Q & A: Are Traumatic Events Necessary for People (and Big Companies) to Make Major Change?
This is a part of the “Ask Jane” Series,
in which Jane answers questions
you email to her that of concern to you.
(Names are changed to protect your privacy.)
Just go to the “Contact Jane” page
and ask your question in the contact form.
Question from Jered in Mission Valley
Jered: It occurs to me that the failure of big companies — such as General Motors that received bailouts — are not so much an example of limiting decision, as they are of “broken” organizations. GM had to break before old methods were discarded for new. It makes me think of change with people. Clearing decisions are baby steps. But traumatic events have outsized consequences – huge steps.
Jane: This is a complex subject that can’t be explained, so that it’s easily understood, in a few paragraphs. I will be going into this more fully in my upcoming “Life is Meant to Work” webinar as part of explaining how our experience of reality gets out of alignment with Universal Truths. But here is a brief explanation that I hope is helpful.
The failure of big companies, such as General Motors, is most likely based on perspectives of self-interest that are out of alignment with reality. Whenever there are perceptions that are out of alignment with reality, there are limiting decisions* at the root of it.
People with similar limiting decisions* come together and hold in place a collective perspective on reality. People are very invested in the particular way they perceive what reality is, which represents their source of stability, survival and well-being. It is the ground they are standing on. That perception of reality is often greatly distorted by limiting decisions* they have made. In general people are not willing to give up that ground unless forced to. That’s why it sometimes takes a major crisis before individuals — and especially a group of people, such as a major organization or company — are willing to restructure their perception of reality. They have to perceive that it is in their self-interest to make a change. The process of evolution occurs as what people perceive of as self-interest becomes increasingly more in alignment with what actually benefits them.
