>Yet you quote the source of your value formation, if not the
values themselves, as being your parents. But our parents are only
the first of the social institutions that we find ourselves in that do
indeed shape our values. It seems to me that social institutions are
"supposed to" shape values. They are the phenomena which
provide a mechanism for convergence of all of the varying values
that will be present in any social, cooperative venture over time.<
Michael, we differ philosophically!! I was taught to more help shape
social institutions, less be shaped by them. I am one of those who
says that the older I get the more I get like my dad. It may sound
hokey, but my parents played such a big role in my life that social
institutions cannot match them for amount of influence. Yes,
society of course influences me. But to a very small degree
compared to the things I was taught in my family. This is not right
or wrong. It simply is the way I was raised. A quote I was taught
is: Stand for something or you will stand for anything.
>[1] I think this illuminates some of my disagreement with Dave's
particular formulation regarding individual and organisation. I
would add that "Without writing them down there is no
commitment to them" and "No one has to be accountable to
themselves to stand up for what they believe" are personal
expressions that will not stand up to the statistical/evidence test
you ask of John nor to sociological nor philosophical analysis. I
suggest that public speaking of values as values is quite adequate
in at least certain social contexts (if not all) for both commitment
and accountability to occur as strongly as you can imagine. I think
that the culture has more to do with the effectiveness of
accountability and commitment that personal qualities. Many of
the "interpretive philosophies" suggest that it is the social
interaction - the dialogue - which is the crucial factor and not the
individual and personal acts of writing and reviewing.<
In a real learning organization, at least the one contrived in my
mind, the suggestion that dialogue will be the more crucial factor
in sustaining values is in some conflict with my picture. My
picture says both written and spoken are necessary for long term
life of values. Depending on which learning expert you believe in,
writing is either stronger or weaker than speaking in order to
embody the learning.
I envision the organization you refer to as one where talk and walk
ARE aligned. This is an important distinction to me. I perceived
we were discussing FINDING an organization where our personal
values, beliefs, purpose, vision were congruent with those of the
larger organization. And, that during initial stages of being a part
of the organization, we could not tell if the alignement existed or
not. Talk does not necessarily equal walk in many modern organizations.
This discussion started when Andrew Moreno wrote in LO 2265 -
- > However, in moving to another part of the organization, I'd
have to choose a whole set of new beliefs and behaviours. <
My address about writing down beliefs was to avoid unintended
erosion of them in a situation where convenience of cloudy
memory could occur. In a new job, will the desire for job security
outweigh the need to maintain values, beliefs, purpose? Will
numbness to fact of being in the wrong organization be followed
by the thrill of delusion that it could possibly be much worse in
a different organization? (It ain't a great place to work but at least
I'm not starving.) Will the person who allows this erosion of values,
beliefs, vision, be the person who tells me 30 years from now that
they would not do it that way if they could live it over again?
I am suggesting that a very strong way to avoid this personally
when finding NEW WORK is to write down values, beliefs,
purpose, vision. The written word does not erode as easily over
the months or years as the spoken word.
Michael, I would ask one favor. When you say ideas won't stand
up to statistical evidence, please cite the studies or research you
are using which contain the statistics. It would be sincerely
appreciated on this end. Thanks.
-- Have a great day!!Dave Buffenbarger Organizational Improvement Coach Dow Chemical Company (517) 638-7080 dwbuff@aol.com