Avot 4:11
Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar said: Every assembly which is for the sake of Heaven will in the end endure, and every assembly which is not for the sake of Heaven will not endure in the end.
A cooperative and collaborative culture is essential for a company, board, or organization to thrive. In his best-selling Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, Daniel Coyle delineates principles of highly effective groups encapsulated in three primary mandates: build psychological safety, share vulnerability, and establish purpose.
In our mishna, Rabbi Yochanan HaSandler also discusses the importance of group culture, focusing on motivation. If the gathering is “for the sake of Heaven,” it will endure, and if not, it will not endure. What does “for the sake of Heaven” connote? Abarbanel suggests that it is indicative of a unified goal and purpose, similar to Coyle’s “establish purpose.” If the gathering is mission-driven, has prosocial aims, and manages to follow best practices of organizational meetings and decision-making, it can have a remarkably positive impact. A group or committee without that sense of positive purpose will ultimately fail.
Meiri suggests that what is at stake here is the motivation behind the individuals of the group. G-d is the all-knowing Being who can discern our inner thoughts and desires. Even if the gathering is purportedly for elevated purposes, the interior motivations and dispositions of the assembled will ultimately determine its success. If the goal is to win, to be right, or to demonstrate power, the long-term success of such an endeavor will fall short. If the goal is a pursuit of truth and higher values, all differences can be worked out.
What Meiri is intimating is that the motivation also impacts the means and methods of communication. Negative motivations lead to hostile interactions. Positive motivations help build trust and lead to more collaborative and healthy disagreements. These negative motivations and interactions pollute the culture of the gathering, fomenting mistrust and antagonism instead of the psychological safety necessary for cooperative work environments.
Coyle also encourages listening to diverse perspectives. This not only builds group cohesion but enhances problem-solving. Rabbi Marc Angel notes how the governing religious bodies described in the Mishna and Talmud encouraged different opinions and were set up to avoid unhealthy power dynamics that often lead to the problem of groupthink. As Drs. Eliezer Schnall and Michael Greenberg elaborate in their article “Groupthink and the Sanhedrin: An analysis of the ancient court of Israel through the lens of modern social psychology,” the Sanhedrin required the less senior members to give their opinions first, avoiding pressure for them to conform to the more senior members’ opinions. The supporting of different perspectives, according to Rabbi Angel, is a manifestation of “for the sake of Heaven.”
Rabbi Shmuel Galante (1750-1810) in his Benayot Beramah references Rashi’s commentary on Genesis 1:8 that the word heaven, shamayim, is a contraction of the words eish and mayim, fire and water. Even these opposite entities can coexist for the sake of upholding the world. Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski builds off this idea, critiquing the prevailing culture that assumes that all conflict needs to be resolved. Rabbi Twerski argues that the real goal should be to coexist peacefully with others despite conflicts. Families would be better off if “various members of the family could agree to disagree, and maintain love and cooperation, even though they may differ in their ideas.”
Noted marriage therapist Dr. John Gottman also contends that each marriage has perpetual, unsolvable problems. The goal is not to resolve those conflicts but to know how to relate to those conflicts in healthy ways. If this read of the Mishna is correct, the message is that even if a conflict continues, the relationship will endure.
When there is unified purpose, proper motivation, psychological safety, and the capacity to listen to diverse perspectives, parties with varying personalities and opinions will be able to coexist peacefully and flourish collectively despite differences.
