Entrepreneurship and Problem People in Orgs LO8003

Rol Fessenden (76234.3636@CompuServe.COM)
20 Jun 96 19:13:22 EDT

Replying to LO7964 --

Ben says:

We need to be careful to distinguish between divergent
thinking and divergent, disruptive behaviour. Our "thing" relates to
teaching people to communicate in cooperative ways rather than ways
that are confrontational, hurtful or otherwise cause the communicator
to not be heard.

===============

This is very true, but we need to go beyond that about the situation we have
been discussing. We all need to recognize that some people need help that goes
beyond the skills of a manager. We could easily recognize that if a person were
bleeding, we should get a doctor. The problem with mental/emotional
dysfunctions is that we do not always recognize them. A person who is seriously
disruptive -- especially if this is a change in behavior -- is figuratively
'bleeding' -- he or she is in need, and is crying for help. This person needs a
professional, they do not need a manager, even an exceptional one.

It is very risky to assume that such behavior is cause for management to 'help.
A manager needs to know when to get serious, professional help. You could well
be playing with someone's life just as much as if they really were bleeding.

-- 

Rol Fessenden LL Bean, Inc. 76234.3636@compuserve.com

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