Peter,
This is an interesting question. Individuals find meaning in the pursuit
of some pretty diversified activities. There are those who find meaning
in sex, the accumulation of wealth, power and influence, fatherhood,
motherhood, careers, religion, philosophy, etc.
When those who espouse personal mission statements say, "You should write
your mission statement," they'd be surprised how shallow some would be
(shallow, at least, in my judgment). Nonetheless these "missions" would
provide the individual with a tremendous sense of meaning.
There are organizations that are equally trivial in their search for
meaning. Some companies exist to make the founders rich, others exist
because "its fun to be in business." These are smaller organizations.
Larger organizations typically have a deeper purpose, and one that is
more closely aligned with the type of meaning most of us would find
inspiring.
The question is: Does the pursuit of an LO create a sense purpose that
ignites the heroic in all of us? And does that translate into a heroic
organization?
One of the characteristics that I find interesting in Frankl is his quiet
heroism. By heroism I don't exclusively mean the achievement of something
in the face of opposition; my definition would include the achievement of
any desired result, regardless of how much opposition there is or is not.
And that would ultimately translate, I believe, into the creation of an
ethical organization. (Just as, I believe, the creation of a deeply
inspiring personal mission translates into ethical behavior on the part
of the individual.)
By ethical I mean that which builds greatness in people and organizations
without inhibiting any one person, or another organization, from becoming
great. And by greatness I mean the desire and learned ability to achieve
a clearly defined and purposeful objective.
I'd ask, then, by attempting to become a LO (i.e. by formalizing the five
disciplines into a systematic approach for governing an organization)
will the ethical behavior of an organization, and those within it, change
for the better?
Thanks for asking the question.
-- Benjamin Compton bbc_rc@hotmail.comLearning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>