A recently published survey reveals that  only 20 percent of employees are fully engaged in the daily running of the business. The rest are partly or even fully disengaged. What does this mean in terms of performance and the success or failure of a company? How can any business hope to excel on less than two cylinders operationally? And what does is the impact on staff morale, company culture and overall productivity when disaffected employees do as little as they can to stay employed, detracting from the energy and vitality that drives businesses towards great performance.

The report conducted in the US indicates a staggering  two thirds of all U.S. workers are either disengaged  or under engaged, and a scant 1 in 10 are  fully engaged. Clearly such levels of under engagement means that performance potential  is left untapped by many  organizations. Equally, business strategist Gerald Nanninga’s reference to findings of the biennial Global Workforce Study by Towers Watson suggested other reasons for disengagement is low job satisfaction where employees feel  ”there were no career advancement opportunities in their current roles,” although “81 percent of respondents said they are not actively looking for another job.”   Combine this with research that cites a high correlation between job satisfaction and control over one’s work and it becomes apparent that many employees regard themselves as ‘job hostages’, which would certainly render them disengaged and disempowered.

James Heskett‘s column for HBS Working Knowledge yielded a comprehensive selection from pundits to explain why U.S. employees’ job satisfaction is at a 23-year low. Charles Wegrzyn cited (1) “incredible pressure from the economic side,” (2) “incredible instability,” and (3) a resulting “dog-eat-dog attitude.” Dennis Hopwood said, “In the end, it’s all about making the numbers.” Akhil Aggarwal mentioned “Lack of personalized focus on employees and more on business and profitability.” Phil Clark posited that knowledge work that deals with intangible results and hard-to-pinpoint accomplishments “just isn’t as satisfying” as work used to be.  E. Shields stated that it may be the result of disappointed expectations: “People believe that their work should allow them to use their special talents in the way that they most want to. This is a beautiful dream, but I believe it sets people up to be unhappy.” I suspect that similar statistical evidence could be equally correlated in most countries, as ‘austerity’ measures impact the middle classes, the source of most white collar workers.

What can employers do to identify where employees are most dissatified and work to remedy the situation proactively? I believe that social technologies do much to enfranchise and bond workers to create a peer value system, improving morale and encouraging workers to build better workplace relationships. There is a low tolerance threshold in a transparent workplace for people seen to be less than efficient or supportive amongst a strong team spirit. The adoption of great technology coupled with ongoing education and regular collaboration cafes would work significantly to bring employees to a more involved and enfranchised status, improving business delivery as a tangible outcome whilst upgrading the workplace as a thriving culture of ideas and innovation.

Tom Peters discusses the need for innovation within Enterprises:

‘Recession or no recession, deep recession or not, the challenge to add more and  more value grows, and the importance of innovation, and a culture of innovation, grows exponentially. A “culture of innovation” covers everything.’

A 2008 BusinessWeek study of white-collar professionals, 82% reported they needed to partner with others throughout the day to get their work done. . A converging pattern of recent developments in enterprise software has set the stage for a genuinely new approach to addressing the enterprise innovation challenge. .People are now liberated from formal meetings and conference gatherings to work flexibly and across different technologies.

Collaboration takes place all the time at personal desks and in hallways, or virtually via internet or smart phones. It’s frequently informal and ad hoc, capitalising on a moment of inspiration. Intelligent collaboration involves knowledge exchange, brainstorming, the inclusion of diverse perspectives, and scenario building. In this manner and with a new found freedom, employees or knowledge workers can advance innovation without impediment of outmoded work procedures that have previously impeded creative exchanges that can occur in teams outside of brainstorming sessions.

Companies today must provide the tools that allow employees to record spontaneous ideas and capture innovations on the fly and connect with team members in an agile manner to reach a shared understanding, interact collectively and speed effective decision making.  Navigating these opportunistic serendipity moments has hitherto been difficult, especially when an organization is widely distributed geographically, information-intensive, and experiencing great transformation such as in a new merger and acquisition.

