Theory W 538
Chapter 9 - The expert worker
Self as an organization
Work defined
Individual worker identity
Individual work responsibility
The expert worker
Job descriptions
Productivity
Individual performance
Review. Taken as an example,
the functional
organization of this dissertation shows both an aimful macro
view (why) and a micro-management view (how or the way).
Between these macro and micro views lay the seam of
validity. In general, that seam of validity can be seen
per
table 66 on page 494 as the implementation task, and
specifically, the tasks of authorship, PhD, and the
dissertation.
Summary. The input of organizational
strategy permits
the organization to optimize the human mind's potential for
supporting the organization's aim. Theory W calls this
type
of human mind "the expert worker."
Next. The worknet form of
Theory W evolves from years
of case study development.
Self as an organization
The section on philosophy introduced
the universal
concept of the self. And since Theory W deals with the
hierarchical organization of functional work tasks of
people, the definition of the self, specifically the
The expert
Theory W 539
operational definition of the self, can be seen as
considerably importance.
In short, Theory W sees the self
operating as a point
of choice - the self's function is to choose. Some
individuals seem to have a greater ability to choose than
others - Theory W views this phenomenon as some people being
more practiced in making choices. The people who practice
making choices become more free than others. This practice
of making more choices does not entirely associate with
having, for example, more money or more intelligence.
Rather, Theory W views the ability to make choices as the
opposite of the fear which restricts an individual self.
Thus the ability to make choice associates inversely with
the amount of fear which the individual feels. Begin with
the immobilized self to understand how fear restricts
freedom, and then in turn, how fear limits the choice
experience available to the fearful self.
Immobilized self. Some people
fear to such a
degree as to become immobilized - catatonic.78 The graphic
display of a catatonic self could be a circle of fear so
tight as to leave little room for the point of choice to
experience the good feelings needed to motivate action.
____________________
78 Reference a definition of catatonic.
The expert Theory W 540
Figure 47 - Graphic of a catatonic self
____________________________________________________________
Good feelings
_
|*| <-- Point of choice-to-action
~ closed by a ring of fear
Bad feelings
so as to limit the impact
on bad feelings. Good feelings
however, are also limited.
____________________________________________________________
Note: To believe the above calls for an immediate truth
judgement (a priori).
Picture a Chinese-finger toy from
childhood play. You
slipped that diagonally woven tube on two fingers of
different hands - then you pulled. You then discovered
that
the harder you pulled, the tighter the woven tube gripped
the finger. Only by releasing the finger could you become
free. Conceptually, fear squeezes tighter on the self's
action performance just like the pulling on the more tightly
gripped the child's finger.
One result of implementing Theory
W does assist in
releasing organization constraints on the worker self - see
part on the FIRO-B test measurements. But release of
worker-self constraints79 remains only one of several
Theory W advantages. Continuing to expand on the definition
of an operational self, the next figure graphs the self of a
more normal organization member.
The expert Theory W 541
Figure 48 - Graphic of a normal self
____________________________________________________________
Good feelings __
*a
/
\
/love
joy\
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
|
\/ |
|
/\ |
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
\sorrow
hate/
\
/
__
fear as a confining circle
Bad feelings
____________________________________________________________
Note: The above calls for an immediate truth judgement (a
priori - see philosophy section).
a The star (*) represents the
self's point of
choice-to-action.
The above portrays a self, acting
from an ethical
____________________
79 The four-year Civil War with
680,000 casualties
was fought to lift worker constraints - not only physical
constraints, but also to set men's spirits free (237) and
thus increasing the freedom of the individual self. That
spirit set free in any organization can be viewed as
synergism. Additionally, the process of organization
freedom can be viewed as strategy.
The expert
Theory W 542
position of joy and love - perhaps more of a representation
of becoming rather than of actuality.
Moving closer to the wants of
Theory W, the above
choice-to-action becomes action represented by the familiar
force-arrow of physics and mechanics. Choice thus
translates to self-action - responsible self-action perhaps
represented by the arrow (*------>).
An action can be pictured as a
simple arrow. In
Physics, the arrow represents the force of action. In
English, we have action verbs working, or forcing, upon
object nouns. The direction of the arrow of action flows
from left to right - following English writing form and the
pictorial of most time-lines. History and archeology
provide time-lines of cultural interest. In a narrower
scheme PERT, CPM, and decision trees also use time-lines.
Time-line arrow actions can be seen as universal.
Of closer personal interest are
the time-lines of our
lives which can be viewed as a simple chain of task-action
arrows.
Now on to what the universal self-force
could find as
a universal target.
The expert Theory W 543
Figure 49 - Universal human needs as a life aim
____________________________________________________________
The arrow of action force aims at the hierarchical needsa
__
E E
/ \
/ __ \
/ R R \
/ / \
\
/ / __ \
/ \
E
E / G G \
R
Relatedness
*----------->b | | | Growth | | |
R
R
E \ G G /
Existence
\ __ /
\ \ /
/
\ \ /
/
\ R __ R /
\ /
\ /
E __ E
____________________________________________________________
Note: a Alderfer reference.
b The star (*) represents the
point of motivation as
choice-to-action.
Thus Theory W looks upon the self
as becoming an
organization member for any variation of existence,
relatedness, and growth needs. Theory W addresses each
of
those needs and ties to FIRO-B in part 5 to demonstrate the
increase in productivity as a conjunction of an increase in
organization output.
Summary. The self chooses
action founded on joy-love
The expert
Theory W 544
to fulfill existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG) needs.
Transition. Now Theory W
attends to the task of
documenting what actions have meaning in support of the
organization end. Two types of organizations exist - a
one
member organization where the individual becomes the only
worker, and the multi-member organization where two or more
workers support the organization end.
Internal self. Take any action
you have done recently
and ask yourself -
For what reason, or why, am I doing
this action? Do I
really choose or am I just being told what to do
and when
to do it? Am I driven emotionally - by love-hate,
joy-sorrow, freedom-fear? Do I express the
freedom to
constantly improve,80 to better my selfÆ80æ
along with
other's selves for the good feeling involved?
That good
feeling can be seen as a synergistic joy both within
one's self and with the right others.
A sign of choice for a particular
action would be an
emphasis on logic or rationality, versus an unquestioning
emphasis on time deadlines.
What do I see as the function of
my life-work? Or am
I just given position in various organizations?
Is
position my primary motivator or is function my
primary
motivator?
Do my life-work choices flow to
a greater good and do
I determine the way of actualizing my life for my
good
and for the greater good?
____________________
80 Improvement and betterment can
be seen as part of
the love process - those three levels of respect,
encouragement, and challenge for self and others.
Improvement and betterment can also be seen as the human
growth process - the highest basic need.
The expert
Theory W 545
Writing, for example, can be time-consuming
to the
point of shutting out other progress. A balanced life needs
more than just writing, or organization, or a job, or
friends, or relatives. A preponderance of visiting,
reading, or reflection in life can end in the question, "Is
this all there is?"
Besides these internal crunchings
of the inner self,
there are other external selves which communicate, connect,
and even co-depend on the one internal self. We all have
but one internal self which should be of primary importance
to that individual.
External self. The above individual
self can choose
to actively listen to another with a specific frame of mind.
Your definition of another self can be revealing.
Relative to me, you are THE point
of choice. I
respect the choice which you make. In fact,
my
life-mission attempts to empower your choice-making
ability. I choose to substitute choice-making
for
administrative decision making. Choosing skills
are
developed long before being hired into an administrative
job. In fact, choosing skills are best developed
right
along with the three-year-old's "Why" question.
The
question aims at growth.
Scientific psychology - ERG. Psychology
provides the
explanation of ERG basic needs. Thus we are motivated as
individuals to grow and improve, specifically within
improving organizations. Growth builds upon relatedness
and
existence needs fulfillments.
ERG structures individual motivation
as an
The expert
Theory W 546
organization. Thus the pyramid of the figure below
represents a universal individual organization.
Figure 50 - ERG as the individual's org
____________________________________________________________
/\
/ \
/ growth \
/ \
/ relatedness \
/
\
/
existence \
/____________________________\
____________________________________________________________
Note: See table 2 on page 17.
Maslow's self-actualization as
popularized by Dyer and
as scientifically proven by Alderfer, exemplify and
elaborate the human growth process. Education elaborates
the growth process as learning-by-doing. Zinsser suggests
that writers measure their attitude toward their written
word as "how willing we are to [1] trust the grandeur of the
language, [2] the dignity of the reader, and [3] the
heritage that makes us who we are."(156 see reference index)
Restated, those functions can be seen as ERG.
The Zinsser model can be seen to
translate to ERG.
The expert Theory W 547
trust language growth
dignify reader relatedness
respect heritage existence
To begin, we observe that individuals
are purposeful
in meeting their basic needs (ERG). Marketing
administration deals with the translation of those basic
needs into wants - delimited from this dissertation. Thus
only the psychological needs appear of concern here.
Love as interpreted by Jesuit
Powell suggests a three
level hierarchy of loving action. The emphasis on self
priority intends to align with the individuality expressed
by Campbell. The ERG and love models can be compared.
growth challenge
relatedness time encouragement
existence respect
Then there may be a priority of
actions between self
and others.
Table 80 - Hierarchical loving action
____________________________________________________________
Priority of task action
_______________________
Level Action
For self For others
_____ ______________________ ________ __________
1 respect
1st 2nd
2 time and encouragement
4th 6th
3 challenge
3rd 5th
____________________________________________________________
Note: Based on John Powell's books.
The above rationalizes worker
relationships. First
The expert
Theory W 548
recognize that the self along with other individual selves,
secure the end purpose of a particular functional
organization. And functional organization, taken far
enough, reflects back to each individual member's self.
Thus the end of the organization reflects the self and the
self reflects the organization.
Unique development. Each individual
should have a why
for their life actions. Theory W organization calls for
a
philosophic aim, measurable objectives, and chosen sequenced
actions. The sequenced acts as always subject to inter-
and
intra-human relational balancing - again choice.
Actualization of chosen action
accomplishes objectives
which align toward a philosophic aim - always toward the aim
or mission. The mission ideal, philosophically structured
as to defy attainment. Objectives, however, must be
attainable in full measure and with full benefit to the
long-term feelings of self.
Psychologist Ernest Becker argues
that man is driven
by an essential dualism; he needs to be a part of
something and to stick out. He needs at one
and the same
time to be a conforming member of a winning team
and to
be a star in his own right. (14 xxiii)
The problem in America is that
our fascination with
the tools of management obscures our apparent ignorance
of the art. (14 xxiv)
Even management's job becomes
more fun. Instead of
brain games in the sterile ivory tower, it's shaping
values and reinforcing through coaching and evangelism
in
the field - with the worker and in support of the
cherished product. (14 xxv)
The numerative, analytical component
has an in-built
conservative bias. Cost reduction becomes
priority
The expert Theory W 549
number one and revenue enhancement takes a back seat.
(14 44) The exclusively analytic approach run wild
leads
to an abstract, heartless philosophy. (14
45) Today's
version of rationality does not value experimentation
and
abhors mistakes. (14 47) The rationalist approach
does
not celebrate informality. (14 50)
Built into human nature:
1) All of us are self-centered,
suckers for a bit of
praise, and generally like to think of ourselves
as
winners. But the fact of the matter is that
our talents
are distributed normally - none of us is really
as good
as he or she would like to think, but rubbing our
noses
daily in that reality doesn't do us a bit of good.
2) Our imaginative, symbolic right
brain is at least
as important as our rational, deductive left.
We reason
by stories at least as often as with good data.
"Does it
feel right?" counts for more than "Does it
add up?" or
"Can I prove it?"
3) As information processors,
we are simultaneously
flawed and wonderful. On the one hand, we
can hold
little explicitly in mind, at most a half dozen
or so
facts at one time. Hence there should be an
enormous
pressure on managements - of complex organizations
especially - to keep things very simple indeed.
On the
other hand, our unconscious mind is powerful,
accumulating a vast storehouse of patterns, if we
let it.
Experience is an excellent teacher; yet most businessmen
seem to undervalue it in the special sense we will
describe.
4) We are creatures of our environment,
very sensitive
and responsive to external rewards and punishment.
We
are also strongly driven from within, self-motivated.
5) We act as if express beliefs
are important, yet
action speaks louder than words. One cannot,
it turns
out, fool any of the people any of the time.
They watch
for patterns in our most minute actions. and
are wise
enough to distrust words that in any way mismatch
our
deeds.
6) We desperately need meaning
in our lives and will
sacrifice a great deal to institutions that will
provide
meaning for us. We simultaneously need independence,
to
feel as though we are in charge of our destinies,
and to
have the ability to stick out. (14 55-6)
Administrative theory.
The Administrative Theory supposes
that in every great
enterprise there is a permanent council for improvements
whose function it is to make researches on all possible
The expert Theory W 550
improvements in the enterprise and carry them out
under
the auspices and authority of the director.
(183 111)
That means that the head person
must be interested in
improvement. The focus of Theory W improvement focuses
on a
simple yes or no judgement on the task functions of the
individual job description, thus encompassing all
organization functions.
Work defined
Consider the proposition that
if work tasks are made
visible the organization objective will more probably be
accomplished and organization productivity will increase.
Statistical significance is not
the point. Rather
logical, casual action clarity which appeals to the worker
is needed so that the worker chooses to act more effectively
in support of the organization objective.
Groups vs individuals.
Treating groups rather than individuals
as independent
units of analysis permits making generalizations
about
the internal structure of work groups, but it ignores
the
interrelations of these groups in the larger industrial
organization. (5 12)
The individual can be seen as
the worker - the point
of work accomplishment and responsibility. Thus
interrelationships apply to individuals - relationships are
of individuals.
Internal vs external motivation.
Motivation to action
can then be seen to be within an individual worker.
The expert Theory W 551
Almost all modern administrative
organizations (as
well as some ancient ones) are bureaucratically
organized. Weber enumerates the distinctive
characteristics of this type of organization in
the
following way: [Weber's discussion of these
characteristics may be found in H.H.Gerth and C.Wright
Mills (trans.&eds.) (1946) From Max Weber: Essays
in
sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
p.196-204; and in Weber, op.cit., p.329-336.] (5
32)
(1) Organization tasks are distributed
among the
various positions as official duties. Implied
is a
clear-cut division of labor among positions which
makes
possible a high degree of specialization.
