ پاسخ با شما و آیندگان۰

بگذارید این گفتار را با این ببندیم که شرط اول رسیدن به این آرمان دراز مدت این است که در درجه اول، شهروندان فعلی ایران، به دلیل جنسیت، قومیت، دگرباشی، دگراندیشی، و داشتن/ نداشتن اعتقادات مذهبی‌ احساس دست دومی‌ نکند، به زندان نیفتد، کشته نشود، و از همان حقوق و امکاناتی بهره مند باشد که سایرین بهره مندند. در درجه دوم نه تنها حقوق اولیه تمام ایرانیان برابر باشد، بلکه فرصتها و امتیازاتی که افراد می توانند دنبال کنند منوط به جنسیت، قومیت، طرز تفکر یا مذهب نباشد. و این بحثی است که در گفتار خوشبختی ایرانی به آن خواهیم پرداخت۰

ایرانی بودن در بسیاری از ایرانیان در نیم قرن اخیر آمیزه ای دردناک از افتخار توام با شرمساری بوده است. امیدوارم روزی برسد که ایرانی بودن برای تمام ایرانیان فارغ از جایگاهشان در اجتماع و هویتهای فردی و خصوصی که دارند، مایه سربلندی و افتخار باشد۰

For Iran’s Tomorrow

Posted by Pejman Azarmina

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پیشگفتار

هرکسی را بهر کاری ساختند.ا

نه موی چندانی بر سر دارم که به نشانه اتحاد ببرم۰

نه دلی بی باک که بر خیابان بیایم و شعار سر دهم۰

نه سری پرشور که داستانسرای رسانه های اجتماعی باشم۰

و نه هنری قابل عرضه برای انگیزش دیگران۰

فقط قلمی در دست، سوالهایی بی پاسخ و امیدی به آینده ای بهتر برای ایران و ایرانی۰

از این روست که در این ده مقاله کوتاه به موضوعاتی خواهم پرداخت که از دید بسیاری بی معنی، بی ربط، بیجا و بی وقت است. ایران همچنان آبستن حوادث است و من در فکر دانشگاه رفتن چنین طفلی هستم که به دنیا خواهد آمد۰

اما ترسیم چنین دورنمایی لازم است. لازم است همین الان که گیسوان خود را می بریم، جلوی گلوله سینه سپر می کنیم، خطر اعتصاب را به جان می خریم و خون نوجوانان و جوانان را بر کف خیابان و در و دیوار می بینیم، بیندیشیم. نه تنها به احساس قوی و انگیزه ای که ما را به سمت شکستن این دیوار، این دیو و این اهریمن صفتان می کشاند، بلکه به آینده ای که در فراسوی این دیوار انتظار ما را می کشد. همین فکر، همین برنامه، همین دورنماست که به نهال مبارزه ما آب می رساند، نور می تاباند و محملی برای رشدش می شود۰

نکته بنیادی دیگر این است که عدم پرداخت به این بحثهای بنیادین بهای سنگینی در دراز مدت دارد. من تصور نمی کنم هیچ شهروندی علاقه داشته باشد در کشوری زندگی کند که هر ۴۰-۵۰ سال یک انقلاب را تجربه کند و گروههای مختلف آن قدر مطالبات پاسخ داده نشده و خشم فروخورده داشته باشند که چاره ای جز تغییر نظام برای احقاق حقوقشان نداشته باشند. یکی از مشکلات در انقلابهای معاصر ایران این بوده که در تعریف مفاهیم بنیادین اتفاق نظر وجود نداشته یا راه حلهای پیش پا گذاشته، همراه با نادیده انگاشتن حقوق اقشار قابل توجهی از جامعه بوده است. از این روست که باید هر چه زودتر وارد این مقولات شد و نقاط مشترک اساسی را از همان اول تبیین کرد۰

پاسخها و راه حلهای من نظر فقط یک فرد است. ولی همین نظرها وقتی در بحث دیالکتیک با سایر دیدگاهها قرار می گیرد به مرور شکل گرفته و به طرحی اولیه برای نقشه ای عظیم می تواند تبدیل شود. نقشی هم که به عنوان نگارنده این سطور برای خود قایلم بیشتر در طرح سوال، اولیت بندی مسایل کلیدی و مشارکت فعال در هسته فکری نظام آینده ایران است. فقط در حد یک شهروندی که می خواهد مسوولیت خود را در حد توان فکری خود ایفا نماید۰

