Traditional Wisdom... LO9243

Dale Emery (72704.1550@CompuServe.COM)
19 Aug 96 15:16:23 EDT

Replying to LO9158 --

Ivan,

You wrote, "I am completely conviced that a 'bad system,' a 'bad manager' and a
'bad employee' are the ones who try to contnue to things the same as before,
even when they know that conditions have changed. If the continue to behave in
ways that were appropriate then but not now, then they become bad managers, bad
employees, and bad systems!"

Thank you for helping me to see what you mean by "bad."

The pull of the status quo is very strong. Virginia Satir (a family therapist
who knew a great deal about change and systems), said that familiarity is the
most powerful force in our lives, even more powerful than comfort.

I've found that everyone always behaves in a way that is appropriate from their
point of view. When what someone is doing seems inappropriate to me, I try to
remember there are several possibilities. I may be wrong. The person may not
be aware that the conditions have changed. They may not notice that what they
have always done no longer works. They may not be aware of other ways of
achieving the values that their old methods achieved.

When I'm asked to help, I put a lot of effort into helping people get feedback
about the results of their behavior, and how those results compare with what
they want. That is often all I need to do. In my experience, when people are
connected with the consequences of their actions, they always want to improve.
If I start to see people as "bad" (which I sometimes do), I lose my connection
with them, and lose my ability to help them improve.

>> When I first started in the Fire Department, a few moons back, that
underlying philosophy was that the only things needed to succeed were "guts" and
water. In fact, when the self-contained breathing apparatus started to appear,
many old guard guys critized them as a sign whimpiness... <<

I can understand how that can happen in a culture that higly values guts. The
people who had acted the most gutsy in the past might have felt threatened at
first. With the introduction of SBAs, now other people (even wimps!) can do
some things only the gutsy folks could do before. It looked as though guts, a
characteristic by which they identified and distinguished and esteemed
themselves, was going to lose some of its importance.

After the dust settled, how did this turn out? How did the gutsy firefighters
ultimately respond?

Dale

--

Dale H. Emery | 27 Tall Pine Road Consultant | Berwick, ME 03901 Relationship and Communication | (207) 698-1650 For Successful Organizations | 72704.1550@compuserve.com

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