Rol Fessenden wrote:
>In a world in which continuous improvement is the norm, everyone is pushing
>forward in small increments in their capabilities.
[Host: Tom, did you omit the word "not" in your first sentence below?]
This may be the world view of most on this list and of other managers we
deal with. We are running hard just to stay in place, much less to grow
the enterprise. I have not been able to convey that urgency to my
employees. Their real lives happen outside of work. Work is what they do
to get the resources for their real life. People expect to have something
after twenty or more years of working - as their parents did, but that
isn't happening in America today. Young people with talent aren't much
into dues paying and simply go where there's more money.
> Someone who is not pushing forward begins eventually to lag behind. It
>may be that the work does not galvanize that person, it may be any one of
>thousands of reasons. The point is still relevant: this person is
>lagging behind his or her peers in performance. ...snip...
When you have a small organization - peers may be outside and one does not
experience the perspective that you're a big fish only because you're in a
small pond. Getting people to raise their own bar in such an environment
has been difficult for me. It may have to do with being a governmental
organization, though I always taught that we were a entreprenuerial group
- consultants - since we have no tax base, or it may be my own failure to
communicate.
>It typically takes several years for a person to noticeably lag behind. That
>means that for several years they were either not motivated, or not able
>to continue to improve when everyone else did continue to improve. This
>person needs one of two things, either a) more motivation or personalized
>(focused) attention, or b) a different job.
I've had several people who were at this point. I gave them wake-up
evaluations. They did move on. Because they were likeable, I'm now a bad
boss. By their own reference points they were doing fine - filling up the
time alotted. In a rural area where all the other organizations are
minimal - there can be a shortage of motivated peers who speak your
language.
I've been drawn to the learning organization idea, but am mystified as to
how to implement "a passion for learning" in a small organization.
Learning for me is its own reward, but life is more complex. Down the line
there may be a correlation to financial success. Without internal bench
marking against personal goals, what really motivates people to learn and
perform? I believe an external system that lets you know where you are in
somebody's opinion can wake some people up. What is done with the
information depends upon the circumstance - the rate-e and the rate-er,
the work environment, and the options.
Peace Dynamic
Tom
-- Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel * e-mail: tjcdsgns@shentel.net My mission: "Regions_Work!" Why? "All markets are regional and the economy is global. Two or more crossing boundaries to solve a problem is regional cooperation." *TJCdesigns * Box 1444 * Front Royal, Virginia (VA) 22630-1444 * "True peace is dynamic. For sustainability, design with re-use in mind."Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>