I am responding to this post by Philippe and, at the same time,
acknowledging and responding to some of the issues raised by Michael
McMaster in his recent responses (LO461 & LO462) to my previous messages.
This can get confusing. I also hope that the other members of the list do
not think that Michael and I are using this list to clear our own
differences.
We are still dealing with the challenge to motivation, originally
presented by Michael, and the values and beliefs message above..
I see it as a very noble task to spend some effort identifying and
concerning ourselves with individual's values and beliefs, but I also
think that it might be an impossible task. It could be done, for
instance, at the small classroom level or at the small organizational unit
level. It is a great feeling to identify certain things that individuals
working with you (or learning partners) consider important. If we can use
this information in a constructive way, then our relationship with those
individuals could improve tremendously. The largest classes I teach might
have 35 people and it is possible for me to get to know each partner very
well. This task might be much more difficult and time consuming in larger
classes. I see the same problem in organizations.
In addition to that, I am not very sure that it is very relevant to know
individual's values and beliefs. I think that what is important is to not
do things (as a manager, professor) that will create barriers to
individual's development. I agree with Michael in that the term
motivation implies motion, and also implies that one person can make
others move by the application of motivators. One of the mistakes I could
be making is to still use the term motivation, when I am not really using
it in its traditional and generalized meaning. When I refer to a universal
motivational approach, I was not talking about a person who holds
motivational tools that make everyone else get in motion. I was talking
more about the development of the right set of conditions which foster
collective action, acting more like as a catalyzer or just maintenance.
My doctoral training was concentrated basically on Org. Behavior, Org.
Theory, and Org. Development, but I don't believe too much in the O.B.
field today as it is defined by many. There it is, a whole field of study
that studies, researches, and teaches organizational behavior, but most of
its theories and models are individually based. I think that about 90
percent of the material is oriented toward to the "motivation" of the
individual. After a few years of teaching, reading, and writing about
Org. Beh., I concluded that this is one of reasons why we don't really
understand organizational behavior very well.
So, when I used the term motivation, I am really saying that the actions
taking by management should be oriented toward ground maintenance so that
plants will grow healthier. The acceptance of the term motivation as the
notion that we cause people to do things, I think, is based on the
universally accepted rational and economic view of people (from Adam
Smith's times on?). In my own world, for instance, I understand that I
can't teach anything to anybody, an I do share this with my learning
partners. I believe that people learn, regardless or even in spite of me.
I also believe that people will accomplish some objectives and perform
tasks in organizations regardless of certain negative forces (e.g., some
management s actions). In organizations, individuals will and grow and
develop in spite of what managers do, but when managers get involved in
this process by improving the ground conditions these individuals will
grow in a healthier form, and there could be increased learning.
Back to my right set of conditions I mentioned above. In connection with
this I also understand team effort as only a part of the system. I have
recently adopted the term collective action to refer to the whole task of
the organization. This collective action includes both the team effort of
some groups in the organization and the actions of some individuals. I
perceive this collective action as being directed by a common
understanding of each one's role in the system, and the acceptance of the
fact that no one can play the game alone because of our interdependence.
All members want the organization to make it, although they might hold
different understandings of what "make it" means. I see the role of
management as one where the conditions are created and maintained so that
these "understandings" (Michael's moving images of sense-making
activities) can be aligned with the overall purpose of the organization.
This alignment is not an objective, but one step in the whole system. The
role of managers in all of this is then to cultivate the land so that
these plants can grow on their own. The plants will grow not because they
are motivated to grow, but because the conditions are such that they can
grow.
These organizational members growth refers to, or is founded on human
nature (which I called basic human needs, probably erroneously). I am
convinced that humans would always function more effectively in
environments which are supportive of their natural human development (part
of this was dealt with in a paper by Argyris in 1957 or 1958). In my
universal view of what conditions would foster individual development, I
see that human beings will prefer a cultivated land that provides then
with "truth, beauty, aliveness, goodness, wholeness, uniqueness,
perfection, humanness, playfulness, communalism, ...." Most organizations
today do not develop environments that support human natural development,
even though we spend tons of intellectual and material resources
developing motivational programs, compensation packages, etc. Our Western
organizations spend too much energy in getting people to join the
collective action wave, but their failure to achieve this might be a
direct result of reliance on the accepted models and notions of
motivation, leadership, etc.
Again, Philippe s concerns with individuals values and beliefs might be
the result of that accepted notion of motivation and other behavior
concepts in the books. In reality we should worry more about the creation
of the conditions for collective action. It is very rewarding to pay
close attention to people s needs, and I have experienced that both in the
classroom and in the outside world when I used to have a real job. But it
is not easy. Of course, I will always try to observe my learning partners
now (and employees in my previous lives), to make sure that there were no
extreme things happening to them. If I identify any of these signals, I
take action to learn more and try to help.
There are certain situations that I have experienced that might help
explain some of these things. When I was a Captain in the Caracas,
Venezuela Fire Department I would fucntion as an operation officer, or as
a Battalion Chief. Some of the firefighters would hate me at times, but
most of them would hate some of the department policies all the time!
These negative feelings were manifested more when we were waiting for an
emergency to happen, in the boring environment of the fire stations,
walking around a small space, cleaning the equipment, etc. There was
always some degree of tension. But this whole situation changes every
time the bells and PA System announced "action." Then we were all in a
different mood; there were a lot of people happy, worried, but happy; then
the camaraderie came back; everyone did their job regardless of how much
they hated the captain or the policies. I saw in these guys people whose
understanding of the job, the process, the context, etc., were then very
clear. There was commonality of purpose, at times captains became
firefighters and firefighters became captains (everyone's managerial mind
was activated), and every one wanted the success of the individual, the
unit, and the whole department.
Thanks Michael for making me look a lot harder at what I am doing, saying,
and sharing!
Ivan
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R. IVAN BLANCO, Ph.D. Voice 305 899-3515
Assoc. Prof. & Director Fax 305 892-6412
International Business Programs
Andreas School of Business _________E-Mail Addresses________
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"Las naciones marchan hacia el termino de su grandeza, con
el mismo paso que camina su educacion." "The nations march
toward their greatness at the same pace as their educational
systems evolve." Simon Bolivar
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