The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

Forge a battle-tested group.
It is essential that you know your group
well, its strengths and weaknesses and the maximum you can expect of
it. But appearances can be deceiving. In their day-to-day work, people
can seem motivated, connected, and productive. But add some stress
or pressure or even a crisis, and suddenly you see a whole other side of
them. Some begin to think more about themselves and disconnect
from the group spirit; others become far too anxious and infect the
group with their fears. Part of the reality you need to be on top of is the
actual strength of your team.
You want to be able to gauge the relative inner toughness of people
before you are thrust into a crisis. Give various members some
relatively challenging tasks or shorter deadlines than usual, and see
how they respond. Some people rise to the occasion and even do better
under such stress; consider such people a treasure to hoard. Lead the
team itself into an action that is novel and slightly riskier than usual.
Observe carefully how individuals react to the slight amount of chaos
and uncertainty that unfold from this. Of course, in the aftermath of
any crises or failures, use such moments as a way to review people’s
inner strength or lack of it. You can tolerate a few fearful types who
have other virtues, but not too many.
In the end, you want a group that has been through a few wars,
dealt with them reasonably well, and now is battle-tested. They do not
wilt at the sign of new obstacles and in fact welcome them. With such a
group, you can slowly expand the limits of what you can ask of them,
and the members feel a powerful upward pull to meet challenges and
prove themselves. Such a group can move mountains.
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Finally, we like to focus on the psychological health of individuals, and
how perhaps a therapist could fix any problems they might have. What
we don’t consider, however, is that being in a dysfunctional group can
actually make individuals unstable and neurotic. The opposite is true
as well: by participating in a high-functioning reality group, we can
make ourselves healthy and whole. Such experiences are memorable
and life-changing. We learn the value of cooperating on a higher level,
of seeing our fate as intertwined with those around us. We develop
greater empathy. We gain confidence in our own abilities, which such a
group rewards. We feel connected to reality. We are brought into the
upward pull of the group, realizing our social nature on the high level it
was intended for. It is our duty as enlightened humans to create as
many such groups as possible, making society healthier in the process.
Madness is something rare in individuals—but in groups, parties, peoples,
and ages it is the rule.
—Friedrich Nietzsche

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