Equally, knowledge management software allegedly offered a promise of information re-purposing to help contribute to innovation but usually involves expensive new processes associated with aggregating, organizing, and publishing information, diminishing the contribution to enterprise productivity. Giving teams and inviduals the ablility to aggregate inspired moments of valuable  ideation that stimulates new knowledge development or  that contributes to a new solution is vital to market advantage and competitive momentum.

Signs to watch for:

1. Personal insults
2. Invading one’s personal territory
3. Uninvited personal contact
4. Threats and intimidation, both verbal and non-verbal
5. Sarcastic jokes and teasing used as insult delivery systems
6. Withering email flames
7. Status slaps intended to humiliate their victims
8. Public shaming or status degradation rituals
9. Rude interruptions
10. Two-faced attacks
11. Dirty looks
12. Treating people as if they are invisible

Cost to businesses include lost productivity when people talk about the latest incident rather than working, overt or covert sabotaging of systems, processes and strategies, churn resulting in the need to hire, train and recapture lost knowledge. There will also be difficulty in recruiting internal candidates because a manager has developed a bad reputation. Factor in the time spent on complaints and mediation involving HR or the bullies direct report because people don’t want to work with them. Implementing relationship capital as a cultural norm allows people to identify and deal proactively these types far more effectively with peer values that diminish the destructive impact such people impose.

After extensive research into HR’s impact on organisational effectiveness he developed a whole system, strategic approach to maximising the value of human capital through HR strategy. In particular he has been in great demand to put a value on intangibles and his work in this area has led to him becoming a world authority in this highly specialised area with a long list of satisfied clients in the UK, mainland Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. He was a member of the UK CIPD’s working party on Human Capital.

A highly original thinker, he has brought to the HR world a blend of strategic vision and operational pragmatism. He is the author of the recently published and highly acclaimed ‘The Value Motive’ which goes a long way in clarifying the confusing concept of ‘value’ and shows how it can be used to transform thinking and action in organizations. The video outlines his approach to human capital:

Performance typology

Defining the key competencies and behaviours of an effective manager includes the ability to inspire high levels of teamwork, and the qualities that are exemplifed in values, ethics, character, knowledge and demonstrated in superior people skills. Often managers are promoted without sufficient grooming or training to take on the roles that allow them to navigate the complexities of individual, team and hierarchical interactions Competencies are the outcome of being appropriately qualified to perform a task and are observable or measurable skills, knowledge, and abilities.Knowles (1975) uses the following typology for competencies:

• Knowledge
• Understanding
• Skill
• Attitude
• Value

These benchmark the distinguishing standards between superior and other performers and are requisite in managers who are frequently the role models to employees and therefore inform the culture enfranchised organisationally. Time invested in training in soft skills competencies provide tangible bottom line results.

In the new knowledge economy, encouraging initiative is needed throughout the ranks. Involvement in an organization is no longer optional. A manager can work towards engaging personnel to achieve its objectives and increase the triple bottom line. The new ‘knowledge-centric’ enterprises are characterized by flattened hierarchies and multi-tasked workforce. Managers are assuming more leadership and coaching tasks and must work harder to provide employees with resources and working conditions they need to accomplish the goals they are hired to fulfill. Mining the talent by empowering human capital is now the prime focus of organizational success. A critical feature of knowledge-based enterprises is that they are invested with a significant culture of empowerment, or decision-making authority. Communication is vital to stimulate a creative workplace in a mature, seasoned culture and creativity in communication is key to implementing a high performance culture. In brief, managers now work for their staff, and not the reverse. Employee empowerment shifts managers’ mind-set and affording them with more time to engage in implementing agile decisions and keeping their eye on critical issues that require immediate action.

“So let us begin anew —- remembering on both sides
that civility is not a sign of weakness,
and sincerity is always subject to proof.”

~ John F. Kennedy

Civility is defined as ‘Formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech’.   Civil society, civic culture, and social capital are all important for strengthening democracy and enabling conflict resolution.

What is Social Capital?

While social capital is ” an instantiated informal norm that promotes cooperation between two or more individuals” (Francis Fukuyama) , it cannot in a community of diversity without a foundation in civility. Cultivating civility is an integral element of social capital because it fosters good relationship where ever you engage.

