Through Synergy

Stephen R. Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People [Excerpts from Peter Fritz Walter’s blog]

Stephen Covey promoted The Character Ethic: aligning one’s values with universal and timeless principles. He considered these principles as universal laws, and values as internal and subjective.

Covey proclaimed that values govern people’s behavior, but principles ultimately determine the consequences. Covey presented his teachings in a series of habits, manifesting as a progression from dependence via independence to interdependence.

The 8th Habit, From Effectiveness to Greatness [Excerpts from Peter Fritz Walter’s blog]

“The 8th Habit represents the pathway to the enormously promising side of today’s reality. It stands in stark contrast to the pain and frustration I’ve been describing. In fact, it is a timeless reality. It is the voice of the human spirit — full of hope and intelligence, resilient by nature, boundless in its potential to serve the common good. This voice also encompasses the soul of organizations that will survive, thrive and profoundly impact the future of the world.”

–Stephen R. Covey [The 8th Habit].

The 3rd Alternative Leadership and Conflict Resolution Approach [Excerpts from Peter Fritz Walter’s blog]

“How does someone create a win-win situation?… What happens when one side benefits more? When one side benefits more than the other, that’s a win-lose situation. To the winner it might look like success for a while, but in the long run it breeds resentment and distrust. You get to win-win simply by asking, “How could we both win in this situation?” What you’re looking for is a 3rd Alternative that’s superior to anything you could create alone….”

–Stephen R. Covey [The 3rd Alternative].

The 3rd Alternative Leadership and Conflict Resolution approach was developed as an extension of the 6th Habit: Synergy. I personally see the emphasis more on the conflict resolution function this approach facilitates and believe that the methods taught in The 8th Habit are largely sufficient for leadership purposes in general. But as life in general, and human relations in particular, always engender problematic situations, we can easily see that we need to be prepared ‘for a leak in the boat’ — as the I Ching expresses it.
The present book shows how extensively Dr. Covey has learnt both from Middle Eastern cultures, from African traditions, and from the wisdom traditions of the Far East. The book abounds of examples that show how cross-culturally Covey has worked perhaps all his life, but especially in his later years….
Regarding the second paradigm, I See You, I found it highly interesting how Covey came to find this idea realized in the Bantu wisdom of Africa. It is called Ubuntu and means something like ‘personhood’ — or interdependence between people. Even more so, it means that we can only accurately know ourselves when we see ourselves reflected in the eyes of another person. Thus, we really need others in order to recognize who we truly — and fully — are! Covey explains that the spirit of Ubuntu is essential to 3rd Alternative thinking and that it means more than just having respect for all sentient beings. It means to overcome the dehumanizing influence of our machine age and recognize our own humanity in the eyes of another, or a whole group of people: “This dehumanizing of others — what we often refer to as stereotyping — starts from a deep insecurity within the self. This is also where conflict begins. Psychologists know that most of us tend to remember negative things about others more than positive things.”

–Peter Fritz Walter [Servant Leader and Career Design blog, Human Potential Media Producer, Philosopher, Political Analyst (www.ipublica.com)].

A Few Comments About “The 3rd Alternative”

“Even in our conflicted times, now and again we catch a glimpse of the better thing. Dr. Covey shows us how to seek that better thing and transcend our deepest disputes.”

–Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

“In “The 3rd Alternative”, Stephen Covey urges us to chart a course beyond the suboptimal solutions to all our crises – beyond left and right, and beyond the many false choices in front of us. “The 3rd Alternative” is a wise and welcome echo of Einstein’s warning that the problems we’re facing today cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”

–Arianna Huffington [president and editor-in-chief of the AOL Huffington Post Media Group].

“In “The 3rd Alternative”, Dr. Covey inspires us to think differently about solving problems than we ever have before. We must set aside our differences, including our boundaries, languages, economics, politics and cultures and work hand in hand together to create solutions which are greater than the problems we now face.”

–Muhammad Yunus [Nobel Peace Prize winner 2006].