Specialization, in turn, promotes expertness among
the
staff, both directly and by enabling the organization
to
hire employees on the basis of their technical
qualifications. (5 32)
The motivation of the formal organization
begins - to
stay rehired. The formal organization links individual
positions. To the contrary, but contrary to the formal
organization, the Theory W pure functional organization
links individual tasks which in turn are assigned to formal
organization workers.
(2) The positions or offices are
organized into a
hierarchical authority structure. (5 32)
The Theory W organization provides
clear functional
authority. Computerized data bases offer individual task
linking on a practical basis.
(3) A formally established system
of rules and
regulations governs official decisions and actions.
(5 32)
(4) Officials are expected to
assume an impersonal
orientation in their contacts with clients and with
other
officials. (5 33)
The work task functional organization
actualizes
through individuals, thus can be seen as personal.
The expert Theory W 552
(5) Employment by the organization
constitutes a
career for officials. (5 33)
Theory W emphasizes reassignment
of work tasks, thus
task linking emphasizes performance, and more effectively
provides organization productivity.
Formal - one facet.
Selznick has emphasized that the
formal structure is
only one aspect of the actual social structure and
that
organizational members interact as whole persons
and not
merely in terms of the formal roles they occupy.
[Phillip Selznick (1948) Foundations of the theory
of
organization. In American Sociological Review,
v.13,p.25-35.] (5 35)
Informal - one facet.
Many empirical studies demonstrate
that friendship
patterns, unofficial exchange systems, and "natural"
leaders arise to modify the formal arrangements.
[See,
for example, Charles H.Page (1946) Bureaucracy's
other
face. In Social Forces, v.25, p.88-94, and
Ralph
H.Turner (1947) The Navy Disbursing Officer as a
bureaucrat. In American Sociological Review,
v.12,
p.342-348.] (5 35)
Function - one facet. The formal
organization, at
times, insults the expert worker as a decision maker.
Herbert Simon conceives of administrative
organizations primarily as decision-making structures.
[See
Simon, op.cit., p.1-11,45-78, et passim.] He has
characterized his own focus in the following passage:
What is a scientifically relevant
description of an
organization? It is a description that, so
far as
possible, designates for each person in the organization
what decisions that person makes, and the influence
to
which he is subject in making each of these decisions.
[Ibid., p.37.]
Effective administration, according
to Simon, requires
The expert Theory W 553
rational decision-making; decisions are rational
when
they select the best alternative for reaching a
goal.
(5 36)
[Herbert A.Simon (1957) Administrative
behavior. New
York: Macmillan. p.126-127.] (5 28)
Decisions are individual choice.
Talcott Parsons provides yet another
concept in of
formal organization in the recent application of
his
general theoretical framework for the study of social
systems to such organizations. [Talcott Parsons
(1960)
Structure and process in modern societies.
Glencoe
IL: Free Press. p.16-96.] According to Parsons'
schema,
all social systems must solve four basic problems:
(1)
the environment coupled with the active transformation
of
the external situation; (2) goal achievement: the
defining of objectives and the mobilization of resources
to attain them; (3) integration: establishing and
organizing a set of relations among the member units
of
the system that serve to coordinate and unify them
into a
single entity; and (4) latency: the maintenance
over time
of the system's motivational and cultural patterns.
[See
Talcott Parsons et.al. (1953) Working papers
in the
theory of action. Glencoe IL: Free Press.
p.183-186.
(5 38)
Dual-boss frustrations.
Orders from superiors made demands
on the waitress, as
did the "orders" of the customers, and even the
requests
for help from her co-workers. A waitress was
of ten
caught in the cross currents of these demands, as
when an
impatient customer insisted on services that upset
her
routine. The tensins produced by these conflicting
pressures sometimes built up to a point where they
exploded, that is, made the waitress break down
and cry.
[William F.Whyte (1948) Human relations in the restaurant
industry. New York: McGraw-Hill. p.64-81.]
(5 83)
Informal micro-organization.
As the Hawthorne studies continued,
an increasing
awareness of the significance of social relations
for
worker morale led the investigators to decide to
observe
the behavior of a group functioning under normal
circumstances rather than attempt to manipulate
work
conditions experimentally.
It soon become apparent that there
were uniformities
The expert Theory W 554
in the behavior of the group under observation that
did
not follow the formal organization's blue-print.
Informal relations developed among the men and gave
rise
to organized patterns of conduct in the group--that
is,
there was an informal organization. (5 91)
Job vs task security.
Norms controlling worker output
also served the
function of increasing job security for workers.
(5 93)
Rather than stressing group or
workers output, Theory
W focuses on worker output, and then, only in conjunction
with the communication of accomplishment and concerns along
with a view of work task times and resulting outputs for the
week. The Theory W administration stress can thusly be
seen
as task security to the credit of the task workers.
Babchuk and Goode report a situation
where a sales
group developed a quota system that equalized sales
volume for each member although management had
established a commission arrangement encouraging
competition among salesmen. [Nicholas Babchuk
& William
J.Goode (1951) Work incentives in a self-determined
group. In American Sociological Review, v.16,
p.679-687.] (5 94)
A study by Roy of a group of workers
in a machine shop
also deals with regulation of output. [Donald
Roy (1952)
Quota restriction and goldbricking in a machine
shop. In
American Journal of Sociology, v.57, p.427-442.]
(5 94)
Obviously the groups were permitted
to administer
their own organization standards.
No standards less output. With
basic human worker
attitudes universally established as growthful, one can
observe many expert workers leaving low-output
organizations, resulting in the remaining composite of
workers having even lower productivity.
The expert
Theory W 555
Some other examples from case
studies. Concord
College ignores Board of Regents course cores, teaching what
the instructors will. They also teach less than the chosen
text view, skipping chapters. They teach less from many
chapters. They test to what they teach rather than using
random testing from national norms. Instructors offer no
100% hold-class-hours normative policy, and no evidential
tie between course lessons (also redundancy of many lessons
across several courses).
Dominant worker values. Expert
workers include
administration - all organization position holders are
expert workers if their timed functional tasks are linked to
the aim of the organization. Functionality begins with
the
administrators.
It appears that the relationship
between informal
status and performance is contingent on work group
norms:
only if the expert exercise of skills is a dominant
value
in the group does high status tend to be associated
with
superior performance and to serve as an incentive
promoting it; if the dominant norm standardizes
productivity, high stature is associated with modal
performance. And in groups organized in outright
opposition to the formal organization, such as are
found
in prisons or concentration camps, high informal
status
probably accrues to those members who can most
effectively resist organization pressures; that
is, to
the low producers: from the standpoint of the formal
organization. (5 95)
Cohesion measurement.
The cohesion of work groups often
furthers operations.
For example, cohesion has been shown to raise worker
satisfaction and to lower turnover and absenteeism.
Cohesion also provides social support for workers;
thus,
The expert Theory W 556
it can neutralize the disturbing effects of conflicts
with client... (5 95)
Theory W provides a measure of
aimful cohesion to the
purpose of the organization.
Functioning procedure manual.
Theory W provides a
dynamic database which represents the authority of an aimful
organization.
In the presence of a procedure
manual, which serves as
a substitute for personal experience and reduces
differences in the objective need for advice between
workers, the subjectively felt need for approval
and
support, as indicated by worrying, exerts more influence
on the tendency to seek advice. Here we see
how an
aspect of the formal institutions--the existence
of a
procedure manual--affects the informal relations
that
emerge among peers and, specifically, the significance
that various characteristics of workers have for
their
informal status in the work group. (5 235)
Apparently, the importance of
peers as a reference
group tended to increase over time for those workers
who
had achieved an integrated position but to decrease
over
time for those who had failed to attain a secure
characteristic of the emergence in work groups of
informal organizations, which exert a pronounced
effect
on the operations in th formal organization.
(5 237)
Both Jaques and Dalton have noted
that an individual's
ability to stand uncertainty and ambiguity governs
the
scope of the responsibility he will seek.
[Elliot Jaques
(1959) The measurement of responsibility.
London: Tavistock Publications, p.85-106; and Melville
Dalton (1959) Men who manage. New York: Wiley.
p.243-248,252-255.] Both Jaques and Dalton tend
to view
this characteristic--the individual's capacity to
stand
ambiguity--in psychological or sociopsychological
terms
whereas we would prefer to concentrate attention
on the
individual's position in the social structure as
it
influences his ability to cope with prolonged
uncertainty. (5 241)
Theory W promotes the removal
of uncertainty and
thusly better achieves the organization objectives.
The expert Theory W 557
Work narrowly defined.
To the individual in a modern industrial
society...
work is usually identified with the means of earning
a
living. (24 18)
Work broadly defined.
Life-space means the total of activities
or ways of
spending time that people have. (24 25)
Time and activity are dimensions
which are both
present in all categories of life space...
(24 27)
It is possible to work during
one's leisure time.
(24 27)
Work is a basic condition of the
existence and
continuation of human life - it is independent of
any
particular form of society. (24 33)
Work is engaged in primarily for
the sake of its
product, the goods and services that it generates.
But
it is no less true that work is often valued for
its own
sake, that for many people it meets the need for
meaningful activity, as defined by others and as
experienced by themselves. (23 200)
Work specifically defined.
Whether the work module is a useful
idea can be
determined by trying it. If it is successful,
so much
the better; if it is unsuccessful, other proposals
are
needed. The major issue is not the work module
itself,
but the dilemma of industrial society to which it
is an
attempted response--the humanization of work.
That
dilemma, I believe, can be resolved by the process
of
innovation, trial, and evaluation, and by no other
means.
(23 223)
Thus work turns to be a universal
idea. Strategy also
turns to be a universal idea. Now let's touch on how work
should be planned. Theory W provides a specific context
for
a universal view of human work.
Theory W work. Creating-something
usually implies a
value-added by any life-task. Creative being a certain
measure of growth fulfillment.
The expert
Theory W 558
Quality life & work. Life-workers
have accomplished,
innovated, trialed, and evaluated. Then they desire to
complete the evaluation by dissertating.
The task force that produced Work
in America made
explicit what we only half recognized, that work
is of
central importance in the lives of Americans.
"Consequently," they wrote, "if the opportunity
to work
is absent or if the nature of work is dissatisfying...
severe repercussions are likely to be experienced"
by the
individual and society. They demonstrated
that if the
nation wishes to improve the quality of life, a
good
place to start is with the quality and quantity
of work.
(23 vii)
Better mental health.
Findings pose a dilemma, well expressed
by Arthur
Kornhauser: "The unsatisfactory mental health of
working
people consists in no small measure of their dwarfed
desires and deadened initiative, reduction of their
goals
and restriction of their efforts to a point where
life is
relatively empty and only half meaningful."
(23 185)
To the contrary, with Theory W,
can be demonstrated
the functional authority of any and all organization -
releasing untold worker energy.
Healthy work.
Satisfying work
_______________
creating something
using skill
working wholeheartedly
using initiative
and having responsibility
mixing with
people
working with
people who know their job (24 44-6)
The expert Theory W 559
Dissatisfying
work
__________________
doing repetitive
work
making only
a small part of something
doing useless
tasks
feeling a sense
of insecurity
being too closely
supervised (24 44-6)
By turning to the science of psychology,
we hopefully
find the key to relative fullness and meaningfulness.
Basic human needs.
Activity, whether mental or physical,
is something
people appear to need and to continually seek when
it is
absent. (Some psychologists believe it to
be a basic
need of man.) (23 133)
One hierarchy of human needs layers
activity as
existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG). Another hierarchy
layers physiology, safety, belonging, self-esteem, and
actualization activity. Then there comes Hertzberg.
Thus work enters the activity
scene, or better said,
"Work as a job dominates the human activity scene."
The economic and societal importance
of work has
dominated thought about its meaning, and justifiably
so:
a function of work for any society is to produce
and
distribute goods and services, to transform "raw
nature"
into that which serves our needs and desires.
Far less
attention has been paid to the personal meaning
of work,
yet it is clear from recent research that work plays
a
crucial and perhaps unparalleled psychological role
in
the formation of self-esteem, identity, and a sense
of
order.
Work contributes to self-esteem
in two ways. The
first is that, through the inescapable awareness
of one's
efficacy and competence in dealing with the objects
of
work, a person acquires a sense of mastery over
both
himself and his environment. The second derives
from the
view, stated earlier, that an individual is working
when
he is engaging in activities that produce something
The expert Theory W 560
valued by other people. That is, the job tells
the
worker day in and day out that he has something
to offer.
Not to have a job is not to have something that
is valued
by one's fellow human beings. Alternatively,
to be
working is to have evidence that one is needed by
others.
One of these components of self-esteem (mastery)
is,
therefore, internally derived through the presence
or
absence of challenge in work. The other component
(how
others value one's contributions) is externally
derived.
The person with high self-esteem may be defined
as one
who has a high estimate of his value and finds that
the
social estimate agrees. (226 3)
Superhealth. comes into play when
we aimfully focus
rather than wait until something goes wrong. "Use it or
lose it!" Whatever you want IT to be.
Expert work sum. Healthful work
combines creation of
a product through responsible task performance, with the
intensity and initiative of wholeheartedness, and
relatedness with other functional individuals. Stripped
down we simply live the function of improve task performance
(growth).
Work vs job-series. To simply
apply the above
"improve task performance" function to daily life, masks
differentiation detail. Thus for comparison we return to
the preface tables 4 and 7 on pages 26 and 31, evaluating
the job-series for satisfying work attributes.
