In late 2003, I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing Dr. Mohammad Yunus, the beloved founder of The Grameen Bank, which is the only banking system that provides uncollateralized lending to the poorest of the poor. At that time, I was not
even on the radio, television, nor did I have a podcast. The Internet was in its infancy. He willingly agreed to do an interview with me. In 2006, he got the Nobel Prize for his banking marvel. In 2011, the government of Bangladesh removed him from his own bank after he built it up after 25 years. It’s holdings were substantial. Dr. Yunus is considered “The Mahatma Gandhi of Banking.”The formation of any important project, company, or product sets up it’s consciousness. We can all learn from what happened to Dr. Yunus and The Grameen Bank.
The Grameen Bank was seized in a most cruel and hostile takeover. What’s useful is how it was empowered to be carried out? For example, what was the contract Dr. Yunus signed when The Grameen Bank first started? Who did he sign the contract with? Who was present that explained the contract, the terms, and the fine print to him? What were the laws in his jurisdiction that would leave an opening for him to be kicked out of his own creation because he was considered too old?
He had already received The Nobel Prize. He was teaching others how to set up his kind of an organization, so that they too could prosper and change lives for the better. What gave the takeover group the legal standing to strip Dr. Yunus of his?
When you get to the bottom of these questions, you will find that something that he signed or agreed to, was either in the fine print, or explicit. I sense that Dr. Yunus never imagined that his legal standing would ever have to be called upon, because in his own innocence and spirit of kindness, he believed that what he was doing was not only a public good, but that it emanated from his pure heart. His purpose was to bring forth the end of poverty and seed a new generation of prosperity. He would have never imagined such a scenario would happen to him. Yet, it did.
When you sign a contract, the terms and conditions matter. You align with whatever you sign, whether you realize it or not. You become a complicit, joint venture partner in empowering any ill will, bad faith, and deception in the agreement. The “fine print” domain of contracts is one of the diseases of civilization.
What can we do about this? We practice making space for transition. This means, not knowing how it will be worked out, or even how to proceed. Not knowing becomes acceptable in the new culture. Mystery and the Unknown become part of the space. Laughter is a sign of flow, rather than laziness or lack of productivity. Ideas and solutions are invited and empowered to circulate, because there’s no end to them. Receptivity is finer than the purest gold, and an elevated asset class onto itself. Different models and ways of doing things are not only needed, but need to be celebrated and invited. Imagination needs range, and its power and how it works need to be imparted to awaken the creativity vortex in all of us.
Risk- taking becomes conscious rather than reckless. People’s lives are taken more seriously. Well-being is paramount. Many of us know that land and water are sacred. Knowing is one thing, cherishing is another. Where we build, we get permission from the land, the sea, and the air. This also means anything built in outer space. Our materials are alive and part of a real biology that induces health. We know that building materials are either alive or dead. Contracts are sacred living agreements. Their foundations shape the future.
Economies today have both a natural and synthetic ebb and flow.