Following on from the previous post, it is important to note that what I am referring to as corporate values are those of the giant corporate world, not the values of business as it is usually conducted by small and medium enterprises who, in fact, are the lifeblood of our economy (in fact, most economies) but who risk at any time being swallowed up, or put out of business by the corporate world, with (probable) general negative consequences for workers and ultimately consumers, as has so often happened.
It is also very important to note that not everyone in the Pillars subscribes to corporate values – as stated in previous Chapters there are many remarkable people who challenge them. However, in my experience, they are in the minority, and often plough their own furrow. After all, if they weren’t, the world would be a different place.
Here are some of the corporate values that (from my observations) have filtered into the world of the Pillars. I have 20 – which is a nice round figure – if anyone thinks of another one let me know; then I can increase it to an even rounder figure of 21!
1. Success will come from ensuring that humans are constantly competing, and compared with each other. (This has unfortunately, also filtered into children’s education, as I mentioned when I critiqued the points system, and to a slightly lesser extent at the bottom of this post when I discussed STEM).
2. Preserving the institution is prioritised over truth – indeed, the institution must be protected at all costs.
3. It is better to cover up a mistake, (and/or blame someone else if something goes wrong), than to admit to the mistake and learn from it. This in endemic in the world of the Pillars.
4. One way knowledge flow [1] is superior to any other. That is, knowledge flows from one person who is an expert to another who is a passive recipient.
5. Things have to be done quickly because time is money.
6. Things have to be kept secret because knowledge is power.
7. If you pay someone loads of money the work that they do will be of a higher quality.
8. The bigger something is, and/or the more standardised the product, the better the service and cheaper it is to provide. (The implementation of this in our Health Service has coincided with spectacular failure. Can there be a link)?
9. The skills that technologists have are described as hard skills. The skills that people in the caring profession have are described as soft skills. (I’m not sure what the relevance of hard and soft is when used in the context of work)!
10. Anger among the workforce or in the organisation in general, is a bad thing.
11. Looking good in the media is vital because it ensures that we have a good image.
12. Anger expressed rationally and coherently always trumps the irrational outburst.
13. Status, rank (and possibly money) are the most important things when it comes to decision making.
14. It is risky to cooperate and share expertise, work, resources, ideas etc. with others because they may be rivals. (See 6 above).
15. The smartest and fittest not only survive but thrive, and those who can’t keep up are dismissed as having nothing to offer.
16. (Closely linked to 15). Humans who are needy have to be jettisoned because it takes too long to deal with their problems and they interfere with progress.
17. Ability to debate and argue is admired even if we don’t agree with what we are arguing for.
18. The smart comment often trumps the truth of a situation.
19. The term do-gooder has negative connotations. (I smell the whiff of the corporate world mixed with disingenuous room values. Surely it’s a noble and wonderful thing to do some good).
19. Because the working week in the corporate world is 39 hours – in Ireland anyway – those who support people – and are expected to be part of the process – who have the characteristics of the Focus Group are (usually) contracted to work 39 hours per week also. (See also this post)
20. And one of the greatest myths of all; the rising tide lifts all boats, an expression that links one of our most enduring, fascinating, predictable and beautiful natural phenomena (the tide) to the greedy and chaotic world of free-market economics.
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The corporate values above which abound in the Pillars inevitably filter down through the system to senior managers, junior managers, and ultimately staff on the ground, who often, though being idealistic and wishing to take a risk and/or be creative, feel powerless to differ from mainstream decision making processes.
And the consequences of this filtering or propagating of corporate values through the system of assisting families in distress and protecting their children include:
~ A greatly diminished service for families who need it most. In particular, promoting the values listed above to families who may be seeking guidance and direction in respect of their values.
~ Reduction in families’ confidence to trust themselves and over reliance on expert opinions.
And the most important one of all – and this is straight from the modern world of neuroscience:
~ To ensure maximum effectiveness we need to model, in our organisations, that which we desire in families. When we adopt corporate values, and we sideline, or even exclude those who can’t keep up or those who we deem to be making no contribution (or progress) we are doing the opposite of what we want parents to do – that is, to reach out to the hurt and vulnerable members of their families with compassion, understanding, hope and love.
To give an example of corporate values within community work, I note that in the recent past in Ireland, Community Development Projects (CDP’s) that had been initiated originally in local communities were, for some reason, amalgamated.
I have no idea why this happened – but I am fairly certain that there was some corporate influence. What I do know is that the local CDP’s had a brief that people who never had much say in their destiny found attractive and while they may not have been paragons of efficiency when measured from a commercial perspective, they were largely inclusive of local people.
I’m not sure if the amalgamated City-wide ones have the same sense of inclusion – they seem to me to be entities towards which the corporate world influenced Pillars are more favourably disposed.
[1]. I will use this term again and again in the website. I stress that the word knowledge in this case encompasses our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions as is described here.