Tanya, Part I; Likkutei Amarim 13:11 · Startup voice, On-ramp

Hook

Founders, let's cut to the chase. You're building a rocket ship, and the engine is your team, fueled by your vision. But what happens when the fuel isn't clean? You've got ambitious people, driven by ego, by greed, by a desperate need to prove themselves. This isn't about fluffy HR platitudes; this is about the hardwiring of human motivation and its direct impact on your bottom line. The Tanya, in its deep dive into the human psyche, lays bare a fundamental tension: the constant tug-of-war between our baser instincts and our higher aspirations. This isn't some abstract philosophical debate. It’s the operational reality of every startup. Are your team members operating like the “wicked” – driven by self-interest and short-term gains, even temporarily – or are they striving towards the “intermediate” state, where the divine spark can guide them, albeit with constant struggle? The text speaks to the founder's dilemma: how do you foster an environment where the "divine soul" of your team – their integrity, their commitment to the mission, their ethical compass – can gain mastery over the "evil inclination" of personal gain and unchecked ambition, especially when that struggle is constant and the "evil" is "in its innate strength"? This isn't about judging individuals; it's about understanding the operational dynamics of human nature within your organization and ensuring that the "final verdict" in your company's actions is one that serves a higher purpose, not just immediate profit.

Text Snapshot

"Therewith will be understood the commentary of our Sages... that ‘intermediate people are judged by both [the good and evil natures], for it is written, ‘When He stands at the right of the destitute to deliver him from the judges of his soul.’... Note that they did not say ‘ruled’ by both, G–d forbid, because where the evil nature gains any control and dominion over the ‘small city,’ even though but temporarily, one is at such times deemed ‘wicked.’ The evil nature [in the benoni], however, is no more than, for example, a magistrate or judge who gives his opinion on a point of law, yet it is not necessarily a final decision to be implemented in deed, for there is another magistrate or judge who is contesting this opinion. It is, therefore, necessary to arbitrate between the two, and the final verdict rests with the arbitrator. Similarly, the evil nature states its opinion in the left part of the heart, which thence ascends to the brain for contemplation. Immediately it is challenged by the second judge, the divine soul in the brain extending into the right part of the heart, the abode of the good nature. The final verdict comes from the arbitrator—the Holy One, blessed is He, who comes to the aid of the good nature, as our Sages said, ‘If the Holy One, blessed is He, did not help him, he could not overcome his evil inclination.’... Yet, inasmuch as the evil in the [heart’s] left part of the benoni is in its innate strength, craving after all the pleasures of this world, not having been nullified in its minuteness in relation to the good... such a person is likened to a ‘wicked man.’ In the words of our Sages, ‘Even if the whole world tells you that you are righteous, in your own eyes regard yourself as if you were wicked’—not as actually wicked."