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Despite a strong U.S. economy, unsettled change continues to bombard
us. Mega-mergers boggle the mind with the endless zeros streaming
behind a behemoth's financial size. We gasp at the number of employees
cast off from a consolidated giant. We see plant closures and layoffs
in everything from clothing manufacturing to banking. Overnight
web companies turn almost under-age youth into millionaires and
executives at age 40 are left scratching their heads or unemployed.
Technology shifts overnight. Medical research makes DNA a poster
child for both dreams and nightmares. There's so much, so fast.
Despite statistics that put this as the lowest employment
rate in decades, there's pain and inaccuracy behind these cold numbers.
And in all of this, we're working more but feeling as if we're earning
less. There's too much to do and too little time.
The cry echoed across business publications, employee
surveys, human resource conferences, and on-line chat rooms is this:
help us with chaos and balance! Within a 48-hour period, the headlines
of the Los Angeles Times business section, a cover story in the latest
issue of Fast Company, and the lead article from Fortune all proclaimed
the same thing: workers want help with turbulent change and work/life
balance.
In the January 11, 1999 edition FORTUNE, you'll uncover
an array of work/life balance practices found in the top 100 companies
to work for in America. Rather than give a category of these practices,
this article offers some thoughts on how to deal with the second,
and equally challenging issue: how to deal with the chaos of unending
change.
Surprisingly, history can often provide invaluable
lessons and solutions to today's challenges. In the sixth-century,
the Rule of Saint Benedict asked monks to take vows of stability,
"conversatio" (Latin), and obedience.
Stability emphasized the need to work for the good
of the community. Hence, all actions taken were in the context of
"will this be of assistance to all rather than just a few?"
Certainly this wisdom must be at the center of the top-ranked place
to work in America Synovus Financial, whose employees say it has "
a culture of the heart." Obedience meant that once the monastery
had made a decision (after a practice of hearing from the many members
of the community), the monks followed. Independent thinking in business
is good to a point, but the team has to always move and take action
in the same direction.
Of even more significance is the ancient word conversatio,
a term that is difficult to translate. Conversatio connotes a commitment
to live faithfully in unsettled times and to keep one's life open.
Such a paradox: remain settled; stay open to change! For the monks
of the Middle Ages, living faithfully meant listening to an inner
voice and responding to the call.
For those of us in the 21st century business world,
living faithfully also means listening and responding. Here's what
we need to listen to: the stories we tell and those around us tell,
regarding an organization's consistent adherence to values shown by
actions that match core beliefs. If there are no stories, there will
be trouble. It means listening with empathy and responsiveness to
the needs of others within the organization as well as to your own
'inner voice.' How well do you practice conversatio?
At a time when we hear terms like "spirit"
and "soul" more and more frequently in the workplace, the
wisdom of a sixth century monk might help us all deal with the realities
of this demanding world.
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