Through civility we behave altruistically,  extending courtesy to one another, creating trust.  The radius of trust is founded on consistency and quality of interpersonal exchange. Every point of engagement is an opportunity to demonstrate civility and more.

Part of our learning modules, RMI has a created a model of mindfulness we call ”The Diamond Rule’.

Respect

Honesty

Accountability

Boundaries

Responsibility

Trust

Reciprocality

Altruism

Unless enculturing civility becomes an initiative educationally, corporately and communally, there will little opportunity to grow trust amongst communities.

In his  book,  A World Waiting to be Born,  M. Scott Peck examines the concept of community by referring to his own philosophy and applying the ideas  to corporate backgrounds. The book explores  self-absorption  and the destructive aspects of materialism which have become part of our  behavioral norms. Peck  proposes a variety of philosophies to help address these challenges.

‘We human beings have often been referred to as social animals. But we are not yet community creatures. We are impelled to relate with each other for our survival. But we do not yet relate with the inclusivity, realism, self-awareness, vulnerability, commitment, openness, freedom, equality, and love of genuine community.’

M Scott Peck

As social business gathers momentum through enterprise adoption of social technologies, the inevitable shift to breaking down organisational silos towards a more social organism will become evident. This will create opportunities to do things differently, as three generations of workers collide in the workplace. The legacy of silos causes many problems in terms of knowledge mobilisation, agility of response to disruptive market forces in terms of strategic decision making and overall engagement of the workforce.

Jack Welch deemed speed to be of the utmost importance to business advantage. The transition from predominantly control and command structures that have dominated historically towards a more informal system will demand new practices and novel interventions in order to accelerate the workplace satisfaction quotient and encourage employees to co-operate together in a contemporary business climate. This video outlines the problem and solution : The lowest levels of engagement ever measured

A recent blog piece published by the RSA indicated that ‘most organisations want their employees to be more engaged. Most individuals want to contribute and to find meaning at work. Yet research suggests that more than two thirds of people are not engaged with how they spend their working hours. Instead of contributing their creativity, employees seem numbed by work, stressed by seemingly unreasonable demands and, in the UK, absent to the tune of 180 million days a year. This carries with it significant costs to the individual, to business and to society’.

It’s likely that silo culture does much to engender the disengagement factor and to apparent bottom line cost as well as trust factors, a key contributor to job satisfaction. How long before businesses realise that a failure to tackle the silo issue by encouraging a greater collaborative culture is very real, financially measurable and potentially damaging to the future survival of the organisation? As Jack said ‘The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important and then get out of their way while they do it’.

Human networks are often represented as objects  linked through relationships

Our natural inclination is to focus on the qualities and value of the object – the person.

What do we know of the connections – our human  relationships.

How can we assess and improve the value and quality of our relationships?

By focusing on the  development of the individual the organization as a whole benefits.  The personal assets of the individual shape the collective collateral of the group.  People benefit both personally and communally from the soft skills they acquire for building  quality human relationships.

Each person’s attentiveness to their interactions has a cumulative effect.  This is an essential component for the development of a healthy culture from which  collective intelligence can emerge.

A social organization is the characteristic pattern of relationships within a group. Developing competencies in relationship building and engagement help us navigate the cultures we  participate in.

Communities where individuals show up as themselves, and genuinely like the people they engage with, are better able to adapt, evolve and  flourish in a changing environment.

A framework which supports the growth of human relationships includes the following:

Intrapersonal Development

The first relationship to consider is your relationship with yourself.    Who are you?   What do you value?  What are your competencies?   Self awareness  guides our  personal development, helping  us bring our best, authentic self to every interaction.

Interpersonal Relationships

The way we interact with others builds trust and connects us.  The quality of a relationship is determined by  each interaction.  It is important to understand interpersonal dynamics and the behaviors that grow strong social relationships.

Group Dynamics and Culture

The purpose and culture of a group, shapes the roles we take and our behavior within it.  As we engage in groups,  mindful of our roles and interactions, we are able to contribute effectively.  Collectively we  have a fertile environment for innovation, one that is productive and adaptive to change.

