On Thu, 9 May 1996, Dr Ilfryn Price wrote:
> If partcipants on this list and elsewhere quit being so smug and righteous
> about making senior managers wrong the problem would go away.
Hello, This "triggered" a response from me also...
In our culture, we are always looking for who we might BLAME for our
situation. Children of alcaholics have a set of behaviors they must face
and deal with that were created by their upbringing in the alcaholic
environment. Many of the abuses (sexual, psychological, phisical) self
perpetuate from generation to generation because individuals don't face
the problems head on and deal with them. Rather we naturally BLAME our
parents (teachers, camp councilors-and yes even management).
The problem with blame is that the person who seems to be the problem most
often is only one more cog in a long wheel... I personally can track
bizarre behaviours in my family back 4 generations (stemming from an
alcaholic great grandfather). If you look at the cultural factors that
define a lot of our behavior, you will find all kinds of -- mental models
that we hold close and don't even know it.
Having studied medieval history, I can tell you that the renaissance felt
like a great liberation to those who experienced it-yet the model of
authoritarian leadership, treatment of women, children, slaves, etc. was
un-effected. The Victorian age in England was hailed as a marvelous
thing, but in our 20th century we've struggled to shake ourselves loose
from a whole host of what we view as "the shackles of victorian ethics".
Now we are undergoing another change-and it's a big one that requires us
to change how we think about a lot of things including how authority in
the work place operates. Sure, we could BLAME our current managers for
not having the capability to read minds, transmutate lead into gold and
otherwise know things they have no way of knowing-and that the culture
they (and we) have been trained in did not prepare them for.
The problem with BLAME is that it doesn't solve the problem. Sure, I
could point the finger at my ("stupid") parent for disciplining me with a
stick.... such "abuse" is not tolerated in the current american culture,
but it was in the 50's and 60's, and parents that didn't discipline their
children were considered derelict in their duty. Now they are put in
jail.
I don't think it is arrogant or high minded to simply face the past, learn
from it and move on. I know my ("stupid") parents did the best they could
with what they had (and knew) at the time. (not so supid after all) and
our management did (and are now doing) the best they can with what they
know NOW. BLAME doesn't help you now. It may make you think you feel
better, or possibly superior to your forbearers, but your not better (and
neither am I). We've stumbled onto some ideas that could make the world
better. We've got the task of re-thinking most of what we've been taught
and taken for granted. This is not an easy thing, but it's also not
something to get arrogant about. We are where we are in history, not in
medieval times fighting free from serfdom and slavery to a piece of land,
nor in Victorian England (or america) stuggling to survive in the early
machine age, nor are we in the post world war II manufacturing age working
our way up the ladder toward the american dream (or it's equivalent in
what ever country you are in). We are here now inheritors of what ever
experience, knowledge and comprehension we have.
Face it, learn from it, and build your part of the future. BLAME is a
waste of good talent.
***Yes I'm venting again***
later...
Michael Erickson
sysengr@atc.boeing.com
--Michael Erickson <sysengr@atc.boeing.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>