paper no 5

 

Name - Solanki Mayuri ManubhaiRoll no -22Enrollment no - Course- The Romantic LiteratureTopic - negative capability by KeatsEmail id- mayuribensolanki24@gmail.comSubmitted to - Department of English

John Keats 

 31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821 was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his works having been in publication for only four years before his death at age 25 in the year 1821

Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his lifetime, his reputation grew after his death, and by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borgesstated that his first encounter with Keats's work was the most significant literary experience of his life.^[2]The poetry of Keats is characteristic by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. This is typical of romantic poets, as they aimed to accentuate extreme emotion through the emphasis of natural imagery. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analysed in English literature. Some of the most acclaimed works of Keats are "I Stood Tip-toe Upon a Little Hill", "Sleep and Poetry", and the famous sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer".

To the best of my knowledge ,john Keats is not required reading at the rot-man school of management nor at Harvard business  school .this may have something to do with  the fact that he is an English romantic poet and not say a modern leadership guru but still its a shame                                             One of the greatest leadership lesson i ever learned came by way of john Keats  two hundred years ago the man who penned ode on a Grecian urn and la belle dames sans mercy introduced the concept of negative capability to the world actually he introduced it to a friend by way of a letter and the world has paid attention rvr since . according to Keats  negative capability manifests . 

  " when is capable of being in uncertainties ,mysteries ,doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason ".
 negative capability is an ability to appreciate fully and experience wholly things that transcend logic .it is an acceptance that there are things that reason ,alone, cannot adequately explain.those who possess  negative capability have a high tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty.they can accept contrariness and not be rendered helpless. negative capability is the power to face the chaos the swirling formlessness and not panic.
 and this is why i believe negative capability is as importance to those who aspire to lead and manage as it to those who make art. almost anyone can follow a recipe. or a how to manuals ,but the ability to solve problems for which there is no easy answer and the world is filled with wicked problems ,the ability to mitigate situation that are charged with emotion with politics conflicting views and layers of complexity these are the challenges ew need those in position of leadership to manage every day. and while you might imagine the best leaders are those with an affinity for order and control i think it's likely that the best also have a certain negative capability.
 generally i find people like a sense of order and control. we like it when things run smoothly and go according to plan we like to have a handle on things. yet the truth is that we frequently run into things that are illogical paradoxical irrational unpredictable and unreasonable .
when Keats talks about the need to exits without any irritable reaching for fact and reason he dose so not because he is dismissive of fact and reason per se but because we are frequently presented with things that are some hoe bigger and trickier than facts .
i am an educator.for more than two decades i have been a teacher coach principle and district leader. and it is in this arena where i value negative capability more and more . educators for the best know that facts are actually a very small part of the job.you see the work that happens in school is fundamentally human sure there are budgets to manage and spreadsheet to manipulate ,but at its our work involves the hearts and minds of people of children and teenagers and parents . and i can tell you unequivocally that being able to explain a complex algebra equation is one thing and having the ability to inspire confidence in the child who is convinced that he just can't do it is something else altogether.
 similarly a teacher who present the facts to a parent about a struggling student without the requisite amount of compassion and humanity is likely in for a very difficult encounter and not as a result of any lack of facts .
when i was a principle i knew that every day was going to bring a new and unexpected challenge .and many of them were not , pardon the pun textbook  problems with obvious answer .working at district level position i see more than ever that big picture stuff is seldom black and white and frequently demands more than intuition and instinct among them complexity norm.
which is why if i were designing a course syllabus for organizational leaders i would insist on john Keats .of course future managers executive should to seek to have a handle on the things they manage .they should strive to implement and maintain systems that will optimize achievements and improvement chance for success .they ought to monitor and adjust and adapt. but they must also be taught to be wary of the trap. one must not become so focused on order and control that one loses sight of the underlying truth which is .
we live and work on the brink of uncertainty all the time. and the ability to navigate ambiguous and things beyond our control ,the capacity to confront the mysteries that appear before us well let's just say a little negative capability can go a long way

Suitted to – Department of English