Downwards and Backwards

The trick to successful leadership, in my experience, is to avoid extremes. There is no way you will make everyone happy all of the time, but you can keep everyone at a mild level of agitation.

You see, people don't operate at the extremes. There is no benefit to leading the extreme Conservative or extreme Liberal forces into battle. Either way you still have an entire portion of people who have a strong disdain for what you are trying to accomplish.

If you can walk closer to the middle you can alienate fewer people and provide a more effective form of leadership. The middle is a nice and comfortable place for most people. There are common threads running through both sides of any argument, and it is at the extremes that they fray. In the middle, however, those threads are the strongest, and are more flexible.

For example, not everyone has the same views on the color white. Some prefer an eggshell approach, while others prefer a glossy true white, but they agree on the benefit of painting their walls some form of white. It allows for easy identification of muddy child prints and crayon treasure maps as well as brightening rooms. Rather than fight over the hue of walls, it seems like the mature and progressive thing to do is find a shade that offends both parties equally. It gives everyone the satisfaction of knowing their opponent didn't get their way, as well as putting some paint on the wall. Win win in my book.

Today marks a potential catastrophe brought to us by the extremes. The sequester we are facing right now could be solved if both sides of the same coin could agree on a plan that everyone hates mutually. Rather than try and get their way like a pissed off teenage girl they should realize that there are more important things than being right. A thriving economy and voter happiness are the first things that spring to mind when I think of generally important issues facing America.

I cannot pretend to predict the future, but I am willing to bet that there are more than a few congress men and women who will not be in office next time around. While people want their opinions heard and their voices counted, they do not want, as a whole, to throw a wrench in the works and grind our economy to a halt.

In the end, congress will pull something out of their derrieres that will be passable enough for another few months or even years, and then all the squabbling and bickering across the aisle will start up again. I don't agree with it, but until I am voted into office it won't change.