Collective Intelligence

We come together socially to do or  build something that we could not do on our own.  The many become one.  The end result is collective intelligence, a shared intelligence, that emerges from the  interaction of many individuals.

Facebook’s social context ads collect data on our likes and scans our content for  keywords.  This information is used to generate the ads on the right hand side of  the facebook page.   Google has been showing us context sensitive ads for many years now.

The difference in Facebook  is, that your context sensitive ads are being shown to  your network  with the intention of generating activity within your social group.  Along with the ad,  are the names of  your friends who have clicked the like button or generated some sort of social action, demonstrating an engagement with the item being promoted.  The Facebook equivalent of word of mouth advertising.

Social Networks are more valuable when there is activity along the nodes. Activity indicates emotional resonance, you have been moved  to take some action.  It is like participating in a conversation.  If you are not activley engaged you will listen quietly,  when something resonates with you, you will interject with a comment or ask a question.

Knowing what is able to trigger activity  in a social network is valuable.

A friend connection indicates you have a relationship.  The nature of that relationship can be determined by the information you have provided.   The  people in your network may be colleages, school chums or family. The aggregate of  what you and your friends value along with all the other information you have shared paints a picture of your shared culture.

What facebook is collecting is our values.   What do we value enough to like, follow a link, post on a wall or mention in our status messages.   The information can be used to track the changes in our cultural value systems.  As our culture changes so does our behavior.  According to  Peter Kruse, a German professor and psychologist.   There is a time  lag  between  our culture as expressed by our values and our behavior.  So if my friends and I impulsively agree that an iced mocha looks yummy.  We are likely to follow up with a purchase someday.

We know that social networks can have powerful effect.   Valdis Krebs’ case studies explore the role of our social networks in influencing  smoking cessation, obesity and divorce.    He has shown that Social Network Analysis  can  uncloak  the connections in the 911 terrorist plot and analyze the relationship dynamics of large companies.

We create culture.    Facebook collects it.

Imagine what we could do with it.

Partial notes from the video:

The most interesting part of reducing complexity is culture.  It is not the individual brain but it is already the sum of the individual brains.   When I`m looking at the individual brain.  I`m talking more or less abot the limbic system…

All these values … are in the value system of the limbic system.  This is absolutely  unconscious more or less and gives me the ability to decide without rational analysis.  I am in a very complex situation,  I am doing something and I`m doing this on the basis of all the intuitive knowledge of my own life…

The cultural value system is stabilizing the decision making process, not of one person but of groups of persons.  This is what the culture is all about.  Culture has the task to stabilizing people enough to  be able to interact, to be able to cooperate…

There are these underlying streams of value systems that are fare more stable.  So when I’m ready to measure the changing value system in the culture.  I’m two or three years ahead of behavior.  If you can get access to this data you can reduce complexity in the sense of anticipation not just the moment you are looking at…

Measuring the dynamics of the value system of groups.  Culture is nothing more than a word for this.  So when we are sharing value systems – we are sharing the culture.

We are able to understand each other.

Workplace informality is cultivated through open communication with trusted colleagues. The qualities of informal workspaces are spontaneity, vitality, creativity and flexibility. New solutions to old problems are developed and new problems are rapidly solved because of improved trust and communication. Integrating the thinking, feeling and actions in business structures releases the potential informal leadership abilities and  is a proactively powerful strategy.

Informal networks can productively benefit businesses when implementing new strategies, systems and structures by leveraging the potential inherent in the continuity of these conduits.  Capturing the the socio-emotional and psychosocial networks of relationships in organisation is vital to creating a cooperative culture. The ability to identify where individuals are genuinely forging relationships that provides value for their workflow is critical.  So, how do you measure, map and build relationships so that the informal networks within an organisation are made visible and can be explored?

Relationship dynamics can greatly improve  business results, by moving your organisation(s) from isolated silos to collaborative networks.  In what ways can you survey  group communication and trust to better understand the tacit attributes of everyday worklife and develop appropriate behaviours for your ideal work culture?

Identify:

Social Network Analysis enables the measurement and mapping of informal relationships which form the hidden connection within an organisation.

