The horrible mass killing in Orlando underscores the gridlock we find ourselves in today. Everyone deplores these situations, but the incredible implosion of information and opinions always results in paralyze leadership. The ability to empower an elected leader at moments like this to come up with a plan and move ahead with it has been lost in a paralyzing information overload.
Somehow we have lost the realization that every organization only moves forward when leadership is allowed to begin implementing some possible solutions with the full understanding that every new initiative will have to be modified or replaced based on experience.
Years of communication study has led me to believe that the key to moving organizations of all kinds ahead is in understanding the power of tools such as “organizational process” and “collaborative integration.” Using process in strategic communication means being able to use actions team of experienced and talented people to find and try possible solutions. “Integration” means that ongoing task forces or “idea incubators” are used to continue looking for better ideas and to fine-tune current ones.
The same approach certainly can apply to governments. But only if the political system is wise enough to restrict extreme partisanship to primary campaigns and embrace the wisdom of collective problem-solving when events require collective action informed by a bit of pragmatism.
Some progress could also be made on international “terrorism” if the principle of “integration” could be used to bring experts from many countries together to find and act collectively on possible solutions. This too would have to happen outside the influence of political divisions.
I suggested in previous blog posts that many cities around the world have experts experienced in looking for solutions in the neighborhoods where hate and extremism begins. This collective wisdom must be tapped.
Can we in the US be wise enough to take the lead on putting together task forces and action of teams of those with the most experience? Will our current candidates please stop inflaming the situation with polarizing rhetoric and talk more reasonably about what unites us… what “process” and “integration” ideas can bring our country and the world closer together?
And we must not lose sight of the fact that the ongoing globalization of higher education can play a significant role in addressing these difficult issues… but only if we are willing to build “process” and “integration” principles into how our institutions proceed.
Larry D. Lauer 
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