Stewardship Chapter 12
Cosmetic Reform:  When The Disease Becomes The Cure

Man can only create himself through his freedom; otherwise, he is created, an object, without dignity.  Yet those who would aid him in his life and his productivity are often willing to sacrifice his autonomy, which is his essential well-being, on behalf of his physical or social well-being. [~ Earl Shorris]

There are three principles in man's being and life, the principle of thought, the principle of speech and the principle of action.  The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow-men is that I do not say what I mean, and that I do not do what I say.  For this confuses and poisons, again and again and in increasing measure, the situation between myself and the other man, and I, in my internal disintegration, am no longer able to master it but, contrary to all my illusions, have become its slave. [~ Martin Burber]

The act of implementing stewardship principles through leadership based on consistency, control, and predictability is what keeps patriarchy from helping itself.

Actions that typically feed rather than confront our belief in consistency and control:

• Top Creates Vision
  Creating vision is in fact an ownership function.  If we want ownership widely dispersed each person needs to struggle with articulating their own, personal vision for their function  or unit.
• Open Enrollment
  Patriarchy has its leaders enroll others in their vision.
• Top Drives the Effort
  Belief that if top management doesn't support the move toward partnership nothing important will happen
• Keep Measures Quantitative and Short Term
  A demand for measurement is an expression of doubt and lack of faith.
• Create a New Department
  The most common form of infection that patriarchy spreads is the creation of staff groups to carry out work that rightfully belongs to the line organization.
• Conduct a Common Training Program
  No matter how supportable its original purpose, a specially created staff function will inevitably breathe with the power of those at the top.
  Top- and staff-defined competencies reinforce dependency and the bureaucratic mindset.
• Coerce Through Rewards
  Appraisal is a process of coercion.  If we want to create a credible system of appraisal and accountability in a partnership environment, then each person needs a voice in deciding what they will be judged on and by whom.
• Implementation Across the Board
  Patriarchy produces cosmetic change through efforts to implement change simultaneously across the organization.
  Organization reform is a learning process, not an installation process.

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Block P.  Stewardship:  Choosing service over self interest.