Work is Both Mental and Social

Work is Inherently Psychosocial

«Work» is the feature of psychosocial reality that most immediately comes to mind when considering «endeavour».
Reminder: 

Anything and everything within psychosocial reality is two dimensional, showing:
► an inner private psychological component
► an external sharable social component

The results of work depend greatly on the quality of mental work-processes. This mental aspect includes the person's capacity for making sense of what is going on and then making adjustments as events, expected and unexpected, unfold.

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Work allows us to see particularly clearly how the two components of psychosocial reality are in constant interaction. The inner state (i.e. the mental work processes) seeks realization or actualization in the social world as a work result or output. This generated social state then feeds back and leads to inner adjustments; and these again seek actualization; and so on until the task or project is sufficiently completed. Clearly, the more complex and wide-ranging the task, and the longer the period inherently required to complete the task, the greater the challenge in the work to be done.

Implications for the Organization

The organization depends wholly on the «inner work» i.e. the thought processes and mental states, used at the discretion of its employees. To release that creativity, management should sustain an ethos that allows maximum autonomy and responsibility within the remit of any post or assignment.

How people work (mentally) will also be a function of:
● expectations placed on them
● the stage of management culture
● the work-ethos within the industry and society

While «inner work» is necessary for sustained «work outputs» of the required quality, it offers no guarantee. Extraneous physical and social factors invariably assist or impede personal efforts. Although judging employees by their output is essential, it is insufficient to get a true picture of the work done—see appraising staff.

Work is mysterious:  All creative endeavour involves work. So the nature of work and its management emerges in many other parts of THEE. Work capability turns out, perhaps surprisingly, to be dependent on the use of language [PH'5].

Implications for the Person

«Doing work» means engaging deliberately with the concrete work demands related to each of the « CG1-expectations-&-challenges». Work is deliberate in that it demands a firmness of intention, a confident use of judgement and a proficiency in applying skills. If a person is not capable of the work, activity will be fraught with uncertainty, hesitation, doubt and vacillation—the end result will be unsatisfactory.

The 7 expectations-&-challenges are the CG1-elements of employment work that must be handled deliberately if management is to be satisfied that an employee is actually working.

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However, these elements and the disparate associated personal energies only vaguely serve the organization and its goals. Each needs to be controlled and guided for the organization to function and progress as a whole.

• Effective control can be provided by grouping adjacent levels to form pairs, called in THEE: Dyads.

Originally posted: 20-Oct-2011