در ۱۰ گفتار آینده اگر بتوانم سوالهایی مطرح کنم که اندیشه شما را به گونه ای بینگیزاند که حتا یک درصد در شکل گیری فردای بهتری برای ایران تاثیر داشته باشد، در این ماموریت شخصی در قبال وطنم و هم میهنانم احساس سربلندی خواهم کرد۰

گفتار یکم: ایرانی کیست؟
گفتار دوم: خوشبختی ایرانی
گفتار سوم: آزادی ایرانی
گفتار چهارم: جایگاه جهانی
گفتار پنجم: حکومت ایران
گفتار ششم: به سوی اقتصاد یک تریلیون دلاری
گفتار هفتم: انقلاب فرهنگی از نوع سوم
گفتار هشتم: حفظ محیط زیست
گفتار نهم: مدیریت و رهبری
گفتار دهم: فرداهای دیگر
پس گفتار: پس فردای انقلاب

Iran in Crisis: 2022 Version

Posted by Pejman Azarmina

How can we make sense of Iran’s crisis in September 2022? Is it a women’s rights movement? Is it a civil rights movement? Is it a prelude to a revolution to topple over the Islamic Republic? Is it an outcry to change an authoritarian supreme leader? Or something else?

To add to the complexity of the issues at hand, we are faced with a multitude of other questions? What is a favorable outcome? How can we help? Is it destined to die down in the absence of clear leadership? Could the regime’s iron feast and shutting down the Internet manage the situation?

We cannot understand the undertones of Iran’s place in the world without appreciating the three driving forces of the root causes of its peril:

Dwindling Diversity & Exclusionist Approach: First and foremost, the problem lies in a misguided intent of the Islamic Regime to create a homogeneous Shia society after the Revolution of 1979. That led to the prosecution, social exclusion and out-flux of Jewish, Christian, Baha’i, Assyrian, Zoroastrian, Sufist, and many Sunni Iranian who couldn’t see a viable future for their children under that regime. The same blade pointed at intellectuals, artists, authors, LGBTQi community and simply anyone who didn’t match the strict doctrine of the supreme leader and his successor.

On the other hand, women’s exclusion has had a very paradoxical story in Iran. In a country that 60% of their college graduate are women, when it comes to their dress code, freedom of choice and ability to hold high office and leadership roles, they are treated very poorly and sometimes with utmost disrespect and humiliation. The majority of women in Iran don’t believe in a strict Islamic dress code and the majority of men affiliated with them, i.e. their fathers, brothers, partners and sons support that view. Hence, it’s no wonder that a catastrophic event like Mahsa Amini’s death ignites the entire nation (and all those in exile) as almost every Iranian soul can identify with the pain of being humiliated, excluded, harassed and even persecuted because of their inherent and natural identities.

If there is any path out of this crisis for Iran, if anyone wants to wildly-imagine a bright future for this country? Well, such bright future cannot exist without addressing the huge value that our diversity has. It cannot exist without truly including diverse voices, regardless of their gender, religious backgrounds, neuro-diversity, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Obviously, freedom of dress code and relaxing the hijab rules can be regarded as a favorable short-term outcome, but without addressing the fundamental patriarchal systems that fuels gender inequalities in Iran and similar countries, we wouldn’t see true progress.

This short blog wouldn’t be complete without addressing the other two crisis-provoking forces in Iran. They are not directly linked to the current uprising, but they have been a cause for decline in the place of Iran as a nation in the world.

