Compassion=incentives? ... RE: [Ailist] PsyBlog: DoYouBelieve inFree Will?

[Roger Davies]

Hi Lionel,

I think we are on similar wavelengths. This is an issue I have struggled
with and still do. There is a necessity for KPI's etc and to that extent a
necessary need to subjugate a degree of free will in most organizations.
However, we as individuals and organizations are not complete unless allowed
to exercise our free will in some way. The real and very important question
is where and how do organizations allow their members to exercise their free
will?

It has to be in an environment that will benefit the organization. It has to
be available to everyone. Most important of all senior leaders need to
recognize it as a necessity.

For me there are many small things like encouraging open conversations, open
door policies, getting people's input into projects, asking them to set
their own goals etc. Heck, help design the new entrance lobby decoration if
you want. There are many small ways in which we can exercise free will
without affecting those processes and systems that we must subjugate to in
order to effectively function as a business / organizational process.

Of course I missed out the fact that in accepting a position of employment
we are using our free will to intentionally subjugate ourselves for a
pre-determined benefit. Salaries and wages are the only acceptable
'incentives'.

Is it the use of free will that is some way generates compassion? In being
respected and having all our contributions valued do we subconsciously learn
to care about those who value us?

The rule of law and the right to liberty are not mutually exclusive. Either
on its own is not sustainable so we have to have the two in balance.

Roger

-----Original Message-----
From: Lionel Boxer [mailto:lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au] 
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 4:24 PM
To: stephanie at brainhygiene.com; bruce at bruceelkin.com; rdavies at rtpcompany.com
Cc: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: RE: Compassion=incentives? ... RE: [Ailist] PsyBlog: DoYouBelieve
inFree Will?


Further to Roger's explanation about compassion, I ask why do people care?
Perhaps:
- they have been brought up within a culture that makes the issue at hand
worth caring about
- their employer offers to pay an incentive if they deal with the issue at
hand in a certain way

When I hear people say, "Why should I care?  I get paid the same thing
either way" I think:
- that person has not been brought up in a culture that teaches them to care
about things
- that person has experienced years of abusive management
- that person is paid in a way that they are not able to care (confounded
incentive system)

I tend to agree with Roger and Dr W. Edwards Deming that incentives are not
a good idea.  However, they are most common in commercial and non-commercial
organisations.

On one hand, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are in some ways necessary to
let people know what they are expected to achieve in their jobs.  However,
on the other hand people learn how to "work" KPI measurements to their
benefit.  That can destroy the passion Roger is referring to.  So (what I
was referring to in my earlier post), in that sense incentives are related
to compassion; that is, an incentive can confounds or reinforce a person's
ability to care.

It appears that under the Foucauldian management gaze there is no such thing
as Free Will.  By accepting employment a person accepts the subjectivity of
the employer.

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au Graduate School of
Business my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory" 
now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net
>>> "Roger Davies" <rdavies at rtpcompany.com> 27/01/09 8:55 AM >>>
Hi Lionel,

.....

As with my example of a firefighter, acts of compassion occur because an
individual chooses to act a particular way because they care about the
outcome of a situation.