To get things right: tolerance is great!
Tolerance is the safe ground for success. It is the basement to grow beyond something that is, currently.

And tolerance stabilizes. There is no need to change, if You can tolerate a current situation.
Think on Your sink. 🙂

/why tolerance is needed

Even the hardest hardliners from time to time will face situations where tolerance is needed.
Otherwise, it would not be possible to reign a commonwealth or deal with people that do not share basic values with You.

Just to understand the mechanics …
As You are forced to fulfill a list of requirements exactly, You lower the probability to succeed at all.
Mandatory requirements will limit the range of possibilities, which is wanted in specific situations – like determination of root causes of errors in technical systems.

The longer the list, the smaller the range of possibilities usually will be.

In the end, the probability to find exactly what matches these tight, mandatory constraints will be near to zero.
It consumes time and energy to find the matching item – or it’s just impossible.

/how to deal with possibilities

There is this one fundamental principle, Nassim Taleb stated in an essay: “The most intolerant wins!”

It is a nice action pattern as long as there is enough matter to apply to.
But, there are situations where You recognize that You won’t get what You want by being intolerant, at all.

At this point, You hopefully realize the need for tolerance. Or You suffer from the situation.
You need to open up to other, even less wanted possibilities, as well.
You will introduce “optionality”. It is wished to have once, but some “other” might be still acceptable. You are going to make compromises.

By doing so, You get “Paisly” introduced to European fashion, You will find “colored” tailors at Saville Row and You will hear politicians of Turkish origins demand abortion of association negotiations between Turkey and the EU.

But, You need to be careful to open up too wide as You still head for relevance and impact.

It’s like fire hoses.
You can press the same volume of water through different diameters.
The smaller the diameter is, the more impact it will have. At the edge, You can cut even metal or stone this way.
If You need to cover a broader area with water, to extinct fire for example, You will choose a broader diameter. But, do not forget to raise the pressure then. Otherwise, You will end up in a pond just around Your feet.

That’s the thing with the “red line”. Where does it run?
Being inside acceptable parameters is usually called “management” and You work on it by tools like KPIs.
Beyond that, it takes leadership to come up roses. Red path. Stupid.

Bombing is only second best of available choices.

/what do You gain?

By adapting actions to the situation, You will get what You aim for – or even not. Depends …

That’s what agility is all about – the ability to cope with constant change, acting on principles – not on fixed shapes and patterns.

Please remember, there will never be an answer that fits to other than the situation it was given to.
That makes life difficult and interesting at the same time.
Generations of lawyers make their living upon that.

But, principles will apply to uncountable situations. And laws, if they are well crafted.
They will manifest their validity within an uncounted number of situations.
So, act on principles – not on answers that were given in another situation and therefore do not fit exactly here. 😉

/application to reality

Dr. Internet will not help You out!

Many people long for “easy rules”. They do not want to reflect situation they are in, they want to act on patterns.

Beware of faulty tolerance in applying to the situation!
Faulty tolerance is betraying Your goals and values for the “easy way”.
It is applying the known and handy without bethinking on the situation.

That is highly understandable. Because, patterns save energy and time.
But they are unsafe in the face of uncertainty.

You need to understand, what are the reasons and needed conditions to apply a well proven pattern.
And that needs work, so many do not want to invest on.
It takes time and consumes energy. And it will not guarantee instant success.
But if You do, You can determine whether an intended action pattern is valid in the current situation.
That is, when people call You “wise”.

It is just that simple: “wisdom needs a lot of hard work to achieve – and even pain.”

So, if You realize uncertainty, just ask Yourself:
“does my intended action pattern really fit in this particular situation?”

Otherwise, bethink on principles.
These are the fundamental rules of highest priority, underlying Your perspective to the world.
As long as You act on principles, You are safe in the world.

Current situations in the world need a lot of bethinking.

/merhaba?

Historically, Germany and even Europe has a very close relationship to Turkey. After Atatürk, it was a modern emergent society that was once ahead at topics like secularization. Back in the twenties and thirties of the last century as crucifixes were all around southern German public spaces.

Then, we had our fundamental reset in ethics during the thirties and forties in central Europe.
And we made a tremendous restart with Grundgesetz and the European Union.

We liked to share these achievements, even with the nearest east.
But, since this weekend, something fundamentally changed. Sad, but true.

New status quo: “Turkxit” – before even realized full membership in the EU.

/how are You?

Once, there was a time, “we” not only shared a Royal Family, we also shared melodies of our National Hymns.
There are nice hints upon the British-German-Russian family-relationship in The King’s Speech.

Then, WW I ended and we needed realignment in Europe, once again.

Britain was part of the EU, until they made a tremendous mistake according to their currency.
And now? They try to leave at all.

Are currencies founding identities, too?
You might think on the US$, before You think on the €.

/comment ça va?

Well, we attempted several times to finally beat the Normans.

In the end, they gave Germany its identity. Thirty Years’ War and following …

Merci mille fois!
But, did that need so many dead bodies?

Hopefully, we are over it, finally.

/¿Cómo estás?

Can You imagine going on vacation in a fascist state?

Well, “we” did until the end of the Seventies.
But, this was only exchange of goods and services.

It needed nearly another ten years, until real partnership was initially established.

And now? Works fine – more or less.
I know Germans living there and commuting to their Business destinations all over Europe.
My Sunday Easter brunch was prepared of young Spanish people, living in Leipzig.

So yes, I think, Spain enriches me. Even by their motto “Plus Ultra!”.
Germany is successful by this approach in Business, but failed desperately in Politics, last century. 😉

/conclusion

Tolerance is needed for stability but also growth into greater success.

In cases of doubt: go red!

You achieve tolerance by sharing vision, negotiating on trading items, and by sharing values if You target on partnering.

By staying on Your own, You will reference internally, only.
You will still face the ability to perfect on details – but, You will never get the opportunity to grow in scale and impact.

Japan proved that in their so called “Edo-” or “Tokagawa-period”. The result is history from 1868 on.

Sustainability of a system, once installed, is another story …

/famous last words

Life runs in circles. Some are smaller, some are bigger.
In the end, there is no end – only another beginning.

“Enjoy, and share if You like.”
“Feel free to make life great!”

“Likes” are welcome. Comments are appreciated.