Pay Attention to the Interests of the Whole or Look Out for Number One?

Good morning :) I think it is always best to look out for the whole, whether that be a team, a family, a community, or human beings and the earth. It's hard to accomplish great things alone, and since their is strength in unity, that is the way I live. Karen

I would think that when you take care of the whole, the individuals will be cared for as well.

In my thinking the only way to advance one's own agenda is by first looking out for the interests of the other people. I think that all truly successful people know this. Those who put their own interests first might enjoy a fast ride to riches, but they will trip up and fall somewhere down the line. As they say, what comes around goes around. That is American Slang. A similar saying is "you reap what you sow" which essentially means that the seeds you plant today give you tomorrow's shade (or tomorrow's thorns!)--it is our choice.

Hi getbrowser, I have never agreed with the thought,"look out for number one". Working together is very important both in work situations such as you speak of here, and in life in general. I feel strongly that we are our brother's keeper and if we only look out for ourselves, the human race will be in a lot of trouble. I try to take a positive attitude and believe that there are more people who think as I do then we realize. Blessings.

hello getbrowser. i think I am guilty of this one because it was during the training times, although it was my source, the other members think am being selfish, i was a bit guilty but they didn't have to do that, like making me guilty for something that i bought for my own source.well,that was long ago, i do hope I can do better the next time i am with other team mates.

Usually I'm socially oriented, sometimes painfully so. The pain is more often mine. But I have been known to have my moments of selfindulgence which burn out too quickly to really amount to much.. As for the world in general, its been evident for a rather long time that too many folks would rather focus on themselves, and expect other folks for them as well, in kind, that they do for themselves..And it ain't gonna change.. Like here in the US, regardless of the philosophy of The Constitution and The Bill of Rights, the 'special interest' wins quite often..even tho it openly defies 'We the people..' and thru 'special' additions to that Constitution in favor of these groups..have rendered The Constitution itself as Unconstitutional and that's scary!

if someone is self-centered there not a part of the whole so you bypass them and focus with the people who are for unity.

This is one of my pet peeves. People now days are so one-minded and selfish it is horrible. We live in a society of people merging together to try to make it in the world. Yet everyone acts like they are out on their own with only themselves to think of and consider. I look out for my family but I also have concerns for others childrens and such. We all should.

I believe that the majority of the problems we are facing in our world today are due to the fact that looking out for number one is more the norm. It won’t do one person any good in the long run to just take care of his or her self if the rest of the world is going to break down. Everything depends on circumstances but taking care of the whole makes more sense to me.

We all know what to do but we don't do it. We all know that it's wrong to be selfish but we still are. Is there a cure to this? I feel guilty everytime I try to save my a$$ first while I can see that other people are not getting the same favors as I do. But it seems that selfishness is like a dreaded disease that everyone is suffering. Almost everybody else is doing it. And what we exactly end up doing is pointing fingers at everyone else yet we don't see our own mistakes. :( Your discussion is quite an eye opener to me and hopefully it opens the eyes of other people.

You should pay attention to the interest of the whole. If you stick together then you will be able to accomplish more than if you just look out for yourself. You will also feel better about yourself because you did not just think of number one.

First of all, thank you very much for this great discussion. I really needed to see this right now. Where my husband works, they are trying to come out of the economic slump without hurting their finances and for our family as individuals it is tough because it has meant that we have less income coming into our house. My husband is the only one in the company that can do what he does and in the past he's worked many, many hours of overtime. Now, though they are griping at him about it because they don't want to have to borrow money to meet their payroll. The way that we see it, it is better to somewhat sacrifice ourselves right now so that we know he will have a job in the future as opposed to trying to get ahead right now in what may lead to his detriment in the future.

I tend to look at the big picture, not only with family issues but also with work. I believe that if just one person benefits then there really is no point. There will be constant struggle whether in family or at work. If everyone has the chance to benefit, I think that would make things a lot easier and more stable. Sometimes there are instances when you have to put yourself before others but there are times when you have to be considerate. It depends on the subject matter.

It's not being too selfish if someone will think of himself, besides before helping someone people should see to it that they do not have their own problems to deal with. But in a group! Of course it is selfishness, A group is always a group and people need to learn to cooperate and pay attention to the interest of the whole for the greater good. Even a leader and a manager listens to it's members and compromise for the greater good. Failure of one is a failure of all and the success of one is a success of all. All for one and one for all! LOL! ^^, nice topic

Hi Getbrowser! You ask excellent questions. You are correct when you say that it is hard to find anyone who thinks of others more than himself/herself. That is not necessarily a bad thing, and is really human nature. I live in a tornado-prone area, and when there is a threat, the first thing I think about is my family, and any preperations that need to be made. ANd then I look to my neighbors. Thankfully, we haven't had one. I think the problem is more that people stop thinking after they have looked out for number one. That is not only selfish, but very short-sighted too. Our care has to continue beyond ourselves. We hear the words 'global economy' all the time. I would like to think that with (or because of) the internet, that we are becoming a global people. It is not just the economy, it is all of us too. A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and that is true with societies and economies too.

Being part of an organization require every one to participate being in a team and to keep it every member should embodies in themselves the manner of camaraderie of closeness for every member of a team develop being motivated to work out toward a common goal. Every one have selfish motivation and that is why a team player exist. You play to cooperate and help to finish the work done perfectly if their would be defect it easily heal with a lot of meeting of minds. Thus, any arguments and contradiction would be resolve. As a team member you cooperate as you have the intention to stay fit with the group to retain your good reputation. And whether you disagree you could not just keep face to tell it to the whole team directly or else you would be going to isolated and being blame for being uncooperative. Everyone have their own hidden agenda to maintain a good image and that is selfishness itself for keeping silent to voice out any contradiction. While, different scenario of selfishness happen when you use a friend for your own personal growth, then after you suck all of her energy, you dumped here without any regrets...

I've been used to working with a team and you will really be meeting different personalities and this means that they too have different style in handling situations and looking at problems and solutions. I simply do the following: 1. try to facilitate a discussion that will to the groups identification and prioritization of the problems 2. come up with possible solutions and interventions 3. assess and make an agreement on how to handle such problem or situation 4. in whatever decision the team will take it will always be for the benefit of the majority-- no selfishness but SELF-SACRIFICE!