A Letter That I Received Which I Consider Worth Sharing

Dear Dr. Adizes, 

I wish you a happy, healthy and blessed birthday!

I miss your lectures very much. Two years ago, we celebrated your 83rd birthday online, and I remember that time, even though it was a pandemic worldwide, as the most fruitful period in the last decade. 

I want to share some thoughts with you if you have time. If not, I can understand, no problem. 

Maybe you remember me, I am Vita from Croatia, and I live in China. I attended all your lectures.  Recently we have been again in lockdown and at home.

As the third year of a similar situation is ending in China, I used Adizes methodology to analyze this moment. 

I am a professor at the school for culture and media, and this term, I teach first-year students about career planning. 

At the beginning of the term, I was teaching offline, and I asked my students: Which country has the fastest rate of change in the world? 

They answered - China. Great. Then I asked in which country people hate to change the most.  They were confused. No answer. I said - China. 

After the class, a student came to me and angrily told me how I could say this. 

I asked him: What is the most important element for all Chinese? He answered: To be safe. So, what is the biggest enemy of - safe?  Change.  As you said, life is not an insurance company. 

Chinese hate this fast change because they do not feel safe, and every day brings many new problems.  He thanked me and said I was right. I told him - Ichak Adizes was right; I only learned from him.

There is a very important CP congress here: the president proclaimed "safe country" as the most critical part of the future strategy. The second thing he promised to people was to be ready for "thunders and storms". Here is my analysis according to Adizes methodology. 

The country does not want to change, and they are sure that if they test us every day and lock us at home, they can stop the virus and be safe. They think they can stop the change.

They are very efficient, but they killed the effectiveness. 

Nobody is effective anymore.

The main topic is still: Covid 19. 

As you said, if we do not want to solve the problems when they appear, we will have - crises. 

The real meaning of  "thunders and storms" is - crises. 

When we have crises, we need - crisis management. We cannot solve crises like it is only an (expected) problem. 

I thought the problem could be solved from the outside, which means the WHO could proclaim the end of the pandemic and China could lift the measures and give up on the "Zero Covid strategies". But WHO recently said - it is too early. 

From inside - The problem cannot be solved because everything must be - safe.  

The result is: we are blocked, and this will bring us to a big crisis, which can be solved only with crisis management. 

PAEI 

Now there is no "P" - we are all at home, and restaurants, museums, concert halls, theatres, schools, and shopping malls are closed. In the teachers' (online) group, we only discuss measures against Covid. Nobody is talking about teaching anymore. Many courses are not suitable for online teaching, and students cannot take them. Life is blocked—no "P" at all. 

We have too big "A" - we must make Covid tests every day. If you want to take public transportation, you must scan the code. You must scan the code if you're going to leave or enter the community where you live. We all must wear masks; every day, they send messages about washing hands, checking body temperature, wearing masks, etc. Every day we must send our test results to the university. Life is only about measures against Covid 19. Rules and regulations connected to Covid occupied our lives. 

There is no "E" - no new ideas, and nobody is willing to take a risk. New ideas are only about where to put the new testing point and how to make more barriers around the city. Yes, they change daily, but only to strengthen "A." They are creative in giving new names to old measures, but that is all about creativity.

There is no "I". People cannot meet, share ideas, talk, or discuss. Everybody takes care of their problems, how to buy food and vegetables, and how to organise everyday life with less stress. People are increasingly online, which means they are increasingly addicted to their gadgets. Personal communication, sharing emotions and face-to-face interactions disappeared from our lives. Children do not play, young people do not have the opportunity to find a partner, and they do not know how to deal with their emotions. Old people are "left behind" because many of them do not use mobile phones which means they cannot go to public spaces (they cannot scan the code). 

Integration? Long-term efficiency? We completely lost integration. We are disintegrated. 

So, our lives become the big "A." 

Only a miracle can save us. 

But I do not believe in miracles. 

With only a big "A", the quality of life cannot increase. As we are not young anymore, we decided to go home. 

Big "A" will not change soon, and crise is - at the beginning. 

Change and safe cannot "live" together. 

So, I want to thank you. You helped me to see the situation and to predict the future. 

Thank you for all you shared with us and for you energy and passion!

Again, and again: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR DOCTOR ADIZES!

With my deep respect,
Vita Loncar