Some people believe they create their own destiny - others believe the hands of fate control them. The same is true for organizations and communities. That second perspective leaves people frustrated and angry, feeling out of control and powerless. They freeze midway on the road to maturity. The results show in big and small lapses in ethics. One reason we're seeing so many problems in the business world now is that as a society, we've lost our sense of ethics.
People who have stopped maturing and are stagnating at any given point of development may:
* continuously try to defend themselves against punishment, obeying regulations simply to make themselves feel safe
* exercise black and white thinking, seeing individuals as either 'with them or opposed to them'
* feel little sense of control over their lives
* aim for acceptance and endorsement by conforming
Abraham Maslow speaks of a continuum of requirements humans have to satisfy before they can attain full maturity, which he calls self-actualization. In order, these needs are:
* bodily survival
* security
* acceptance
* achievement
* self-accomplishment
Each of these desires presents a problem a person has to satisfy before they go on to a top stage of growth. If they do not succeed, they get stuck in a continual behaviour circle at that point, and they don't mature any more.
Infantile behaviour leads to all types of tribulations, both for individual people and civilization as a whole. One of the first signs of this infantile behaviour in a society is the existence of power hierarchies. Power hierarchies spur a complicated host of tribulations, counting: de-motivation, loss of health, low efficiency, monetary losses, bankruptcies and the manipulation of many for the advantage of a few.
Hierarchical values suggest that developmental immaturity is unavoidable: there are the rich and there are the poor, there are the employers and there are the employees, and these lines never change or blur. Not only companies support this theory, but entire societies: man has defined global regions as 'haves and have-nots.'
We observe illustrations of this on a daily basis in the news. We learn about CEOs who make overgenerous luxury acquisitions or receive a 'golden parachute' in spite of the fact that their corporation is bankrupt. In politics, we observe leaders rising to control rapidly, leaving social turmoil in their wake. We witness more extreme samples as militant extremists scheme and carry out offences against humanity.
Those who fall behind and stay stuck in a lower stage of maturing will remain helpless against the tidal waves of destruction in the modern world. So much of this could be avoided if leaders in business, politics, education, and local communities would commit themselves to helping the people they influence to grow and mature, to move forward in self-development. It's not enough to sit and think about the problem, to wonder what could be done to help people become more ethical.
There are so many personal growth and training programs available, especially in the trade world. Providing this kind of moral consciousness preparation for workers isn't just a matter of helping everybody to get along and be nice - it's an investment that pays huge dividends that help everybody.
Those who work towards the goal of self-realization for themselves and for those around them will mature. Those who mature will create a healthy new paradigm for business and society, and will ultimately thrive in the future.
People who have stopped maturing and are stagnating at any given point of development may:
* continuously try to defend themselves against punishment, obeying regulations simply to make themselves feel safe
* exercise black and white thinking, seeing individuals as either 'with them or opposed to them'
* feel little sense of control over their lives
* aim for acceptance and endorsement by conforming
Abraham Maslow speaks of a continuum of requirements humans have to satisfy before they can attain full maturity, which he calls self-actualization. In order, these needs are:
* bodily survival
* security
* acceptance
* achievement
* self-accomplishment
Each of these desires presents a problem a person has to satisfy before they go on to a top stage of growth. If they do not succeed, they get stuck in a continual behaviour circle at that point, and they don't mature any more.
Infantile behaviour leads to all types of tribulations, both for individual people and civilization as a whole. One of the first signs of this infantile behaviour in a society is the existence of power hierarchies. Power hierarchies spur a complicated host of tribulations, counting: de-motivation, loss of health, low efficiency, monetary losses, bankruptcies and the manipulation of many for the advantage of a few.
Hierarchical values suggest that developmental immaturity is unavoidable: there are the rich and there are the poor, there are the employers and there are the employees, and these lines never change or blur. Not only companies support this theory, but entire societies: man has defined global regions as 'haves and have-nots.'
We observe illustrations of this on a daily basis in the news. We learn about CEOs who make overgenerous luxury acquisitions or receive a 'golden parachute' in spite of the fact that their corporation is bankrupt. In politics, we observe leaders rising to control rapidly, leaving social turmoil in their wake. We witness more extreme samples as militant extremists scheme and carry out offences against humanity.
Those who fall behind and stay stuck in a lower stage of maturing will remain helpless against the tidal waves of destruction in the modern world. So much of this could be avoided if leaders in business, politics, education, and local communities would commit themselves to helping the people they influence to grow and mature, to move forward in self-development. It's not enough to sit and think about the problem, to wonder what could be done to help people become more ethical.
There are so many personal growth and training programs available, especially in the trade world. Providing this kind of moral consciousness preparation for workers isn't just a matter of helping everybody to get along and be nice - it's an investment that pays huge dividends that help everybody.
Those who work towards the goal of self-realization for themselves and for those around them will mature. Those who mature will create a healthy new paradigm for business and society, and will ultimately thrive in the future.
About the Author:
Victor Pinedo, Jr. is President of Corporate Transitions International. A consultant in organizational change since 1969, he invented Organizational Architecture, an organizational transformation program that is unique in its long-term effectiveness. He is the author of the best selling book on Organizational Architecture, Tsunami: Constructing organizations that are able to prosper in tidal waves. For more information, visit the link today!
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