A dear friend, mentor and vital member of the Yoyah Group, Lester Thurow, passed away last week. A larger than life, amazing personality, Lester touched all of us with whom he worked with his intellect, vision, charm and warmth. Changing and educating an management culture of a country to ‘go global’, is one thing, but convincing Lester Thurow the guru of globalization, to come to Israel to guide the effort is a whole different story. As we men quite often say, there is a great woman behind every great man (a mom is considered one as well…). As an Israeli citizen, Anni, “the Love of His Life” as Les called his wife, literally told him that there was no question about his helping Israeli companies and management. That was the beginning of our amazing friendship.

“Even those who want to go to heaven, don’t want to die”, Steve Jobs. My loving mother died a few months ago. She was still young and active, desired to live a long life and definitely did not want to die. Fortunately, when it happened it was quick and painless. Even more fortunately, the whole family was all around. With great sadness, we kissed her calm face and said goodbye. Now we have all accepted her passing and moved on in life to spend more time and enjoy my wonderful dad. I ran across an article written by an 85 year-old who found out that he was about to die. My translation is an appropriate reflection of some of my thoughts on life… Here is what he wrote: “If I were to live my life again, I would allow myself to make many more mistakes and not try to be so perfect. I would rest more, lie on my back more and play foolishly more frequently.”

Though I manage a company which advocates the methodology of formulating our “Photograph from the Future,” I am definitely not a prophet, nor a mystical persona who can tell what’s coming. My intuition however, tells me that the environmental crisis we are facing, and our capacity to be there for the other, will come to test sooner than later. So here is my “litmus test” for self questioning regarding friendship…

My Dear friends, if you have experienced our methodology first hand you must be familiar with our practice. For the sake of those who haven’t yet heard about it, watch our CEO, Yoram Yahav, introduce the entire doctrine in just three minutes!

A gorgeous couple, completely naked except for white socks and white shoes, stared back at me from the storefront window. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I might have mistaken them for Greek or Roman sculptures standing frozen half facing each other, breathtakingly beautiful, perfect bodies, deep blue eyes, her long blond flowing hair and his Elvis hair style. I noticed a sign in English positioned next to a small red bucket sitting on the ground. “There is a center for blind people in New Delhi” the sign said. “They need money to eat. They can’t see, so if you CAN see and like what you see, please place any amount you wish in the bucket and we promise to deliver it to the center.” Below was information on the center and its mission, how to donate, etc.

I am shocked these days by the fairy tales about stability, the optimists, masquerading as realists, are telling us. They dismiss legitimate warning signs which are all around us and avoid and deny the coming of perhaps the biggest dual economic and environmental crises in recent history. Courage is essential to honestly consider realities which fall outside our conventional set of hopes and beliefs. Our natural tendency is to expect and consider only the GOOD. “Think positive” we were told when we were kids and therefore we rightfully anticipate that the future will be better than the past. Optimism makes one’s heart smile, however, this is true ONLY if tears of desperation, disappointment and sorrow don’t penetrate our own sensitive “echo-systems” that reverberate with questions and anxiety. A few years ago, on the Greek island of Santorini I met a monk whose mentors in the States lost 80% of their funds because they were convinced by one of their disciples to invest their “holy assets” in his successful company’s stocks. The monk described the level of depression that even those “spiritually enhanced individuals” were feeling. Many of us can relate to this scenario and know that feeling down, is a legitimate human emotion. We were created to feel pain, loss and depression in order to be able to learn from our experiences, become wiser, and better in how we think and what we do.