Isolationist Policy: In short, Iran is currently one of the few nations that had a 180 degree turn in its originally-outwardly policy toward the globe. We missed the boat when it came to globalization two decades ago and thanks to international sanctions, Iran’s economy and markets are mostly segregated from the rest of the world. Who is here to blame? Arguably, a “no-West-no-East” doctrine introduced in 1979. As if by severing relationships, economical and political, we are motivated to become self-reliant and independent. Little we knew that this isolation led Iran that had the potential of becoming a trillion dollar non-oil-dependent economy, into a dwarf economy struggling to make ends meet. More on that in other blogs…

Paranoia and Trust Issues: Iran had a very bitter-sweet (mostly bitter) relationships with its neighbors and allies. Our history is filled with stories of being brutally invaded from the East, West, North and South over and over again. The relationship with Western powers is mixed with being betrayed and exploited over the past two centuries. If Iran was a person, people would have said it “has trust issues”. It takes a long time to rebuild that trust and to allow ourselves to be open to new relationships, especially with the US and European nations. Our relationships with our neighbors is also filled with those bitter-sweet memories. Therefore, a nation-building exercise in Iran cannot be regarded as complete without addressing those critical relationships regionally and globally.

Let’s end this with answering some of the questions posed in the second paragraph:

What is a favorable outcome? Based on the above argument, abolishing the morality police is not a favorable long-term outcome. It’s the system that fuels patriarchy, discrimination, and injustice toward women. Anything short of a system change would not address the root cause of our crisis.

How can we help? Well, it depends where you are and who you are. I am personally a fan of non-violent action and civil disobedience. That’s what Iranian women and men have been doing for decades now and they are taking it to a different level. Just simple (and extremely brave) acts of disobedience such as partially or fully removing hijab shakes the oppressors foundations to the core. More than anything, it’s the persistence over time that catalyzes the change. The victory is not by outnumbering or out-gunning the oppressors. It’s by changing their minds and hearts so they would flip and come to your side.

Is it destined to die down in the absence of clear leadership? Not necessarily. In some cultures including Iran, there is a common belief that no movement can be victorious without leadership. That’s not true. There are a multitude of movements (civil or revolutionary) that the leadership emerged as the struggles advanced toward victory. And sometimes, a leader was elected after change happened.

Could the regime’s iron feast and shutting down the Internet manage the situation? Most likely yes but for short-term. The longer it takes, the less fearful people become. No system can suppress the majority of its people and survive long. That’s why there is so much hope, so much fresh air in this unique uprising of Iranians whose wishes are beautifully summarized in one of their key slogans: women, life and liberty.

Post-Corona Envisioned

Posted by Pejman Azarmina

COVID-19 Pandemic proved again how fragile and unprepared our healthcare systems and economies are, how much nations lack the proper coordination and preparedness to mitigate the impact of such outbreaks and how vulnerable we are collectively as humans.

In this short blog, I am going to share with you 5 key macro-level phenomena that has to be considered in order for us to have a different experience next time we are faced with a global-scale pandemic like this.

Globalization 4.0: It’s very hard to envision that we would or we could go back to the pre-globalization era. However, we need to redefine globalization and envision a brave new version that addresses the following three issues we see with the current one:

  • Mass Air Travels: Can we sustain such high levels of air travel for either tourism or for business. Although the short-term economic benefits of tourism and business travels are undeniable, they make us prone to pandemics like this and we are realizing more than ever that so much of our trips and travels are actually “unnecessary”.
  • Back-up Self-Sufficiency Plans: It’s lovely that we can manufacture goods in other parts of the world at a fraction of their costs. However, when and if those nations are affected by diseases or disasters, we would feel the pain big time! A contingency plan to sustain the manufacturing ability of almost all essential goods within our borders is going to be a key in surviving disruptive periods like this.
  • Borders with Purpose: Imagining a borderless world is very inspiring; however, city borders, state borders and national borders can serve a purpose beyond immigration and administrative considerations. They can actually save lives at times like this. We seem to have lost the ability (or political will) to close our borders in a timely and effective manner. In the current pandemic, border closures either didn’t happen at all or happened too late for many countries and states. This is one of those critical concepts that needs to be revived without advocating for protectionism or separatism.

Personal Freedoms vs. Collective Safety: This is going to be a hot topic for many years to come. I am sure many people dreamed of having a Wuhan-style crackdown on Coronavirus, but we all know that in Western world (mostly Europe and Northern America) people would rather die than compromise their personal freedoms and petite liberties. I live in Southern California. There has been a relatively strict “stay at home” order in place for several weeks now, but still it came too late, like many other places, and it’s not being followed or enforced universally. It’s basically left to citizens to “do the right thing”. Meanwhile, other nations with a bit more totalitarian approaches were able to enforce a more strict protocol and overcome the epidemic much faster and more effectively. I don’t know what’s the right answer but in a few weeks when we might be in deep economic recession, we might realize that personal freedoms are a bit overrated at critical times like this!

