John Gunkler wrote:
>Tom Christoffel takes two concepts I introduced here and claims they are
>both based in the same concept. I don't think I agree. He writes, first
>quoting me:
>
>>1. Task tension
>>2. Relationship tension
>>
>>These tensions exist, I would suggest, when people come together for
>>creative enterprise, which covers about every thing we do. Combined they
>>are the "creative tensions" among and between sustainable entities - be
>>they people or organizations. This creative tension is known as
>>"competition."
>
>I certainly did not understand either task or relationship tension as
>coming from "competition." Speaking just for myself now, most of my task
>tension (even when working with a team) comes from something closer to
>cognitive dissonance -- caused by the gap I perceive between what I desire
>and what I/we have. And most of my relationship tension is probably
>caused by "fear of the unknown" rather than any sense of interpersonal
>competition.
>
>Tom, do you have a different concept (maybe an expanded concept) of
>"competition" that I'm not understanding? I agree that competition may be
>a cause of tension, but might there be other causes of task and
>relationship tension (such as the ones I cited above?)
John -
I'd been thinking along the lines of "competition as creative tension
between sustainable entities" for a while as perhaps a means of softening
the "crush, kill, destroy - rhetoric applied today." As a self-directed
person, your tension has to do with your own performance.
Perhaps its because I'm an American that I see the task and relationship
tensions as a form of competition. Early in my career as a Regional
Council Director, the director of a larger Council said the best way to
get productivity out of a staff was to have them compete against each
other. I didn't buy that, but as I continue to seek effective ways to
promote cooperation - the notion of competition jumps up.
I was explaining my ideas on cooperation to a Salvation Army cadet who
visited our area as part of a team. I assumed as a Christian self-help
minister she'd be oriented to promotin of cooperation, yet she told me
that, "Competition is good sometimes, it makes people strong."
So performance anxiety, fear of failure, the need/desire to do well
against personal or corporate benchmarks - as tensions - reflect underly
competition - which is not bad, but a motivation for some.
Tom
-- Tom Christoffel, AICP * e-mail: tjcdsgns@shentel.net Futurist, Facilitator & Regional Planner - My mission: "Regions Work!" Why? The economy is global; production is local; all markets inbetween are regional. For sustainability, design with re-use in mind, i.e. align regional data sets. *TJCdesigns * Box 1444 * Front Royal, Virginia (VA) 22630-1444 * Ph: 540-635-8582* Regions Work Initiative discussion: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/regions_workLearning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>