Transformational
Thinking & The
Organization
Lecture VI
SOWO 804 Organizational and
Community Behavior
The “Current” Paradigm Shift:
 The world approaching a turning point?
 A “massive shift in the perception of reality”?
 The shift is from Newtonian view of universe to one
based on quantum mechanics
 Moving away form mechanistic thinking toward a
holistic model ?
 What does this all have to do with organizational
theory? (good question!)
(Banner & Gagne 1995; Capra 1982)
Three Assumptions of Mechanistic Thought
1.
There exists a fundamental level of reality which is
governed by certain immutable laws.
2.
These laws should be applicable to larger
structures. In fact, we believe they are universal.
3.
Researchers are considered separate from the
experiments they are conducting. They produce
objective descriptions of what they observe.
(Banner & Gagne, 1995)
Origins of Transformational Thought
 T-Groups: Introduced concept of group dynamics. If
culture is not supportive of certain behaviors then
those behaviors disappear.
 Human Potential Movement: Being all you can be?
 Self-Help Philosophies: Empire building. (Dr. Phil?
Deepak Chopra?).
But are these developments a sign that
Newtonian thought’s days are numbered?
Setting up the Challenge:
The Contender: Industrial Era
Thought
Assumption 1: Everything is separate
from everything else. The universe
is machine-like, its parts can be
controlled.
Assumption 2: The parts influence the
whole. If one part breaks, the whole
must fix it. Each part is separate
from other parts.
Assumption 3: The world is external. It
simply exists as perceived. Our job
is to manipulate objective reality to
our advantage.
The Challenger: Transformational
Thought
Assumption 1: Everything (and they
mean everything) is inseparable. All
things influence each other.
Assumption 2: The whole (life?)
organizes the parts. There is design
and control inherent in life itself.
Assumption 3: We are co-creators with
life. What we see as reality is
created in our consciousness. We
make it real through manifestation.
Reality is consensual.
(Banner & Gagne, 1995)
The Challenge Continues…
The Contender: Industrial Era
Thought
The Challenger:
Transformational Thought
Assumption 4: Life is hostile to
humans. We must manipulate
life’s circumstances in order to
achieve success (in title and
market based terms).
Assumption 4: By aligning
ourselves with the laws of life
we will achieve rewards that are
in line with creation (harmony
and integration).
Assumption 5: We are not
experiencing paradigm shift.
Self-centeredness is a natural
part of the human condition, it
will never be otherwise. There
are problems in the world, but it
is the advanced human mind
and technology that will solve
them.
Assumption 5: The paradigm is
shifting. We must abandon selfserving thought and align
ourselves with the purposes of
the whole. The problems of
environmental degradation,
racial inequality, and poverty will
only be solved by
transformation.
(Banner & Gagne, 1995)
Implications for Organizations
Assumption 1: Everything is inseparable. All things influence
each other.
Implication: Adopting transformational model requires realization
that an organization is part of a larger social fabric. Everything it
does effects everything else.
Examples:
Ben and Jerry’s: 15% of pretax profit to charity. Ecological
harmony.
Swissair: Putting management in customers shoes.
(Banner & Gagne, 1995)
Implications Continued…
Assumption 2: The whole organizes the parts. There is design
and control inherent in life itself.
Implication : Reality is a series of whole within wholes. Life is
organized into discrete forms of energy, each a whole unto itself.
Example: Organizations, as part of society, react and conform to
consumer preference, competition, international climate, etc.
(Banner & Gagne, 1995)
Implications…
Assumption 3: We are co-creators with life. What we see as
reality is created in our consciousness. We make it real through
manifestation. Reality is consensual.
Implication : Organizations are just one of many forms created
through consensual agreement. Organizations might be better
off if we let the design of life to create them?
Example: Golden Age on Earth? Evidence abounds?
(Banner &Gagne, 1995)
Implications…
Assumption 4: By aligning ourselves with the laws of life we will
achieve rewards that in line with creation (harmony and
integration).
Implication: Each organization is a smaller version of the larger
economy and is “intimately connected” to it. A rhythmic market?
Go with the flow?
Example: Ben and Jerry’s stock options and commitment to
charity.
(Banner & Gagne, 1995)
Implications…
Assumption 5 : The paradigm is shifting. We must abandon selfserving thought and align ourselves with the purposes of the
whole. The problems of environmental degradation, racial
inequality, and poverty will only be solved by transformation.
Implication: Unanticipated paradigm shifts can sink an
organization.
Example: Swiss watch industry.
(Banner & Gagne, 1995)
Banner & Gagne Attempt to Explain Why
Some organizations are:
Others are:
centralized
decentralized
hierarchical
fluid
formalized
flexible
bureaucratic
adaptive
depersonalizing
empowering
The Explanation is That . . .
Centralized
hierarchical
formalized
bureaucratic
depersonalizing
Decentralized
fluid
flexible
adaptive
empowering
ORGANIZATIONS
ORGANIZATIONS
are created by
are created by
ego-driven,
fearful
effect-oriented
whole-centered
mature
responsible
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
Banner & Gagne attempt to demonstrate that
The METAMODEL
or new paradigm organizational form
originates in
the beliefs, attitudes and values of individuals
therefore, to change organizational form,
there must be changes in
the beliefs, attitudes and values of individuals
The old paradigm focuses on
STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES
The old paradigm includes the assumption that
change begins at the level of external form.
To improve the organization, externals must be
manipulated.
What are the essential beliefs, attitudes, and values of
mature people who are able to create fluid, adaptive,
empowering organizations?
•
Wholeness already exists. Everything is related to everything
else.
What does this say about the presupposition of
disconnectedness and competition that permeates
our society?
•
Harmony and balance result from the willingness to yield to
life’s design. Havoc is created by human striving and
goal-oriented action.
What does this imply about the strictly outcomes-based approach
frequently characteristic of contemporary social services?
What are the essential beliefs, attitudes and values of mature
people …
• Human mental and emotional capacities are the channels
through which the design of life can be made manifest
in the world of form.
• Flexible organizations are created by an agreement of the
collective mind (thoughts and emotional forms shared by
those who are open to the design of life).
How may this idea be of practical help to create psychological
ownership of an organization’s mission by that organization’s
employees?
The promise of “one nation, indivisible”
and the dismantling of the social contract
The perspective of Bill Moyers
(From his speech at the Take Back America Conference,
June 4, 2003)
The main story within U. S. history:
“the struggle to determine whether ‘we, the
people’ is a spiritual idea embedded in a
political reality—one nation, indivisible—or
merely a charade masquerading as piety and
manipulated by the powerful and privileged
to sustain their own way of life at the expense
of others”.
The struggle against privilege and oligarchy:
the progressive movement
• The Populists (1890s)
• The Social Reformers (1900-1915)
• The New Deal (1930s)
• The Great Society (1960s)
The past 25 years: Dismantling the Social Contract
The challenge of an effective movement:
“to convert public concern and hostility into a
crusade to resurrect social Darwinism as a moral
philosophy, multinational corporations as a
governing class, and the theology of markets as a
transcendental belief system”
“. . . public services, when privatized, serve only
those who can afford them and weaken the
sense that we all rise and fall together as ‘one
nation, indivisible.”