Principles

Revolutionary Character is a space to explore ones individual sense of mission and purpose rather than adhere to any specific dogma or ideology beyond basic humanism. No ideology should be swallowed whole, individuals must seek their own truths with a clear-eyed view to what works for them. Revolutionary Character provides the space to do so, and a starting point in terms of ideas and models. However, ideas, innovations and growth stem from dissent - identifying differences between our internal and external realities and capitalizing on them, building on different worldviews constructively, and enriching ourselves and others by way of debate, questioning self-reflection, and subsequent integration. It is this sort of discussion Revolutionary Character seeks to foster. 

For this to happen, an open mindset is needed as well as the self-awareness and clarity to distance ourselves from our own mental models and cherished beliefs. To evolve as individuals, organizations, and society, we must be able to strike a balance between

i) being very self-aware, yet knowing we have blind spots that are only visible to others;

ii) being able to defend our own ideas, yet being open-minded enough to know we are not always right, and that there’s always more than one truth to the same issue;

iii) being comfortable in our skin, yet wanting to transcend ourselves;

iv) being conscious of the direct impact of our actions; yet acknowledging that there are higher-order effects which must be also considered in order to operate as part of a larger system.

Beyond the ideals listed above, it is important to establish a foundation from which to operate and debate within Revolutionary Characters sessions, and from which to grow and better ourselves as a result of that debate.

To this end, a few principles provide guidelines for building Revolutionary Character:

1. We practice Radical Candor

   • We care personally

   • We challenge directly

2. Ideas are egoless

   • We seek higher truths together, not consensus

   • We exist in a hierarchy of ideas rather than people

   • Hierarchy ≠ ownership of the truth

   • Everything can be questioned

   • No questions are stupid

3. A bias for action - we do not simply trade in ideas, we seek those ideas that motivate practical change over mountains of theory

4. We engage in second order thinking

   • We consider higher-order effects

   • We seek simplicity and guidance by first principle thinking. (Here an example)

   • We don’t simply copy without context (i.e. mimesis)

   • We recognize the merits of paradigm shifting change vs optimization when we are near/far from a global/local optimum

5. Autonomy = Freedom = Accountability

6. We are not afraid to be ourselves

   • We don’t hide behind labels

   • We are humble

   • Being different ≠ being wrong

7. We acknowledge that progress towards our ideals is not linear or binary but rather made in fits and starts and we support others when they stumble or encounter inevitable setbacks

8. We empower ourselves and others

   • We are not afraid of mistakes

   • A step back could mean a breakthrough

   • Learning and training enhance development

9. We do not avoid the difficult but rather confront it directly as an inevitability on the road towards our chosen mission, purpose, and values in life