Fast-Forwarding and Technology Accelerations: One of the most fascinating stories that I was following was the catapulting of some trends and technologies that are needed at a time like this. To name a few, virtual meeting and virtual learning platforms were already there and many people were already using them, but nothing like the novel Coronavirus could have accelerated their universal adoption across certain demographics that you would ever think are likely to convert to using them. Also, think about telemedicine/telehealth, same thing is happening there as well. Some hospitals had that capability, but now they are using it for everyone to avoid physical contact and unnecessary trips to the hospitals. On that note, let’s not forget that processes and regulations for vaccine development, drug development, rapid testing and medical device development (e.g. ventilators) are also going to be fundamentally revised, revamped and streamlined either as we speak or in the aftermath of the epidemic.

New Normals: How we define and experience living spaces, work and human relationships is unlikely to go back to pre-COVID era.

  • As for work, a significant number of employees may never want to work from the office again (if their work allows that, of course). If they are working from home for 2-3 months and they are productive, why do they need to change that? Of course, more traditional employers are going to push their employees to go back to their offices for some time, but it won’t be the same.
  • As for where we live, fundamental changes are in order too. We saw that denser metropolitan areas are harder hit and it’s more challenging for city dwellers to exercise social distancing as compared to people living in suburbs and less dense areas. We live in an area with walking access to the beach and a multitude of trails to walk and exercise, which proved to be such a wonderful natural anti-depressant and anxiolytic during our hard times. People will appreciate nature and its beauties and energy much more once we get past this Armageddon. And more people may choose to live closer to nature than in busy urban settings.
  • And as for personal relationships and social interactions, do you think that people would ever go back to their firm handshakes, hugs and kisses? Maybe they do, in a few months or years. But be ready for more waving, more fist bumps and some borrowed greeting gestures from other cultures.

Neo-heroism: I would like to end by this fascinating development. I live in the United States, where heroes are considered an essential part of our society’s fabric. Half a century ago, those heroes were fictional characters for the most part. Two decades ago, they were embodied as first-responders when 9/11 happened. But now a much bigger segment of our societies (doctors, nurses, pharmacists and in general anyone working in healthcare sector plus our farmers, mailmen, couriers, Amazon depot workers, grocery store workers, waste management, clean water, gas and electric administrators and technicians) are all added to the category. They might be doing their jobs and are being compensated for it, but from a humanistic point of view, everyone is realizing how things could have been much worse, if these essential workers were not risking their lives and stayed home like we did.

In summary, the world post-COVID-19 is not going to be the same. Once we pass the immediate health, economic and social burden of this pandemic, we need a cocktail of macro-level changes at a global scale to ensure we do a better job next time round. Without that, our scattered lessons learned, social media posts and compassion-based actions are not going to be enough. Let’s embrace this future as it unfolds and be a proactive contributor as it’s shaped.

On dangers of glorification of success and winning

Posted by Pejman Azarmina

PedestalMost societies value success and winning, no matter how we define them. Winners and successful people receive more attention, are more popular, are generally better paid, progress in their careers faster and people would view them as role models, leaders and most importantly as being “right”.

In a capitalist society where income or net profit (in a business) is regarded as a critical metric for success, those who create more jobs, make most profit,  earn most and simply get ahead (by explicitly or implicitly beating others) along the way are generally better-respected, valued and glorified by the society. People want to follow their examples, listen to them and learn from them.

In a socialist society, it’s not that different. Success and winning are defined or measured differently, but the consequences are very similar. Those who serve the society most (such as civil servants, university professors, social entrepreneurs, job-creators, doctors or teachers) especially if they go above and beyond their call of duty become the role models and celebrities in those societies.

This trend exists even at nation levels. Those countries who are more successful or win in an international race (be it the World Cup or the World War) gain this special status. Think about the US and Soviet Union post WWII. Think about Germany and Japan in terms of their industrial might and success. Think about China, South Korea, U.A.E. and so on. Winning and success demands global respect and attention, followed by gaining more influence, power and authority over other nations.

