Doc,
You responded to Simon:
"The essential difference between the organizations that Simon speaks
of--and the communities that Harrison mentioned (and David wrote about)
is in their purpose. Organizations generally externalize their purpose
(production, acquisition, service) and communities generally internalize
their purpose (relationships, mutual defense, safety, security). When
organizations begin behaving like communities, when they feel like
extended families, then they don't look like Simon's organizational
picture. "
I think that you are correct that there is a difference between
organizations and communities. But the difference is one of perspective.
Within an organization, there is a mission, a focus, a purpose which is
externally oriented, but there is also a structure which exists to support
that mission focus. Those involved in the former are agents of the
mission, while the latter are agents of organization or of support. In
every manufacturing company there are people whose concern is the
maintenance of equipment, who are responsible for ensuring there is an
adequate supply of materials, those who are concerned with the health and
financial welfare of the organization and its employees. They are not
focused upon clients, though their work is essential for the effective
servicing of clients. Their focus is internal, to the relationships both
material and human which are needed to make the organization function.
I think communities are really no different. For example, a family is a
community. Its internal focus is on its love and care for each other, but
it also has an outward orientation. For instance, our family this coming
Thursday will spend part of our American Thanksgiving Day serving meals to
homeless men, women and families at a local shelter. The day is just not
for internal management of family relationships, but the opportunity for
those relationships to function as a team for the benefit of someone else.
I know the more our family functions as a community who is organized for a
purpose beyond the maintenance of relationships, the better our life as a
family is. Maybe they are two different sides to the same coin.
Thanks, Doc,
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/>