The Third Alternative Critique - Research Paper Example

The Third Alternative: A critique The Third Alternative is the latest book in the series of motivational and life principle books written by the noted author Stephen R Covey. The book is another title in the genre of self-help and guide books, written with the perspective of imparting knowledge about life, work and the world to the people who need some help in achieving their perfect life. The Third Alternative differentiates itself from other books by concentrating and introducing just one principle of embracing the ‘third alternative’ and then explaining this principle through examples within different contexts and situations of life. The book is a natural follow up for the regular readers of Stephen Covey who have already been introduced to his unique life philosophies and ideas on effectiveness and ambition. Covey is famous for his book ‘Seven habits of highly effective people’, which is considered to be the one of the most influential books on personal development and strengthening of the 1990s. Stephen Covey, an MBA from Harvard started his professional life as a college professor at Brigham Young University and during his tenure cultivated, organized and codified his thoughts and philosophies on the ways to achieve the best out of life. These were taught through seminars and conferences and eventually Stephen Covey became the co-founder of the Franklin-covey organization which works towards finding practical solutions to the problems faced by businesses and organization through the application of Covey’s ‘principle-centered’ approach to management and leadership. Touted as one of Times magazine’s 25 most influential Americans, Covey has conveyed his principled life message through his many books and annual seminars; that success in life is achievable if we adopt central principles of ethics, empathy and resource management in both our personal and professional lives. The books provide a framework for cultivating the frame of mind to allow the adoption of these principles and they have resonated greatly with people in all ages and occupations. Covey’s seven habits have found almost a cult like following in fields as diverse as academia, Church groups and the corporate culture. Subsequently all his follow up books seem to have been directly or indirectly written to support and provide further instructions for his original readers. Titles such as Such as seven habits of highly effective families and living the seven habits provided further insight into the philosophies while the Third alternative is a more thorough investigation into the fourth habit described in the book which is ‘Win-Win solution’. The one problem which this trend raises is that the written style is not highly persuasive for the new readers as the underlying assumption seems to be that the readers would already be familiar with the basic concept and are just looking for a practical approach for adopting the principle. Before moving on to an in depth analysis of the book, let us take a look at the guiding idea of the book. Covey offers his reader a new way to solve the complexities which everyone faces in different aspect of life, he asks them to forget the old mindset of compromising between the ‘win-lose’ alternatives available and instead talk and synergize with your adversary to reach a third alternative solution. This solution adopts both viewpoints and brings forward a solution which is not only acceptable to both parties but is also a better solution. The key point in reaching that solution is to understand your own needs, listen and understand your opponent’s needs and then ‘synergize’ together. This basic approach is explained in detail then applied to scenarios like work, family, education, society and life with ample examples in the subsequent chapters. As one reviewer stated, Covey’s message can be understood in just five pages but going through the whole book gives you an entirely new perspective about life and makes you a believer. This is something which becomes apparent going through the book; the first chapter that introduces these concepts seems repetitive and rambling. It is clear that the author himself is very enthusiastic about the concept and can state without irony that synergy is the ‘energy of the universe’ but the enthusiasm doesn’t translate very well to the reader. The assertions that the third alternative is different than just a basic compromise is hard to agree to at certain times and indeed many of the concepts presented in the books seem to be the same long standing convections of human society about respecting others, behaving civilly and collaborating on ideas which have been rewrapped under new names and jargons and presented as a whole new guiding principle. But this the genius of the author- instead of introducing some alien concepts regarding human interactions, he instead brings to light some of the basic possibilities and solutions which happen throughout the course of human history but weren’t recognized as concrete principles to be applied in other areas. The third alternative allows us to recognize the processes which lead to the better solution and then further apply those processes in areas of life where they might not have seemed suitable before. Suitable examples are that of the ‘talking stick’ and the ‘the magic room’. The talking stick refers to a method of talking wherein one person listens calmly, without interruption to the other’s feelings and thoughts- no input is allowed. Then the stick is given to the other person and the process repeated; it’s a simple method which everyone would have followed at times in their life but Covey gives it a specific name and rules and prescribes it to be adopted consciously in our daily interactions. The magic theatre is the modern practice of gathering experts in different fields in one area, with the necessary tools and the objective to come up with unique solutions to a problem within a certain time limit. The practices focuses all energies and creativity to finding a third alternative and is something greatly favored by organizations of all types, Covey again provides the practical steps to achieve synergy through a successful magic theater in the chapter about the work environment. This is accompanied by very interesting and thought provoking examples like the automatic weapons, coffee dispenser and vending machine experts who were gathered by someone in Microsoft and came up with a new mechanism to store vaccines for developing countries. This is the magic of synergy in action. The strength of the book over all lies with the numerous examples, anecdotes and stories that Covey has collected to support his ideas. In places where the explanations start to become mundane, the stories capture reader interest and move them along to the next part of the book. They also show the research that has gone into writing of the book and gain a lot of credibility for the author’s work. The chapters about work and social changes are the ones where the organization of ideas and supporting examples work very well; persuading and affecting the reader’s mindset successfully. What could be a more significant example of synergy and collaboration than the revamping of New York City- where the residents collectively decided to preserve the cultural history of Times Square instead of completely hiding it behind skyscrapers? It was a social decision which affected a lot of people and transformed the city block into an iconic landmark. An emotionally appealing example, it cleverly highlights the use of Third alternative in society. However in certain parts of the book this organization of examples and ideas works against the intended effect by creating a sense of self serving bias and praise for the author’s ideologies. Two such chapters are the ones on Family and education. While the ideas presented in both Family and education chapter are in the same vein as the rest of the book, the examples are not nearly as effective. Stephen Covey makes constant referances to his own family and hypothetical situations as evidence for adopting the third alternative within families; this doesn’t create the same impact that plenty of third party examples would have as Covey could have a more positive perception of his own family than outsiders may have. The ideas about every child being a third alternative are also very vague and slightly confusing, while astute readers can probably understand what Covey means (a child can learn from the best of both the parents) there is not enough explanation. In education the focus is that institutes should work towards developing students as leaders- an idea proposed and implemented by combs Elementary School who themselves were inspired by Coveys Seven Habits. As a whole this just seems more as validation for Covey’s previous philosophies rather than an attempt to integrate the Third Alternative in the educational environment. Despite a lack of connection between some of the ideas and real life examples, a reader who goes through the entire book in a thoughtful manner would agree that even if the ideas are not of a very innovative nature themselves, they still make a lot of sense- ethically and practically. Even if you don’t agree with the principles given in each chapter, the overall ideology of synergizing and learning the third alternative route is something which can indeed have a positive effect on the way we conduct our life decisions. The book may not be able to persuade casual readers to completely adopt the steps given in the book for the long run but it provides an alternate paradigm for life, useful for everyone who is looking for something different. Works Cited Fenwick, Tara & Parsons, Jim. Guru Philosophy as Adult Education: Stephen Covey and the Cult of Educational Effectiveness. Paper presented to the Ontario Theological Seminary/ Institute Christian Studies “Heart and Mind Conference”, Regina, Saskatchewan. May 18-20. Web. 12 June 2012. Hamm, Trent. Review: The 7 habits of highly effective people. The Simple Dollar, May 27 2007. Web. 12 June 2012. Covey, R. Stephen. The Third Alternative. Free Press. 2011. Read More