So far so good. What is wrong with that? Why shouldn’t we celebrate success and winning? Why shouldn’t we respect and follow self-made billionaires, Gold Medalists, Nobel Prize winners and anyone who sits at the top of any organizational structure? Let’s ask the same question for successful people in our own circles. Someone we know who makes twice as much as we do? Someone who has one or two degrees more than what we have? Someone who is at the top of our class (for students)? Someone who is the boss of our boss (for employees)? Etc. Etc. Why shouldn’t we glorify them and follow their examples?

Of course, we can and sometimes we should. Sometimes a winner is “right”. Sometimes a more successful person should be a “role model” or a “leader”. But what if he or she is wrong? What if he or she sets a bad example or is a terrible leader? I would argue that our societies tend to overrate the righteousness of successful people and downplay their flaws or weaknesses. Also, our societies tend to glorify the elite and ignore the hidden moral and intellectual gems of the non-elite.

Let’s say 1 out of 100 people achieve a significant accomplishment. It’s much easier to [falsely] argue that based on this accomplishment [which is a fact], that person is superior to others. It’s such an easy [yet false] generalization, because we don’t need to evaluate the other 99 people and we don’t need to evaluate the totality of that 1 successful person.

This leaves us with a few significant implications to consider:

  1. Ideas and viewpoints of the few elite is heard and amplified more than the ideas and viewpoints of the rest 99%. Just look at a Speakers Bureau like Harry Walker and see what types of winners and successful people are listened to and get paid more to speak at corporate or professional events. Also, look at the job titles of those who write biography or career advice books. Is the story of a successful CEO or COO [who made it] more amplifiable and inspiring than the story of other executives and leaders who tried as hard but just didn’t make it to the very top?
  2. This blog is written one day after 2016 Super Tuesday. If glorification of success wasn’t a norm in our society, we might have had a different prospects and outcomes in our political system. People say “He must have done something right to be very successful”, implying that success justifies being/doing right and therefore he is a good fit to become the next US President.
  3. If success and winning were not glorified this much, children and young people wouldn’t be pressured so much to compete and beat the rest instead of partner and collaborate with others.
  4. At the global level, we might wonder why countries that are mightier or more successful economically should have a stronger voice and influence over matters such as war and peace. Or their votes matter more than the votes of other nations doing economically OK and not interested in military supremacy.

So what? Can we even change this norm? Perhaps not. Or not so quickly. But a starting point is by changing our own personal attitudes toward success and failure. By changing how we should celebrate failure and exercise humility upon our own successes. By trying to avoid an automatic extrapolation of strengths or righteousness based on one’s success or accomplishments. And by de-glorifying the elite in the eyes of our children, employees or students. To highlight that the winners are not necessarily right and the losers could be very right too.

Did Maslow get it wrong?

Posted by Pejman Azarmina

Maslow's Hierarchy of NeedsAlmost all of us are familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943). For something developed over 70 years ago, it’s absolutely brilliant, mostly because it proposes that in order to go one level higher, we need to fulfill the needs in the lower levels. One cannot self-actualize or in his words be ‘ultimately happy’ if esteem, love, safety and basic physiological needs are not met.

The impact of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs went much beyond academic circles and psychology literature. It changed the world by influencing the formation of Human Potential Movement in the 1960s and then arguably the development of an army of entrepreneurs, inventors and visionaries who made the pursuit of self-actualization as their life missions. Some of the icons behind the Silicon Valley of late 20th century and today were inspired directly and indirectly by Maslow’s model and the world owes him a great deal for how he envisioned our needs in this hierarchical manner.

But let’s take a look at the implications of this model and the assumptions it makes:

  1. That there is a linear sequence in order to self-actualize. We must satisfy our other needs before addressing our need to self-actualize. One cannot truly self-actualize if he or she is struggling financially, feels unsafe, is unloved and lacks self-confidence.
  2. That the ultimate need of a human being is self-actualization. This model doesn’t state this explicitly but it’s screaming this notion just by the visual representation of it: self-actualization at the top of our needs and the ultimate source of motivation.
  3. That self-actualization is only possible and attainable by a few [super-humans] who surpass the hurdles and obstacles of fulfilling all their other needs.
  4. That “self” is the center of the world. We need to think about actualizing oneself in order to attain our highest potential.