Measure:

The implementation of enterprise ethnography, qualitatively measures and analyses group dynamics.  These soft metrics define the structure around which  informal networks can be evaluated.

Apply:

Sociometry is an key tool for building mature group networks and positive relationship behaviours. Sociometric affinities reveal a cultural value set in operation.  Sociometric tools are invaluable in identifying informal leaders and strengthening informal networks of relationships.

Enculture:

Social learning methods allows group members to create a shared dynamic for reviewing perceptions within the context of their key relationships. Group members are proactively encouraged to create new patterns of behaviour and interactions in order to maintain the healthy relationships that keep businesses performing well.

Ubiquitous, means to be omnipresent: being present everywhere at once. Communication is the act of exchanging meaning. From the ever present mobile phone, to email, to platforms like facebook and twitter, we are connected by social technologies.

What is the quality of our connection in a ubiquitous environment.  Can we communicate our  authentic self ?   To demonstrate this point, compare reading a web profile with speaking to someone face to face. Can you look into their eyes, see their body language or  make assumptions from the clothes they are wearing?

Communicating through a common platform   promotes  normalization and uniformity.  Our web profiles contain similar information in a neatly organized form.   We are relieved from choosing how to express who we are as individuals.   Conversation  is replaced with superficial exchanges and chatter.  What is missing is a genuine cognition of that which is being communicated.

So how can we get our message across in an environment where each email, video, image, status update, article and sound byte blends in with the rest of the white noise?

The answer is to maintain a consistency in our message. Not only in the message itself  but also in the way the message is conveyed.   What do our messages say about us?  Are we abrasive and self focused or courteous and respectful of others? Our communications need to consistently reflect  how we wish to be perceived – because in a world with ubiquitous communication they are how we are percieved.

How to navigate the social collective.

Our  inner dialogue has an outer impact.  By taking it in hand, and developing an inner locus,  we can chart our relationship landscape with confidence.   By directing our own  mindset and championing our competencies, we  grow in confidence.  We can  be authentic, acknowledging  our strengths and flaws.   Diamonds have brilliant facets and  unique flaws.  By recognizing  our diamond nature we  grow in clarity.

The intrapersonal and interpersonal are unequivocally linked.   If we  are critical or upbeat about ourselves, we are  more likely to be critical or upbeat with others.   It’s either a poison that taints everything or  a ripple effect for constant improvement. Orienteering  from the internal to the external and understanding that everything is related, is how we navigate our relationship map.

In a group,  there is a dynamic, created by the existing culture and the influential players .  Every person  who joins or leaves  the group changes the dynamic.    How you show up  is important.   Clear communication is key to setting the ground rules for how people engage with you.   Defining who you are within the group context  is how you contribute to the creation of the culture.

In a world mediated by social technology, we know lots of people, but what kind of relationship do we have with them.   How do we qualify the value of the those relationships.   Collective intelligence has a social foundation, the healthier your relationships the stronger your group will be collectively

.

Achieving our aspirations involves ongoing personal reflection,

continuous learning and  nurturing our relationships.

With 2011 around the corner many are looking reflectively at the past year and considering ways to improve  our efforts for the new year.

Most of us already have several systems to organize our lives, project plans at work, a family calendar in the kitchen, perhaps a journal for personal reflections. The tools we employ can range from the software provided on  latest mobile gadget to a hasty shopping list scrawled on a piece of paper.

The beginning of a new year is a good time to refine our processes. Life is a work in progress,  review your plans more often, on a monthly or even a weekly basis.  What do you want to do?  Where do you want to go?  How will you get there?

Cultivate Quality Relationships in 2011

The first relationship to consider is your  relationship with your self.   Decide upon the skills,  people,  projects and activities you wish to pursue in the coming year.

If you aspire to enlarge your social circle this year,  join a group,  it  is a good way to meet new  people.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by your involvements, choose how you will spend your time and efforts.

Develop an awareness of your existing network.   Who is in your network?  How well do you know them?

Of the people you know, with whom  would you like to strengthen a relationship with?   Make it a priority, schedule time with that person.

