The Role of Work
The Role of Work
The Role of Work
1 (2012)
*
Michael F. Reber ([email protected]) is coordinator of the Frdric Bastiat
Revival Blog, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Value and Decision
Science of the Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology at Tokyo Institute
of Technology, and a freelance systems thinking consultant in free market economics and
trade, government relations, crisis communications, and human resources.
CITATION INFORMATION FOR THIS ARTICLE:
Michael F. Reber. 2012. The Role of Work: A Eudaimonistic Perspective. Libertarian
Papers. 4 (1): 1-26. ONLINE AT: libertarianpapers.org. THIS ARTICLE IS subject to a Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses).
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Philosophical Underpinnings
Understanding the role of education in a free society means
understanding the role of education in a self-actualizing society, where self-
actualization is the actualization of an individuals inherent potential worth.
Therefore, a self-actualizing society is one in which two purposes as related
to educere (the drawing out of ones inherent potential) are fulfilled: a)
enhancement of the quality of life of human beings and b) provision of
the necessary but non-self-suppliable conditions for optimizing
opportunities for individual self-discovery and self-development (Norton
1991, 80).
According to the eudaimonistic philosopher David Norton,
enhancement of the quality of life means the acquisition by human beings of
moral virtues, where moral virtues are understood as dispositions of character
that are (1) personal utilities; (2) intrinsic goods; and (3) social utilities (ibid.,
80-81). The kinds of virtues Norton employs are cardinal virtues, which are
virtues that are indispensable to worthy living of every kindwisdom,
courage, temperance, and justiceand distributed virtues, which are virtues
that are indispensable to worthy lives of some, but not all, kinds (ibid., 81).
Furthermore, a virtue consists of the practices (what Howard Gardner calls
domains), the good of the whole life, and the good of the community life
(Gardner 1993, 1999a, 1999b, 2006). An equation of their relationship can be
illustrated as follows:
Practice + The Good of the Whole Life + The Good of the Community Life
= Virtue
In addition to Norton, Alasdair MacIntyre in, After Virtue, puts forth the
thesis that human life and its activities must be guided by a sound theory of
the good life, that is a life grounded in an Aristotelian sense of the virtues:
The conception of a good has to be expounded in terms of such notions as
those of a practice, of the narrative unity of a human life and of a moral
tradition (1984, 258). Also, a conception of the good life and with it the only
grounds for the authority of laws and virtues, can only be discovered by
entering into those relationships which constitute communities whose central
bond is a shared vision of and understanding of goods. To cut oneself off
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Philosophical Underpinnings
Returning to our discussion of the meaningful life as it relates to
education and work, we are led to ask, Why is the good of ones life
contingent upon the practices? MacIntyre answers this question in relation
to the life of a portrait artist. He states that for what the artist discovers
within the pursuit of excellence in portrait paintingand what is true of
portrait painting is true of the practice of the fine arts in generalis the good
of a certain kind of life (1984, 190). As we stated earlier, a field is the set of
institutions and judges that determine which products within a domain are of
merit. This merit is what MacIntyre refers to as a set of standards of
excellence and obedience to rules as well as the achievement of goods
(ibid.). By adhering to a set of standards within ones practice so he may
achieve the work that is his to achieve, the practitioner is ubiquitously
actualizing his inner potentials and sustaining justice.
Furthermore, Norton (1976) contends that work is not something to
satisfy a utilitarian economic agenda or something people hate to do because
they have to do it to make a living. Work as discussed here is essential to the
unity of life for two reasons. Firstly, a person is irredeemably and essentially
a future to be made present, a potentiality to be progressively actualized, and
it is this task of actualization that furnishes the term work with its profound
meaning (ibid., 311). In other words, work is what makes a person whole.
When an individual is doing the work that is his to do in life, his past,
present, and future are all one. Wherever in time we might find this person in
his life as he is doing his work, we should find him living out his life as he
sees it should be lived out. His past actions build upon the work of his
present actions and his present actions build upon the work of his future
actions. This is what is meant by the unity of a lifeThough an individual
will never reach his ultimate potential through the work that is his to do, it is
THE ROLE OF WORK 7
Simply put, the ends dont justify the means! Ones means must be
compatible with ones ends. The goal of pursuing excellence in portrait painting
does not condone the portrait artist to forego his virtues of justice, truth, and
courage in order to create a great painting. In addition, if the portrait artist
only cares about external goodsfame, prestige, and moneyhe loses sight
of those ideals that his profession embraces. At the same time, his virtues fall
to the wayside and this may ultimately erode the profession from within if
neophytes follow his lead, thus contributing to a vicious cycle of standards
erosion and knocking everyones moral compass off course.
