In a message dated 96-04-09 22:02:59 EDT, you write:
Replying to LO6530
Kathy said:
>In a current project a group of us are looking at
>"organizational healing". I seem to remember a comment using this phrase
>earlier this year (or last fall?). Would anyone here have any
>comments/ideas you could share with me to start us off on our project?
>What would organizational healing be? How would it work? What would need
>to occur? I think we're looking at this concept in relation to not only
>dysfunctional organizational processes, but also what is needed following
>down-sizing or other organizational restructuring programs.
Kathy, you and others on the LO list might be interested in The
International Society for Panetics. Panetics is the study of suffering.
This society was initiated by a retired Chinese-American philosopher named
Ralph Siu. Dr. Siu has published several small monographs with John Wiley
& Sons some years ago, including "The Tao of Science", "The Craft of
Power", etc. The society has been growing over time. Dr. Siu's primary
goal is to try to place human suffering on a par with economic activity,
at least as far as national governments are concerned. Among other
things, some of the members have noted a vast increase in human suffering
brought on by governments in the last century. Siu wants to see a "Gross
National Suffering" index akin to the Gross National Product Index. He
wants to see measures of suffering integrated with measures of growth, so
that there is tradeoff considerations when major government activities are
undertaken. Also he will see eventually quantitative measures of
suffering brought on by particular "leaders" so that such numbers can be
forever attached to their memory.
Several well-known figures are helping Ralph to develop this society, and
initial courses in panetics are being offered at a few places. A journal
has been published for several years now, and Ralph has authored a
3-volume series of books (soft-cover) on the subject.
If you're interested in learning more, you can write to Ralph directly.
This is an all-consuming activity in his retirement, and (Rick, I can
assure you) he will welcome your inquiries. You can send snail mail to
him at this address:
Dr. Ralph G. H. Siu
The International Society for Panetics
4428 Albemarle Street, N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20016
The society is working on a home page, but it's not on line yet.
John N. Warfield
Johnwfield@aol.com
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>