Tribal Culture

I just finished re-watching The Honourable Woman starring Maggie Gyllenhaal.  I was spell bound watching it the first time and just as engrossed the second time around.  I'm finding re-watching shows allows me to pick up on details that I missed the first time and enhances my enjoyment and appreciation.  There is so much to absorb in each scene I find I simply can't take it all in when focused on the dialogue, action, plot. So, for those shows and movies which I have really liked I think I am about to do a replay of all.

Like my first viewing of The Honourable Woman I was again taken with Nessa's clothing.  If I had the figure and the funds, that is the exact style I would want to wear.  I think I really related to Nessa and not just because of her clothes.  I never endured the tragedies and horrors that filled her life, but I could relate to moving from a place of comfort to one of discomfort and then striving to become both comfortable and successful in this new life, mine was just on a much smaller scale.

The aspect of this story that has stayed with me since I finished watching a number of days ago, is the commitment of the Palestinian leader to the very, very long game.  He had a vicious goal and was content to wait years for it to become fulfilled.  And his planning for it included all the long years of waiting.

This lack of need for instant results/gratification brings to mind something I learned when studying Organizational Management.  We examined the Japanese model which is to look for the long term result, long term being 5, 10, or 15 years.  The Japanese management style is grounded in the long history of the Japanese culture.  My years in management have taught me that investing time and energy in a long-term, strategic plan gets the positive results sought.  Spending time and energy reacting to situations with no ultimate goal makes for no progress or growth

The planning for the long, long term seems inconsistent with our American "do it now" approach.  My impression is that we look for the quick hit with immediate results.  What I woke up wondering about this morning is, does this have to do with our lack of a long history of tribal culture.  The plan of this terrorist (even though fictional) is grounded in a long tribal history.  Perhaps being a member of a tribe that has existed for centuries provides an innate temperament towards being able to be comfortable with waiting.  

We Americans don't seem to have a tribal culture.  Rather, so many of us seek to connect to that of our ancestors, thus this recent surge of interest in tracing genealogy. I don't mean to imply that this is a bad thing, but that connecting to roots in other cultures doesn't foster the growth of our own.  Maybe we don't necessarily need one, but perhaps we should be attuned to that of others and have that be major consideration for interacting with them.

Don't have a clue what this all means, it is just the idea that I awoke with.  But, I think there is something to be learned here.  Would love to hear from any and all what your think about this.  I've not yet finished my first cup of coffee so am off to do that.Enough early morning heavy thinking, my head hurts!