Are you strong enough to know you will be weakened by temptation one day?

We all need guardians against our temptations.

No human is strong enough to resist certain temptations, even if we think we are.

Oscar Wilde said I can resist anything except temptation.

The biblical 40 nights in the desert—a place of emptiness, isolation, heat, little to no water, protection, animals, and apparent life—is another metaphor for the challenges of temptation. At our weakest, we succumb.

The Ulysses pact is another. The only way Ulysses could sail through the Sea of Sirens was to lash himself to the mast. As their song pierced his brain, he was unable to follow their call, lashed as he was.

Ulysses was strong enough to know that he would be weak one day, and on that day he needed to be prepared to stay strong against the temptation.

To do this, we plan for the day of our weakest point, where temptations pull is strong.

If you are a founder, how will you resist the seduction of money/venture capital that asks you to drop the principles and values you hold dear and primary? It is so easy to think you will, but when everything looks bleak and there are bills to pay and staff salaries to attend to, money that comes with conditions counter to the Pattern Integrity of your idea is an easier yes. It is the very reason Google became enshittified. (A term crafted by Cory Doctorow) 

When someone has attacked you without substantiation, how do you respond with dignity rather than the easier path of anger, righteousness, and equal attack?

How do you accumulate data belonging to others and not use it for your own means without permission? 

Do we speak up against the racist or sexist remarks made by a friend or colleague towards another, or do we stay silent for our own safety?

When an injustice is done to a stranger, do we silently feel grateful that we didn’t receive the injustice and go about our lives, never speaking up? Or do we stand against the injustice?

Do we fudge our balance sheets to show a better outcome? 

Do we set up as a Bcorp and undercover of this branding exercise treat our clients or customers with contempt?

Where is our integrity likely to be tempted? Knowing the answer allows us to build deliberate guardrails against ourselves and others.

In Syntropic World we have two tools to support a more robust system design resistant to temptation.

The first is the Trust Manifesto. This is an agreement about how we behave toward each other, how we treat our people, our environment, ourselves. How we make decisions, and respond to conflict.

You can download the Trust Manifesto of Syntropic World here.

Steward Leaders of a Syntropic Enterprise also have an Integrity Council. A select small group committed to holding the Steward Leader to their integrity. People who will not let us get away with our temptations when we are most vulnerable.

Even if you are not a Steward Leader of a Syntropic Enterprise, we all need an Integrity council. Friends who Dare to Care about us holding our integrity when we are tempted at our weakest point.

In the Syntropic Enterprise Masterclass commencing June 19|20, we cover the Trust Manifesto’s key elements and the critical requirements for an Integrity Council. We will also cover many more essential tools for a business, family, or community group untangled from our current Molochian system,

Photo Taken May 14th 2024