Organization Design – Seek and Ye Shall Find

By Michelle Malay Carter on February 24, 2008 

magnify.jpgThanks to David Zinger of the?Employee Engagement Network who pointed?me toward a stimulating poem by architect Moshe Safdie.

He who seeks truth shall find beauty
He who seeks beauty shall find vanity

He who seeks order shall find gratification
He who seeks gratification shall be disappointed

He who considers himself a servant of his fellow beings shall find the joy of self expression
He who seeks self expression shall fall into the pit of arrogance

Arrogance is incompatible with nature
Through nature the nature of the universe and the nature of man we shall seek truth
If we seek truth we shall find beauty

~ Moshe Safdie

After reading the poem, I decided to use the same format to speak about what organizations should be seeking and not seeking.

Employee Engagement
For example, I think employee engagement is critical but is not a goal in and of itself, but rather, a byproduct of sound organization design and structure.? As such, seeking it directly will be fraught with waste.? So here is my poem for your perusal.

Seek and Ye Shall Find

Organizations that seek to enable will find engagement.
Organizations that seek engagement will find manipulation.

Organizations that seek to encourage will find development.
Organizations that seek development will find resistance.

Organizations that seek to question will find innovation.
Organizations that seek innovation will find elitism.

Organizations that seek to align will find communication.
Organizations that seek communication will find platitudes.

Organizations that seek to understand work levels will find leaders.
Organizations that seek leaders will find power mongers.

Organizations that seek to clarify will find accountability.
Organizations that seek accountability will find scapegoats.

Organizations that seek to be fair will find trust.
Organizations that seek trust will find teambuilding exercises.

~ Michelle Malay Carter

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.?

What lines would you add to my poem?

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization

Comments

3 Responses to “Organization Design – Seek and Ye Shall Find”

  1. David Zinger on February 24th, 2008 4:54 pm

    I love your work on revising this poem from an employee engagement perspective. Well done.

    Organizations that see themselves as servants of the individuals who make the organization will find individuals who serve the organization.

  2. Michelle Malay Carter on February 24th, 2008 6:12 pm

    David,

    Thanks for the comment. I agree. True leaders serve.

    Michelle

  3. How To Motivate Employees – Newsflash: It’s Not a Manager’s Job | Mission Minded Management on June 20th, 2011 7:48 am

    […] Red Herrings Motivation is a side effect, not the goal.? Because we operate under faulty assumptions about work and human nature, well-intentioned managers, organizational development consultants, and human resource professionals spend a lot of time chasing red herrings.? I wrote an entire poem on this subject, Organization Design – Seek and Ye Shall Find. […]