Good Day:
This is by way of introduction. Professionally, I wear many hats:
technical support, communications training, adjunct community college
instructor, etc. This newsgroup feeds my passion which is integrating
systems thinking into a coaching model for mid- level management.
Watch for news on my web site which hopefully will be up by September. It
is being designed to be a layman's guide to systems thinking. I will want
to get some feedback from as many of you that choose to participate when
it's first posted to the Net. To be included are links to other adult
learning sites, tools for soft skills trainers and tools to keep the
personal psyche system in balance.
Ben Compton wrote:
> Exactly, and a very good point. I read recently (I can't remember where, I
> read too many books at one time) that integrity should not be defined as
> living in accordance with our values. Instead, integrity should be defined
> as clearly determining which of all the values we have will be given
> governance over our lives, and then living according to those values. All
> other values should be essentially ignored.
Excellent point, Ben. "Values" do appear to be those internal constructs
which we cling to as justification after the fact for our actions. To
what degree they truly motivate our actions from the onset is what I
equate to the term personal integrity... one of Senge's key concepts.
One of the keys to my current state of personal mastery was playing a game
of cards. A different set of cards perhaps. It was an exercise for
career development in which 40 different values were printed separately on
sheets of paper. The object was to classify them into groups based on
their perceived value to me: Very Important, Important, Somewhat
Important, Less Important and Not Important. Only 5 could be classified
as Very Important.
How I defined the values and ordered them was entirely up to me. The most
difficult part in doing this that there are always apparent tradeoffs when
one looks philosophically at values. As an example, most people have some
desire for a 40 work week. Most people want to have a job where they can
express creativity. In the process of ranking values, one is forced to
ask theoretical questions. Am I willing to work more than 40 hours a week
if I have a wonderfully creative job?
This was a rigorous, self- discovery process which I later generalized to
my entire life. This index of values has changed over time. The current
version always serves as an internal sounding board for my actions.... if
I consult it.
When I was in my late teens and full of narrow, religious fervor, I was of
the belief that my sister's lifestyle was somewhat egocentric. She drove
new sports cars, maintained a budget for alcohol that was greater than my
some sovereign nations, etc. She never seemed to want to talk about the
social causes in which I labored. Later, when I had matured a bit and
mended some fences, we talked about that perception. For most of her
life, she has helped people in "small ways".... the elderly man next door
who needed a prescription filled....her fourteenth best friend who needed
a shoulder to cry on during a divorce. Her value of compassion was
demonstrated in a different manner.
As another contributor mention, I certainly don't agree with all that
happens in this world. I doubt I will never understand how jihad is holy
yet I suppose my life will continue if I have actions that are purposeful
to me.
Great dialogue folks... glad to be a part.
Stephen Weed
slweed@cyberhighway.net
--stephen weed <slweed@cyberhighway.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>