Geometry of the Community
The Triangle of Imposition
Management is driven primarily by the Triangle of Imposition.
Click to see:
The Triangle, with its need to control and direct staff, is experienced by management as fundamental and unchallengeable. The only issue is exactly how to go about staffing, discipline and regulation.
However, management, being employees themselves, are well aware that only employees produce results. Management know that this is only possible if staff are allowed to work in their own natural way i.e. doing them and with the that they can handle .
The Square of Thoughtfulness
This focus on employees' experiences and their work brings the Square of Thoughtfulness to the fore.Click to see.
The Square shows combined with a determination to . Management are (or should be) concerned about handling staff well, and about the importance of empowerment. They should be versatile rather than intransigent and be comfortable to make and balance both allowances and demands on employees.
Unlike the Triangle above, this Square is often respected more in the breach than the observance. Nevertheless, the necessity for thoughtfulness in dealing with people, especially those you depend on, is surely undeniable.
Yet the gulf between the austere Triangle and the vibrant Square is so great. How can it possibly be reconciled?
The Rectangle of Compromise
Reconciliation between opposing positions in social life requires compromise. Organizations are no exception, and so the conflict between regulating staff and handling them flexibly produces the Rectangle of Compromise.Click to see
The compromises that management makes to deliver and relate to developing the communal context of work: social life, interpersonal interaction and the daily give-and-take.
This requires fostering and shaping a viable culture drawn from values of the employees, the nature of management and the mission of the organization. As part of this management work, there has to be a concern for discriminating amongst staff members so that they can be assisted to fit comfortably. Of course, some staff will not fit with the desired culture: in that case they probably cannot remain employed. Mavericks are rare within organizations because they have such short organizational lives.
This compromise is not about making decisions relating to work and results—see dialectical values and dialectical decision-making. It is about values and choices in relationships that are the context for decisions at work.
Next pattern:
► Getting productivity.
Originally posted: 30-Nov-2011