The expert Theory W 561
Table 81 - Evaluation of career work
____________________________________________________________
Tasks from above
_________________
create
something
| demonstrate
| skill
| | initiate
| | network
| | | relate
Year Job
v v v jobtasks
____ ___________________________________ __ __ __
________
89-90 College professor - capping courses Y Y
Y Yes
88-89
- capping courses Y Y Y No
87-88
- capping courses Y Y Y Y
84-86 Director of Business Administration Y Y
Y Y
79-82 National consultant - Conrail
Y N Y Y
Schenk Treble Y M Y Y
McGraw Edison Y Y Y Y
GE Y
Y Y Y
78-79 Company controller
Y Y Y Y
77-78 General manager
Y Y Y Y
76-77 Vice pres. finance & administration Y Y
Y Y
74-76 Manufacturing services director
Y Y Y Y
67-74 Department controller
Y Y Y Y
66-67 Fabrication manager
Y Y Y Y
65-66 Design supervisor
Y Y Y Y
61-65 Manufacturing engineer
Y Y Y Y
____________________________________________________________
Demonstrating skills includes the
instance of
recognition by the formal organization - if the boss does
not recognize skill demonstration, skill cannot be
demonstrated in the context of a whole organization. The
whole organization consisting of formal, informal,
functional, and technological facets.
The expert Theory W 562
Individual identity
Society identity.
A great many writers assert that
the major
psychological problem of contemporary society is
the
problem of identity (Erikson, 1963; Wheelis, 1953;
Fromm,
1948, 1955). (53 165)
Organization can provide identity
for any individual
or for the members of any multi-individual group. The
multi-individual group can be understood through the use of
several models - a formal structure, an informal structure,
a pure functional structure, and some level of technological
structure. Under Theory W those are the four facets of
a
wholistic organization - the three sided pyramid.
In the case of a one-individual
organization, the
formal and informal structural representations disappear,
leaving a free-standing pure functional structure isolated
from interaction with other individuals. Thus, under Theory
W, the formal and informal structures apply only to
multi-individual organizations.81
An alternate to the individual
free-standing pure
functional organization structure provides a fearful worker
under the relationship weight of formal and informal
____________________
81 Theory W contributes as as curriculum
strengthening tool. The free-standing individual
organization identifies with psychology of self. Informal
organization identifies with group psychology, specifically
the Hawthorne effect.
The expert
Theory W 563
choices. Thus Theory W promotes the individual worker to
first understand their individual organization in support
satisfying formal and informal relationships. In short,
multi-individual organization requires a free-standing
worker for creative and synergistic result.
Creativity and synergism. Thus,
beginning with the
psychological essence of identity, Theory W points to the
pure functional individual organization as the essence of
multi-individual organization synergism. The individual
worker, or expert worker, brings their personal identity to
their job identity.
Job identity. The job situation,
being a
multi-individual organization, has all four facets of
organization - formal, informal, pure functional, and a
level of technology.
Note that only under the pure
functional organization
structure does the worker illuminate the difference between
the individual organization work tasks and the tasks of the
worker's multi-individual organizations.
First, the formal organization
provides a mentor or
boss identity. If this formal organization relationship
predominates, the pure functional structure subserviates.
To counter formal or pure power domination, Theory W
stresses the mentor role of the formal organization
structure. On a weekly basis the mentor strengthens the
The expert
Theory W 564
synergistic and creative resolve of the worker toward the
pure functional organization purpose. Under Theory W the
formal organization exists to actualize the organization
mission.82
To relegate the mentor's strengthening
role from the
formal structure responsibility to the informal structure
generally results in low organization productivity. In
fact, the informal organization structure does have a
negative connotation at times. Conclude that this second
job identity in the informal structure usually does not
generally lead to satisfactory organization productivity.
Thus Theory W postulates that
if the pure functional
organization, as the third essential structure, can be
visibly improved for understanding and coordination, then
organization productivity will increase. Theory W aims
to
provide a universal application format and a testing
instrument for the improvement of organization
productivity.83
Lastly, each organization has
its own unique product
technology. Aside from that product technology, Theory
W
____________________
82 The word mission appears frequently
in annual
business reports and college bulletins. The organization
purpose or strategy could be used as well. Under Theory
W
strategy means the process of moving from the mission, to
measured objectives (plan), and then implementation
(actual).
The expert
Theory W 565
requires the use of database computing for the integration
of the pure functional organization and the optimum of
forever-current job descriptions. Theory W attempts the
ultimate in organization structuring - perpetual
productivity improvement on the strategy level.
In summary, Theory W claims to
provide a pure
functional organization structure in association with the
formal, informal, and technology structures. The pure
functional job description reflects accurately what each
organization worker does to support the organization
mission. Weekly review of job-task performance by the
mentor strengthens the worker contribution to the
organization. Thus from the literature -
People are no longer asked who
they are, but what they
do. (53 165)
In universal application, Theory
W documents those
individual doings, both in the context of the individual
organization and any multi-individual organization for which
the individual works.
____________________
83 Although Theory W experimental
method and
measurement are possible for the testing of statistical
significance, most business and education organizations are
not predisposed to mentor such study. Simply put, their
formal structures predominate to exclude pure functional
structure beyond the project level, i.e., matrix theory.
And if pure functional structuring, i.e., Theory W, was
accepted, the cost of scientific study may be deemed as
extra cost - an academic exercise if you will. There are,
however, benefits to valid and rigorous study.
The expert
Theory W 566
Individual work identity. Normal
usage of an
organization implies an employer. Theory W, however,
extends the definition of an organization to include the
individual as an organization. Thus the individual has
their own strategy to identify as well as attaining an
understanding of the strategy of one or more employers for
whom they work for money and other purpose.
The work of the worker provides
personal identity, but
only relative to an organization's strategy. This ties
with
the simple question asked by the young child, "Why?" Thus
in addition to the who and what of work, another important
Theory W word says that we must know why we work so that we
may be whole.
Emotional engagement.
To say that work engages the human
emotions, as well
as the cognitive and motor aspects of behavior,
appears
to be stating the obvious. Yet this problem
has been
little studied. The vast body of literature
on man's
emotional life - whether literary or scientific
- focuses
its attention on other life-spheres - love and marriage,
friendship and war, play and arts, etc. Until
comparatively recently, investigators interested
in work
behavior were concerned largely with technical and
rational matters: the material and organizational
variables that influenced productivity, the intellectual
and motor skills required for different kinds of
work,
the manifest rewards attached to work by society
at
large, and so on. During the past two or three
decades
[from 1977], however, students of work behavior
have
become increasingly aware that the worker does not
become
an automation the moment he steps into the place
of work.
(53 161)
Thus the emotions are essential
for productive work
The expert
Theory W 567
simply because individuals are based in emotions. Not that
workers are seen as emotional - rather that all workers
carry their emotions with them 24 hours each day. Therefore
we should know what emotions are and how the emotions
support the individual in their role of an expert worker.
The reason for doing expert work being good feelings.
Emotions defined. Theory W uses
a simple yet all
inclusive definition of emotions.
Theory W views the emotions as
the environment in
which our self resides. Our attention turns to the self
within every worker.
Worker's self. Point of choice
to action brings us
back to the worker choosing, not only the work task of the
job, but also choosing the nuances of how, or the way in
which the task output comes into existence. The worker
creates the output of the work task - that, for example,
includes reporting on an automated production process.
Every true work task has a clear succinct output.
Another clarity variable for the
expert worker
provides a link to the purpose of the organization. Theory
W hypothesises that the better the link between the worker
and the organization purpose, the better the organization's
productivity. Theory W proceeds to exemplify the linkage
between worker tasks and organization purpose. The linkage
clarity enhances the focus on individual work.
The expert
Theory W 568
Individuals working in support
of an organization
strategy has contextual meaning in the whole world - a world
divided and conquered.
The expert worker-self knows (1)
what work they do,
(2) the measure of their performance, (3) to report their
performance, (4) why they do the work, and (5) who they do
the work for.
Any one of the above may take
priority in mind at any
particular moment. Thus the order does not the expertise
-
rather, all of the essentials must be referenced regularly
for perspective. If you will, the expert worker maintains
an expert balance of essentials. That does not mean that
the expert never becomes unbalanced. On the contrary,
because the expert worker exercises synergism and creative
responsibility, imbalances occur regularly and knowingly.
As stated in the introduction,
functional organization
uses the work of individuals. And since human individuals
are the source of organization success, Theory W challenges
each individual to run their own successful organization by
explicitly interfacing with a number of employer
organizations.
Independent vs codependent. From
the measurement of
an individual's wholehours of life, several differentiations
arise.
An independent self could seemingly
be reduced to the
The expert
Theory W 569
essentials of feelings, needs, and abilities per the
following table.
Figure 51 - An independent self
____________________________________________________________
/\
others
/ \ synergism
/ \
with
growAbilitya
/ \ students
/ \
and
/ 31 \
peers
/ hours \
relateAbilityb /
\
/ 50
\
/ hoursc \
self
existAbility /
\
/
hours \
/
______ \
87
/ asset maintenance 6 \
hours /
exercise
8 \
/ sleep
73 \
/ eat
mu \
168
/ breath
mu \
hours
____________________________________________________________
Note: Validated with 1993 week 38 data.
a Examples are job (writing) and
marriage (sex).
b The changing from relatedness
to relatability came
at a time of questioning where others stood in one's life.
Why did other individuals exist timewise in one's life?
Relatedness either established or discoverable being of
resemblance or direction by two taken together as developed
by thought and talk affirming or denying logical proposition
(61 sv). Relatedness was checked against interrelatedness
so as to stress correlativeness and causality.
c This particular week had zero
"challenge others"
hours. With no contact there was no need for conflict
resolution. Perhaps the "take it easy" adage applies here.
Also, "Take your time."
The workweb supporting the data
collection appears in
the following table.
The expert Theory W 570
Table 82 - Workweb of time-data collected
____________________________________________________________
Act Verb Descriptor
Noun Why Way
____ __________ ______________ _____________ ____ ____
1 choose
action 3
6
2 do
life tasks
7 8
3 view functional
focus 4
1
3 understand need
hierarchy 4 1
4 fill universal
needs 5
3
5 have good
feelings 0 4
6 review weekly
time 1
7
7 tab
weekly data
6 2
8 apply
computer 2 9
9 provide
computer 8 0
____________________________________________________________
Table 83 - Hierarchical workweb of time-data collection
____________________________________________________________
Act Verb Descriptor
Noun Why Way
____ __________ ______________ _____________ ____ ____
5 have good
feelings 0 4
4 fill universal
needs 5
3
3 understand need
hierarchy 4 1
3 view functional
focus 4
1
1 choose
action 3
6
6 review weekly
time 1
7
7 tab
weekly data
6 2
2 do
life tasks
7 8
8 apply
computer 2 9
9 provide
computer 8 0
____________________________________________________________
If lifetasks (acts) do not close
in favor of growth
and good feelings, then facilitate the task leader to change
the choices which contribute to causing the lifetask
incompleteness and/or positive closability.
Individual work responsibility
The expert
Theory W 571
Work is an individual activity,
not a group or
committee activity. An organization does not work - rather
an organization has output determined by the individual
worker.
Universal unit of work. Work consumes
measurable
time. Thus the work that an individual accomplishes adds
to
24 hours per day or 168 hours per week. From personal case
experience and observation of other organizations a weekly
work review seems optimum - perhaps merely because of our
calendar construction, which, not incidently, has the wisdom
of tradition - not to exclude religious wisdom.
Work-task variable. Theory W,
along with the
profession of industrial psychologists concerns an
organizational variable of work which applies to any
organization.
Since the appearance of the classical
summary of the
Hawthorne research (Roethlisberger and Dickson,
1939), an
entire generation of industrial psychologists has
turned
its attention to studies of the worker as a feeling
and
experiencing human being. Unfortunately, the
focus of
the bulk of these studies has been rather narrow.
The
general strategy of this body of research has been
to
attempt to establish relationships between the attitudes
of the worker to his work situation (considered
as a set
of independent variables), and certain aspects of
work
performance (considered as a set of dependent variables).
Various investigators have attempted to develop
procedures for measuring or assessing work satisfaction
(Hoppock, 1935; Brayfield and Rothe, 1951; Herzberg,
Mausner, and Snyderman, 1959) and efforts have been
made
to relate these indices to such criteria of work
performance as productivity, absenteeism, labor
turnover,
promotion, etc. Excellent summaries of the
current state
of these research efforts are found in books by
Gellerman
The expert Theory W 572
(1963) and Vroom (1964). (53 162)84
Other work units. Methods time
measurement (MTM) work
measurement scheme focuses on minute hand movements, for
example, and thus differentiates from the practicalness of
Theory W time measurement.
In support of a universal work
unit, Theory W
concludes that the weekly 168 hours unit provides, in
general, the optimum support of the formal, informal, pure
functional, and technology facets of any organization -
including, and perhaps most important, the individual as an
organization.85
Detail vs social necessity. Scholars
of the work
topic see the perspective of Taylor's scientific management,
MTM, and other quantification, including Theory W weekly
review, whole hour accountability, task division, and task
connection to the organization purpose. Thus an amateur
scholar, and we all are, can appreciate the scope of work
from the pole of detail to the pole of social necessity.
____________________
84 S.W.Gellerman (1963) Motivation
and productivity.
New York: American Management Association (53 315).
V.H.Vroom (1964) Work and motivation. New York: Wiley
(53 323).
85 The individual as an organization
has a resource
of 168 hours per week. Within another organization, the
individual worker has approximately 168 hours per month.
One could conclude that the multi-individual in terms of
whole hour resources amounts to one-fourth the importance of
the individual worker organization - an item which receives
increased attention by many multi-individual organizations.
The expert Theory W 573
Social necessity.
Among the various things that characterize
the general
work environment is that it is manifestly a social
situation. It is peopled by other human beings,
to whom
the worker must relate in more or less prescribed,
more
or less conventionalized ways. In recent years
[late
1950s], a great deal of interest has developed among
industrial psychologists and sociologists in those
aspects of work behavior which are influenced by
the
social organization of the workplace. Ever
since the
early Hawthorne studies, an increasingly large literature
has described the interpersonal structure of a variety
of
kinds of work situations. Delbert Miller is
not alone in
arguing that the "success or failure of the worker
depends not alone on his job performance but on
how he
plays his role in the work group," and he defines
a work
situation as a triangular set of social relationships
involving a worker, a work position, and a work
group.86 (53 150)
Theory W adds specificity to the above description -
Item
Definition
________________ ______________________________________
social relations informal organization structure
a worker
an individual assigned a set of tasks
a work position a job = a summation of assigned
tasks
a work group a formal organization
structure
Then Theory W adds a set of work task relationships
- a
task-group pure-functional organization structure.
