Richard Karash wrote, in part:
> I wrote
> >>[Host's Note: Lynette, you've hit right on the essential contradiction...
> >>
> >>"Empowered" means you have the power, not me.
> >>
> >>If I can empower you, then I can take it away and you are not "empowered."
> >>Thus, the usual use, "I empower you to..." has a built-in contradiction.
There is no contradiction here. Shakespeare's plays, King Lear in
particula, points out that one can give away power or empower another
without the ability to take it back.
The idea that power can come only from an idea and that we can self
empower based on these ideas may be right only in death. The current
situation in the Balkans is an excellent example.
In organizations we have two types of authority, structural (via position
and title) and sapiential (based on knowledge). The problem resides in the
fact that these are often not congruent. It's like the trickster who puts
a string on a coin to trip the candy machine while retrieving the coin-
and therein lies the problem in an organization
i can empower myself right onto the unemployment line, or, perhaps the
guillotine? It is only when we loose the fear of "death" that we can truly
empower ourselves- and therein lies the problem
thoughts?
tom abeles
--tom abeles <tabeles@tmn.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>