Satyam Eva Jayete is the philosophy that most of us in India are brought up with. And over the years of my earthly wanderings across continents, I have realised that this is taught in many countries, in different tongues, illustrated with local folklore. This is a core culture of civilized society.
Yet, when elders scold (or worse spank) children for telling lies, the lesson is badly imparted. It has been demonstrated in game theory (and I am sure in some other social sciences) that lying by omission or falsification can serve a personal or even collective interest to bring out a better outcome for all – under some circumstances.
However, at a personal or community level, to address a challenge and design a solution, it is necessary to have a truthful reflection on the context and the dynamics of processes causing the problem.
Indeed, problems often remain with individuals, families, communities, organizations and political parties – because of the hypocritical routine of DENIAL. Representations of reality that are incomplete or imperfect about the causal factors and the responsibility and role of all involved are very unlikely to lead to an efficient sustainable solution model. It is lies that bog us down with incomplete and imperfect understandings, which are further being made worse with fake news.
That’s why in FIN we believe in airing our failures (to the extent that my fellow Finnies can stomach!). So to prepare you for our next post on FIN failures of 2018, I share with you a video I posted on March 25, 2015. (Thank you again John for sending me the link to this video!) And I have always been sharing our failures even before seeing this video – but the speaker here has explained the complexity of solution designs so well, that it’s worth listening and taking heed.
So remember Satyam Eva Jayete – and may the truth lead you to a better solution to your problems!
And here’s one of my favourite videos to illustrate this principle
