On 27 Nov 96 at 11:24, Dr. Scott J. Simmerman wrote:
> Top management liked it. So, we then took this and other statements to
> the middle management teams and discussed them. For this particular
> statement, the reaction was generally, "Always?" Guess they saw some of
> the more obvious problems it would cause them in their day to day
> activities. Kinda like the "white lie" issues discussed in lots of books.
This reminds me of a true story. The Minister of a Department of
Corrections had asked for a vision/mission type statement from the senior
executive. The executive formulated something to the effect of "We will
treat our prisoners with the greatest respect as human beings", a
statement that they anticipated difficulty on.
The Deputy Minister (a civil servant...the Minister is elected) presented
it at a meeting, and the Minister balked. So the DM ran through a bunch of
specific scenarios in sequence, asking the Minister things like.."OK, so
it's not alright to beat them?, etc. After the Minister had answered this
rather leading quesitons, the DM laid in the hammer.
So, he said, we won't (listed off the specifics), and would you agree that
the OPPOSITE of what we have said is impossible?
Is that not treating people with respect as human beings?
The statement was approved ON THE SPOT.
The abstract notions are virtually useless without this "testing" process
of real examples.
(note. this is a recollection conveyed to me...and may not be completely
accurate)
Robert Bacal, Bacal & Associates, rbacal@escape.ca
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--"Robert Bacal" <rbacal@escape.ca>
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