Organizations must align their values with their actions. Or better said, align actions with values. Values and actions on an individual level are one thing, but creating a value system and transmitting that across an entire organization is something else. Stephen Denning in The Leader's Guide to Storytelling puts forth the idea of ethical communities and that ethical communities have three basic components: trust, loyalty, and solidarity (Denning, 2011).
I like the idea of viewing an organization as an ethical community, this begins the process of moving from a simply profit-based organization to an organization based on values. The two aren't mutually exclusive, Denning mentions several value based organizations that are doing quite well; The Body Shop, Costco, and Ben and Jerry's are among those mentioned.
Getting back to the three ethical values. These values are certainly expressed in my organization but not all to the same degree. Trust is pretty evident in my organization. Managers refrain from micro-managing, co-workers are generally kind and trusting to one another, and I feel that I can trust the chain of command to make choices that consider my needs. The recent government shutdown demonstrated they are willing to stretch to keep workers on the payroll and limit negative impacts. This also demonstrates a certain loyalty. Loyalty is created through trust so trust must be present. I argue that trust is the central pillar of Denning's three tenants and without it, the other two can't exist.
Solidarity is trickier. While I trust that the people in the organization will stick by each other even when it is more expedient to not do so builds solidarity. However, consistently low wages are an issue and when people are not paid enough to move up Maslow's Hierarchy (i.e. they are still worried about housing and security) cracks start to form in the solidarity feature. At a certain point people will go into "survival mode" and start to look out for themselves. This is the opposite of what solidarity hopes to achieve. All in all I would say solidarity is transmitted through trust and loyalty but it is probably the weakest of the three.
Therein lies the trouble. Denning's model relies on all three to be equally present. Ethical communities require a synergistic relationship among all its parts. For me it is simply an awareness of how I can work to achieve these three values. Since they build on themselves, improving one can help to improve the others. I can't affect pay but I can affect trust and loyalty. By improving those two perhaps I can create more solidarity.
Denning, S. (2011). The leader's guide to storytelling. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.
No comments:
Post a Comment