Bob Tomasko raises a really important issue. It is something I've been
thinking a lot about recently.
Just today I was at lunch reflecting on some of the material I've read on
Learning Organizations when I realized I had a different philosophical
approach to the whole concept.
The first chapter in the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook is "I see you." When I
first read this chapter I thought in weird. I wrote those words in the
column of the first paragraph. It reads:
"Among the tribes of nothern Natal in South Africa, the most common
greeting, equivalent to "hello" in English, is the expression Sawu bona.
It literally means, "I see you." If you are a member of the tribe, you
might reply by saying Sikhona, "I am here." The order of the exchange is
important: until you see me, I do not exist. It's as if, when you see me,
you bring me into existence."
Outside of the fact that this paragraph is illogical, I'm abhored by it's
implications that my existence is dependent on other peoples existence.
Here is where I diverge from the traditional concept of a LO.
An organization exists when one or more people interact in such a way that
they are able to take productive action. The individual comes before the
organization. A community exists because individuals decided it was to
their benefit to come together. Again the individual existed before the
community.
And so when you start saying that a person doesn't exist until they're
recognized by others you reverse the order of existence. The result is
that man becomes a weak and helpless creature without other people.
So what does all of this have to do with personal mastery and selfishness?
The major motivating factor for organizing is to help us achieve our own
desires. When we take a job the primary motivation is what we can get,
while the secondary motivation is wh at we can give others. I would never
take a job where I could benefit others and not myself. That wouldn't make
any sense.
It just so happens that as I work hard to grow and develop myself, the
organization benefits from that effort. My motivation is not to
necessarily benefit the organization. It is to benefit myself. But in the
end the organization does benefit.
The more people strive to achieve the results they most want for
themselves the more the organization benefits as long as a) the pursuit of
one's own ends are congruent with the purpose of the organization, b) the
each person is ethical.
That is why I think it is absolutely critical that an organization have
clearly defined values. Without them it is impossible for a person to know
if they should or should not work there. It also makes it difficult to
measure performance, encourage higher levels of performance, and make day
to day decisions.
Ethical behavior emerges out of the values of the individual and the
organization. The interplay between the two will determine if the
organization as a whole is ethical. A person is ethical as long as they
seek their own benefit without impeding others to seek their; an
organization is ethical as long as it rewards people for their work. To
reward a person for being a gifted politician is unethical because the
process by which advancement is made within the organization is no longer
dependent on the personal growth of each employee. It is rather based on
brutality and ruthlessness.
So what's my point? We should be motivated by our own self-interest inside
an organization. That is the best way to create the type of interaction
that will create productive action. People exist for their own purposes
first, and for their communities second. That is a significant issue for
me.
-- Benjamin Compton DWS -- "The GroupWise Integration Experts" (617) 267-0044 ext. 16 E-Mail: bcompton@emailsolutions.com http://www.emailsolutions.comLearning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>