There are a couple of scenes in “Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace” that are really important. Say what you  want about the movie, dismiss the prequels if you choose,  but there’s one scene in particular that ‘s really important, and it’s in Episode 1.

There are Republic troops on the planet of Naboo, being lead by Queen Amidala.  They are trying to repel an invasion. There are two Jedi with them, Qui-Gon Jin and Obi-Wan Kenobi. They  have blasted past droids and are about to walk through the front door, when said door opens, and there’s a Sith Lord (a really really bad guy, for you laymen) standing there. Now, most of the people fighting have never even SEEN a Sith Lord,  and don’t really  understand what all this Sith/Jedi stuff is anyway. But here’s this guy, Darth Maul, with a robe and horns on his head and he’s got stripes — he looks like trouble.  Every armed man tenses up like “well, this is it,  fellas…” and Qui-Gon steps in.

He tells the Queen: “We’ll handle this.”

At that point, everybody who ain’t a Jedi exits stage left. They proceed to go upstairs and handle THEIR business. And they do great work. But in an unnecessarily elaborate maze of tunnels and caverns and places with forcefields (this is a given. You cannot have a castle or star-ship in sci-fi without an elaborate maze with dangerous materials and places to fall at its center.) — the Jedi battle the Sith. I won’t ruin it for you if you haven’t seen the movie, but it’s an important battle with consequences that last for years. It’s one of three battles happening at the same time. Each battle has to be won on its own ground, with no help from the folks fighting the other fights.

There’s an important lesson in that. For all of us.

Right now, the real world we live on, in this galaxy, is in peril. It’s a peril we mostly invented ourselves, yes, but more on that later. We’ve all agreed on some level to either take advantage of this chaos, or bring order to it. Everyone, at least, as acknowledged that something’s wrong.

Good place to start.

I’m hearing a lot of people talk these days. People are worried about the global financial crisis, because it means the end of life the way they know it. People are confused about terrorism. People are worried about being made obsolete.

The most religious people and the most  confident  atheists are all looking for leadership. In the absence of leadership, the same scared, exhausted people are trying to BE the leadership. And it’s looking  crazy.  There are too many experts giving advice on something they  know nothing about,  and as a result,  what they DO  know about is falling apart.

There are situations where you need the emo president of the math club. There are times when you need the guy who played 2 years of high school football and never let it go. Really, there are times. And then there are times when you need the guy who has the photographic memory and uses that skill on baseball and Dr. Who episodes. Sometimes, you need all three. In fact, most of the times, you need all three.

I like to call this “the Enterprise Bridge balance”. Logic, Passion, and Compassion. Everyone knows Spock represents the pure logical mind,  James Kirk as the passionate leader, and Dr. Bones McCoy as the compassionate ship’s doctor. Think about your favorite Star Trek original series episode. It’s probably one where all three have central roles.  (Mine is “City On the Edge of Forever” for that reason). Most people think of Kirk’s decisions alone,  but without Bones’ counsel, and Spock’s understanding of what  can and cannot happen, most of the missions would have been a failure.

Equally important to this balance on the bridge was the work ethic and knowledge base of one man:  Montgomery Scott. Without Scotty, that ship would have blown up in season one.  But give Scotty the bridge, as often happened, and you get a “by the numbers” management style. No chances taken, all orders followed.

When I listen to folks opine about what should be done about, say, an industry bailout, or a social issue, I am always struck at how two-dimensional the solution suggestions are. Without balance, and patience to  observe the situation, you will have blown something up before you understood what it was.

This isn’t something I learned in months of meditation in Tibet or in some religious doctrine.  I learned it by watching and reading science fiction.

Perhaps we’ve given the “sports-analogy” types the keys long enough. You cannot continue to “run it up the middle until it gives” when half a million people a month are losing their jobs. You need a plan, AND you need to be able to call an audible, you need to be sensitive to the fact that these are human beings not just numbers — and you need to understand that you canna break the laws of physics.

Are there people who can stop thinking outside the box and redefine the box?

Sure! A whole generation!

What would happen if this generation — the one raised on Roddenberry, Lucas, Butler, and Card –took  leadership positions within everyday life?

I submit that this is happening today. Everywhere. A “Sci-Fi” Generation exists, and these are their stories…