Let’s think about these! Is it really so? Do you agree with the implications and assumptions listed above? Or you too see the flaws of this system?

  1. We know that the our development can sometimes follow a nonlinear model. There are self-actualized people whose other needs are not met or they might be partially met.
  2. Self-actualization might not be the ultimate need of many. We humans have a complex value system and in some other things might be their ultimate needs, such as:
    • The need to do the right thing regardless of all circumstances
    • The need to serve humanity and others, even total strangers just because they are human beings like us
    • The need to serve and be there for our loved ones, family members or friends
    • The need to defend a group of people, an ideology or a belief system, just because we belong to the same group of people or we ascribe to that way of thinking
  3. SELF might not be the center of the world. Many people don’t live just to maximize their self-interests and potentials. People can live and be happy by serving others or serving various causes or non-self-oriented missions.

Let’s go back to the question at the top. Judging if Maslow was right or wrong is actually not the point. Pragmatically, the point is to consider whether this mindset is going to help people or organizations or is going to put them in a potentially dangerous trajectory. If the latter, why not considering other ways of looking at our needs and sources of motivation and to opt in for a more complex nonlinear yet closer-to-reality approach.

Who is your Thinking Partner?

Posted by Pejman Azarmina

We all think … for different reasons… most of our lives. We think to make decisions, big decisions like whom to marry and small decisions like what to eat for dinner. We think to solve problems, big ones such as finding a better-paying or more satisfying job to small ones such as finding a good parking spot. We think about ourselves, why we did this, said that and wanted those. We also think about others, why she did this, he said that and they acted like that.

We do it all the time… thinking, I mean. We ruminate on our thoughts, over and over again… to spend time, daydream, escape from reality and even suppress bad feelings that come to us the moment we are not engaged in an activity or conversation. In our loneliness, we think. We think about our past, our future, and about the mundane things and routines we obsessively pursue. Occasionally, we think to create: arts, ideas, sounds, images, you name it. Thinking is so powerful. Thinking is part of who we are. Thinking IS what we are.

©iStockphoto.com/Mark Stay

Most of the time we think on our own. But we also think in partnerships. We may not call it that way, but that’s what we actually do. Whenever we share our thoughts and ask for feedback, comments, advice, guidance, suggestions, it’s a way of thinking in partnerships. And the person we engage in that process is basically our “Thinking Partner“. It could be a friend, a family member, someone from work or even a complete stranger. The relationship is not that important, the nature of thought-sharing and partnership is what matters.

Sometimes we get what we need, sometimes we don’t, and sometimes we get too much. We usually don’t ask for psychoanalysis or value judgement when we ask for someone’s opinion. In other words, we don’t want to feel bad about ourselves. We also don’t want someone else to make the decisions or solve the problems for us (although sometimes we do!). We want to take ownership of our problems, decisions and challenges and feel good about finding solutions and taking the right and even wrong paths that make sense to us. That’s it; nothing more; and for that reason, sometimes we tap onto other people’s thinking power, who care for us, or have more experience than us. They may be wiser than us, or just simply look at our issues from different angle. And that might be just what we need: a different perspective, a different way of looking at things. We take it in and make our own decisions, hopefully better ones.

We all have our thinking partners. Our moms, dads, friends, relatives, bosses, coworkers and even children can become our thinking partners at some points in our lives. They know us very well and most of the time they have our best interests in mind. However, they are not impartial. They have their own agendas and interests in their minds as well. And that complicates things. For a decision that directly affects our career, relying on a coworker or our boss (no matter how well-intentioned they are) might not give us the impartial and unbiased perspective we need. The same is with family members and friends. That’s why we need to be careful about whom we partner with or consult.

Sometimes we may even decide to ask for professional help. In other words, to pay someone to act as our dedicated thinking partner and do their job without biases or prior assumptions. He or she knows the boundaries, has experience in various thinking methods or processes and can hold us accountable for our own solutions and decisions. Isn’t that great? Sometimes it is, especially when we find the right one. But the good ones are not so easy to find and they are usually very busy helping many people at the same time. Still, it’s worth to find someone in our lives that we could count on as our own Thinking Partner.

