Our traditional view of sin is that it is a violation of an explicit rule or law. Over the weekend, I heard a definition of sin used by a Greek orthodox priest which was this: Sin is not paying close enough attention to others. That definition got my attention partially because I was at a memorial service earlier in the weekend where the minister mispronounced a couple of names. It wasn't a big deal in some respects and the rest of the service was lovely, but it also caught my attention and seemed inattentive. I would never have called it a sin until I heard this new definition but in contemplating it, it also didn't seem completely off. A minister's task at a memorial is to honor the deceased and comfort their family but in mispronouncing two family names, he immediately gave a sense of casualness about the event that could not have been comforting. Now I'm being a bit overly critical in this case but it was a clear example of how not paying enough attention affected the outcome of an important process.
Taking the sin question out of the personal context and thinking about how organizations 'sin' or execute poorly, the definition seems even more apropos. Organizations are typically pretty self-absorbed. Organizational management typically defines their market, their product, the roles & responsibilities of their employees - and pursues those objectives often in spite of what other people and companies in their ecosystem want or need. They don't pay particularly close attention to the needs of others. In fact if most large organizations were seen as spouses they would be the domineering, egocentric variety that expects compliance from their spouse. They would not be seen as equal partners in an ongoing negotiation of the needs of both parties. Thinking about it in that light, most large organizations have pretty dysfunctional relationships with their various constituent groups.
For organizations that are looking to be more 'social' this question of balancing out their relationships to allow for a more equitable dialog is critical. How do you give and take so that the needs and desires of every party in the relationship is accommodated? How do you budget and manage in way that acknowledges the needs and priorities of people and organizations with whom you do business? Do you invite customers in to help you plan your budgets? I am starting to see discussions around the need of organizations to treat employees less paternalisticly but in order to truly have an 'adult' relationship with others, organizations will have to learn how to pay attention and give up a little control. What they will get in exchange is employees that feel responsible, empowered, and committed to the mission of the organization where they are now simply a 'resource' deployed in exchange for a salary. The first step, however, is paying closer attention.
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