In the above terms, serious work
requires a script for
the players - the script does not hamper the abilities of
the worker, rather provides a frame of reference for the
production and subsequent replication.
____________________
86 Major references are the works
of Bakke (1953),
Miller and Form (1957), Haire (1959), Brown (1954), and
Whyte (1961). (53 150)
The expert
Theory W 574
Responsible stress. Theory W says
that weekly
reinforcement of pure functional organization will raise the
worker productivity and thus organization productivity more
than the approaches of animal behavioral and non-education
which are further described below.
Behavioral approach.
There must be a set of cultural
norms and practices
which, taken together, we can define as the work
subculture. We have described its distinctive
properties, which we have conceptualized as a set
of
environmental demands. The attention given
to these
matters may be justified on several counts.
First, we
have suggested that important segments of the work
personality are established developmentally, through
internalization of components of the work subculture.
In
this sense, any bit of work behavior can best be
understood in terms of present or prior transactions
between a behaving individual and a set of work
pressures
or demands. Second, it becomes possible to
regard the
maladapted individual as and acculturated person;
he may
simply not perceive important segments of the work
subculture, he may misperceive them, or he may perceive
them as alien.
One of our major conclusions is
that knowledge of the
work subculture is an indispensable requirement
for the
rehabilitation practitioner. He not only needs
to know
the general demands of various work situations,
but also
must often know the particular features of work
which the
individual client finds predominantly oppressive.
The
simulated work environment of the rehabilitative
workshop
is an effort to reproduce some of the more important
demands of work. In a less well-defined way,
the same is
true of the work-sample approach to vocational
evaluation. In such settings, it is possible
to
determine what the client finds particularly difficult
to
manage. Therapeutic strategy can then take
the form of
helping the client to cope more effectively with
whatever
feature of the work subculture he finds most troublesome.
Depending upon the case, this can involve an emphasis
on
therapeutic counseling, on environmental manipulation,
or
on whatever combination of the two techniques seems
most
appropriate. All this is based upon the explicit
assumption that man is essentially a socialized
and
The expert Theory W 575
encultured animal and that behavioral deviance is
largely
a consequence of failures in socialization.
(53 306)
And socialization demands active
listening on, at
least, a weekly basis. Thus Theory W reviews the expert
worker's management of their time and task output on a
weekly basis.
Non-education approach.
The relations of work and personality
have a high
order of complexity. There are some persons
- we suspect
they are few - in whom work may generate the same
emotions which were evoked in the earliest familial
interactions. This kind of person reacts to
his
employers as if they were his parents, to his co-workers
as if they were his siblings. In such cases,
we can
think of the personality as displaying a high degree
of
communality, reacting to all situations as if they
were
the same and displaying certain predominating kinds
of
emotional responses. For most of us, however,
there is
only a rather limited, if variable, relationship
between
the ways in which we respond to intimates and the
ways in
which we behave on the job. In this sense,
work is a
function only in part (and layers of the personality.
If
we are accustomed to think of personality chiefly
in
terms of the love-hate structures established in
early
childhood, then there would be little more to say.
It is
sounder, however, to view the human personality
as if it
were made up of a number of structures, segments,
or
areas, all more or less related to each other but
exhibiting considerable independence as well.
The
process of personality development can be looked
at as a
process of differentiation (cf. Werner, 1948),
so that
the more developed personality has a more complex
infrastructure than was discernible at less mature
stages. It is natural for an infant to respond
to all
women as if they were his mother; but when an adult
responds in the same way, we call it pathologically
infantile behavior.
It is in this sense that we take
the position that the
work personality, to the degree that it makes its
appearance in adults, arises through a long process
of
development and differentiation. Its relations
to the
personality as a whole can best be described by
saying
that it has a semiautonomous character. The
term "work
The expert Theory W 576
personality" refers to the concrete set of interrrelated
motives, coping styles, defensive maneuvers and
the like,
with which a given individual confronts the demand
to
work. These personal attributes constitute
a special
subarea of the general personality; and its topography
is
not identical with that of other personality areas.
A
number of important considerations follow from this
notion. First, if personality is made up of
a number of
semiautonomous areas, a person may manifest severe
disturbance in one area of the personality, but
simultaneously function relatively well in other
areas.
This possibility helps account for the otherwise
mysterious fact that some frank psychotics are able
to
meet the demands of work with reasonable adequacy.
Conversely, some individuals are quite unable to
adapt to
work, but appear to function quite well in other
interpersonal areas (e.g., those concerned with
sex,
marriage, friendship, and the like). A second
consideration bears upon the problems of treatment.
Psychotherapy may succeed in improving one area
of
personality functioning, while leaving others quite
unaffected.
It is not enough, however, for
us simply to maintain
that work behavior is mediated by a special subarea
of
the personality. we need to know the growth
of this
phenomenon and its unique features.
Insofar as there is a core to
the work personality - a
central point to which everything else relates -
this
core is the manner in which the individual can assume
thee role of a productive person. It is obvious
that
work implies output. Something is being produced
- an
object, a process, a service - which, as a usable
unit,
did not exist before and which is required to fulfill
some human need. It does not matter whether
the need
required to fulfill some human need. It does
not matter
whether the need in question is "basic" or "acquired,"
real or illusory. The purpose of work is to
bring about
some planned alteration of the physical, intellectual,
or
cultural environment, so that human living can be
made
more secure, more comfortable, or in other ways
more
desirable. In the more complex societies,
the goals of
work can become quite far removed from the concrete
aim
merely of staying alive. But whatever the
kind of work
dome and whoever carries it out, its basic objectives
are
instrumental - to produce something.
The productive role has a number
of interesting
psychological attributes. First, it appears
to be the
outcome of a prolonged period of personal development.
Productivity means nothing to very young children
and
The expert Theory W 577
takes on a variety of different meanings as they
grow
older. Second, people vary greatly in the
ease and
efficiency with which they can assume the role of
a
productive person, and some cannot assume this role
at
all. We need some idea of the conditions which
make for
these differences. Third, the requirement
to be
productive is clearly reincorporated, we are in
the
domain of the motives for work. Fourth, it
is not
sufficient merely to be motivated for work; one
must also
be able to cope with a wide array of specialized
social
conditions. Fifth, the ability to be productive
is a
function not only of the kind of person one happens
to
be, but also of the kind of work one is required
to
perform. (53 180)
Theory W provides a system to
be communicated thus
Theory W facilitates communication. A clear object of
communication always facilitates productivity. The Theory
W
process (1) defines the object of communication, (2)
communicates weekly reinforcement, and (3) measures output
and productivity. The sum of which should equal
organization productivity, assuming the administration of
expert workers, on whole, are not permitted to conflict -
rather they would be additive, or better, synergistic.
An organizational system of communication
is usually
created by the setting up of formal systems of
responsibility and by explicit delegations of duties.
These categories include statements, often implicitly,
of
nature, content, and direction of the communication
which
is considered necessary for the performance of the
group.
Students of organization, however, have pointed
out
repeatedly that groups tend to depart from such
formal
statements and to create other channels of communication
and dependence. In other words, informal organizational
systems emerge. One may take the view that
these changes
are adaptations by the individuals involved in the
direction of easier and more effective ways of working,
or, perhaps, not working. (21 377)
Unfortunately, there seems to
be no organized body of
knowledge out of which one can derive, for a given
The expert Theory W 578
organization, an optimal communication system.
Administrative thinking on this point commonly rests
upon
the assumption that the optimum system can be derived
from a statement of the task to be performed.
It is not
difficult to show, however, that from a given set
of
specifications one may derive not a single communication
pattern but a whole set of them, all logically adequate
for the successful performance of the task in question.
Which pattern from this set should be chosen?
The
choice, in practice, is usually made either in terms
of a
group of assumptions (often quite untenable) about
human
nature, or in terms of personal bias on the part
of the
chooser. (21 378)
The expert worker
From Morse (1970) we can see that
a task environment
brings competence by encouraging task performance.
The major study findings seem to
indicate: (1) that
there is a reward in feelings of competence or a
sense of
competence from gaining mastery over and performing
effectively in a task environment; (2) that the
managers
and professionals...were in task organizations whose
organizational characteristics, although markedly
different from each other, encouraged the kind of
behavior that could lead, and in fact was leading,
to
effective and successful performance in each's particular
task environment; and, (3) that the managers and
professionals...were motivated to perform the kind
of
behavior that results from task unit fit and that
leads
to successful task performance because it was indeed
leading to reward in feeling of competence and mastery
of
them. (132 97-8)
The expert worker knows (1) what
work they do, (2) the
measure of their performance, (3) to report their
performance, (4) why they do the work, and (5) who they do
the work for. All members of an organization deserve to
be
elevated to the status of expert workers. Theory W
encompasses all organization members and applies to the
individual as an organization as well.
The expert
Theory W 579
Any one of the above may take
priority in mind at any
particular moment. Thus the order does not the expert make
- rather, all of the essentials must be referenced regularly
for perspective. If you will, the expert worker maintains
an expert balance of essentials. That does not mean that
the expert never becomes unbalanced. On the contrary,
because the expert worker exercises synergism and creative
responsibility, imbalances occur regularly and knowingly.
As stated previously, functional
organization uses the
work of individuals. And since human individuals are the
source of organization success, Theory W challenges each
individual to run their own successful organization by
explicitly interfacing with a number of other employee
organizations.
Work list. An expert worker work
or task list comes,
not from a memo book, to-do, or other reactive thought
process, but rather comes from a purposeful, reasoned, or
sequence of validly timed tasks which support the
organization's purpose, reason for being, aim, vision,
mission, or why of being. This type of list, or any
definitive work list, could be interpreted as a non-free
structure - especially when the structure applies to a 24
hour per day validity test. To actualize 28% performance
against one's 168-wholehour weekly work list may seem to be
poor performance and to attempt a great increase in
The expert
Theory W 580
performance may seem to be a restrictive or non-free
structure (jail). The reasoned explanation traces to the
expert worker choice of tasks and the amount of wholehours
allocated to the chosen tasks.
Free task choice. Many employers
assign work tasks.
Other employers write a job description of work tasks six
months after hiring the employee. Blatant task assignment
disregards expert worker choice and commitment to support
the organization purpose. No worktask list and performance
review for 26 weeks promotes non-control.
A freely chosen list of weekly
work tasks which
supports the organization's purpose provides the Theory W
optimum work control structure. The database knows why
the
employees are working, what they are working on, and the
worth of that work.
Career Focus. The world population
of five billion
people may double to ten billion yet the Directory of
Occupational Titles (DOT) may well remain at 25,000 jobs.
One can hardly comprehend this
number of people.
Perhaps that each job title has 200,000 holders provides
more comprehension. Or that in the United States, each
job
title has an average of 10,000 holders - 200 per state.
But
from the perspective of a city of ten or twenty thousand,
the above type of averaging becomes meaningless.
Yet even in smallest cities, the
25,000 DOT job
The expert
Theory W 581
functions are fulfilled. Thus the organization structure
of
functional work exists regardless of the position structure.
Want fulfillment. The weekly work
tasks represent
what the employee or member wants to do with their
life-time. Those wants are their individualized
interpretation of the basic human needs of scientific
psychology.
Actualization (growth), the end
result of our actions,
provides the feeling of accomplishment - of closing an
activity. For example, in the field of education, the
activity could be time on task, taking courses in a
curriculum, academic degrees, an external dissertation, or
other evidence of what can be called scholarly work. The
attributes of scholarship being "the attitudes (as
curiosity, perseverance, initiative, originality, integrity)
considered essential for learning.(61 sv)"87 Note that
scholarship can exist without education, courses,
curriculum, or degrees. Some evidential form, however,
must
evidence the learning.88
Productivity equals the ratio of
output compared to
input. With the phrase, "Something worth doing is worth
____________________
87 Also see the acknowledgement,
preface, glossary,
introduction, and several chapters for more information on
organization scholars and scholarship.
88 See chapter on natural learning
and loop
learning.
The expert
Theory W 582
doing well," individuals choose to spend time by virtue of
their choice to live. Many instruments of death avail
themselves to individuals, yet the daily mentality prevails.
"I just said NO."
Religious connection. Perhaps
in hindsight, and
perhaps as a normal growth process, the religious person
grows through the process of trinity.
Some religions protray the trinity
idea as a mystery -
how can there be three literal persons in one god? The
answer, as provided by Theory W dissertating, was
unexpected. For Theory W did not set out to answer the
question, nor did Theory W have a direct religious
hypothesis. Yet with both religion and the expert worker
being very human, a connection between the two seems not to
be unusual - but only in hindsight. Sort of like, the
individual has to back into "the wisdom of the ages," that
is, religion in general and the bible specifically. The
three sided pyramid of organization, especially the
transparent mockup version, can also be applied to the
trinity.
Expert growth. In short, the expert
worker grows from
formal organization authority, through the pressures of
informal organization, and on to the wholistic spirit of
life-work. Questions like, "Where does the time go," "Why
am I doing this," and "Is there a better way," perhaps seen
The expert
Theory W 583
as spiritual questions, are answered with the scientific
assistance of Theory W.
In developing one case study there
came to be what
could be called the functional organization of an expert
worker - a worker that works at life and its betterment.
Those preliminary ideas are developed further for the
following table.
Table 84 - Expert worker functions
____________________________________________________________
What
Why Who When Won
________________________________________ ___ ___ ____ ___
Act description
9433
__ _____________________________________
____
1 grow
self 0
hlo 28hr yes
2 experience adventure joy
1 hlo mu yes
3 envision whole
future 2 hlo
mu yes
4 challenge
self 3
hlo mu yes
5 lead unconstrained
spirit 4 hlo
mu yes
6 present spirited
choices 5 hlo mu
yes
7 scrutinize other's
motives 6 hlo mu
yes
8 recognize spirit
essence 7 hlo mu
yes
9 connect relatedness self
8 hlo 50hr yes
10 recognize growth
support 9 hlo mu
no
11 effectuate work
character 10 hlo mu yes
12 recognize favorable attributes
11 hlo mu no
13 recognize learning availability
12 hlo mu yes
14 encourage
self 13 hlo
mu yes
15 set mending
priority 14 hlo 25hr yes
16 respect
self 15 hlo
mu no
99 recognize god's
residence 16 hlo mu yes
____________________________________________________________
Source: FBC case study developments.
