In 2009 part of our research in political advertising, we published about the changing trend in societies and people’s expectations of governments and politics. As people who did read that paper which I have to admit, it was not many, except small group of academics and few politicians and political advertisers, they may remember that we mentioned that ideological differences become less important in politic, as more and more people start to see the governments as a service provider, and they do care less about the left or right politic. And tribal voting is becoming less important for new generations. As in political advertising we call them floating voters. We did even mention that political parties and governments who do not understand this will lose in future.
However, sense then there has been more and more evidence globally that support this trend, from previous US elections, latest Swedish, Italian, some other countries and now this “Woman, Life & Freedom” movement. However unfortunately, it seems that old politicians will not accept the society’s changes and still look at politics through their old glasses. Let me take you back to what we did mean when we said the government is a service provider. A government has primarily certain responsibilities.
- Security
- Healthcare
- Education
- Transport infrastructure
- And providing stable and fair environment for economy and business growth
And people expect that a government will be able to provide those services in the best way possible. And most people do not care about the old politics of left or right. However, we did even suggest that it may requires reviewing political advertising which becomes more in-line with service advertising. Which means politicians who promise a service to provide, should be taken accountable if they do not deliver, like any other service provider.
But why am I writing this again? The reason is probably to get primarily Iranian politicians to understand this new movement of “Woman, Life & Freedom” but even other politicians internationally as even if they cannot understand this new trend and plan for the change, they will also have problems in their country as it looks like the future, we were talking about is here and it is now. And the society has moved faster then political parties and governments.
As Iranian politicians still try to find the reasons for this revolution to blame it to the outside forces and still have not be able to understand or admit, something which is clear to most people both from inside or outside Iran, and they still looking for the leader of this movement in order to take back the control and stop the protest, it is clearly indicate that Iranian politicians has lost their contact with society and the generational, technological changes and the new concept of leadership, management and team building.
Let me make it clear, the underlying reason for this movement is the Islamic Republic governments who have not only been able to deliver any of its main responsibilities or promises the last 43 years but also do not know or understand the new generation, the society, and the global changes. I feel I must explain it further as I am not saying this to criticize the regime even though they earn the criticism, but this is not what I try to do. I hope this creates a better understanding about the situation and helps to peaceful transition toward the future in benefit of Iranian people as well politicians and international community.
When we mentioned that ideological differences become less important, we might fail to highlight that include even religious ideology as in 2009 our subject of research was mainly western countries, and that fact was widely understood and accepted within western countries. However, this may not be the case globally and it may need to be highlighted. As M. H. Beheshti said in 1981 people will not care about the religious or political ideology of the government, the fundamental responsibility of the government is to create a fair and equal society for all its members regardless of their religion, race, gender, or political views.
Additionally Islamic Republic seems to have failed to understand the modern concept of team building and leadership. A team is not a group of people who work together, a team is a group of people who respect, trust and care for each other.
A “team” is not just people who work at the same time in the same place. A real team is a group of very different individuals who enjoy collaborating and who share a commitment to working cohesively to help the organization or the community achieve its common goals and fulfil its purpose. They are most likely not all equal in experience, talent, or education, but they are similar in one vitally important way, their commitment to the good of the organization or society. Leaders are only as successful as their teams, and the great ones know that with the right team dynamics, decisions, and diverse personalities in place, everyone wins. Those leaders know that leadership is not about being in charge, but it is about taking care of those in your charge and understanding that an inspirational leader has the humility to build a team with people more talented than her/himself.
Further those new leaders not only understand that equality, diversity, and inclusion is necessary to create a fair society but also realise that will improve innovation capabilities, enhance understanding of society’s needs and become faster and better at problem solving. As well as understanding that being united does not mean the same as unifying and following one leader. That is why this movement does not have one leader but has many leaders and each brings different expertise, knowledge, and capability to the movements, and not only they respect and tolerate each other’s differences but celebrate it. Something completely opposite to Islamic Republic which under the last 43 years has tried to unify the system and excluded anyone who was different which has led to this catastrophe. As many studies have shown the failure in decision making and good planning in a unified group, called Groupthink, the phenomenon that occurs when the desire for group consensus overrides people’s common-sense desire to present alternatives, critique a position, or express an unpopular opinion.
In the next article I will try to cover the technological changes, the move in society from feudalism… to industrialism and later to service economy and now knowledge economy. Further discuss the corruption and terrorism and mismanagement of Islamic Republic and the role on international player. However, my recommendation to Islamic Republic is just stop killing innocence people until the society can together find some solutions to problems as you have already damaged Islam and Iran enough and if you were able to contribute to the solution you would have done it in the last 43 years. And all you do now is just make it worse.
