Ambience: Positive or Negative

This is About Me

Apart from the handling of hierarchy, based in managerial oversight, and the enjoyment of my role, a range of other interactions amongst the management factors affect how I feel at work.

Influences & States

G7-Commitment ↔ G6-Motivation

My involvement at a deep personal level is a function of the quality of my commitment-G7B and my motivation-G6, which naturally affect each other.

G7B ↔ G6O: I am ready to tolerate much and do all sorts of things when I feel part of the organizational community, have high commitment-G7B, and am motivated by a sense of obligation-G6O. The harnessing of these two Centres manifests as a state of loyalty. If that goes wrong, then there is disaffection.

G7B ↔ G6P: Loyalty sees a distinction between me and the organization, but when commitment-G7B interacts positively with creativity-based motivation-G6P, the potential for unification exists. The positive experience is one of identification. When commitment is missing or creativity is suppressed, then the feeling is one of resignation.

G6-Motivation ↔ G5-Goals

Goals that are personally developed rapidly become creative challenges. As for goals that are compulsory, developing the motivation to pursue them is the challenge. The potential Channels here are fourfold. However, the two criss-cross Channels cannot exist.
ClosedWhy?

G6O ↔ G5P: Obligatory motivation cannot link directly to voluntarily chosen goals because that would be a contradiction in terms.

G6P ↔ G5O: Creative motivation cannot link directly with compulsory goals until they have been made personal, or motivation based on obligation emerges.

G6O ↔ G5O: My obligations should naturally lead to my acceptance of given goals, just as any officially adopted goals should motivate me via my obligations. When this works well, the result is a quiet satisfaction. If, however, there is some problem either with the goals or with my motivation, then there will be frustration all round.

G6P ↔ G5P: In much the same way, creativity-based motivation and personally chosen goals tend to support and encourage each other.  A positive experience here is more intense, one of fulfilment. The suppression of either state and a breakdown in this Channel leads to deflation in my expectations of what is possible at work.

G5-Goals ↔ G3-Improvement

It is immediately evident that goals and improvements must interact. However, the potential Channels are again fourfold and, again, the two criss-cross Channels cannot exist.
ClosedWhy?

G5O ↔ G3O: Formally accepted goals-G5O and authorized developments-G3O should not directly influence each without the mediation of a personal goal-G5P, or those in relevant roles-G4B, or legitimate personal initiatives-G3P.

G5P ↔ G3P: Generated goals-G5P and personal initiatives-G3P should not directly influence each other unless mediated by official goals-G5O, established roles-G4B or an authorized development-G3O. Anything else would give staff free rein.

Two Channels are essential and, in this case, usefully bridge the compulsion v autonomy duality:

Formally accepted goals-G5O and personal initiatives-G3P can work well together. The latter gives meaning to the former, and the former provides a framework for the latter. The experience is one of stimulation. If however, either of these Centres is malfunctioning then there is a detachment from what is required for achievement.

Generated goals-G5P and authorized development-G3O have a similar supportive relationship. Personal goals are the context for handling authorized developments, and authorized developments are a crucial context for development of personal goals. When everything is going well, the feeling is one of release. When there is no fit or a negativity, then the experience is one of constraint.

G3-Improvement ↔ G1B-Duties

Drives for improvement-G3 and responsibility for duties-G1B need to influence each other and interact constructively, because the latter is the final common pathway for all management organisation.

G3P ↔ G1B:  My personal initiatives-G3P need to accord broadly with my responsibilities-G1B and with specific duties. Those duties, in turn, should open the way to devising such initiatives. This leads to equanimity in pursuing whatever is involved, however unusual or innovative. If however, there is a disconnection, then either the duties or the initiatives are experienced as distractions.

G3O ↔ G1B: The organization's authorized developments-G3O presume that I will sustain my responsibility for duties-G1B. An aspect of those duties involves engagement with such developments. The experience is an endorsement of my significance. If there is a disconnect here, then the result is disruption, personal and/or organizational.

Comparison

Ambience provides the context for hierarchical comfort and role enjoyment.

Positive components include (in descending order): 

• loyalty and identification (maximizing all contributions),
• satisfaction and fulfilment (providing the basis for employment),
• stimulation and release (in regard to getting achievement),
• equanimity and endorsement (for everyday activities).

Negative components include (in descending order):  

• disaffection and resignation (suggesting something is seriously wrong),
• frustration and deflation (making work painful),
• detachment and constraint (interfering with achievement),
• distraction and disruption (making everyday activities difficult).

All Channels have now been considered.

Originally posted: 23-May-2014.