In an interesting dialog with Gordon, Rol stated in LO17825:
>It is an interesting question, and I am uncertain that I understand
>exactly what it is about the environment that is important and what is
>not. We certainly do not operate perfectly, far from it. I guess we tap
>into no more than 15-20% of the potential of the employee base. But
>performance and morale can simultaneously be high, even in a pretty large
>group of people.
I share Gordon's perspective on the power of management to influence and
control more than the Palace Revolts of the workers. Personal experience,
I guess as I tried to get some people involved to make changes in
different workplaces. Heck, even as Senior Vice President of Operations,
it was difficult when the President "knew he was right" -- and he was
generally very participative in his style.
But the convincer, methinks, is the global popularity of Dilbert.
So many of his cartoons, cynical as they are, seem "right on" in nature.
I think it is possible that the workers, as Rol so elegantly states, CAN
have an impact on organizations.
But the reality, most of the time, would suggest that they don't. Too
many counter examples. And the statistics, as I posted yesterday, don't
support it much either.
-- For the Fun of It! (Generally!!)Scott J. Simmerman SquareWheels@compuserve.com Performance Management Company <http://www.squarewheels.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>