Uplifting.

Ari Weinzweig on anarchy, dignity, and getting to greatness ...

As was often the case with Emma Goldman’s work, there was great wisdom in her words. Her framing of the issue was both poignant and pointed. Even a century later, Emma’s statement remains entirely accurate—it was, it seems, a down-to-earth application of “AI” that makes me smile, embodying good, old-fashioned “anarchist insight.” To Emma’s point, many of us (certainly me) struggle regularly with how to stay true to ourselves while still being an active member of a group in an authentically meaningful way. In my experience at least, it’s neither easy nor the norm. Going against the current, being a lone voice in an organizational wilderness, is nearly always challenging work. Group dynamics and social pressure can make doing so very difficult. As Emma wrote in that same 1910 book, “The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought.” 

For many years—like when I was a newly arriving student here in Ann Arbor—I saw the two as being in opposition. I could only “be me” by pushing away everyone else. Others I knew took the opposite path—they were so skilled at fitting in that it was hard to figure out who they were without the socially sanctioned roles they had rolled right into. Over the years though, I have altered my understanding of all that significantly. What I’ve come to believe is that I will not successfully be myself without being engaged with other people. But at the same time, of equal importance, is not to allow ourselves to be suffused by the group. Done well, there’s an effective and uplifting creative tension between the two. As Adam Grant says, “We look for ways to both fit in and stand out at the same time.” Writer Terry Tempest Williams tells the same story more poetically, asking: “Can you be an insider and an outsider at the same time?” Her answer is also my own: “I think this is where I live.”

I'll never forget the time Ari came into the deli where I worked.  The owners of Katzinger's had worked with Ari in Ann Arbor and had been friends for many years since.  

One late afternoon, I was tidying up the shelves of the specialty food section, when I heard the front door creak open.  I turned to greet our guest and was surprised to see Ari walking through the door.  As the deli's general manager, I had been to many seminars at Zingerman's, so we recognized each other.  The thing that still sticks with me was that he wasn't there to see me, but for the next hour we walked through the deli and talked about merchandising, tasting, demos, and even about Jim Harrison.  I was humbled by the number of times he complimented us on our systems, service, and presentation.  By the end of that hour, my feet weren't touching the ground; all from conversation.

That was nearly thirty years ago, but, as he quoted from Greenleaf's Servant Leadership ...

The first order of business is to build a group of people who, under the influence of the institution, grow taller and become healthier, stronger, more autonomous. 

I didn't work for him but he saw us as working together.