LO & Big Layoffs LO5937

Orbis (74363.3637@compuserve.com)
01 Mar 96 12:37:32 EST

Replying to LO5893 --

Rol's recent posting referenced the broader econmoic trends in South
Carolina and it is good to see some facts among the many opinions posted
in this thread. Facts like:

>Average annual salary has risen 38% in the last 10 years,average
manufacturing wage has risen 33%, inflation >42%. Unemployment is 5.4%,
down from 6.8% a decade ago.

However, something is going on in the US about the connection between
country and state economic success and personal security. This was
addressed in a recent Newsweek and it is seen as one of the reasons that
ceratin sections of the American voter are listening to Pat Buchanan. (For
those non-US readers, he is a candidate in the Republican primaries who is
railing against big business and on behalf of trade protection.)

It seems to me that the mental model about the connection between country
and state economic success and personal security is changing. Once,
politicians were able to point to such success as an indicator of growth
and individual security, and people seemed to support this. (Bill Clinton
is currently struggling to find a new way of doing this, as he would like
to point to the type of numbers Rol references, as a benchmark on his
term.)

However, the new mental model no longer accepts a straight connection
between macro economic indicators and individual's feelings about
security. Even with high employment and increased salaries, people are
feeling insecure. Also, the fact that they should be able to obtain
another job, if laid off, is not reassuring them.

If this trend continues, nations and organizations will need to find new
ways of connecting to, and motivating, people.

Peter A. Smith
Orbis Learning Corporation
74363,3637@compuserve.com

"Individual learning is a necessary but insufficient force
for organizational learning." Argyris, C. & Schon, D.A.

-- 

Orbis <74363.3637@compuserve.com>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>