Sami is a bankrupt individual struggling to pay bills, searching for a way to get back on his feet. He is seeking a career change but holds conflicted goals and is confused about his purpose in life.
He decides to rush into a new career route, only to decide once again it wasn’t meant for him. He loses motivation at work, ends up getting fired and falls into the same financial difficulties of the past.
Sporting is a football team with a new owner. After spending years as a mediocre team, the club found new cash to fund the signing of high caliber players.
These new players were very talented, but the coach found it difficult to integrate them in a cohesive structure within the team. The individual pieces of the team were not sticking together in a collective and dynamic way. Something was missing and the coach couldn’t quite figure it out.
Leb Corp was a large corporation with various business subsidiaries and assets. The company was hit with a downturn that affected its revenue. Faced with mounting debt, the company was forced to sell some of its assets.
The Board of Directions became divided over which assets to sell. Some directors wanted to dispose of non-core assets that provided reliable returns, but were considered not to fit in with the corporation’s original objectives.
Others wanted to sell the consumer goods subsidiary, because it was yielding negative cash flow, even though the division was the reason behind the company’s original founding. The company took too long to restructure and ended up being acquired by another company.
What is the common point between Sami, Sporting and Leb Corp?
All three lack an identity. Sami did not know what he was born to do, or his life purpose, which affected his financial well-being.
Sporting lacked a team identity, so despite signing superstars, they lacked a team philosophy to create a glue that creates synergies between players.
Leb Corp lacked a strong corporate identity, so decision-making was paralyzed
Identities enable one to be anchored to a baseline of expectations, to share common understanding of past events, and common visions for the future. Identities are associated with the self-preservation of oneself. They place values and attitudes in sync with one another, allowing for synchronization and collective consensus to emerge, in a natural manner that becomes the grounding philosophy for making decisions and navigating obstacles. If as a nation we do not know who we are, why we were born, and what our mission is, we will not be able to agree on any existential issues, and we will be stuck in a state of deadlock, paralysis and regression for many years to come.