The Cellular Blueprint
Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve continues to pique my interest in how it presents good leadership as a journey of discovering one’s own identity as an exercise of self-differentiation. As I examined the book for a second time, the chapter on “the fallacies of self”[1] helped to clarify the balance that must be struck when navigating the perceived opposition between community and self. Specifically, Friedman explores the distinction that healthy self-differentiation of leaders leads to “integrity and individuality” rather than “autocracy and narcissism”.[2] Friedman’s writing is particularly helpful as I consider the perceived tension between older generations of Chinese immigrants who have Confucian ideals of community and harmony and post 1st generation Chinese-Americans who emphasize individuality.
A helpful starting point is to consider the biological example that Friedman sets out in the differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Prokaryotes were simplistic in nature and in their reproduction. While genetic recombination happens, their main focus is survival. Evolution/change, then, takes a long time.[3] Eukaryotes developed as prokaryotes with nuclei. The extra resiliency and structure helped to push along the complexity of cells and life in general.[4] Friedman tracks the changes from prokaryotes to eukaryotes through to multicellular organisms to illustrate the idea that even as life forms become larger and more complex, it is mutually beneficial for the larger and smaller units to work together to survive and thrive.[5]
The idea of chronological transitions in cellular history lend itself to generational transitions in immigrant life in the United States. Chinese-speaking immigrants in the United States were similar to prokaryotes, even in the basic sense that they were the beginning of a new kind of life. Similar to prokaryotic cells, Chinese immigrants operated under a survival mentality. The things they were good at and how they made decisions were in the interest of surviving. There wasn’t much thought given to ideas like self-differentiation because there wasn’t time. Communities banded together, looked out for one another, and harmony was paramount because life in the U.S. was (through various laws and social biases) and to some extent can still be hostile. Post 1st generation Chinese-Americans don’t operate under the same circumstances or pressures. Because of what the 1st generation of immigrants (their parents) built, they have, in some sense, more of a foundation, more structure, and a generation of resiliency at their start. Because of this, their focus is less on survival and more on discovering identity and place in society and culture. Unlike prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, differences in 1st and post 1st generation Chinese-Americans have led to tensions rather than continued evolution.
Chinese heritage churches have especially felt the brunt of this tension. An increasing amount of post 1st generation Asian-Americans have left the immigrant churches that they grew up in.[6] 1st generation leadership that often holds much of the power in Chinese heritage churches still operate under the same survivalist mentality and attitude that makes them resistant to change. The resistance to change is compounded by Evangelical conservatism and Confucian ideals of communal harmony[7] that look to preserve instead of evolve. Older generations have used their power to try and stamp out the exploration and expression of unfamiliar identities, desires, and hopes in the name of communal well-being. Friedman, I think rightly, diagnoses that “preserving community by eliminating self is as counterproductive as trying to prevent the scourge of fire by eliminating air.”[8]
So what do we do about this tension? I think there’s a lot of pressure to answer this question immediately. Often “experts” will give a list of “dos” and “donts” to be followed. I think Friedman encourages a slow approach that will last instead of a quick fix. He says that differentiation is a lifelong journey of building an identity that doesn’t wax and wane with the opinions nor bend to the reactions of others.[9] And it’s only in through this lifelong journey that leaders can learn to express who they are and help a community to evolve. Even as I consider what might reconcile the tensions between 1st and post 1st generation Chinese-Americans, I think understanding that each have an important place and role to help the whole survive in thrive is key. To quote Friedman, “life has evolved not in terms of the ways the past has an impact on the present, but in terms of the ways the past is present in the present.”[10] What it will take is a leader who recognizes and honors the foundational strength and resiliency of the 1st generation while not allowing their hopes, desires, and anxieties obstruct their vision for a different and better future.
[1] Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (10th Anniversary, Revised Edition) (Church Publishing, Inc., 2017). 124.
[2] Ibid, 126
[3] Ibid, 125
[4] Ibid 130
[5] Ibid, 130
[6] Helen Lee, “Silent Exodus,” 40, no. 9 (1996), https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/august12/6t9050.html.
[7] Chenyang Li, “The Philosophy of Harmony in Classical Confucianism”, Philosophy Compass 3, no. 3 (May, 2008): 423-435, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2008.00141.x.
[8] Friedman, A Failure of Nerve, 127
[9] Ibid, 142
[10] Ibid, 132
About the Author
Caleb Lu
3 responses to “The Cellular Blueprint”
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Caleb,
I found this to be fascinating.
I made a cold stop at this sentence:
“There wasn’t much thought given to ideas like self-differentiation because there wasn’t time.”
I am curious how you might view the time that is needed in order to have clearer self differientiated members in a community?
I loved this quote:
To quote Friedman, “life has evolved not in terms of the ways the past has an impact on the present, but in terms of the ways the past is present in the present.”
This quote sums up what I am attempting to help people with on a daily basis.
How are you helping your community evolve while appreciating the strong foundation of those who are of the 1st generation? (big ?… 🙂 )
Caleb,
Your posts might well be the most fascinating to me week by week. I love how you apply so well what we are reading to your pastorate and heritage. You do an incredible job at this. It keeps me coming back to your posts to see what you will write the next time. Blessings on you and your ministry!
Caleb,
You continue to fascinate me while teaching all of us about Chinese culture. I wonder though if you could expand on how Friedman’s biological example of prokaryotes and eukaryotes show how different generations perceive the balance between community and self?