Job description
The plural of job descriptions
encompasses many
situations usually evidenced by manuals of various kinds,
The expert
Theory W 584
most of the procedure manuals providing a narrative format.
In contrast, Theory W provides data base job descriptions
which can be developed from (1) a narrative job description
or (2) from a knowledge of the personal time spent on task.
Examples of narrative job descriptions
are handbooks
and procedure manuals or individual documents.89
Functional tasks can be extracted
from the specific
documents within the handbooks and procedure manuals. The
functional tasks or work tasks take the form of verb-noun
functions. A descriptor adds specificity as attested in
the
development of CAD/CAM computerized system instructions.
Some functions do not need descriptors for clarity thus the
most clear statement might very well be simply the
verb-noun. Many other statements need the descriptor for
clarity, thus the expanded task statement consists of verb,
descriptor, and noun. Each work task then takes a number
for identification. The functional work tasks can also
be
seen as job acts or job activities.
The numbering system provides
sequence with no
requirement as to the order of entering tasks into the data
base. Different tasks however, must have different act
numbers for data base integrity. And when tasks are
____________________
89 By way of demonstration several
book are numbered
137 and 141. Also Terra Technical College (1980-81) Faculty
handbook. Fremont OH: TTC.
The expert
Theory W 585
deleted, they or their numbers do not need to be replaced.
An example data base job description
has been
extracted from book 137 as follows.
Table 85 - Functional tasks from document 137
____________________________________________________________
Act Verb Descriptor
Noun Page items
___ ___________ _____________ _____________ __________
1 provide curriculum
opportunity 2 1.1
2 meet
admission requirements 2 1.2
3 structure course
sequence 2 1.3
4 methodize research
solutions 2 1.5
5 develop knowledge
synthesis 2 1.6
6 hold
performance standards 2 1.7
7 introduce advanced
academics 2 1.8
8 instill lifelong
learning 2 1.9
9 instill self-directed learning
2 1.10
10 identify personal
goals/means 2 2.1
11 expand open/honest
relationships 2 2.2
12 help student
worth/confdnc 2 2.3
13 assist self
understanding 2 2.4
14 model effective
conduct 2 2.5
15 respect
others 2 2.6
16 encourage
others 2 2.7
17 provide civil
heritage 2 2.8
18 develop arts
appreciation 2 2.9
19 advise careers
development 3 3.1
20 contribute course
content 3 3.2
21 implement new
programs 3 3.3
22 provide out-reach
courses 3 4.1
23 serve busins-public
organizations 3 4.2
24 provide consultative service
3 4.3
25 communicate new
developments 3 4.4
26 access college
facilities 3 4.5
27 maintain
trust/respect 3 5.1
28 maintain open/candid communication
3 5.2
29 maintain goal
congruence 3 5.4
30 create campus
government 3 5.5
31 teach decision
effectees 3 5.6
32 explore all
facets 4 5.7
33 hear differing
viewpoints 4 5.8
34 encourage responsible participation
4 5.9
35 create mostfree
atmosphere 4 5.10
36 sponsor curricular
innovation 4 6.1
37 encourage off-campus learning
4 6.2
The expert Theory W 586
38 recognize
bosses 4 7.1
39 balance
cost/quality 4 7.2
41 encourage professional integrity
4 7.4
42 view graduate
success 4 7.5
____________________________________________________________
Note: Concord College Faculty Handbook.
Another example data base job
description has been
extracted from book 141 as follows.
Table 86 - Functional tasks from document 137
____________________________________________________________
Act Verb Descriptor
Noun Page items
___ ___________ _____________ _____________ __________
43 experience
education i
44 follow
guidelines i
45 read
handbook i
46 experience
learning i
48 seek
assistance i
49 grow personal
self i
50 acquire
knowledge 2
51 acquire
skill 2
52 (re)define one
self 2
53 join
community 2
55 develop
ideas 2
56 develop
attitudes 2
57 maintain
GPA 6
____________________________________________________________
Note: Concord College Student Handbook (1986).
An example of defining a set of
task relationships is
shown below. First, the above extraction from book 141
is
viewed. Second, a "how" column is added. This permits
answering the question, "How is act 43 accomplished?" The
answer is, "Accomplish 43 by doing acts 44, 46, 50, and 59."
Act 44, in turn, is accomplished by doing act 45. Act 45
is
the boundary of the system; a sort of elemental piece of the
The expert
Theory W 587
system. Part of the original data entered into the computer
was who performs the tasks. Consolidation allows the
display of the who column. The source of the added tasks
is
deductive logic. And the descriptor column has been deleted
for display purposes.
Table 87 - Work tasks relatedness of 137
____________________________________________________________
What
_____________________________
Act Verb Noun
How (Way) Who
___ ___________ _____________ ___________ _______
43 experience education 44
46 50 59 student
44 follow guidelines
45 student
45 read handbook
0 student
46 experience learning
53 55 student
48 seek assistance
49 student
49 grow self
52 56 student
50 acquire knowledge
67 student
51 acquire skill
60 student
52 (re)define self
76 student
53 join community
48 student
55 develop ideas
62 student
56 develop attitudes
58 student
57 maintain GPA
67 student
58 use
library 64
student
59 (re)enter school
57 68 student
60 evidence skill
61 student
61 purchase notebook
0 student
62 recognize thinking
64 student
63 read text
0 student
64 create exercise
0 otto
65 strengthen curriculum 66
otto
66 apply coursework
0 otto
67 take notes
63 otto
68 signup class
69 otto
69 create lesson
65 otto
70 add
knowledge 43
student
71 fulfill basicNeeds
70 student
72 fulfill basicNeeds
71 student
73 fulfill basicNeeds
72 student
74 fulfill basicNeeds
73 student
The expert Theory W 588
75 fulfill basicNeeds
74 student
76 give lesson
65 otto
77 write dissertation
66 78 otto
____________________________________________________________
Note: Example of Theory W application to previous tables.
The descriptor was not printed because of space limitations.
The data base job description
based on a performance
evaluation system from book 142 is:
act verb
descriptor noun
page
___ ___________ _____________
_____________ ____
80 know
subject 1
81 organize
class 2
82 motivate
students 3
83 love
students 4
84 involve
students 5
85 communicate difficult
materials 6
86 control
class 7
87 access
students 8
88 assign
suitable work
9
89 grade
impartial tests
10
90 rate
instructor 11
___________________________________________________
Source: Concord College
Faculty Evaluation Handout
Productivity
The worker using a coin operated
laundry machine
understands and imagines machine output and machine input.
For example, the self-serve laundry machine requires input
of five quarters. The output, as five dollars of wash (as
if paid to a full-service laundry), results in 400%
productivity ($5.00 divided by $1.25 ratios to 4:1). This
machine or worker productivity computes as output divided by
input - a learned concept, not an idea.
Workers, as an operating organization,
use learned
concepts, implicitly as well as explicitly. Family
The expert
Theory W 589
productivity exists and is thus implicit, although rarely
discussed or documented. The family or single person as
an
operations organization uses productive machinery.
Productivity, as organization output divided by organization
input is a concept, not an idea.
An idea suggests action put forth
by a leader, and
also suggests subsequent implementation or at least an image
occuring in the followers mind. Both leading and following
entail work, usually in the form of spending time.
Advanced society reduces organization
operational time
by using machinery. In the organization case of a family
or
individual, the laundry machine example has implicit
productivity. An industrial operating organization
explicitly states productivity - for example, $20,000 of
June sales per worker (DeZurik, 1975). The output input
ratios of productivity have a myriad of unit measures.
Theory W measures input as whole hours.
At 40 hours per worker week, DeZurik's
productivity
calculates to $500 of sales per worker - relatively
meaningless to the individual worker. The worker's direct
task output in support of sales would better manage
individual productivity.
Time and management. In terms
of Theory W, all people
work, and workers work 168 whole hours per week. The whole
hour unit of measure manages worker time. Each worker
The expert
Theory W 590
manages their time. The worker is the expert on the subject
of their time - no one else can be. Worker ownership of
their time exemplifies the human orientation of Theory W.
(See World and Work above.) Theory W managers validate time
productivity weekly and thus further reinforce the human
orientation of Theory W.
Interim synopsis. We worded world,
worker, work,
whole hours, and weekly. But so what? Why?
How (which
way)?
Theory W emphatically requires
inquiry. Borzoi (1989,
in the field of English composition promotes the use of
reporter questions. At an even earlier age, natural inquiry
flows readily from the two or three year old child as the
question "Why?"
Worknet of tasks. The Gandt
chart and PERT chart
provide a graphical image of a network - a form of
organization. Using English rules, the Gandt chart flows
work tasks and time down and to the right. Moving to the
right on either the Gandt or PERT chart answers the
organization question "Why?"
Gandt and PERT charts provide
graphic learning images
of an organization network. The precedence network
facilitates computer use when applying the network concept
to an organization.
The expert
Theory W 591
Individual performance evaluation
Frederick Herzberg suggests an
alternative way of
looking at the needs of workers--in terms of intrinsic
and extrinsic factors. Under this rubric,
job
satisfactions and dissatisfaction are not opposites
but
two separate dimensions. Extrinsic factors,
such as
inadequate pay, incompetent supervision, or dirty
working
conditions may lead to dissatisfaction, which may
be
reduced in turn by such "hygienic" measures as higher
pay
and "human relations" training for foremen.
But such
actions will not make workers satisfied. Satisfaction
depends on the provision of intrinsic factors, such
as
achievement, accomplishment, responsibility, and
challenging work. Satisfaction, then, is a
function of
the content of work; dissatisfaction, of the environment
of work. Increases in productivity have been
found to
correlate in certain industries and occupations
with
increases in satisfaction, but not with decreases
in
dissatisfaction. Hence, hygienic improvements
may make
work tolerable, but will not necessarily raise motivation
or productivity. The latter depends on making
jobs more
interesting and important.
A recent survey, which lends
some support for this
emphasis on job content, was undertaken by the Survey
Research Center, University of Michigan, with support
from the Department of Labor. This unique
and monumental
study to which we often refer in this report, is
based on
a representative sample of 1,533 American workers
at all
occupational levels. When these workers were
asked how
important they regarded some 25 aspects of work,
they
ranked in order of importance:
1. Interesting
work
2. Enough help
and equipment to get the job done.
3. Enough information
to get the job done.
4. Enough authority
to get the job done.
5. Good pay.
6. Opportunity
to develop special abilities.
7. Job security
8. Seeing the
result's of one's work.
What the workers want most, as
more that 100 studies
in the past 20 years show, is to become masters
of their
immediate environments and to feel that their work
and
themselves are important--the twin ingredients of
self-esteem. Workers recognize that some of
the dirty
jobs can be transformed only into the merely tolerable,
but the most oppressive features of work are felt
to be
The expert Theory W 592
avoidable: constant supervision and coercion,
lack of
variety, monotony, meaningless tasks, and isolation.
An
increasing number of workers want more autonomy
in
tackling their tasks, greater opportunity for increasing
their skills, rewards that are directly connected
to the
intrinsic aspects of work, and greater participation
in
the design of work and the formulation of their
tasks.
(249 10+)
Self-esteem.
The economic and societal importance
of work has
dominated thought about its meaning, and justifiably
so:
a function of work for any society is to produce
and
distribute goods and services, to transform "raw
nature"
into that which serves our needs and desires.
Far less
attention has been paid to the personal meaning
of work,
yet it is clear from recent research that work plays
a
crucial and perhaps unparalleled psychological role
in
the formation of self-esteem, identity, and a sense
of
order. (226 3)
Work contributes to self-esteem
in two ways. The
first is that, through the inescapable awareness
of one's
efficacy and competence in dealing with the objects
of
work, a person acquires a sense of mastery over
both
himself and his environment. The second derives
from the
view, stated earlier, that an individual is working
when
he is engaging in activities that produce something
valued by other people. That is, the job tells
the
worker day in and day out that he has something
to offer.
Not to have a job is not to have something that
is valued
by one's fellow human beings. Alternatively,
to be
working is to have evidence that one is needed by
others.
One of these components of self-esteem (mastery)
is,
therefore, internally derived through the presence
or
absence of challenge in work. The other component
(how
others value one's contributions) is externally
derived.
The person with high self-esteem may be defined
as one
who has a high estimate of his value and finds that
the
social estimate agrees. (226 3)
[Harry Levinson (1971) Various
approaches to
understanding man at work.]
Social scientists are suggesting
that the root of the
problem is to be found in the changing needs, aspirations
and values of workers. For example, Abraham
Maslow has
suggested that the needs of human beings are hierarchical
and, as each level is filled, the subsequent level
becomes salient. This order of needs is:
The expert Theory W 593
1. Physiological
requirements (food, habitat).
2. Safety and
security.
3. Companionship
and affection.
4. Self-esteem
and the esteem of others.
5. Self-actualization
(being able to realize
one's potential to the full). (226 10)
It may be argued that the very
success of industry and
organized labor in meeting the basic needs of workers
has
unintentionally spurred demands for esteemable and
fulfilling jobs.
[Abraham Maslow (1934) Motivation
and personality.
For a review of the literature see Robert Kahn (1972).
Robert Kahn (1972) The meaning of work: Interpretation
and proposals for measurement.]
Non-planning of hours. Personal
whole hours need not
be planned - in fact, should not be planned. Why?
Because
of the time involved. The mind very well projects from
the
historical awareness of its time. Thus no formal variance
analysis need be structured - the self's flow of hours then
becomes the focus. Choice ensues, armed with usable
information.
