I didn't see this as at all naive... I would see the executives
as being as much part of the system as everyone else if we step back
from the system they create 'below' them. I suppose the issue
is the leverage their position represents and the influence
they can have .... which means that the reverberations from
their actions are felt long after they act.... and probably
means we might be less forgiving of them... Giving them the support
they need and balancing that with authentic feedback on the
implications of their actions for the system is not always easy...
I take myself back tot he Deming point on no blame and see no
reason not to apply it to executives although I have seen people
link this to his other points on the responsibility of management
to change the system... Another issue which I see people
'forgetting' as they look 'up' the system to the executives above
them - is that it is often only a question of perspectives and most
people, executives or otherwise, can look 'up' elsewhere and see
lies and politics.... I have rarely come across an executive who
was not wrestling with change, and those who were not were
wrestling with themselves.... but I have seen acts, political and
otherwise, which could be misinterpreted but which may have been
well intentioned..........
I find Block's models in The Empowered Manager to be useful...
where he contrasts the logic which gets us to myopic self-interest
with that which gets us to enlightened self interest.... if we
look at the world through the myopic mind-set might we see
enlightened actions (for the benefit of self and organisation) as
politics??
Julie Beedon
VISTA Consulting - for a better future
julie@vistabee.win-uk.net
--Julie Beedon <julie@vistabee.win-uk.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>