Hegel's Dialectic: Practical Usage
Hegel's Dialectic
Lately I've stumbled across a YouTube video by Charlie Morgan illustrating the concept of Hegel's Dialectic and how to use it as a powerful 'thinking board' to resolve problems through analysis of the roots and the opposite viewpoints. It is also used to understand the evolution of something.
There are three main fundamental components that make up the Hegelian dialectic:
1. Thesis
2. Antithesis
3. Synthesis
Concisely speaking, thesis is the idea; antithesis is the opposing idea which contradicts the thesis; synthesis is the resolution.
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Let's hack at this using a simple but practical example in politics: monarchy and democracy.
1. Thesis = monarchy
2. Antithesis = revolution
3. Resolution = democracy
Monarchy runs on a single ruler such as a king, like how the UK operates politically today with King Charles III.
Opposite of that is a revolution, which is an abrupt change of established systems or ideologies in politics.
Democracy is the resolution of both the thesis and antithesis in mind. Through revolution, democracy replaces monarchy where there is power distributed to the general population. This system incorporates attributes from both thesis and antithesis to create a fair middle ground.
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General application in business: new technology.
Imagine a company wanted to incorporate a new technology system to streamline its operations for efficiency; cutting costs and increasing productivity.
Thesis: new technology system
Antithesis: team members are reluctant, raising concerns about learning curve, job security, etc.
Synthesis: company conducts further training on operating the new technology, offering incentives and reassurance on job security.
Of course, the more area the synthesis covers, the better. The solution in this case should aim to overdeliver, if possible, to reassure employees as much as possible.
Using this framework in making decision and solving problems in business is crucial to ensure everybody's satisfaction. Communication is key in the workplace. Whenever you cannot think of a middle ground, just think of a thesis, antithesis and a synthesis.
