Joan Pomo said:
> I would propose the following as commonly held values: fairness,
> forgiveness, compassion, knowledge, honesty, love, enthusiasm,
> industriousness, quality, confidence, trust, humility, courtesy,
> perseverance, attitude and admission of error. I choose these
> because everyone wants others to act toward themselves in accordance
> with these values and each of us dislikes being treated to their
> opposites such as with arrogance rather than humility or with
> discourtesy rather than courtesy.
The challenge with all these values above, is the behaviour resulting
from my personal beleif in what honesty means, may include acts of
ommission....if my business partner has bad breath, I may not tell
him...is that honesty or dishonesty? If you hold true to a value, all
acts, small or large, must be congruent with it!
The person whose culture states it is a courtesy and expected that you
burp after every meal! In other cultures, that is discourteous.
I agree with some of the other comments that there are no commonly
held values. We all hold values according to our culture and our own
personal paradigms. What is important to me is we share our values
(as Joan has done above) and discuss those values.
For me my top five values are:
Making a Difference
My Family
Acceptance,
Creativity and
Learning in that order.
The only reason, for me, making a difference is above my family is
that if my life and actions doesn't make a positive difference to
others and society, what future will my children have? I am working
to mold the future, not passively accept the activity.
Gary Scherling
Helping people help themselves
--GSCHERL@fed.ism.ca (GSCHERL)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>