>What do you think about this whole notion of power
>anyway? (dis or em cannot exists without one another anyway, right?) So,
>I keep getting back to this control schtick....it seems clear (or
>reasonably anyway) that it is a feeling of control that we seem to want.
<snip>
>what kind of an
>environment do we need in order to translate our need for a perception of
>control or power into collective intelligence and wholism and quantumness
>and systems thinking? And then, how do we get there?
I would recommend Janet Hagberg's book "Real Power" as a place to begin
this inquiry.
Essentially, she says that "success" isn't "real power." It's only the
result of what you accomplish, once you've learned the ropes and taken
some responsibility and risks. Most people, however, once they achieve
success, aren't willing to let go of it. It would be letting to of the
control they've worked so hard to achieve.
Real power, on the other hand, derives from vulnerability, not control.
>From letting go of success. It comes from facing that disquieting
feeling that although I may "look" good, and maybe even have the corner
office, in my heart and gut I know that what shows "out there" ain't the
real me. If you're willing to face, rather than hide from, or deny that
reality, you may be ready, Hagberg would say, to reflect on real power.
(Senge's discipline for this is continuous personal mastery.)
Therefore, if "empowerment" doesn't have anything to do with "success," no
wonder it never takes hold in organizations! Why encourage empowerment if
you don't know what will come of it...but you can be pretty sure it will
have a dramatic effect on the organizations current success!!??
The thing that could keep empowered people aligned, however, is the
organization's purpose or mission. If empowered people are spending their
energy fulfilling a core mission, the MISSION is in control, and is
actually leading. Transformation may be happening!
If, however, there is no clear, core mission, real empowerment will be
discouraged. This is the case, I suspect, in at least 95% of all
organizations today. No, most mission statesments are not core missions.
They're platitudinal compromises. Therefore, for organizations without
clear, core missions, empowerment's simply dangerous...if not foolhardy.
Cheers,
Dick
Dick Barnett -- Management Consulting, Speaking, Seminars
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