"In fact, economic life is pervaded by culture and depends,
Fukuyama maintains, on moral bounds of _social trust_. This is the
unspoken, unwritten bond between fellow citizens that facilitates
transactions, empowers individual creativity, and justifies collective
action. In the global struggle that is now upon us -- a struggle in which
cultural differences will become the chief determinant of national success
-- the social capital represented by trust will be as important as
physical capital."
The concept of "social capital" has been around for a few years. One of
the best discussions of social capital is Robert Putnam's article,
"Bowling Alone." In it he traces a decline in America's social capital.
The article get its title from the fact that, as he writes, "more
Americans are bowling today than ever before, but bowling in organized
leagues has plummeted. . .Between 1980 and 1993 the total number of
bowlers in America increased by 10%, while league bowling decreased by
40%." (From "The Journal of Democracy, 6:1, January 1995, pp.65-78; also
on the web at http://calliope.jhu.edu/demo/journal_of_democracy)
As Dr. Putnam notes, it is whimsical, but a third more people bowled at
least once in 1993 than voted in the 1994 Congressional elections.
Despite the title the article is pretty sobering if social capital is
recognized as being as important as physical capital.
[Amazon.com carries *The Global Resurgence of Democracy* by Larry
Diamond and Marc Plattner, which includes the Putnam article.]
Dennis Presser pressd@mail.state.wi.us
Executive Policy and Budget Analyst Phone: (608)266-8777
State Budget Office Fax: (608)267-0372
101 E. Wilson, 10th Floor
You can't really be a good manager and give sound, high quality feedback
to someone you don't care a lot about. Caring about others -- deeply
caring about them -- is a necessary prerequisite to being a really good
manager.
Rol Fessenden
--"Presser, Dennis" <pressd@mail.state.wi.us>
[Host's Note: in association with Amazon.com, here is a book link for the Diamond and Plattner book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0801853052/
...Rick]
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>