Values as Systems
Ethical Impact, Inc. works with values in a unique way. We pay attention to specific values, and we see these values as being part of two distinct "systems". This is important because it means that if you hold a few of these values you hold all of the values in that system. Most of us hold values from each of these systems.
That they form systems is important for another reason, as well. All living systems have a purpose. The purpose of these systems are contradictory, one purpose is protection and the other is effectiveness. As you can see these may have unintended consequences if all of these values are strongly held or are all applied to the same problem, issue or situation.
A charcteristic of systems that is important here is the fact that parts of one system CANNOT REPLACE PARTS OF ANOTHER SYSTEM - the system just won't work. When talking values this is how corruption happens. This is why good poel can do very bad things - with the best of intentions. We offer an on-line or on-site class called Why Do Good People Do Bad Things that explores this in more depth.
Not all values are created equally. Misapplying values from these systems can cause problems. Claiming values and then not acting on them can cause problems. Claiming "ideal" values rather than the ones that really live in the organization can cause problems. Not talking about values and what claimed values mean can cause problems. That's why we assess the organization before we begin working, so we know what is important to the firm and we can then work with it.
Enlightened Business
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If you have ideas about values in organiztions, questions, or a story to share, please share it here.
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luckycharms Jul 4, 2007 @ 2:10 am | delete
- I like this lens as an nice complement to your other lenses. Good Job! The enlightened business organazations are the way of the future! Yayy!
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financegirls
Apr 2, 2007 @ 4:17 pm | delete
- hi Kathryn..interesting read, keep posting=)
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It's Nice to be Ethical, but What's a Leader to Do? Part One
It's impossible to control another person. More to the point why would you want to? Yet we seem to use training as a method of "control" assuming employees will do what they are trained to do. Training and educating employees is obviously a good thing, but imparting information, while useful, is hardly the whole story. The hope that once people know the "right" thing to do, that they will do it is blind faith. The feeling that since the employees know what to do (they've been trained) I'm absolved of all responsibility is equally vacuous.
Ethics is not about control, it's about relationship. Leadership chooses control so it doesn't have to be in relationship. The message is: employees should care, but we (leadership) don't have to.
The heart of the matter is relationship - pun intended. People do things because they care. If given free choice people do things that matter to them. Historically we've called caring "motivation," but that short-circuits the process. Motivation has devolved into a WIFIM (what's in it for me) game. That game colludes with the blame and manipulation game, carrots and sticks or reward and punishment game that doesn't address, but allows ignorance of why people care.
Even from a WIFIM perspective, rewarding someone for telling the truth by firing them, hardly promotes honesty. Calling someone a whistleblower because leadership wouldn't listen to what they had to say and then shunning them or firing them, hardly constitutes a WIFIM for the courageous soul who acted in service of the company and society at large.
No, we've got it all wrong. Leadership is responsible for the ethics in the organization and they have the power to ensure ethical behavior in 98% of all situations. How, you ask, is this possible?
by kalexandera
Kathryn Alexander is the President and CEO of Ethical Impact, Inc. and host of the internet radio show, "Enlightened Business". As a systems thinker, consultant,... more »
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