So, to wrap up, I would like to invite you yo spend a few minutes thinking about these three things:
– Have you used a thinking partner at some points in your life? Who was that person? And in what respect did she or he help you make a decision, find a solution or come up with something new?
– Who is your ideal thinking partner? What are the criteria or characteristics that you are looking in that person?
– What areas of your life you think you might need a thinking partner? Career? Relationships? Spirituality? Health? Money issues? or something else?

End or Beginning?

Posted by Pejman Azarmina

A few days ago, I received a message from Peter Senge (the author of the Fifth Discipline and the founder of the Society for Organizational Learning) inviting me to reflect on a few question at a time that was marked by the end of a few-thousand-year-old calendar and the start of a new one. In particular, I was invited to think about the following questions:

  1. What am I committed to transforming in myself?
  2. What seeds do I, and we, want to plant and cultivate for the well being of people and all life on earth?
  3. What is the story that will be told in 100 years about what was transformed in this new beginning?

I took all these three questions very seriously and thought about the following answers:

1. What am I committed to transforming in myself?

  • To be less conservative and more courageous when it comes to expressing the truth and implementing justice
  • To be more proactive in connecting with people
  • To have no fear of failure, being judged and criticized by others

2. What seeds do I, and we, want to plant and cultivate for the well being of people and all life on earth?

  • Thinkocrats, especially as it relates to politics, leadership, education and healthcare

3. What is the story that will be told in 100 years about what was transformed in this new beginning?

  • That a group of people in 2012-13 decided to think differently about how they wanted to lead their lives and suspended some of their assumptions about how the world runs. In business, the “growth model” was challenged and people started to realize that “sustainability” and “growth” contradict by nature and the growth MUST stop at certain point of any kind of life cycle (including businesses and nations). In politics, the notion of “policy following the voters” was also challenged as people started to realize that if policy would only follow the voters’ wishes, a regression to the mean would be inevitable and no visionary leadership can exist. In medicine, a movement for “open system” started, which resembles the open-source movement in computer software. This movement changed the patient-doctor dynamics forever and had a huge impact on global movement of medical talent, cost of healthcare and patient choice. Hundred years ago, people started to fundamentally reassess the direction of human civilization and conducted some critical course corrections along the way.

I would like to share a musical sketch that I composed a couple of days ago that expresses the hopes I have for the future and the uncertainties that are the integral parts of this exciting journey.

Holistic Life Plans

Posted by Pejman Azarmina

There are more than seven billion ways to live a life and we can’t judge people based on how they live. Why? Because it’s either their conscious choices, which we can learn to respect; or it’s a matter of external factors. And we can’t really blame anyone for things beyond his or her control.

But when it comes to ourselves, we must ask this simple yet fundamental question: “How do I want to live my life?”  There are a few ways to answer this.

“What happens to me in the future is the result of my smart decisions, detailed planning and seamless execution.”

“What happens to me in the future is my destiny. No matter how much I think, plan or try, I can’t change my destiny. It will happen no matter what I do.”

“I don’t want to think about the future. All I have is now, the present moment, so I want to live it the best way I can.”

“I think and dream about the future a lot. But I don’t need to plan for it now. It will happen.”

“I have a dream for my future, but I don’t know how to make it a reality. Hopefully it will happen. I’m optimistic.”

“I choose to follow the template provided by my religion and spiritual beliefs, which tells me how I should live and gives me a method to achieve it.”

Each of these mindsets is valid on its own; we can’t say one way of thinking is right and another way wrong. However, the fact that you have chosen this book is some indication that you believe in something like the first statement above. If you believe that your choices, decisions, planning and hard work play a significant role in shaping your future, then what you will read in the coming paragraphs is going to be music to your ears.

Before starting, it’s important to note that there is a difference between a “significant role” and an “absolute role” in creating your future. No human being is able to predict the future or plan for it with 100% certainty. It’s humanly impossible. What you can do is to make your contribution as significant as possible. The rest should be left to your good fortune, a higher power (if you believe in one), other people and sometimes to pure chance.

