Hank Heath wrote some very helpful comments in response to my request for
help re: the new employee contract. The following comment expanded my
vista on the issue. Thank you, Hank.
WJ> Are they reasonably complete or have one or more key concepts been
omitted?
HH>I think you have to look beyond just the marketplace to explain why
this has been happening. It is a social event as much as an economic one.
Economics is used to justify it.
Hank also asked some questions.
WJ> * Does your experience lead you to conclude that the "new" contract is
situationally specific, generally applicable, or a combination of both?
HH> <Huh?>
Answer: Hank, this question is meant to recognize that the new employee
contract may be coming into existence in different organizations in
different industries at different rates so whatever conclusions we might
draw from any one situation and experience may or may not generalize to
other situations and experiences. For instance, I get the impression that
life in the computer and telecommunications industries is probably very
different from that in a rural utility coop. I'm not sure that people
ever had a sense of lifelong security in the former, bur they certainly
did in the latter.
WJ> * What conditions lead to a successful (low pain, high return)
transition from the "lifetime security in return for good corporate
citizenship" to "we'll provide you personal growth opportunities to
develop your ability to be successful in a broad range of internal and
external opportunities as long as you give us your best while we employ
you."
HH> The best I've seen is a high-pain, questionable return. Are you
claiming that people do this without chaos in their lives?
Answer: That is exactly what I am suggesting. In fact, one of the
premises I use with orgs that are in the transformation phase and are
working to consciously create a fast, fluid, flexible, and fun
organization comes from aerobics exercise. This concept is that we are
all more likely to meet our needs and those of the organization if we have
an agile mind and an agile body. That is, if we recognize that we are now
in a world driven by dynamic equilibria rather than static equilibria and
we shift to agile mental and physical processes, then we are able to
quickly change as the environment changes. We no longer predicate our
success on moving from a quasi-static solution to another quasi-static
solution, but rather we know that as soon as we land somewhere we will be
immediately mving in another directiona nd maybe even doing something
different as we move there.
My metaphor for this is learning to surf on the edge of chaos. If you
follow the metaphor, it implies that you get on a surf board and you fall
off and you get on and you fall off ad infinitum. If every time you fall
off, you learn from it then you are able to continuously perform at a
higher skill level. Once you have a basic skill level, this becomes an
exhilarating way to live. You look forward to the next wave of change
(chaos) because it will help lift you to another level of skill. You may
apply it in the company you are in or you amy apply it in the next company
that buys your talents. No matter. You are paid for the value you add,
and you have a ball because you own your life and you are playing the game
to win in a way that everyone touched by you also wins.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
-- Willard Jule 75272.3452@compuserve.com