No Heros

From A Simpler Way, Margaret Wheatly and Myron Kellner-Rogers:

If we see life as a brutal contest among separate entities, we focus on individual contribution, individual change. This worldview not only makes us feel afraid and isolated but it also causes us to hope for heroes. If evolution is the result of changes in individuals, what we need are a few individuals who can outsmart nature and win out over the competition. Yet in a systems-seeking, coevolving world, there is no such thing as a hero. Not even a visionary leader. Everything is the result of interdependencies–systems of organization where we support, challenge, and create new combinations with others. It’s hard to think about individuals at all. We make the world lonelier and less interesting by yearning for heroes. We deny the constant, inclusionary creating that is going on; we deny our own capacity to contribute and expand (44).