The one-three-five-year plans

Creating a holistic life plan is very easy. It’s so easy that anyone can do it without the help of a professional. Let’s see how. I would like to start by sharing three holistic life plans belonging to a single person named Jason. The first one is a five-year plan, the other is a three-year plan and the last one is a one-year plan. Quite deliberately, I am not giving you a narrative of his future plans, so that you have the chance to re-create his story, dreams and ambitions in your own words.

A 5-year holistic life plan
(* PMP: Project Management Professional)

 

A 3-year holistic life plan
(* PMP: Project Management Professional)

 

A 1-year holistic life plan
(** PMBOK: Project Management Book of Knowledge)

As you see above, there is a lot of detail and data in these three plans, but the essence of them is quite simple. It’s a breakdown of Jason’s goals in different areas of his life with a timeline attached to it.

All these plans are holistic by nature. This means that they are not focusing only on one aspect of Jason’s life. They address different dimensions of his life, from work to relationships, from spirituality to recreation, from health to finances. Why? Because we can’t plan for something in one area of our lives and ignore the impact or influence on other areas. An individual’s life contains many different aspects—all those listed here and some others besides—and all of them need to be considered in the life plan, if the intention is to create a holistic one. Otherwise the plan, and the life, may become imbalanced and one-dimensional.

These diagrams represent one-, three-, and five-year plans. Obviously, we can make longer-term plans for 10 years and 20 years or shorter-term ones for three to six months. Experience shows that one-year plans are detailed enough to grab our attention and enable us to prioritize our daily tactics to achieve something. Three-year plans are somewhere between strategic and tactical in that they reflect our ambitions and visions, but at the same time capture enough of the detail needed for their execution. And five-year plans are generally strategic by nature; they help to keep us focused on our aspirations and long-term goals. Beyond five years, the accuracy of any plan diminishes significantly.

Although these plans are holistic, let’s keep in mind that the level of certainty we can expect will vary according to the specific area. For example, a plan to get a degree in subject X or live in city Y is much more within our control than planning to get married in three years or get a senior level position at company Z. We can certainly increase our chances in some specific areas, but we cannot guarantee them. In the case of marriage, someone else needs to choose us as well and either propose or say yes! Being conscious of this fact may prevent some disappointments or limit excessive daydreaming about things out of our controls.

How to create and use your plans?

The best way to start is by creating your five-year holistic life plan, considering all the uncertainties and unknowns that may exist in your life. Then, focus on a more detailed three-year plan. Based on your three-year aspirations, create a one-year tactical plan detailing what you should be doing on a month-by-month basis to achieve your first-year goals. If you realize it’s too ambitious and unrealistic, go back to your three- to five-year plans and revise them until your first year plan becomes realistic. Then, execute the first-year plan and, depending on your actual achievements, review and revise your mid-term and long-terms goals and timelines. Every year, create a one-year tactical plan and stick to it as much as you can. With this method, you will not lose sight of what you aim to achieve in three to five years and you will also ensure that every step you take is moving you closer to your goals.

The key to this method lies in its reiterative and reflective nature. We don’t create a plan, then look at it as a holy text, because it’s not. Our plans should be like some living documents that we can go back to and refine as many times as we need to. Sometimes, they may be too challenging and other times too easy to achieve. Optimally, our plans need to be challenging enough to take us out of our comfort zones; yet not so challenging that they are unrealizable and leave us feeling frustrated, overworked and underachieving. There is a balance to be struck.

Also, though it’s good to be conscious about where we’re going in terms of our overall life direction, we will want to guard against becoming so obsessed with the future that we forget about the present and miss the whole point of life! Maintaining the balance between living in the present and moving in the right direction is perhaps one of the key skills that everyone needs to learn and master.

The Thinking Hour

Below you will find three blank templates of the one-, three-, and five-year holistic life plans. Feel free to complete them based on your aspirations, goals and dreams. Then follow the iterative steps described above to review, refine and revise them until you have a realistic plan to follow.

You can use this planning technique at the beginning of each year as part of your New Year’s Resolution planning. You can also use it near your birthday or at any time during the year. It’s very rewarding to achieve something that you planned for. And it may give you a heightened sense of purpose and meaning to whatever you do in different areas of your life every day. Give it a try.

Template for a Five-Year Holistic Life Plan

Template for a Three-Year Holistic Life Plan

 

Template for a One-Year Holistic Life Plan