Hi Dave,
>In LO2265, Andrew Moreno writes...
>>The only thing staying constant would be the belief in
>>what the organization's business was. <<<
>Viewpoint: I simply cannot walk into a group and change my beliefs. I
>believe what I believe. I might be able to fake it for a while but sooner
>or later what I believe will show through and I will than come across as
>less than sincere/authentic/truthful; come across as a fake.
Yeah, I'm just playing with the concept. There are some people
who can move from organization to organization and still
assimilate well into each organization. For example, in
countries where organizations hire and promote based on personal
merit, there are some immigrants from other countries who are
able to reach a high level of personal achievement within
organizations in these countries. I'm just wondering how they do
this. I guess since I can't change my beliefs, it's impossible
for me to change organizations and get high results in each. Oh well.
>Two of the chameleons I know
>today are really struggling to lead their operations in today's
>competitive environment.
Just for clarification, what did it do for these people to act
like chameleons?
>This is what many of our executives in our floundering companies are
>finding out today. They are having a very hard time changing themselves so
>they hire consultants to change things for them.
The impression I got from Senge's book was that companies like
Innovation Associates do a lot of work with organizations on
identification of their current reality (beliefs) and design of
a desired reality (building shared vision) rather than changing
the organization's reality or beliefs. I'm probably wrong about
this.
I think that if shared vision is built into the organization,
the values and actions will fall into place. The systems that
derive from and support the shared vision, purpose and values
will also fall into place. I'm not sure how these companies
quantify and determine when shared vision is in place however.
>Why not instead find the organization
>which parallels your own beliefs/values/purpose?
I spent a lot of time designing my purpose in life, etc.
My purpose is I want environments/methodologies/systems that
enhance people's ability to adapt to and explore new
environments, enhance personal genius and expand their
capabilities that I develop, use, test and deliver to people at
premium prices while maintaining whole system by-products.
A few of the identities or roles that support this would be,
scholarly professor, institute director, etc. Some of the values
that would support this would be learning, hope, precision,
simplicity, adventure, etc.
One of the things that supports that purpose would be developing
a research institute that develops customized VR simulators and
stuff. I think simulators can help augment human capabilities.
I want to build in some elements from drama, etc. into these
simulators. (See Brenda Laurel's stuff and J.L. Moreno's stuff
on Psychodrama [not a relation to me ].)
Driving my planned change in belief systems (career change
within an organization or to another organization) are the
environmental constraints within a particular belief system.
Some reasons I'd change jobs or organizations would be
constraints like money, people, etc.
At a particular stage after setting up that research institute,
I figure I'll need about $100 million dollars to run it. I
figure I can convince a billionaire like Paul Allen to
contribute some money or whatever. I'm going to have to
customize my approach to his belief systems (read _sell_.)
I am on this Philippine Science and Tech listserv and a few said
that I could raise the money from really big companies or the
government there, but that my plans would probably never be
implemented because it is too dangerous for an individual to
compete with these organizations. Oh well.
One of my pals has it easier, his life purpose is he wants to
get people thinking rigorously about whatever they find
themselves doing and promote wisdom in their lives. A life
purpose like that doesn't go obsolete like some computer
equipment.
So right now, I want to get a job with this company called
Can-Dive in North Vancouver, BC, Canada, 40 minutes from my
house, that designs and builds deep-sea diving suits. From what
I've read, the founder has a similar life purpose to mine and
he's got some neat ideas and government support to redesign his
deep-sea diving suits for space. (Just have to reverse the pressure
seals or something.) He figures they might let him on the space
shuttle to demo and test the suits. I typed out journal entries
that he wrote when he was 12 years old from a book he wrote on
carving so I can get to know him before I get a job in his
company or companies. The thing is, I haven't got a clue about
commercial diving, and that's their business.
I used to think that business school and an MBA were for me.
Then I realized that I haven't got the faintest clue about the
use of power in organizations. I figured I'd have to figure that
stuff out before going to business school.
>The first one 22 years ago was
>to opt out of the Army into less pay and less glamour at Dow. The
>following is my self-talk every year. By the way, it starts with a mental
>presumption I am hunting for a place to work.
That seems to have been a really wise decision that you made. I
hope I can make wise decisions.
>My overriding PURPOSE in life is to help people find
>out that life can be fun and constructive! And, that they can accomplish
>much more than they presently believe they can. It is my purpose at work
>and away from work. When people have fun, and believe in themselves,
>results follow.
That's a great life purpose. Since you are committed to it
fully, I guess you are an inspiration to the people you coach.
>Have a really great day!!
Will do,
-- Andrew Moreno amoreno@broken.ranch.org amoreno@cyberspace.org