Jamie and Maren Showkeir, authors of the book Authentic Conversations, also write a blog about the same concept. Their work is inspiring, and I often find myself referring to their book when I talk with organization members about how they can bring more authenticity into their organizations through their relationships with each other.
Just yesterday, we had an interesting overlap – both blogs published posts that raise a concern that real people disappear when we start to think of “the organization”.
Jamie pointed this out in the comments on the post, but there’s even more to it. Here’s a clip from the Showkeirs’ post:
By seeing people as “the organization,” they lose their histories, dreams and choices. By seeing people as targets of change waiting to be transformed by our leadership or new programs, we seriously delude ourselves. Absorbed in our manipulation, we focus attention where it will be futile. …
What is real is the flesh and blood of a person. We find them standing before us with their history, dreams and possibilities. If we want change, we must engage this person, not some abstraction we have created.
Even when we know intellectually that it’s not “Organizations” that behave, or change, or seek, but instead that it’s the people who compose organizations that do anything and everything …. we still do well to remember that it is the real people, each with their “histories, dreams and choices” with whom we want and need to engage.