Developing interpersonal relationships by engaging with others  on a regular basis and getting involved in groups adds value to life and enriches the quality of our experience.

Consider the roles you play in your existing relationships.  Think of the ways in which you interact with these people.   What are your responsibilities?  What are your expectations of them?  Are these roles understood clearly or is there a need to communicate them?

Get to know  people who have expertise.   Their viewpoint, and interpretations may help us to see what we cannot.

One reason we develop relationships is so that we may engage collaboratively with them to achieve a common goal. By working together the group can often  achieve more than individuals could do on our own.

Approach your relationship management tasks in an organized and thoughtful manner.  Determine what priority they play in your life and how  you will put your efforts into improving them

Make it Happen

So how do we find the time to do all these things?   Time management is  the range  of  skills,  tools and techniques for managing the time required to achieve our goals.

Essentially there are two approaches to time management.

Task Orientated – Bottom up

Bottom up methods  are typically used for project management.  Large projects are broken into into smaller tasks, which are associated with a time estimate and the  resources required for completion.  The tasks are prioritized, scheduled and  assigned  to accomplish the larger objective.   Recipes , project plans and todo lists are examples of task orientated, time management systems.   David Allen has popularized a personal task orientated system with his book Getting things done (GTD)

Result Orientated – Top Down

Top down methods such as  Stephen Covey’s system places goals and roles as the controlling element of the system and favors importance over urgency.  Using a results orientated system, we focus on the results, and look for opportunities to achieve those results moving forward.   A result orientated strategy is helpful for achieving business or personal  goals that are less tangible such as improving a relationship with someone in your life.

A  personal  infusion of  Time Management Methods.

Jordan McGilvary of DIYplanner.com has shared his time management templates and an application for printing your own calendars and agenda pages.   Jordan has also  shared his  insights into  The Middle Way Method, a time management system that works for him.

The Middle Way Method encourages me to uncover who I am, who I want to be, and how to become who I want to be, while being able to handle everything that is thrown my way. … I feel that this approach gives a balance between the important things of life and the daily grind.

Trust is a valuable objective of our business relationships, it is the foundation of a sustainable marketplace.

Managing the quantity and quality of relationships and conversations on the web requires a sophistication of competencies. Whilst a combination of metrics, statistics, monitoring software reveal and manage trends, the ultimate arbiter of quality is trust and human engagement.

Social relationship management is about engaging in relevant conversations with clients, customers, prospects and brand champions. Essentially everyone is a customer of someone and the very experience of engaging with a brand be it in the real world or virtually, has a powerful underpinning sourced in experience and trust.

Relationship Management is most commonly associated with Customer Relationship Management (CRM).  The standard understanding of CRM is as a strategic business strategy which relate to techniques and methods for attracting and retaining customers.

According to Henk Akkermans, a co founder of Minase:

‘Most firms, especially in innovation-driven industries, operate as part of one or more supply networks. Here, they have to collaborate with various other organizations, both in a role of supplier and of customer. The speed that is required for this collaboration to be effective requires a great deal of openness about internal activities and future plans. “Transparency” is the word used these days to denote such openness. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of transparency in most supply networks. Information technology, security and language differences are the usual suspects, but the real root cause is a lack of trust, which I have found in a number of industry settings, ranging from electronics to chemicals and aerospace . If you do not trust the other side you will not share your information openly with them.’

The Public Affairs Council is the leading international association for public affairs professionals. Doug Pinkham President of  Public Affairs Council.  says:

‘That’s because openness creates opportunities for dialog with customers, shareholders, employees, local communities and government officials. If you make the effort to engage your critics – and those who may become your critics – you can correct problems before they get out of hand. Listening is the first step toward rebuilding trust.’

Without high-levels of trust, the long-term viability of businesses and organizations are in question. In creating a ‘Standard of Trust’,  Rob Peters is defining the new Trust Index, a core element of measuring relationship capital.  Rob states:

‘In this fast moving digital marketplace, relationship principles by which firms and organizations compete and collaborate are taking an increasingly important role in enabling business success. Today, do most leaders, individuals and organizations have the mindset of “Doing The Right Thing” not just for maximizing profit and revenue, but for optimizing long-term mutually beneficial relationships?’