At the same time one is doing the work that is his to do, the practitioner
is also maintaining an Aristotelian form of justice that MacIntyre refers to as
the recognition of desert, an understanding of what is due to whom (1984,
191). Furthermore, in order to be entitled to those things that one deserves,
he must have contributed in some substantial way to the achievement of
those goods, the sharing of which and the common pursuit of which provide
foundations for human community (ibid., 202). Norton expands upon this
discussion and describes justice as follows:
Justice is the paramount virtue of society, as integrity is the cardinal
virtue of personal life. Justice, in the first instance, subsists in
principles for the allocation of goods and responsibilities within a
social grouping. Concerning the source of these principles,
normative individualism [self-actualization] contends that they
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In other words, the work that one chooses to do invariably commands him
to accept as necessary components of any practice with internal goods and
standards of excellence the virtues of justice, courage and honesty
(MacIntyre 1984, 191). As the practitioner defines his relationships with those
in his practice and those of other practices, he comes to understand that he is
only entitled to those commensurate goods whose potential worth he can
maximally actualize in accordance with his destiny, his meaningful work
(Norton 1976, 311). This kind of entitlement is what Norton refers to as an
upper limit entitlement. It is only concerned with self-actualization. Lower
limit entitlements are those needs that Abraham Maslow (1987) discusses in
his hierarchy of needs: physiological, safety, belongingness and love, and
esteem needs.
implications then give rise to the vision of a future human resources system,
such as: An open and transformational global human resources system that
exists to: a) assist employees with actualizing their potential worth which in
turn assists the company with creating valuable products for customers and
providing a rewarding return to shareholders, b) pay remuneration to
employees which is commensurate with each persons value, company status,
and geographical location, c) create and sustain the next generation of leaders
within the company, and d) assist employees with retirement planning.
Once the visions and new realities are stated, the next step is to choose
the type of system to be employed. In order to navigate to this, Banathy
suggests creating an Option Field, that is, a framework that establishes design
inquiry boundaries and creates design options of a desired future system
(1996, 63). Ludwig von Bertalanffy in criticizing the U.S. intervention in
Vietnam stated that the entire enterprise was doomedbecause our
governments systems analysts had failed to use one of the most important
concepts of the general systems approach: boundary definition (Davidson 1983,
33). Davidson states that the purpose of boundary definition is to achieve a
focus that is wide enough to include all factors that are relevant (ibid.). The
Option Field that Banathy purports includes four dimensions: focus of
inquiry, scope, relationships with other systems, and types of systems. Within
each dimension a multitude of possible options exists that work from a
closed system to an open system (Banathy 1996, 63). Figure 3 illustrates an
option field for a possible transformational human resource system.
THE ROLE OF WORK 13
tells employees, We do not care what methods you choose to meet the
strategic outcomes we have given you, just as long as you meet them.
A holistic system is grounded in viewing the organization holistically.
Employees are empowered with vertical-horizontal input which means they
have the authority to work across organizational units in developing rewards
systems for meeting centralized organizational strategic outcomes. This
requires units to coordinate their efforts in developing equitable rewards
systems.
A transformational system is one in which the scope of inquiry is on
organizational actualization via the process of employee self-actualization, as
was prefaced earlier in the paper. This requires a paradigm shift in the
organizations concept of work. First and foremost the organizational culture
recognizes that individuals are whole persons who are in a process of
actualizing their fullest potential worth as human beings and that work is a
vehicle by which this actualization occurs in mature individuals. As
employees of the organization, each person made a conscious decision to join
the organization because he subscribes to the values of the organization and
believes in the worthy products it produces for society. Therefore, people do
not work solely for financial gain. If this were the case, the proper term here
would be labor and not work. Under the notion of work proposed here,
money, rewards, or remuneration is only one aspect of the benefits derived
from producing something meaningful. People work because they wish to
produce something valuable for society as well as intrinsically rewarding for
themselves, and money, bonuses, or remuneration is intrinsic value incarnate.
