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Wally Bock's Supervisory Leadership Tips History Rhymes
There are two popular views about how you use historical precedents and analogies in decision-making. One of those is,'History repeats itself.' Another popular saying is, 'There is nothing new under the sun.' I prefer Mark Twain's guidance: 'History does not repeat, but it does rhyme.'
Here's how to apply that in your supervisory leadership work. The parts of history that do repeat are the human nature parts - the cyclic parts - and the way great movements unfold. What's different is the details.
That means that when you're looking to history for some guidance about what to do in the future, look for the big movements and the things that tend to follow one upon the other to create a cycle. The cycle of generations, very effectively outlined by Strauss and Howe some years back, is an excellent example of that kind of thing.
On the other hand, ask yourself some questions about the situation you're faced with. What's different now? What were the things that made that particular historical example come out the way it did? Are those things around this time?
The idea here isn't to have a specific set of questions to ask, as much as it is to look at the prior example and then ask some questions to help clarify how it relates to your current situation. Then use your good judgment to make the right supervisory leadership decision.
If you'd like some more detailed guidance in how to use historical precedents and analogies in decision making, I suggest the book, "Thinking in Time".
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