Here’s the second post of my re-release of this advent series. This post was originally posted December 1st, 2010.
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This is part two out of three of a mini-blog series on what I’m calling “collective fusion.” This won’t make as much sense without part one so for part one click here.
In part one I mentioned I came across a random Star Trek Next Generation episode as a result of having an infant in my house who sleeps all day and parties at night. This episode I watched was actually pretty fascinating as it relates to identity. The crew finds a “lost” and young borg who, separated from the strength and constant messages and indoctrination of the collective, actually began to establish a separate sense of self. He adopts a name and begins to enter into relationships. Some crew members are intrigued. Some are confused. Others are terrified.
The crew must figure out what to do. Do they destroy this “enemy” that is showing signs of new life and identity? Do they essentially program him with a virus to infect the collective in hopes of wiping out the Borg? Do they keep him, which increases the threat that the collective will come looking for him? This is the setting for the following excerpts of the crew’s dialogue.
“Does that seem right? To help him become an individual and then take that away from him?”
-Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge (Levar Burton)
“But perhaps in that short time before they purge his memory, the sense of individuality which he has gained with us might be transmitted through the entire borg collective. Every one of the borg being given the opportunity to experience the feeling of singularity.
Perhaps that’s the most pernicious program of all – the knowledge of self being spread throughout the collective in that brief moment might alter them forever. We leave his memory intact.”
– Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)
I love that – the most pernicious program of all. There’s perhaps no limit to how much a mature and well-defined self in terms of differentiated identity can impact an entire system.
Do you have that kind of perspective about the potential impact you can have as a mature and differentiated leader in your system (team, organization, family…)?
In case it wasn’t clear in part one, nurturing a mature and healthy sense of self does not speak to selfishness. Mature identity formation involves nurturing both the capacity to be an individual, but also to be a healthy and connected person in relationships and community. The Borg eliminate the individuality. The other extreme (loners and others cut-off from community) eliminate interconnected relationships altogether. Neither lead to ethical, effective, and empowering leadership influence.
As I write that, I just realized those are three “E’s” and I’m now adopting the three “E’s” as being the central building blocks of my leadership theory and paradigm. Actually “The Three E’s” speaks to what this blog mostly is about so I’m glad to stumble upon such a concise way of explaining that!
Here’s a few questions to think about your own leadership context and your own leadership development in that context. Give special attention today to the third question!
So where do you see the “Borg”? Do you see forces of the collective at work on your team? In your organization? In your ministry? In your family?
Have you surrendered your sense of self because you’ve bought into the lie that resistance is futile? How do you nurture your self in the context of your community or organization without totally going extreme in the other direction and cutting off emotionally completely?