“So let us begin anew —- remembering on both sides
that civility is not a sign of weakness,
and sincerity is always subject to proof.”

~ John F. Kennedy

Civility is defined as ‘Formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech’.   Civil society, civic culture, and social capital are all important for strengthening democracy and enabling conflict resolution.

What is Social Capital?

While social capital is ” an instantiated informal norm that promotes cooperation between two or more individuals” (Francis Fukuyama) , it cannot in a community of diversity without a foundation in civility. Cultivating civility is an integral element of social capital because it fosters good relationship where ever you engage.

Through civility we behave altruistically,  extending courtesy to one another, creating trust.  The radius of trust is founded on consistency and quality of interpersonal exchange. Every point of engagement is an opportunity to demonstrate civility and more.

Part of our learning modules, RMI has a created a model of mindfulness we call ”The Diamond Rule’.

Respect

Honesty

Accountability

Boundaries

Responsibility

Trust

Reciprocality

Altruism

Unless enculturing civility becomes an initiative educationally, corporately and communally, there will little opportunity to grow trust amongst communities.

In his  book,  A World Waiting to be Born,  M. Scott Peck examines the concept of community by referring to his own philosophy and applying the ideas  to corporate backgrounds. The book explores  self-absorption  and the destructive aspects of materialism which have become part of our  behavioral norms. Peck  proposes a variety of philosophies to help address these challenges.

‘We human beings have often been referred to as social animals. But we are not yet community creatures. We are impelled to relate with each other for our survival. But we do not yet relate with the inclusivity, realism, self-awareness, vulnerability, commitment, openness, freedom, equality, and love of genuine community.’

M Scott Peck

Intrapersonal activity, aka reflective review, leads to improved interpersonal exchange.  Taking accountability for understanding your motivations, interpretations and personal biases lends insight to how our perspectives and perceptions colour our interactions.

Emotional intelligence equates with our capacity for a greater spectrum of response to both internal and external prompts, derived from feelings of which we need to make sense. Responsiveness replaces reactiveness as a preferable communication style when the process of review is integrated.

Personal accountability is an outcome of having taken both the time and the effort to evolve a competency for internal dialogue and external expression. When contexted by understanding both the impact and influence of choices and communication, our responses are more appropriate. Learning a lexicon of appraisal, derived from Appreciative Inquiry, forms a new potential that motivates, not excoriates, self assessment.

Intrapersonal dialogue, the internal expression that runs constantly, reveals and defines the relationship you have with self.   It requires attention to the language you choose to make sense of and interpret self  in the world at large. Defining yourself in terms that accommodate your humanness is both healthy and a process of maturation

Building a strong relationship with the self benefits interpersonal engagement as an immediate effect.  Acknowledging of our foibles, idiosyncracies and unique pecadillos affords us a mutual capacity for accepting similar traits in others and allows for the acceptance that we are enough just as we are. This recognition improves our self worth amd leads to a self knowledge that establishes our inner locus.

Intrapersonal communication occurs within our intimate world. We need to take of charge that world and construct in a manner congruent with our needs, a reality that supports nourishing and nurturing our emotional wellbeing. That, in turn,  is reflected in our interpersonal relationships and serves as the key and foundation for healthy dynamics.

Human beings have been using stones to guide the way for milenia.

The traditional meaning of the inukshuk is “Someone was here” or “You are on the right path.” The Inuit make inuksuit in different forms for a variety of purposes: as navigation or directional aids, to mark a place of respect or memorial for a beloved person, or to indicate migration routes or places where fish can be found.

RMI’s modules provided foundational knowledge about human relationships.    As you put  knowledge in to  practice and reflect on the results, you develop your people skills.

Developing a literacy for human relationships includes the ability make good choices based on both your individual values and the collective  wisdom  of those who have gone before you.   Define, through reflection, what your unique beliefs and values are.  Upon them, base your decisions, and live their consequences.

Processes, associations, and iconic language, when integrated into our understandings, provide a conceptual framework for personal learning and  growth.

