Systems

One of the things that always strikes me when I travel abroad is how systematic and process driven everything is. The frustrating side of it is when you try to ask someone to bend the rules even a trifle, you are usually greeted with an incomprehending shrug almost implying that you are from Mars or something equally outlandish! Maybe you have wondered (as I have) about who makes these systems. Surely they are smarter and more flexible than the sheep who follow them! Asimov wrote a wonderful story on this theme called 'Education' where the idea was that a truly creative person WILL create. At the expense of great personal difficulty and even social ostracism. And then he will be the REAL leader. The one who creates systems, not follows them. Many years ago I wrote a poem about a similar thought. My memory fails me as to the exact words but it went something like this:
The leaves fall down,
Slowly floating down to the ground.
If two thousand two hundred and twenty two
Could sacrifice themselves
Could one alone be different?
This difference, this inner vision, this innate conviction. That is what makes for true leadership!