Think about this for a second;
a person seeking justice will be very quick to point out that what is good for the goose is good for the
gander and he may be right. But he will say so only because it helps his cause—it
preserves his existence in one way or another. A person who is actually in the
wrong, will refer to a judgement in his favour as good—it helps his cause. So
in a typical scenario of opposing forces, there might be different definitions
of what is good as it will be dependent on the cause it helps (in Plus-Thinking, we explore this notion in
more detail). This may perhaps be the reason utilitarians turned to the
idea of the general good i.e. that
which promotes the larger cause of society though at the expense of one of its
sub-components. This means a sacrifice of the individual for the larger good (perhaps that rings a bell).
While I personally like the
idea of the general good, many of the scenarios that result from it are nothing
short of petrifying. But I am digressing again aren’t I; the point of this
article is to find a more humanly digestible understanding that can be applied
in your daily activities as you map your way to high performance in your
occupation and larger existence.
There are two levels to good which
must be complied with if your output is to qualify as good. First is your very
person; a good person is likely to produce a good product. This is based on the
presumption that, a good person has good intentions and therefore creates good
products. A beneficiary will describe your output as good because it helps
their cause. But the question that arises is; is their cause good? The answer
to that will be a resounding yes if we presume that the beneficiary is a good
person who has good intentions. So that the goodness of the product is not
simply because it serves a purpose well but more because the purpose it serves
is good. We have seen that the larger good—the good that benefits the larger
society is the ultimate good that must be aspired to. So that if the product
meets the needs of the larger society is some way, it will be because it was
put in place by a good person who by our understanding is good only because he
has the needs of the larger society at heart even at the expense of his comfort.
Now, let’s not get carried away
with the utilitarian thinking of which I am not exactly an aficionado by any
stretch of the imagination. I am more the God kind of guy who, instead of
saying larger good, will be happier placing God (the repository of all good) in
the center of things much to the displeasure of one Richard Dawkins. If God is
the repository of all goodness, then we must see how complying with his
interest is what makes a good person who of necessity will put out a product
that must meet the God standard. In effect, the single goodness of God when accepted
makes a good person who puts out a good product that meets the need of the
larger society.
We have seen from our research
at the CSD that the high performing individual is a certain kind of personality
with specific character traits (I shall
treat this thought in more detail in a coming paper) which is akin to those
proposed by scripture. Indeed we are yet to encounter any religion or spiritual
path for that matter; that does not advocate goodness as the best way to exist.
They all seek to develop devotees into such a personality. This substantiates
the fact that any maximization of existence must begin with goodness and that
the degree of goodness in that order determines the extent of the maximization
of existence.
The high performing individual
is a good guy. The better you are as a person the better your output and the
better your life will be—all things being equal. It will be difficult to
describe something as best without first passing it through the good stage. Be
good at what you do but also do it for a good reason because you are a good
person. After good comes better and best #spidup
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