Replying to LO23852 --
Gregorio
This thread you started on role perception caught my attention.
IMHO role perception is a key factor in organisational development and
success. Some organisations, and not all, will define roles but then
people interpret their roles much like actors / actresses interpret the
playwright's script supplemented by the producer's instructions. Some
organisations leave people to define and interpret their own roles, and
that can lead to some very interesting dynamics, particularly if others
perceive the roles differently.
In my view of the world, it is people's perception of their role that
determines their behaviour. So changing people's perceptions of their
role can be an approach to changing behaviour. However, as Argyris
warned, there can be differences between people's espoused views and their
views in practice. And, Mary Parker Follett warned of further
complications because an individual's perception of their role will be
influenced by their perception of others perception of their role, ie. a
somewhat complex dynamic of the conscious and unconscious.
I enjoyed Eugene's two examples of expenditure approval committees and can
readily think of examples from my own working life. It often used to
annoy me when trying to get business quotes signed off. The management
accountant would query the technical solution being costed for a client or
the sales issues rather than focusing on the cost and risk issues. And
this was despite the business quote already being signed off by technical
design authority and by sales management. For some reason, the management
accountant would assume their role was checking that a business quote made
technical sense and sales sense, whereas my view was he should just have
been checking that it made financial sense.
I also thought that Eugeue's two examples were excellent examples of what
Mary Parker Follett refered to as "power over" versus "power with".
Roy Benford
Fulmer,UK
--"Roy Benford" <roy@benford.demon.co.uk>
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