Jo,
You ask:
>My question is why? Why do we have this compulsion to create
>organisations?
I don't think precisely we want to create "organizations." I think we see
organizations as a place to find human community in the context of
endeavors which are greater than us and require more than my own action to
achieve. I think it is a mixture for the need for human companionship and
the need to feel apart of something greater, even transcendent.
Organizations are vehicles for human interaction, just as families,
congregations, neighborhoods, listservs, etc.
We are not born to be alone, but to be in community. We seek it, yet are
repulse by it because it requires what we fear most, that our true selves
be discovered and than I not be what I claim to be, or that I find out
that I'm not what I want to be. Organizations are tough because people
take them personally. We have high expectations for what they should do
for us, and when they don't, then we become frustrated.
I'll tell you what I seek in organizations. I want to work with people
who don't settle for second best, and are willing to change to reach that
lofty goal. I want to work with people who are honest, humble, and
willing to learn for others. I want to work with people who believe in
the development of the members of their team. I want to work with people
who look beyond their personal acheivements to greater accomplishments. I
don't think I'm asking for much, just some mature individuals who got
their act together.
Jo, you touched a nerve and I could go on for weeks. I know a lot of
dysfunctional, unhappy people. I've been there, and at times return to
that unpleasant territory. One of my mentors once told me that "who you
work with is more important than what you do." I'm convinced he is right.
I liked to know what the members of the list look for in the people with
whom they must work in their organizations.
Together in Our Virtual Community,
Ed Brenegar
Leadership Resources
edb3@msn.com
--"Ed Brenegar" <edb3@email.msn.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>