Perspective is a funny thing. Take the countless public holidays in April for example. Everyone loves them, until you’re a small business owner caught in the chaos of deadlines, missed opportunities and non-existent productivity. For employees? The perfect excuse to binge Netflix and sleep in. For bosses? It’s the headache that keeps you up at night, stressing over clients and cash flow.
From a legal perspective, it’s even more layered. At its foundation, the law’s job is to balance interests. The trick to doing that effectively is understanding where everyone’s coming from. Very often the process of law overshadows the original intentions of the parties – shifting focus from resolution to procedure.
By way of illustration, right now in legal circles, the debate is hot: is mediation the future of justice, or just another hurdle to overcome on the way to court? This isn’t just about faster, cheaper dispute resolution. It’s about whether we’re genuinely removing disagreements from court, or if we’re quietly undermining the justice system altogether. Critics say it’s a dodge; supporters say it’s smart and efficient. I’m not for a moment saying that all disputes can be mediated. Some really do need to go before a judge. But a vast majority of disputes can be resolved through a facilitated conversation. Sure, it costs (not nearly as much a legal fees in litigation, but still), but more often than not, it saves way more -time, money, and, maybe more important that anything, the damage to relationships. Sometimes talking IS the best way forward.
And then there’s AI—oh, the drama! Some see it as the end of jobs, humanity’s obsolescence, the apocalypse in waiting. Others see a game-changing ally, our new best friend, ready to accelerate productivity, automate dull work, and spark real innovation. Both realities? Valid. Both perspectives? Miles apart.
Until last week, I was in Camp Apocalypse. I distrusted it. Just hearing “ChatGpt” gave me hives. Attorneys have been caught using it, and have been punished for it with costs orders and embarrassment in the media. Whenever someone asked me whether I used it, I would say that I don’t even HAVE it. Last week, someone (Mark Sham – look him up) challenged me to watch it work, and then to see whether I felt the same way. What he was asking me to do, essentially, was to see it from another perspective.
So I watched, and I listened and I learned. I’m not quite in Camp Adopt-AI, but I’m certainly in Camp Cautiously-willing-to-give-it-a-shot.
Here’s the truth: trying to see things through someone else’s eyes isn’t just polite – it’s powerful. Not to agree blindly, but to understand why they see it that way. It’s how you avoid misunderstandings, make smarter choices, and cut through the nonsense.
This week, headlines exploded over the 49 white farmers granted refugee status in the U.S. On the one hand, farm invasions and murders? They’re absolutely real, and the fact that the highest echelons of government have consistently and publicly denied them also cannot be denied. These farmers, and their families, must have felt that they have no choice but to leave the only land they’ve ever known. Probably the same land their fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers invested blood, sweat and tears into.
But on the other hand, from the perspective of the countless South Africans who choose to stay and continue to build their lives here, regardless of politics, corruption, lack of service delivery, State Capture and marginalisation, it feels like a kick in the teeth. Like some are turning their backs on the soil that feeds us, the country we call home.
Is it quitting, or is it survival? It’s all about perspective.
As a parent of two young people, I get it. It’s easy to feel like the future’s slipping away, especially when their race, culture, and background seem to be more of a liability than an asset. But make no mistake: this is their home. It’s worth staying for, fighting for, crying for. It’s worth celebrating and ululating and loving and building.
Understanding why the 49 farmers left matters. But what really counts? Resting in that gut-deep truth that you’re South African through and through. That you want to stay, to fight, and to bring this country back to life. Because that’s human. That’s real. And even as some look elsewhere, the fact remains: the roots are still in the ground, and so are we.
Natalie Lubbe
Director
natalie@NLAteam.com
082 920 9628
