Bill Harris wrote:
> I seem to recall reading somewhere (perhaps in Dave Packard's book) Dave
> Packard's belief that the reason an organization exists is to accomplish
> something that an individual can't do. That, more than profits or
> philanthropy or ... seems to capture the essence of all organizations.
> The organization's values determine what that organization is out to do.
>
> At the risk of blowing one's own company's horn inappropriately, I work
> for one corporation that seems to be able to put profits in a reasonable
> perspective (see http://www.hp.com:80/abouthp/hpway.htm). I know there
> are other companies out there which have related values and which are
> successful in profits and in contribution to society.
And, Art Kliener wrote:
> They [corporations] descended from monasteries, but the corporate form evolved as a
> means for people to act on a large scale, without being part of either government
> or the church.
> This means, of course, that there is enormous potential for action -- and
> enormous potential for abuse of power -- in the corporate form. But their
> PURPOSE is to accomplish things that a human being, acting alone, could not
> accomplish. (In part because of the threat of liability).
> The argument that "corporations exist for profits," in my view, is an
> artifact of "numbers culture," which has a different set of roots. Many
> corporations have existed -- and even thrived -- without profits as their
> primary purpose.
Excellent points by both participants. Last week I bought a little book,
"The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate
America," by David Whyte, a British poet. It is a magnificent book, which
I'd highly recommend.
In it he explores the relationship between our _work life_ and our _soul
life_. A quick quote validates, and perhaps expounds, upon the points made
by both Art and Bill.
"The whole of western cultural tradition is based on a primary interior
struggle: the essential aloneness of the individual, coupled with a wish
to be part of some larger corporate body -- literally a corpus, a
corporation -- to achieve things that would be impossible alone. Bridging
two impossible worlds, personal destiny and impersonal organization, we
find ourselves standing in a half-dark, twilight land between them both."
For now, peace. . .
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>