Entrepreneurship and Problem People in Orgs LO7937

Ben Compton (BCOMPTON@novell.com)
Mon, 17 Jun 1996 21:50:33 -0600

Replying to LO7903 --

If writes:

> It is very easy to sympathise with Martha and agree with
> Ben, but what weare actually seeing here are two sides
> of one coin and the tendency of any group to
> excommunicate someone who does not think/ act/
> conform. We can easily get to being not only right but
> righteous about making the others or other wrong which
> is a block to learning in either case.

Yes, we're seeing two sides of the same coin. Don't
misunderstand my message, I'm not suggesting that
people who indulge in divergent or even belligerent thinking
and communication should be automatically
excommunicated from an organizational community.
However, there is a point -- when I'm not sure -- that a
persons behavior begins to seriously and negatively impact
business performance. How long should a person be given
to improve their behavior before official action is taken?
How much feedback should be provided before the
manager says "enough is enough"? I don't know.
One of the reasons we've tolerated the situation as long as
we have is that we value divergent thinking, and we don't
want to send any signals that people will be punished for
expressing their opinions.

And this leads me to another question (again, which I don't
know the answer to): What do you do when you have an
exceptionally belligerent employ who constantly refuses to
conform to clearly established social expectations?

BTW -- the person I described in my earlier message has
since revealed he's going through a divorce, dealing with
some pretty hefty problems with his daughter. I don't want
to get too detailed here, but perhaps the frustrations felt
from a difficult marriage and family life have been
expressed in his work. He's in therapy right now . . . we'll
see how things work out.

Dealing with peoples personal problems at work -- in
context of an organization that seeks to have a shared
meaning and collective intelligence -- is an whole other
issue.

-- 

Benjamin B. Compton ("Ben") | email: bcompton@novell.com Novell GroupWare Technical Engineer | fax: (801) 222-6991

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