Sherri Malouf wrote:
> Stephen Covey is one of the largest companies in the consulting business
> exceeding $50 M annually and his stuff is all about values and caring
> about others. I believe he is a Mormon and a lot of what he states are
> basic Moromn values -- please correct me if I am wrong.
Covey is a Mormon, and he did get a lot of his thinking from Mormon
theology. Specifically, he seems to have been influenced by a Mormon
leader by the name of Sterling W. Sill, who spent most of his life writing
books and talks on leadership. In the 60's he published a book called "The
Law of the Harvest," a concept which, of course, is fundamental to Covey's
philosophy.
In that book, Sill had a chapter called "The Four Square Life," which he
based on the passage in Luke about Jesus' maturing process. He then
emphasized how we need to develop ourselves Spiritually, Physically,
Socially, and Intellectually. Those who are avid fans of Covey will
recognize this as another pivotal part of his philosophy.
Later Sill wrote a book called "The Laws of Success" (I think in the early
70's), which included a chapter called "The Law of Abundance." The concept
translates to Covey's "Abundance Mentality," which is also rooted in a
passage found in LDS scripture that says, more or less, that God created
the earth with enough for all people. . .
And so you could say that Covey's thinking has been strongly influenced by
LDS theology. (BTW -- I have several LDS friends who work for Covey, and
they constantly make associations between his thinking and LDS doctrine;
to them their work is a sacred mission, something they believe will lead
to the religious conversion of many, many people across the globe. I don't
know if Covey believes this or not, but I'd be surprised if he didn't.)
Of course this is my interpretation of Covey's philosophy. He may say it
came from an entirely different source. Nonetheless, I find the
relationship between his thinking and that of Sill to be very interesting,
even if it is accidental.
-- Ben Compton The Accidental Learning Group Work: (801) 222-6178 Improving Business through Science and Art bcompton@geocities.com http://www.e-ad.com/ben/BEN.HTMLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>