Why is Wealth Important? LO8288

Art Kleiner (art@well.com)
Fri, 5 Jul 1996 09:09:25 -0400

Replying to LO8287 --

Ben Compton wrote in LO8287:

>I suppose I subscribe to McGregor's
>Theory Y. . .except that when I talk to many of my neighbors about
>personal growth, and about how they could creatively live their life and
>achieve their dreams I get a blank stare. They literally don't believe
>what I'm telling them. Some of them act as if their afraid of their
>greatness, and the responsibility they feel it would lay upon them. Others
>seem to believe there is no possible way they could any greatness within
>their souls (many of these people are devout Christians, which I find
>ironic because the Bible clearly states that man can "put on the divine
>nature" and that definitely implies greatness!)

I'm grateful to him for writing this, because it expresses the fear people
have of "Theory Y" or "Pelagianism" or whatever you want to call it.

I think it stems from unintended consequences. One key part of Christian
thought, as I understand it, is the concept of "pride" as a sin. We can't
"expect" to achieve our dreams; only God can grant whether we achieve our
dreams.

In a world where human efforts go awry, and where it is very difficult to
achieve one's dreams, this attitude is natural. It may indeed be the only
way to live.

Now some of us feel ourselves living in a world where we CAN achieve our
dreams - an aristocratic idea. It's fostered, however, by Learning
Organization work, and by the Quality movement, and by Theory Y.... It's
as if we've stepped through another portal...

>I see this same type of behavior, on a slightly higher scale, within most
>corporations. Most people struggle to believe there is something noble
>within just waiting, perhaps begging, to be expressed! How tragic! This
>leads me to believe there is some validity to Theory X, but the thought
>frightens me, as it gives credence to Plato's theory that society should
>be governed by a Philosopher King! And such a notion I cannot accept.

But there ARE unintended consequences. There IS pride. Trying to make
things better, we often DO make things worse.

There IS something rotten at the core of the human spirit. ("Just watch a
newborn baby," Herman Kahn said. "Completely selfish.") Or read The Lord
of the Flies...

At the same time, there is something completely wonderful and full of
grace at the core of the human spirit.

I think both Theory X and Theory Y, or both Augustinianism and Pelagianism
(as I think of them) are true.

I think one of the contributions that Chris Argyris made was to synthesize
them. Many of us ESPOUSE Pelagianism while we PRACTICE Augustinianism. We
talk Theory X and do Theory Y. In fact, Argyris and Schon developed the
notion of "theories-in-use," in part, from Argyris' attempts to implement
a Theory Y sensibility in organizations.

--Art Kleiner, <art@well.com>
Age of Heretics home page: <http://www.well.com/user/art>
Fifth Discipline Fieldbook home page: <http://www.fieldbook.com>
c/o NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program, 725 Broadway,
NY NY 10003
c/o Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, PO Box 943, Oxford OH 45056

-- 

art@well.com (Art Kleiner)

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