Here’s a sample:

Keystones

The foundational elements that are key to your reality, your world view. Without it you are without orientation.  It can be culturally informed.  It holds your sense of identity.  For some, it is their religion or philosophical beliefs.   The way in which you relate and make sense of the world.   What informs your world view?

Touchstones

What points during the course of a day, give you a sense of self.  Something that makes you feel connected with who you are.  Those points where you and reality come together to create a positive feeling; a “feel good” experience.   These are your boundary moments. Your touch points.

Stepping Stones

Your stepping stones are the strategy you use to take you forward.  Set your internal compass in a direction and look for the stepping stones.  Goals change.  Stepping stones are there in front of you when you look.  Is this a good stepping stone? Is this a good solid choice?  Every stepping stone takes you to a new vantage point.

Millstones

Physicist, David Bohm once said that society is based on shared meaning, which constitutes the culture. This shared meaning is the “glue” or the “cement” that holds society together. Shared meaning is necessary for society to function properly and for it to survive.

In his essay Dialogue and Coherence, William van den Heuvel describes Bohm’s ideas of the binding effect of sharing  common meanings and the challenge of achieving  shared menaing.

Through the media  we all get the same incomplete information and, therefore, we all come to the same distorted conclusions.  When communicating from person to person; is not only about what has happened but also why it happened. What are our beliefs, our opinions and  assumptions? What is important to you and what is important to me?

Understanding ourselves is the first step to better self expression.

Self-concept is the basis for intrapersonal communication, because it determines how a person sees themself and is oriented toward others. Self-concept (also called self-awareness) involves three factors: beliefs, values and attitudes. How they express that state is fundamental to building qualitative relationships.

When we know each other we are better able to understand each other.

Communication can be carried out by auditory means, such as speaking, singing, and sometimes tone of voice, and nonverbal, physical means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, or the use of writing. Whatever the medium, though, communication still means that one or more individuals are transferring information. The question becomes whether the information transmitted can be received and correctly interpreted.

• How you speak to people shapes how they view you and relate to you.
• The language you choose, the tone in which you express and the behaviour you adopt, all play a significant role in peoples perception of you.
• Your words, voice tone and inflection can elicit powerful emotions from others, without you realizing it.

We build relationships through our interactions.   How we choose to engage  in each and every interaction determines the quality of the relationship.   Be mindful of what you are saying, why you are saying it and how you are saying it.    Express yourself appropriately, constructively and concisely.

It matters.

” I’ve learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel”

Maya Angelou

A living organisation is  a balance between the formal structure of rules, roles and responsibilities and the informal culture of creativity, relationship dynamics, communication and engagement.

Using a tree analogy the formal structure is the trunk and branches and the informal culture are the leaves, blossoms and fruit which arise from the formal structure.

In his  2002 book The Hidden Connections Fritjof Capra explores the dynamic between formal structure and the informal dynamics of an organisation.

Formal Structure

The formal structure of an organsation are the sets of rules and regulations that define the relationships between people and tasks, and determine the distribution of power.  Boundaries are established by contractual agreements that delineate well- defined subsystems (departments) and functions.  The formal structures are depicted in the organiation’s official documents – the organisational charts bylaws, manuals and budgets that describe the organisation’s formal policies strategies and procedures.

Informal Dynamics

The informal structures by contrast are fluid and fluctuating networks of communcations.  These communications include nonverbal forms of mutual engagement in a joint enterprise through which skills are exchanged and shared tacit knowledge is generated.  The shared practice creates flexible boundaries of meaning that are often unspoken.   The distinction of belonging  to a network may be as simple as being able to certain conversations of knowing the latest gossip.

Informal networks of communication are embodied in the people who engage in the common practice.  When new people join the entire network may reconfigure itself; when people leave, the network will change again, or may even break down.  In the formal organisation by contrast, functions and power relations are more important than people, persisting over the years while people come and go.

In every organisation, there is a continuous interplay between its informal networks and its formal structures.  Formal policies and procedures are always filtered and modified by the informal networks, which allow workers to use their creativity when faced with unexpected and novel situations.