Therefore, human resource systems must be designed in a manner that
recognize a eudaimonistic notion of work, and in doing so recognize that
human resource systems must be integrated with outside systems in order to
be truly transformational. For example, under a transformational human
resource management training program a companys human resources unit
would have systems in place for training, development, and succession of
management. Outside systems, such as the University of Cambridge Judge
School of Business Centre for International Human Resource Management
would be integrated into the companys training, development, and
succession program. Research or new insights from the Centre would play a
critical role in determining the form and function of the companys training
system.
THE ROLE OF WORK 15
After an option field is created, the next step in the Banathy Method is
to create change dimensions. These dimensions basically show the kinds of
models available to the designers, as illustrated in Figure 4. For a
transformational human resource system, the context would be a novel
context with a trigger of a new system and the focus of change being novelty.
After selecting the kind of system to create, the next step in the Banathy
Method is to develop values and core ideas upon which the system will be
founded. For a transformational human resource system, the principles of
self-actualization, symbolic interactionist social psychology, self-government,
employee-centered and employee-directed training, and systemic design may
serve as core ideas. Furthermore, the following values could be adopted: We
believe that
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1. Every individual is unique from birth and actualizes his potential worth
until death.
2. Work is the activity mature individuals perform to actualize their
potential worth.
3. An organization is the collective actualizing power of self-actualizing
individuals who share a common vision, belief system, and values for
creating worthy products for society.
4. The world is a symbolic one and people continually interactprobe and
testwith the environment within which they live in order to adjust
harmoniously to its changes.
5. The design of organizational systems best occurs through participatory
democratic measures.
6. Human resource systems exist to coordinate the actualization of
personal excellences of employees within an organization.
Based upon these ideas and values, an image of a future human resource
system can be created, such as, Human resources should
Assist individual employees with actualizing their potential worth
by identifying their greatest skills and interests and matching
those skills and interests with meaningful work in the
organization which will in turn create valuable products for
consumers and rewarding value for shareholders.
Assist individual employees with directing their own training and
development in order to actualize their greatest potential within
the organization.
Create remuneration systems for employees commensurate with
each persons value, organizational status, and geographical
location.
Identify, develop, and sustain the next generation of leaders
within the organization.
Assist employees with retirement planning and utilize retirees in
training and development programs.
THE ROLE OF WORK 17
The new ideas, values, and image which are developed are now part of
the new knowledge, context, content, and methods of a human resource
system. Using Banthys Systems Design Architecture, one is able to design a
transformational human resource system. The Banathy Systems Design
Architectural approach is illustrated in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Banathys Systems Design Architecture and Its Dynamics (1996, 72, 74)
Figure 7. Three Systems Models that Portray Design Outcomes (ibid., 79-80)
THE ROLE OF WORK 19
In Figure 8 the visions, core values & ideas, image of a human resource
system, and the mission and purposes statements positively influence the
goals, objectives, desired strategic outcomes, and strategic actions and is
indicated with a black arrow (S) symbol. The S means a same directional
move. Furthermore, if the strategic actions yield actual outcomes which meet
the desired strategic outcomes, then no revisions will be necessary. However,
if the opposite is true, then an increase in revisions will be required to close
the gap between actual and desired outcomes. This is indicated with a
green arrow (O). The O means an opposite directional move. This
should then have a positive impact upon revising the goals, objectives,
desired strategic outcomes, and/or strategic actions. This is indicated with a
black dotted arrow ( S--->) symbol. The dotted line represents unseen
positive effects which will only be known after evaluating the next round of
actual outcomes.
THE ROLE OF WORK 21
Conclusion
It is clear from this synopsis that the Taylorian scientific management
approach can no longer be considered a legitimate paradigm for managing
people and organizations. As stated at the outset, humanity is moving from
evolutionary consciousness toward conscious evolution due in part to our
recognition and greater understanding of the systems thinking principle of
anamorphosis. Furthermore, a eudaimonistic philosophy has taken hold
worldwide and people are no longer considered human capital to be
THE ROLE OF WORK 23
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