Simon--you've probably told us before, but would you mind explaining what
you mean by "market means" in the context below? What I'm interested in
is the practical application. When you say, for instance, "copy someone's
e-mail to an intranet," do you mean that you should expose their practice?
What I'm concerned about is that the organizational culture needs to have
been developed in such a way that people generally know that certain
actions or inactions are "wrong."
I am specifically remembering the organization where flaming e-mails were
often broadcast--the sender felt relatively safe in letting everyone see
how brilliantly they verbally assaulted their colleagues.
I do like the idea of influencing behavior through open and natural means,
rather than policies. I also think that e-mail is a powerful
communications device. My concern, I guess, is more about educating those
people in organizations (especially government entities) where we find
hierarchy, bureaucracy, politics and power plays--where fear is still the
primary motivator (protecting one's turf, resisting change). If you've
covered this in one of your articles, perhaps you'll point me to it.
thanks for the insights!
Doc
Simon Buckingham wrote:
> There are two ways to reward and punish behavior- through organizational
> means such as an email procedure or via market means such as copying the
> email to an intranet, not rewarding the person who is doing the stabbing
> and so on. I would rather moderate the communication using market
> mechanisms- rather than having a formal company policy I would follow
> market mechanisms such as email forwarding. After all, onlt rankers and
> not branders, i.e. no decent honest person will stab their colleague in
> the back anyway and no leader will reward them for doing so. Market based
> mechanisms are better because formal policy setting is intarnal-facing and
> not helping the customers whose are the lifeblood of the company- and the
> invisible hand of the market moderates the exchanges in a much more
> sophisticated way than the heavy hand of managers- it can determine
> nuances and tailor "punishments" accordingly. Same end, different means!
>
> >From what I have seen, having email tends to IMPROVE performance within
> companies- people can quickly easily and widely share their progress with
> others, which stimulates them to share their progress with others and so
> on. There is an implicit message e.g. look how great I am and what I have
> achived today, but that is a call for recognition and not a negative
> reflection of anything anyone else has or has not done. In fact, your
> email Doc readily proves this- your comment "As I mentioned to a recent
> client" implies to the list that you are have clients and that they
> listen to your advice- it is a positive side comment which is typical for
> this medium!
>
> As usual, the medium (in this case email) can be used for negative or
> positive purposes- depends on the person doing the communicating and who
> s/he is communicating with. Both formal and informal means of
> accountability are both social constructs- but in my opinion, the
> market-based mechanisms are the best way of extrinsic behavior regulation
> where intrinsic attitudes deviate from excellence.
>
-- "We are luminous beings. We are perceivers. We are not objects. We have no solidity. We are boundless. The world of objects and solidity is a way of making our passage on earth convenient. It is only a description that was created to help us. We or rather our reasons, forget that the description is only a description and thus we entrap the totality of ourselves in a vicious circle from which we rarely emerge in a lifetime. We are perceivers. The world that we perceive though is an illusion. It was created by a description that was told to us since the moment we were born." -Don JuanThresholds <http://www.thresholds.com> Meeting Masters <http://www.thresholds.com/masters.html> Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Astoria, Or & Olympia, WA USA ICQ# 10849650 voice 360.786.0925
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