You Can't Please All the People All the Time, Bay Area Inbound Mktg
Posted by Laurie Monahan on Sun, Jul 08, 2012 @ 06:06 PM
"You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time," a famous quote by John Lydgate and later adapted by Abraham Lincoln and in various permutations.
I don't know if you are like me, but when I was in school, and being forced to learn about American history I really didn't get the significance of all of it, but as I get older, I realize how very wise our Founding Forefather's were.
People have really different "values", meaning things that they value. If you start with the whole introvert vs. extrovert thing alone, these personality types are naturally at odds with each other.
Extroverts get a big charge out of being with people. When they are getting tired around 3 pm in the afternoon, they just need to have a good chat with someone, better yet, do a dance party with a lot of someones, and they are ready to go for another 9 hours straight.
Introverts are a different breed. They like people, but when they are tired and want to recharge their batteries, they need some alone time. They don't want to listen to other people nor talk to them. They want to veg, be alone with their thoughts, immerse themselves in their work, watch tv, read a book, or play alone if they are a kid.
3 out of 4 of the people in my immediate family are introverts and one is an extrovert, so I clearly understand both personality types. I am an introvert.
But these differences don't even begin to cover the differences in people's values. Some people value humility, some people value sincerity, some people value security, some people value fashion, some people value integrity, some people value group concensus, some people value money. Some people want to be the center of attention, others want to blend into the wall paper. And people tend to value people who are like them and sometimes they fight with people who are too much like them.
So in a work setting, as in an interpersonal relationships, I guess the best thing you can do is...respect the differences in people. Be easy going to get along, and only make a stand when it is really important.
My Husband says, "Getting along with people is the most challenging part of life." These words are from a guy who is great at it. So it should tell you that it takes work.
And yet, it is really easy for some people to get along, like he and I. I have a theory that the more time you spend with people the greater understanding of each other's differences there is and the more harmony there exists between you.
It must have been hard for our Founding Forefathers to write the documents that protect our freedoms today considering we all value such different things.
Take for example the Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson (later our 3rd President); In it we tell England: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," and then it goes on to tell England all the ways they failed to govern Americans in a way that preserves our rights.
As you probably also learned in school, the Constitution, written primarily by James Madison, outlines the way the branches of our U.S. government must operate in order to let all of us protect the baseline for the individual "liberties" later outlined in the Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public.
No wonder Madison borrowed so heavily from England's Magna Carta when writing the Constitution, which was written by disgruntled English Barons in 1215. After King John waged several unsuccessful, senseless wars, the Barons, sick of financing wars in which they had no interest, temporarily ended John's despotism by forcing him to sign the Magna Carta.
Though the Magna Carta mostly reflected selfish Baronial interests, it set an important precedent that influenced British and American legal thought: it placed the central government under the rule of law. America's Founding Fathers made sure to incorporate the spirit of the Magna Carta into the Constitution, placing strict limits on the central government, particularly the executive branch.
The laws that govern us (and our government) restrict some of our actions, but are the very thing that set us free and enable us to live happier lives together. Because the laws apply equally to all citizens they protect our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
Greatful for all the thought that has been put into laws that protect our freedoms and the brave men and women who have lost their lives or forever had them altered in wars to protect those rights.
Sources: Wikipedia
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