Weekly awareness. The lesson for
individual workers
is historical simplicity to aid awareness to the boss as
audience. Additionally, Theory W advises a weekly
whole-life time report for personal and mentor use. Why?
Because the mind peaks when confronting another. Thus
Theory W advises the individual to confront whole-life time
- both personally and with the mentor (reconciliation
facilitator).
Information processing.
The expert Theory W 594
The more interdependence [multi-bosses]
there is among
people...the greater the information-processing
load.
(151 16)
The Theory W database makes individual
worker general
management possible.
Not behavioral. The reinforcement-extinction
relationships can be discounted as reducing humans to
pigeons, for example. Yet research shows a similarity of
human adaption curves to pigeon curves, for example. Not
surprising since humans are animals. But that does not
mean
that humans need constant animal reinforcement to exhibit
desired behavior.
Weekly supportive agenda. The
reinforcement-extinction message for management of humans is
for the manager to reinforce desired employee behavior to
avoid extinction of desired behavior.
Theory W rather uses a method
such as regularly
talking about desired performance one-on-one with employees.
Thus the manager knows and appreciates what the employee
does to support the organization's mission.
In summary, use human methods
to reinforce desired
behavior. The alternative of treating employees as animal
operants is unacceptable (1) from the employee's quality of
work life view, and (2) from the optimum success of the
organization view.
Quality circle.
The expert Theory W 595
A quality circle is a group of
four to ten people with
a common interest who meet regularly to participate
in
the solution of job-related problems and opportunities.
It is an ongoing group operating in the work
environment...applying formal data collection and
analysis, and arriving at solutions that are presented
for acceptance and implementation... (85 9)
QC program.
The quality circle program can
be viewed as the next
step in an evolutionary process from Taylor's scientific
management through Hawthorne's experiments to behavioral
science's influence, always attempting to increase
organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
Quality
Circles, if implemented as a function of the organization
and its constraints, increases efficiency by eliminating
those processes within the organization that increase
costs. (130 92)
Comparing machine bureaucracies
and quality circles,
the Theory W expert worker, through task actualization
motivation, grapples with whole tasks by divide-and-conquer
yet uses open visibility to the whole organization thus
challenging informal leadership (group consensus), yet
structures performance emphasis toward mission attainment.
The simplistic Japanese QC threat -
The American automobile industry
is facing a $1500/car
disadvantage, because of the recognized productivity
and
lower cost of the Japanese worker over his counterpart
in
the United States. (137 344)
Using Theory W as a productivity
tool, "Human (as
opposed to mechanical or technological) productivity comes
primarily through [1] management's setting clear job
standards [task list] and communicating its expectations and
assessments of progress to employees, [2] management's
The expert
Theory W 596
providing and communicating opportunities to improve
performance, and [3] employee's working toward this
improvement. These three contributors to productivity merge
in the performance appraisal process.(136 32)" Theory W
provides a weekly appraisal model.
Integrative management.
Testifying to the benefits provided
by integrative
management...on-time delivery performance has increased
from the 50% level of 1977 to over 90% [in 1981].
(138 53)
Functional challenge.
One Ford plant has 11 levels of
organization and 200
worker classifications, while a Toyota plant got
by with
6 levels and seven classifications. And the
quality of
Japanese products is often stunning: 96% of
their
automobiles leave the assembly line in fit shape
for
delivery, versus 75% of U.S.cars. (35 698)
Involve all workers.
The wide availability of terminals
and desk-top
computers should also alleviate the problem of getting
more people involved... Despite all the passwords
and
regulated access procedures, it is only a matter
of time
before personnel at lower levels will be able to
know as
much about a problem as the manager. While
this
information explosion will represent a threat to
the
manager of the traditional hierarchical organization.
It
has been suggested that organizations develop according
to their ability to use information. From
this
viewpoint, developments in information technology
will
have a positive influence on organizational
developments... (41 553)
Once work tasks are established
as the essential
organization unit, the way to organize those units becomes
the next step. Theory W provides a way.
Functional history.
The expert Theory W 597
There is reason to suggest that
just as this moderate
functionalism was the basis of Plato's claim for
a
co-ordinated State, so the interweaving of functions
and
the close inter-dependence of human unit with human
unit
may come about from an acceptance of the functional
system in industry in such a way that it may develop,
but
also that it may co-ordinated [controlled].
(184 177)
Thus the functional system still
looks for a system of
control. Theory W pushes project control to
the whole
organization project level of application.
(185 161)
Control under many names.
Our subject tonight is control.
Of course that is
what we have been talking about all along - when
we were
considering orders or authority or leadership or
co-ordination. In our best managed industries,
we notice
two points about control: (1) control is coming
more and
more to mean fact-control rather than man-control;
(2)
central control is coming to mean the correlation
of many
controls rather than a superimposed control.
(185 161)
Self-control.
The aim and the process of the
organization of
government, of industry, of international relations,
should be, I think, a control not imposed from without
the regular functioning of society, but one which
is a
coordinating of all those functions, that is, a
collective self-control. If you accept my
definition of
control as a self-generating process, as the interweaving
experience of all those who are performing a functional
part of the activity under consideration, does that
not
constitute an imperative? Are we not every
one of us
bound to take some part consciously in this process?
To
get our affairs in hand, to feel the grip on them,
to
become free, we must learn, and practice, I am sure,
the
methods of collective control. We are coming
to know
that we can make facts. We need not wait on
events, we
can create events. (185 167)
Outcome tidbits.
relationship of hours and points
visibility of hours
visibility of unique work
performance or effectiveness wallop
Active listening. Here integrates
several thoughts -
The expert
Theory W 598
(1) the idea of active listening to another person, (2) the
inherent learning curiosity of the child, (3) writing as
scholarship to be studied, and (4) the way Theory W deals
with complexity.
Active listening, as used in the
Theory W sense,
avoids patronizing the speaker by repeating back what was
said. Rather, the well-understood why question challenges
the intra-connected parties. The question of the two-year
old preschool child should not be lost within the education
system. The seemingly natural child-like why question
offers the opportunity to organize a time consuming and
purposeful conversation. Even the mere use of purposeful
implies a why reasoning behind the conversation.
The child's freer mind simply
blurts forth, "Why?"
Sometimes more questions than we can handle, thus we
sometimes turn the child away. The consultant, who works
to
free sticky organization situations, reaches back to the
natural why question. They many times inquire, "Why do
ask?"90 Thusly, Theory W promotes several questions of
active listening -
Why do you ask,
Why do you say that,
What makes you say that,
Where does that idea come from,
Who provides the the basis for that idea, and
From which alternative ideas am I permitted to choose.
Whetting thought. Active listening
whets one's mind.
The expert
Theory W 599
Old memories come back to life. New ideas synergistically
come to mind. And writing ideas down promotes their study
by others - wisdom of sorts. And, at times, seemingly
sorted. People save what they think portrays wisdom, which
can easily trick the truth. Thus personal views of wisdom
needs variety. For even the reason to test different views
and thus better illuminate our present truth. Truth does
change based on information. And information comes with
writing and reading critically - yet not negatively. Then
the essential ingredient - thought. For without thought,
truth cannot exist.
Truth validity. The representative
Theory W question
would be, "What makes us think that as truth?"
Informal caring.
Another approach is to view informal
organizations as
a social fact and to treat them as part of the stage
for
formal organizations. This approach stresses
the useful
functions that could be performed by informal
organizations. It recognizes that informal
organizations
can help improve communications, develop cohesiveness
in
groups, and maintain the self-respect of members
in the
organization. (19 73)
Despite Carey's criticism of the
methodology, it would
seem that two major lessons were learned from the
Hawthorne experiments. First informal groups
can be
powerful factors in employee behavior. Second,
behavioral research can lead to a deeper understanding
of
the dynamics of behavior within organizations.
(19 137)
The girls developed small, cohesive
group structures.
They became participating members of the group both
psychologically and socially and a great deal of
social
____________________
90 Princeton NJ national consultants
seminar (1982).
The expert Theory W 600
activity occurred both inside and outside the working
environment. The girls began to help each
other and the
group. (19 136)
The Hawthorne studies formed the
bedrock of the human
relations movement. Although this movement
shifted
attention away from formal organization, it still
accepted the basic concept of the legitimacy of
authority
stemming from hierarchial controls. (19 137)
The conception of structure or
system implies that the
component units stand in some relation to one another
and, as the popular expression "The whole is greater
than
the sum of its parts" suggests, that the relations
between units add new elements to the situation.
(5 3)
[For a discussion of some of the issues raised by
this
assertion, see Ernest Nagel - On the statement "The
whole
is more than the sum of its parts." Paul F.Lazarsfield
&
Morris Rosenberg (eds) (1955) The language of social
research. Glencoe IL: Free Press. p.519-527.]
Social relations involve, first,
patterns of social
interaction: the frequency and duration of
the contacts
between people, the tendency to initiate these contacts,
the direction of influence between persons, the
degree of
cooperation, and so forth. Second, social
relations
entail people's sentiments to one another, such
as
feelings of attraction, respect, and hostility.
The
differential distribution of social relations in
a group,
finally, defines its status structure. Each
member's
status in the group depends on his relations with
the
others_their sentiments toward and interaction with
him.
As a result, integrated members become differentiated
from isolates, those who are widely respected from
those
who are not highly regarded, and leaders from followers.
(5 3)
Among the various things
that characterize the
general work environment is that it is manifestly
a
social situation. It is peopled by other human
beings,
to whom thee worker must relate in more or less
prescribed, more or less conventionalized ways.
In
recent years, a great deal of interest has developed
among industrial psychologists nas sociologists
in those
aspects of work behavior which are influenced by
the
social organization of the workplace. Ever
since the
early Hawthorne studies, an increasingly large literature
has described the interpersonal structure of a variety
of
kinds of work situations. Delbert Miller is
not alone in
arguing that the "success or failure of the worker
depends not alone on hes job performance but on
how he
plays his role in the work group," and he defines
a work
situation as a triangular set of social relationships
The expert Theory W 601
involving a worker, a work position, and a work group.2
While we cannot enter into a detailed examination
of the
many aspects of industrial social relationships
that have
been studied, wee cn specify certain of the major
interpersonal demands which work places upon the
worker.
(53 150)
Collective effort.
If the accomplishment of an objective
requires
collective effort, men set up an organization designed
to
coordinate the activities of many persons and to
furnish
incentives for others to join them for this purpose.
(5 5)
Since the distinctive characteristic
of these
organizations is that they have been formally established
for the explicit purpose of achieving certain goals,
the
term "formal organizations" is used to designate
them.
(5 5)
Regardless of the time and effort
devoted by
management to designing a rational organization
chart and
elaborate procedure manuals, this official plan
can never
completely determine the conduct and social relations
of
the organization's members. (5 5)
Functional explanation.
The object of all science is to
explain things. What
do we mean by a scientific explanation? An
observed fact
is explained by reference to a general principle,
that
is, by showing that the occurrence of this fact
under the
given circumstances can be predicted from the principle.
To first establish such an explanatory principle
or
theoretical generalization, many particular events
must
be observed and classified into general categories
that
make them comparable. To explain a principle
requires a
more general proposition from which this and other
similarly specific principles can be inferred.
(5 10)
The U.S.Congress supported th
understanding of work in
the 1910 Taylor sense. And recall that the 1960's Broom
understanding of management is an evolution into the science
of administration and the arena of leadership. Thus our
culture awards degrees in Business Administration on the
The expert
Theory W 602
Bachelor, Masters, and Doctorate levels. Our culture,
specifically Congress through Federal Government activity,
continues to support the understanding of the above
mentioned evolution process. Thus HEW through the Social
and Rehabiliation Service supported Neff's profession on
Work and Human Behavior (53).
Why should a job be harder to
obtain the older one
becomes? Answer - because one deteriorates in fact.
True,
the physical organs do deteriorate with age - but what of
wisdom and the teaching of same? Isn't the wise person
pictured as gray haired? So then, wouldn't a older person
be in demand for filling some positions?91
Lifelong maturing.
We all see that kids grow.
The stifling portion comes
when the words grow-up attaches to the statement. Thus
we
should not see kids grow up, because when they stop growing,
that teaches a certain stagnation. Rather view growth as
a
life-long process.
Thus Theory W associates with
constant growth in the
hands of the expert worker. This work's foreword uses the
ideas of challenge and growth to represent the life-long
maturation process. This very personal idea of life-long
maturation links directly with a worthy world-wide
____________________
91 GAINING IN LIFE by H.Otto 10-10-94.
The expert
Theory W 603
organization Theory Which Theory W represents.
Self wisdom. This writing aims
to iterate a way to
individual growth by negotiating religious semantics while
attempting to practice scholarship - not to discount the aim
of religion, but to rationalize and thus dissipate the
seeming gap between religion and science.
For example, scientific psychology
provides the
universal basic human needs as a hierarchical structure of
existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG).92 Specific to
this writing, a religious pamphlet93 of several chapters,
provides a chapter on growth. Thus the word growth can
be
one avenue to bridge the bipolar business of seeking truth.
Scientific and religious semantics
and truth can be
brought together! In general, this joining can be seen
as
the oneness of an individual's intellect and emotions.
The
words mind and heart may also be used, and some may even
prefer to combine both into the single word - mind. The
thinking mind can also be seen to be emotional and religious
- tripolar if you will.
____________________
92 Maslow's theory and Alderfer's
statistically
significant experiment.
93 Charismatic renewal services
(1972) Finding new
life in the spirit. Notre Dame IN: CRS. A guidebook
for
the Life in the Spirit seminars. Chapters - God's love,
salvation, the new life, receiving God's gift, baptized in
the spirit, growth, and transformation in Christ.
The expert Theory W 604
True wisdom and true understanding
are a gift from
God. If you read the scriptures, and if you
think about
what they say...you will be given spiritual
understanding. (93 4)
Mind however, may be mistakenly
portrayed as the
absence of emotion - this must not be misunderstood. Some
individuals may choose to come to personal growth from the
intellect. Others may choose to come to personal growth
from the heart - the emotions. Yet note that both
approaches are reciprocal - the intellect does impact the
emotions, and the emotions do impact the intellect.
