Life in Organizations LO9214

John Paul Fullerton (jpf@mail.myriad.net)
Sun, 18 Aug 1996 13:57:46 +0000

Replying to LO9183 --

> Rick's comments on dysfunctional organizations caused me enough
> discomfort to make me aware there was some truth to it. From the
> perspective of systemic understanding, what I am still struggling
> with is the locus of impact. Is this about organizational --
> corporate -- dysfunctionality, or are corporations simply repeating
> a behavior that is endemic in social structures throughout the
> world.

The same thought came to mind here also. Using Rick's example of a
lawyer changing wording of a personal note, I wondered how *few*
people could be involved or approving of such a process for it to
happen anyway. Then again, what if there were to be a path of
investigation on the part of the lawyer and the lawyer's boss to see
if they could get an OK for the process? The wording of the request
and the status of the person making the request could make a
significant difference. Here's an imagined conversation. "Look, Jim,
we need to be assured of the utmost privacy and security in this
project and as part of the team effort we're not bringing new hires
into the total loop. Particularly we're going to shield them from the
limits of reusing our process and we don't even want to emphasize
that. Can you give us an OK as a lead member of an important unit
team?"

So the general establishment of such policy may have to do with few
proponents rather than the company.

If every decision were written with the full cost indicated, maybe
there would be fewer decisions. Every tear cried during a layoff,
every blood pressure point changed in a demotion, every logical
insufficiency in directions that led to error. In my opinion, that
doesn't mean that "the boss is at fault".

My hope, though it's not my furthest hope, is that people such as
represented through the list will be part of an increase in
observers' knowledge and that there will be greater understanding of
"what's being said" when companies do things.

At the same time, there has to be a more positive addition than
"more watchful eyes". And, in fact, those are the kinds of things
that are talked about in the conversation of the list.

Have a nice day
John Paul Fullerton
jpf@myriad.net

-- 

"John Paul Fullerton" <jpf@mail.myriad.net>

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