What I did get of my mail (I lost some completely) came in huge amounts
which overwhlemed me. I knew the values stuff was going to be mega and so
I tried a new technique - I filed it all without reading it and today,
with time to spare, I read it all and sorted out what seemed like some key
points (based, of course, on my only value judgement) into a document I
could keep as a sort of summary. Having done that I thought you might
like to see it.
Because it is long first I would like to acknowledge Ivns, John, Rol,
Joan, Winfried, Hal, Thomas, Gary, Micheal (x2), Robert, Peter, If, Tobin,
Mariann, Ben, Jacqueline, Keith, Michael, Pramod, Jyotsna, Christian, Jim,
and Paul whose posting I did get chance to read - it was wonderful many,
many thanks to you all
Leaving aside totally the question of whether there *are* any universal
values ................ (seems like we share some on this list - but then
that may be why we are here)
Here is the long bit....
Values
Thoughts from the Learning Organisations Email Discussion
Values and context
* we reflect our values differently in different contexts
* cultural background will impact/restrict our values
* we hold different values and use them according to the situation
* internal value conflicts can have important practical consequences
and provide us with opportunities to "wake up" from our cultural
sleep and automatic behaviours
* sometimes we ignore some values that
we held once held strongly.
* the range of groups we belong to,inside and outside work, can
create value conflicts
* values emerge from an interplay with a social environment and
continue to emerge in similar interplays
* understanding the situational options are all part of having
values
* values can be mightily distorted or "transformed" in the
application even though there is commonality among them at the
espoused value level
Impact of values
* our values inform our choices of action
* values structure our systems
* our actions manifest different values at different times
* design processes to attain desired values
* we can 'test' values for their applicability
* we are not always conscious of our own values
* inner mastery comes from recognising when it is our values
speaking and when it is us
* personal mastery is rooted in reflective introspection concerning
values and what are acceptable behaviors
* value and principle sharing provides organisations with the basis
for real-time decisions based on common ground
* a culture and it's acheivements are defined by it's values
* a group of people that share certain values can be more effective
than a less homogeneous group
* we acknowledge, create, or adopt values to find a balance,
direction, focus, and meaning in what we do
* shared values are an essential element of an organized society or
community and people, who share similar values, will naturally
become a community
* shared values help prevent chaos and anarchy without shared values
an organizations collective identity and purpose is unclear
* laws and rules are reflective of the disparateness of our values
* the values of the senior manager of an organisation can sometimes
be seen replicated through the ranks
* people can be inspired by contact with people who live out a
values-oriented life
* if two or more individuals have to make a choice, shared values
help a great deal
* our values can easily become our prejudices
Nature of Values
* human psychological construct
* complex, unclear and subject to change as we learn more
* practice seldom lives up to our belief systems
* values need to evolve rather than be static
* many systems are values driven (apartheid, UN, Nazi Germany,
Christian Aid)
* values are neither good or bad
* values exist only as networks or clusters which are all
interrelated yet not in any necessary fixed relationship to each
other
* the values discernable from our actions are not always the
same as the values we espouse
* values co-emerge with the ability to make choices and intitiate
action.
* confusing "values" and goals leads to incorrect conclusions
* be aware of the links between values, outputs and processes
* our ability to choose--if it does, in fact, exist--suggests the
existence of values
* values, like "reality", are created through our interactions with
them as we move through time
* values are the attractors around which complex social systems
organise
* values are shaped by experience, stories and myths
Julie Beedon
VISTA Consulting - for a better future
julie@vistabee.win-uk.net
--Julie Beedon <julie@vistabee.win-uk.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>