Individuals can become burrowed
in either single
approach. For example, the author frequently talks about
God as the most powerful concept ever invented. One
respondent stopped that argument with, "Well, that's the
intellect, not the heart." To make a giant leap then -
"Is
religion relegated to an exercise of the heart?" And
complimentary - "Is science relegated to an exercise of the
intellect?" This polarization remains irreconcilable in
general. Only the individual can come to a personal
integration. Too many times, religious and scientific
leaders are burrowed.
Integration however, may be impossible
and impractical
for the thinking and growthful individual. Yet there are
commonalities for becoming closer together. As the above
example showed, growth can be one commonalty. Jesus, the
The expert
Theory W 605
person, can be another. The bible, as representing several
thousand years of wisdom, can be yet another. However,
when
dealing with these three items, the relationship with
corporate church leaders can be problematic.
Leaders, as interpreters of wisdom,
have followers.
Many followers are not provided with a structure promotive
of growthful thinking. Education industry leaders tend
to
promote short-term memory skills rather than thinking and
choice. Reading research may provide better results.
Take the New Life book - the purpose
of which is "to
find a deeper life in God...through others.Æ(93 3)æ"
Those
"others" could be seen not only as leaders but as stepping
stones - our parents, our peers, our teachers, organization
leaders, and historical wisdom, including our own
experiences and memorabilia. Those others are basically
passive tools, leading their own lives, yet hopefully
providing challenges which are designed to share wisdom.
We
can be seen as compelled to "find" that individual "deeper
life" for our self.
The aim of an individual life can be seen as
a better and better life. You have a seed of
new life in
you. (93 33)
The author sees this "seed" or
center of an
individual's life as their point of choice.
An individual's point of choice
moves in an internal
The expert
Theory W 606
environment of emotions - perhaps a "better" description of
an individual's heart, leaving the word heart to describe
that organ of blood pumping capacity, the one that can be
replaced by a mechanical device. The emotional environment,
or soul, or mind, has specific parameters called feeling
continuums. At the center, or core, is the individual's
point of choice. Those continuums are love-hate,
joy-sadness, and freedom-fear.
This scientific mind, or religious
soul, or in any
case, our unique human imprint, can see a challenge from
religious wisdom. One specific challenge calls for action -
(1) pray every day,
(2) study God's word regularly,
(3) meet with other Christians
for prayer and sharing
regularly,
and
(4) find a means of Christian
service, especially find
a way
to share the life you have been given.Æ(93 35)æ
(1). PRAYER can be seen
as reflection - the author
reflects each day on the 24 hours of time which he lives.
The value of the reflection is the experiential growth for
his soul and mind. The context and overriding concepts
for
individual growth living are (a) the wisdom of the bible,
specifically Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and (b) the wisdom
of science, specifically Maslow and Alderfer, and the wholly
spirit.94
____________________
94 Another convenient integration
between religion
and science - Holy Spirit and wholly spirit.
The expert Theory W 607
(2). The STUDY of wisdom
first includes the
integration of religious and scientific wisdom using the
certainty of scholarship. Initial evidences of scholarship
are marginal notes and journaling. More sophisticated
evidences are study projects throughout an individual's
lifetime. There are courses and degrees on the scientific
and theological "sides." Then there are personal "sides"
-
sermons, pamphlets, discussions, individual research, and
writing.
An example of individual study
concerns the word
spirit in the bible. We enter and move through the bible
by
using a concordance. The words spirit, spirits, spiritual,
and spiritually, provide 690 occurances for paraphrasing.
The paraphrases summarize into these categories. The order
represents the sequence of how a new category came to be
when the next passage paraphrase didn't seem to fit the
previous categories.
Humans know the joys of traveling and movement.
The essence of human life is spirit.
The spirit resides in all levels of human condition.
The spirit of God is meant to be within each individual.
The human spirit grows from past and present generations.
The spirit is meant to represent individualism - choice.
Mend a broken spirit first then the individual can listen.
From an internalized spirit comes favorable attributes.
Another's spirit may not look after your spirit.
Spirited individuals have wholistic vision for their future.
Spirited people are open, work hard, talk, and write.
Spirited individuals are restless.
Another's spirit may not look
after your spirit! That
The expert
Theory W 608
spirit commandment of caring for one's own spirit ties with
the New Life advice.
You have been given something of
much more value.
Guard it very, very carefully. (93 43)
Another example of individual
study concerns the
message of Jesus as love, and the interpretation books about
love by John Powell,S.J. The author's summary of that
interpretation consists of three levels - respect, time and
encouragement, and challenge (R-TEC).
(3) Share. The MEETING of
minds in science and in
religion must overcome problems. Without going into detail,
those troubles can be specified as the anti-Piagetians, and
corporate churchs respectively. Piaget focuses our
attention onto the inherent spirit and growth ability of
infants and small children. The education industry and
corporate church can be seen as squelching that inherent
spirit and growth, and then they think that they have
discovered or invented or created something new, such as
confirmation, reconciliation, being reborn, or having been
prayed over. Not that these experiences are not beneficial.
However, there are many ways to re-awaken or re-create one's
spirit. They are needed throughout one's lifetime.
Some people experience a great
deal at the moment when
they are prayed with, while others experience very
little. What you want is the Holy Spirit,
not an
experience. (93 22)
[God] is not legalistic with us.
A covenant [life
philosophy] is a way of entering into a relationship
of
The expert Theory W 609
committed love with God [the historically wise
spirit]. (93 11)
Where then do we meet peers who
are historically wise
- peers who are willing to deliberate and debate
individually wise or unwise alternatives? Many corporate
churches offer creative activities. Personal research and
writing offer an age-old opportunity for wringing wisdom
from the individual's thinking and lifelong learning.
(4) Serve. Words above have
introduced the author's
ideas of ERG and R-TEC. Meeting with others is in the
relatedness and growth trail of basic ERG need. The means
of SERVICE to the individual self and others can be seen as
love - that one word summary of Jesus' life. Time must
be
invested for service of self and others. Encouragement
of
self must be gained, so that encouragement of others can
take place from a secure mind and soul. Part of that
security of the individual self can be seen as the
structuring of challenges whereby the self is specific yet
the self "walks away" to let the other operate their own
life, and grow accordingly. That growth may well bring
the
two closer than ever. To the other extreme, that growth
could well carry each in different directions for the
benefit of both.
When dependencies are broken through
challenge, the
devastated person, most times, cannot see their self-growth.
The expert
Theory W 610
Yet self-growth can come if they assume choice
responsibility in their lives. Undependency, as another
word for growth, can be seen as follows.
There is nothing in the world like
going where we want
to go, getting what we want, solving a problem,
or doing
something we always wanted to do. (95 155)
In summary, the author's means
or way is the ERG needs
hierarchy and Jesus' love, that is, R-TEC. For the current
week 4794 the author's time was invested toward a potential
married-forever life-partner, to the exclusion of
dissertation and job work - his personal and respected
choice.
____________________
95 M.Beattie (1987) Codependent
no more. Center
City MN: Hazelden. Borrowed from Nancy's daughter Carol
in
search of resolving one current life bewildering situation
(the ninth of thirteen situations).
The expert Theory W 611
Table 88 - Task hours and effectiveness
___________________________________________________________
Hours for
Task description
weeks ago
_________________________ _____________
Action verb Noun object 1
2 3
___________ _____________ ___ ___ ___
relate to selves
83 49 35
maintain body/mind
61 65 71
pursue writing(art)
13 6
maintain assets
6 15 20
pursue exercise
4 10 19
do job
1 1 9
write dissertation
22 14
measure lifetime
168 168 168 24 hrs for 7 days
measure effectiveness 64%
61% 58%
HISTORY
1991 weeks 32, 39, 34 & 33 55% 48%
42%
1991 3rd & 1990 1st quarters
38%
1990 & 1989 third quarters
24% 20%
___________________________________________________________
Note: Strategic task organization shown in another table.
Using the above task description
scheme, the
previously described 12 spirit commandments can be restated
as follows.
experience
adventure joy
recognize
spirit essence
recognize
learning availability
recognize
god's residence
recognize
growth support
present
spirited choices
set
mending priority
recognize
favorable attributes
scrutinize
other's motives
envision
whole future
effectuate
work character
lead
unconstrained spirit
The expert Theory W 612
Now the ERG and R-TEC ideas are brought together using
a table from the author's dissertation. (96 17,19)
Table 89 - Life philosophy tasks
___________________________________________________________
Religious love
Basic needs Chosen life philosophy
_______________________ ___________ ______________________
challenge
growth growth
time and encouragement relatedness challenge
respect
existence relatedness
time and encouragement
respect
existence
___________________________________________________________
Note: Life-task items are stated in hierarchical order.
Jesus' love as interpreted by the writings of John
Powell,S.J. Basis human needs deemed statistically
significant from Alderfer's experiments.
Now the verb-noun tasks of the
12 spirit commandments
can be prioritized and merged with the integrated life
philosophy.
____________________
96 H.L.Otto (1994) Beyond matrix
organization:
Theory W unifies strategy, functionalism, and productivity
for members and individuals. Glendale CA: Kensington
University PhD dissertation.
The expert Theory W 613
Table 90 - Spirit and life philosophy
___________________________________________________________
Act Verb Descriptor
Noun Pre Done Whrs
___ __________ ______________ _____________ ___ ____ ____
actualize
growth
experience adventure
joy
exchange
challenge
lead unconstrained
spirit
present spirited
choices
solidify
relatedness
effectuate work
character
recognize favorable
attributes
exchange timed
encouragement
scrutinize other's
motives
envision whole
future
recognize
respect
set
mending priority
recognize growth
support
recognize learning
availability
recognize spirit's
residence
recognize spirit
essence
provide
existence
___________________________________________________________
Note: Life-task items are stated in hierarchical order.
Now the detailed wholly spirit
philosophy can be
merged with the time investment evidence from the weekly
variance analysis mechanism.
The expert Theory W 614
Table 91 - Spirit & whole-hours
___________________________________________________________
Act Verb Descriptor
Noun Pre Done Whrs
___ __________ ______________ _____________ ___ ____ ____
actualize
growth
35 serve in someone's G7job
yes yes
26 write Theory W
G6dissertation yes yes
22 pursue current
G5writing(art) yes yes
32 relate to others'
R4selves
yes yes
exchange
challenge
solidify
relatedness
recognize growth
support
recognize favorable
attributes
envision wholistic
future
recognize
respect
scrutinize other's
motives
exchange timed
encouragement
lead unconstrained
spirit
32 relate to my
R4self
yes yes
present spirited
choices
effectuate work
character
recognize learning
availability
04 measure personal
E8production yes yes
03 measure total
E8lifetime yes
yes
30 maintain daily
E3assets
yes yes
experience adventure
joy
37 pursue enjoyable
E2exercise yes
yes
21 maintain effective E1body/mind
yes yes
set
mending priority
recognize spirit's
residence
recognize spirit
essence
provide
existence
___________________________________________________________
Note: Life-task items are stated in hierarchical order.
Jesus' love as interpreted by the writings of John
Powell,S.J. Basis human needs deemed statistically
significant from Alderfer's experiments.
Thus life becomes better and better,
using science and
measurement integrated with religious wisdom.
The expert Theory W 615
Stewardship of time.
Several times in recent years,
the author found
himself reviewing the propaganda shelves of a worthy church.
The most recent visit collected many itemsÆ97æ -
the first
pertained directly to the importance of time.
Jesus had more to say about the
stewardship of our
material possessions than about sin, prayer and
salvation
combined. More than a third of Jesus' teachings
deal
with the stewardship of material assets. (97
1c1)
The bible uses the word treasure
for materials, and
the author's Theory W of functional organization emphasizes
the treasure of time in whole hours. This treasure or
material asset of time comes to all of us as 24 hours in the
day - an absolute limitation with many facets.
For example, time can be seen
as a limitation of
encouragement loving98 - of self and others. Thus the
functional organization of life and job (1) directly
addresses the absolute of limited time, (2) emphasizes the
individual's quality choice of life-task activity, and (3)
focuses attention to the whys of choosing.
The following challenge came from the pulpit.
If we invest our [treasure] in
the Kingdom of God, we
have our eyes on eternity, and [we] put a different
[choice] on the things of this world. (97
1c2)
God doesn't weigh our gold, but
our heart. It's not
so much the amount as the motive of the heart.
(97 1c3)
What then does each of us choose
as the motivation of
our self-heart? Why do we choose certain life activities?
The expert
Theory W 616
Do we act to fulfill our scientific psychology universal
basic human needs of existence, relatedness, and growth?
And do we spend weekly church attendance and even more
life-activity, adding to and re-searching our experiences
about being saved?
Stop and picture that being saved
might be the process
____________________
97 R.H.Meneilly (09Oct1994) The
sermon on the
amount. Prairie Village KS: The Village Presbyterian Church
(USA). A pitch for tithe, "or even half the
tithe. (97 3c3) " Also collected - CELEBRATE GOD'S GOOD
GIFTS 1995 budget $563k adm., $549k fac., 1211k mission, and
1777k program of which singles has $138k, $183k adult, $195k
youth, $231k children, $118k support, $367k worship/music,
$247k care/counsel, and $299 for other, FIRST MONDAY
luncheon series, MEN'S FELLOWSHIP breakfasts, dinners, and
more, SUNDAY MORNING CLASSES with day care, 1995
ELDERHOSTEL, INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS, MISSION
RECRUITMENT, INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT EXPERIENCES 1994, THE
PERSONAL INTEREST PROGRAM mission interpretation and
promotion, FUNDING OUR MISSION, EXPECTING THE PRINCE OF
PEACE 1994 ADVENT DEVOTIONS FOR those who cannot more
functionally structure their prayer time, 1993 MISSION
REPORT $349k heartland presbytery, $278K community
involvement, $230k general assembly, $102k synod of
mid-america, and more totaling to $1240k, and SERVING AND
SHARING of the community concern committee which has an
interesting mission statement.
To reflect the spirit of Jesus...by
sharing the time,
talents and financial resources of Village Church
in a
loving, thoughtful and non-judgemental way with
those in
need of help and in doing so sensitize, inform,
and
nurture ourselves.
