What's in a name? Boss? LO7184

Keith Cowan (72212.51@CompuServe.COM)
04 May 96 22:27:41 EDT

Replying to LO7154 --

>Keith, I'd like to build on your comments. ....
>I think that a lot of people learned the hard ass style in another era and
>the fact that they are still making money seduces them into believing that
>they're doing the right thing. Perhaps they are, but one must ask, "In
>order to what?" Seems to me that reaching full human potential -- and
>that is what I believe is required to both attain high stock prices and
>some modicum (sp?) of job security -- requires a more humanistic style
>that changes and adapts with the situation, yet never fails to maintain
>human dignity.
>Are we saying the same thing, Keith?
>"Michael D. Townes, Organizational Consultant" <MDTownes@premier.net>

I have this difficulty that I do not accept any ONE approach as THE
ANSWER. I believe the search for "the answer" stems from our early
conditioning in school where there was one and only one correct answer....

I have personally learned a great deal from some hard ass managers. I did
not like the SOBs but I did learn. If we believe in the goal of learning
orgs we must not limit any avenues that provide learning. The NLP route
proclaims (thanks Fernando Flores) that you have to create the need before
true learning occurs (where learning = behaviour change not just
compliance). I have been dislodged from my "comfort zone" (thanks Judy
Bardwick) by hard asses a lot more than by those managers I loved.

This is not to say that I recommend that style, just that when you've got
a hose in your hand, it's OK for some SOB to yell at you where in the fire
to point it. And there are lots of "fires" that may not have the same
urgency but need a large dose of attention....

-- 

Keith Cowan <72212.51@CompuServe.COM>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>