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[authenticity] [due diligence] [empowerment] [interference] [organization] [people management] [relationship] [responsibility] [trust]



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Authenticity

see also Trust

Authenticity has an outward-facing aspect and an inward-facing aspect.

The outward-facing aspect is to do with one's integrity in relations with others.

Inward-facing authenticity has to do with being in touch with one's values, feelings and desires.
  

Veryard Project Papers A systems view of authenticity


Due Diligence

Usually refers to an inauthentic procedural form of responsibility, in which managers mime attention to something important, going through the motions with just enough energy and attention to evade liability.

This is therefore one of the many management terms whose meaning in practice is almost exactly opposite to its literal meaning.


Empowerment

Empowerment means that people (typically employees) are granted a level of authority over their work or other aspects of their lives.

The word empowerment is much abused. Many organizations preach it insincerely. In the worst cases, it is used as a label for its opposite: coercing staff to work harder (or to do unpaid overtime) to please customers, without giving them the resources or support that they need to do it properly. "You are empowered, so how dare you leave the office at 5pm?"

But in the best cases, it is a label for a sense of shared responsibility and authority, a shared confidence that management will back me up and reward my well-meant attempts to please the customer.

Empowerment may also include the freedom to use discretion and judgement in interpreting and responding to events, and the opportunity to influence the agenda, and to set/negotiate goals and priorities.
  

Veryard Project Papers Enabling, Encouraging & Empowering


Interference

A complex phenomenon that occurs when you try to put two or more acts of management or regulation together. This is one of the reasons why management doesn't obey simple arithmetic. 
Veryard Project Papers Interference (Management and Information)
Regulation Interference


Organization

Literally: The process of organizing people to support the business mission.

Once: A fixed allocation of power and resources. A management hierarchy of delegation and reporting.

Increasingly: The growth of individuals and groups in capability and maturity.
  

Internet Links International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations


People Management

A style of management that aims to satisfy the aspirations and development needs of the people working in the organization. A style of management that seeks conguence between the demands placed on people, and the capabilities and resources available to them. (Seems obvious, doesn't it? But many managers, particularly in the software industry, need help with the details.)


Relationship

Once: A fixed contract between supplier and customer. Zero-sum negotiation.

Increasingly: Mutual responsiveness and partnership. Shared exploration of common interest. Win-win negotiation.
  

Veryard Project Papers Business Relationship Management
Internet Links Customer Relationship Management: Mass Customization, Call Centres, et al


Responsibility

Responsibility is an answerability (of an agent to another agent) for a given state of affairs.


Trust

Trust is commonly regarded as a positive good - the lubricant of business relationships. Like oil, it is slippery and difficult to grasp. Depends on knowledge and commitment. Not the same as the absence of mistrust.
  
Veryard Project Papers Trust
A systems view of trust


 
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