98 John Powell,S.J., began the
author's love
definition as three levels - (1) respect whereby each can
love everyone in the world, (2) time and encouragement
whereby each has 24 hours each day to love others, and (3)
challenge whereby a communicated vision or aim provides
separation of loving time - both in parallel and in
eternity. Tis serious business, this thing called love.
The expert
Theory W 617
of adding to our experiences and re-searching our
experiences so that our understanding can grow to a higher
or greater level of mind - assuming that a single mind can
never be a god, but that the mind can possess a scientific
understanding about God. Thus being saved becomes personal
growth in either religious or scientific terms.
May I then read science into the sermon?
It is the heart's [mind's] attitude
toward money that
determines whether it is good or bad. It can
bless or it
can curse. (97 2c2)
The sermon continued about money,
and in the quote
below, our asset of life time is substituted for the word
money. It seems to fit.
Our use of [time] is the acid test
of our character.
[Time] is more than dollars and cents; our [time]
is our
life, crystallized. Our [time] is the extension
of our
life. (97 2c2)
Choices in life are then focused
by the sermon unto
God, opportunities, relative wealth, and the attitude of
stewardship.
All of us are quite money-conscious.
In fact, most of
us are more money-conscious than God-conscious.
(97 2c2)
"Do not exalt yourself, forgetting...God
who affords
you the opportunities...." (See Deuteronomy
8:11-18.)
(97 3c1)
How many of us ever think of ourselves
as being
wealthy? (97 3c1)
When all is said and done, Christian
stewardship is
our attitude toward God and life [time].
(97 4c1)
From the above guides then, several
points emerge -
(1) the world and corporate church provide opportunities,
The expert
Theory W 618
(2) we are wealthy, and being alive means still one more 24
hour treasure, and (3) our attitude can be one of choosing
our timed activity for good reason.
Good reason can be seen as god
for short. And blessed
are we when we have organizational companions in life and
job who re-search for good reason.
Thus we can search and re-search
for, and add
experiences which precede our choice for the next hour of
life activity. This search provides the whys which motivate
our life.
Now another sermon comes to link
up with this time and
money importance.
Christ's followers, whatever their
age, must live -
not in childishness - but in childlike faith, trusting
God like a little child blindly trusts a good parent
to
meet every need. (99 1c2)
God the good parent is God the
Father. Other Gods are
Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the father version of
Jesus has come to be Christ crucified as opposed to Jesus'
love as respect, time and encouragement, and challenge.
Thus the author becomes aware of God speaking to him and he
speaking in functional organization terms, as opposed to God
speaking to him through the interpretation of others as in
____________________
99 R.H.Meneilly (16Oct1994) Christ
and the crisis of
the child. Prairie Village KS: The Village Presbyterian
Church (USA).
The expert
Theory W 619
childishness. Remember that Jesus came to free us from
the
human made law of religion.
Although God, by definition, provides
all, the
individual of childlike faith must choose and act to share
in God's blessings. Thus for the author, Jesus' love comes
to be the priority - respect self and others, spend time and
encouragement on self and others, and set forth challenges
for self and others.
If we are judged to be childish,
then we can be seen
as relegated to the status of children.
Children are so powerless to do
anything about their
lot. Millions of today's children face the
future with
only a fraction of a chance to live normal, healthy,
happy, and successful lives. Many are not
wanted when
they come into this world; many are blighted with
disease
from birth; many are unattended and allowed to grow
up
like weeds, with little parental love and care.
(99 2c3)
In contrast, the maturing individual
chooses to (1)
respect self and others, (2) spend time and encouragement on
self and others, and (3) set forth challenges for self and
others.
As prayer time, and substituting
the word
functionalize for discipline, consider the following.
[Functionalize] yourself to listen...
Give...[functionality] with love.
(99 4c1)
The particular pulpiteer of these
quotes recognized
his mother as his steward.
The expert Theory W 620
My mother's underlying conviction...surfaced
in one
way or another. She never quoted the Bible...like
some
religionists. She had so absorbed and assimilated
the
truth of Scripture that she put it in her own version,
"God is always able to work everything together
for good
if we love him enough to live the way he wants us
to
live." (100 1c1,2)
What security is ours in this
belief - just to know
that God is always living and working in our life!
What
a difference this makes to our self-esteem and sense
of
worth. Jesus said, "If you continue in my
word, you are
truely my disciples, and you will know the truth,
and the
truth will make you free (John 8:31,32)."
(100 4c1)
Now let us know God, and freedom.
Our God, who reveals himself to
us in the
scriptures.... (100 1c1)
Religion and politics in a democracy
do not pull in
opposite directions; they are one response to God.
(100 1c3)
Nothing threatens a democracy
more than do-nothing
citizens who just float with the tide of their
thoughtless choices. (100 2c1)
Christianity does not provide
a political platform,
but rather a very basic social conscience with which
to
approach politics. (100 3c1)
Our responsibility, under God,
is to decide which of
the options has the best possibility for approximating
the will of God. (100 3c3)
At retirement, the above quoted
pulpiteer, provided
laminated bookmarks which provided semi-eternal life to his
benediction, here quoted, substituting the word others for
God, since God comes to the author through others.
____________________
100 R.H.Meneilly (30Oct1994) God
works in everything
for our good. Prairie Village KS: The Village Presbyterian
Church (USA).
The expert Theory W 621
We go, always, with the love of
others to enfold us,
the hand of others to hold us, the power of others
to
strengthen us, and the spirit of others to guide
us, and
the grace of others to sustain us and keep us of
good
cheer. (11-28-94)
The author spends time in connecting
with those others
of wisdom.
Not incidently, in his retirement
speech, the
pulpiteer first mentioned his partnership with his wife
Shirley, and second he mentioned his engagement with the
church.
The aim of a prior footnote is
repeated for closing
emphasis.
To reflect the spirit of Jesus...by
sharing the time,
talents and financial resources...in a loving, thoughtful
and non-judgemental way with those in need of [support]
and in doing so sensitize, inform, and nurture ourselves.
Weekly summary. There are two
scenarios of conscious
weekly timekeeping by the individual - the formal
organization requirement, and the voluntary individual
application.
Employee review. When a formal
organization uses
Theory W, weekly employee review naturally predominates for
several reasons - (1) the calendar divides into weeks, (2)
the week provides a cuturally natural period, and (3) unlike
months, weeks provide a constant seven day time resource,
and (4) the past seven days usually fall within the
individual's short term recall ability, and (5) the next
The expert
Theory W 622
seven days usually fall within the individual's seeing-ahead
ability.
The form of raw data entry rests
with the individual
expert worker. The psychology of raising the worker to
the
responsibility of the expert of their time spending provides
fundamental spending and quality control.
Individual review. Many people
as too busy to be
responsible for their time spending. Education trains us
to
not take responsibility. As educators, we force behavior
to
exterior regimentation. Under Theory W, organization aims
and objectives must be of a range of activity which allows
individual choice. The individual's choice of time spending
must, however, be visible. Time and task relationship
visibility are to provide higher productivity under Theory
W.
People like to make choices -
our marketing economy
proves that. Time however, unlike buying decisions, need
not be subjected to the survey method of knowledge.
Individual generation of knowledge can be generated as a
personal entrance into science.
Performance review. Two steps
are involved. First
tabulate task wholehours using the simplist practical form.
Second "analyze need variance," each individual having
universal basic human needs of existance, relatedness, and
growth.101
The expert
Theory W 623
The weekly analysis form provides
for prioritizing
good-feeling actualizations and concerns. Confrontation
with future choice should follow good communication
guidelines.102 Supporting project schedules are updated as
a resultant of weekly analysis.
Weekly reporting. No matter if
the time summary comes
from formal organization requirement or individual
initiative, the result ends to be a simple list. The form
varies from manual to spreadsheet as shown in individually
created situations. Note that the Theory W timekeeping
from
an individual's view reconciles to 168 hours per week - a
full seven days at 24 hours each day.
____________________
101 For multi-member organizations,
budget variance
in people count, overtime hours, and material dollars hold
the basis for analysis.
102 Village-class notes.
The expert Theory W 624
Figure 52 - Waretime observation
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Note: Acts authorized by the aimed pure functional database.
Life-work takes time. Individual
work includes both
The expert
Theory W 625
physical and mental varieties. In fact, early studies which
put physical work in the rest mode, evidenced that the brain
uptakes substantial oxygen.
The brain utilizes a substantial
part of the total
oxygen uptake of the body at rest, it is well established
that mental work requires only an insignificant
increase
in oxygen uptake, at least as long as the mental
effort
is not associated with markedly increased muscular
tension or emotional stress (Benedict and Benedict,
1933;
Benedict and Carpenter, 1909). (224 440)
With thought, one could see that
the brain also takes
time to do its work - not unlike physical work. Thus both
physical and mental work take time and can be timed - if the
individual thinks about timed tasks.103
In simple terms - work takes time.
From an energy
expenditure chart (224 439) skiing and squash are more work
than axing and tending a blast furnace. Thus work can be
seen outside of industrial concern.
Charts not practical.
Organizational relationships--as
opposed to social and
other types of relationships within a company--grow
out
of the division of work and delegation of responsibility
and authority. A number of functional relationships,
authority relationships, staff-line relationships,
and
just plain work relationships may come into play
in
reaching any decision or in completing any given
piece of
____________________
103 Dr.Pigge denied that a mental
worker such as a
professor like himself, could appreciate the time which
mental work takes. Yet Dr.Pigge, like all workers, spends
time in mental work. Thus Barnard's remonstration does
not
apply exactly, yet it fits - "To fail in an obligation
intentionally is an act of hostility.(4 171)" - especially
when Education has performed time-on-task research.
The expert Theory W 626
work. Most companies gave up long ago on the
attempt to
even begin to show all of these relationships on
a chart.
(6 145)
Yet many computer software packages
attempt to
directly display the Gandt and PERT structure.
Certainly the importance of displaying
pure functinal
relations will not die out and hopefully a pure functional
list structure can be popularized. Theory W aims to
popularize pure functional organization without encountering
the impracticals of Gandt and PERT charts.
Work-task pyramid.
The informal organization is the
pattern of personal
relationships that people in organizations develop.
The
informal organization usually is based on the lines
of
communication given on the organization chart or
job-task
pyramid... (6 186)
Weekly learning.
Whenever possible, confront a
communications problem
head-on. Hiding behind a desk or a stream
of memos, or
simply trying to wish away a problem won't work.
A
face-to-face discussion with an employee or group
having
a problem will do much to remove the problem.
The two-way exchange of information
and feelings can
quickly lead to understanding. (6 187)
Zero choice energy.
It is, for many, a rather sad conclusion
that the
energy expenditure required for intellectual work
is so
small we cannot measure it with precision.
The
difference in the oxygen consumption of a man sitting
idly in a chair and one who is solving, or trying
to
solve, a difficult mathematical problem is virtually
nil.
It is true that hard thinking is often accompanied
by
facial grimaces, wriggling and other adventitious
movements, and these will certainly increase oxygen
consumption slightly; but the increased activity
of the
brain is so small in terms of energy that no allowance
The expert Theory W 627
for this is needed. No extra food is necessary
either.
(225 91)
Empowering individuals with mission
authority.
Leadership seems to parallel a non-analytical approach to
pure functional organization. Literature (45) focuses on
the organization of work (job tasks) under the authority of
the individual rather than under the individual within the
context of the organization.
Improving productivity. A basic
theory of pure
functional coordination makes sense so Theory W just
simplistically goes forward to recognize it - ignoring the
resistance of traditional thinking.104 Literature hints at
the essential of pulling the organization together in some
matter.
It seems useful to make the distinction
between
collaboration at the policy-administrative level
and at
the operating-implementing level. While both
may be
desirable and perhaps essential, they do not necessarily
take place together. (20 130)
Apparently the matrix organization
theory provides the
current answer. Theory W takes the pure functional element
of organization structure and provides rightful connection
to the idea of strategy. In the process, the idea of
strategy transforms to a quantified structure.
Functional control. Functional
work can be planned,
____________________
104 See Pigge footnote, the Ohio
published
productivity, etc.in Otto's files.
The expert
Theory W 628
thus a standard can be set. Comparing actual performance
with the standard can result in a variance. Then in any
one
period many variances can be ranked for analysis. From
variance analysis comes either a change in performance,
usually through methodology, or a change in standard. Only
the large variances are analysed, thus the standards of
smaller variances remained unchanged.
The rational model.
The organization is viewed as an
instrument, i.e., a
rationally designed means for the realization of
explicit
goals of a particular group of people. The
organizational structure is regarded as a tool,
and
alterations of the organizational structure are
seen as
instruments for improving efficiency. (1 93)
Thus, modifications of the organization
take place as
the direct effects of the plans of a certain group
(the
mandator), with these modifications being made for
the
expressed purposes of implementing the mandator's
plans.
Changes are made in a deliberate manner, and the
replacement or modifications of one part can be
carried
out without significantly affecting the other parts.
(1 93)
Theory W goes beyond the rational
model in including
the individual worker in the modification, replacement,
change process. In this way other parts of the organization
are affected for the better - for the good of the whole
organization.
Program and project management
bring forth the idea of
task work, that is, the input and output effort of
individual workers. Task work can be seen as essential
within the management of organizations - an organization
The expert
Theory W 629
having from one to many members or workers.
In the context of the home, task
work could be
identified as chores.
In the context of education, task
work can be
identified from the subject heading of time-on-task.
In the context of business, task
work can be
identified from the collection of various product-oriented
activity records.
Historical evidence would indicate
that very few key
inventions have been made by men who had to spend
all
their energy overcoming the immediate pressures
of
survival. Atomic energy was discovered in
the
laboratories of basic science by individuals unaware
of
any threat of fossil fuel depletion. The first
genetic
experiments, which led a hundred years later to
high-yield agricultural crops, took place in the
peace of
a European monastery. Pressing human need
may have
forced the application of these basic discoveries
to
practical problems, but only freedom from need produced
the knowledge necessary for the practical applications.
(52 176)
