Accountability LO13600

John Constantine (Rainbird@trail.com)
Tue, 13 May 1997 20:21:17 -0700

Replying to LO13499 --

In reply to Debbie Broome's post in re accountability, I would say first
and foremost "Aye, there's the rub."

Debbie suggests:

> an expectation that
> employees and managers will be accountable to an organization's mission,
> values and core competencies and when they are not that there will be
> opportunities to correct that, and if those fail, then they can be asked
> to leave the organization. I don't think every organization is a fit for
> every employee.

Haven't we come full circle? Deming offers a challenge to organizations to
remove impedimenta, reject structure inhibitors, concentrate upon
improving the system, etc. The learning organization grows by challenges
to its own stale way of thinking and hires consultants to provide
responses. Have we not tossed around the idea of what value the consultant
may be if the only purpose is to say yes to the corporate mentality, for
the sake of making a living off the clients?

Einstein suggested that an orgnization cannot know itself; extrapolating
from this, each and every member's sole purpose might be, could be, should
be to improve the system he/she finds themselves in. If each person has a
job, they can be told what to do each and every momemt. If they have
responsibility, it is to use what they ARE as human beings to improve the
surrounding system. Challenge the system and its parts to make
improvements. Learn more, think more, do more than merely "fit" within
the constraints of the "mission".

I reject this notion that it is again the "fault" of the person who asks
the question, who makes a suggestion, who offers an idea. It is the fault
of that system which creates the impossible task, rejects the thinking
individual, dismisses he/she who does not "fit".

Cowards all, those who define the mission without involving the members;
leeches all, those who maintain a position without improving its purpose.

Why have educated individuals if this is to be the end result? Better to
have slaves and be slaves and minions than contributing members of society
under this scenario.

It is not Debbie that I am responding to in this regard; it is far
easier to ask someone to leave than to expand the total organization's
wealth of learning. As for me, I'd rather be dead than work in such an
organization, or for such an organization. Is this what we ask of a
"learning organization"? Indeed!

-- 

Regards, John Constantine rainbird@trail.com Rainbird Management Consulting PO Box 23554 Santa Fe, NM 87502 http://www.trail.com/~rainbird "Dealing in Essentials"

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>