FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  Since the publication of the thesis, the author has given many public lectures, both in America and in Europe , along with interviews to the written and electronic media, in the hopes of reaching many different audiences. The purpose of these public presentations has been to explain the findings of the thesis as well as the functioning of the new ISMA(1)  made up of the activities associated with the new M.T. (1)


During all these meetings, the author has been asked many questions, both oral and written, which are summarized here in 27 basic questions(2) and are grouped into four distinct categories. The order of these categories will contribute first of all to making Our Project more understandable and also to putting it into practice, thanks to the implementation of the activities associated with the ISMA(H). Here are the four categories:

1st category

The source of inspiration underlying the implementation of Our Project

1 - Why were you inspired to experiment with and implement this very out-of-the-ordinary Project?

2 - The management of this Project has certainly been easy for J.- Robert Ouimet ; isn't he the main stockholder ? He can do what he wants, no?

3 - In the texts of the Project and during your lectures, why do you never use the word employees when you speak of the personnel of your company? And why do you frequently use the word to work instead of to work?

4 - Why is the quite original group of activities associated with the M.T. called ISMA(H) ?

5 - Do you feel that the Project you speak about can complement and strengthen the market economy as well as any organization's operation ?

2nd category

How to implement it. The stages of the process

6 - What are the basic conditions that must exist in a company before the activities associated with the M.T. can be started ?

7 -Which company managers, or which department, must be responsible for implementing the activities of the ISMA(H) associated with Our Project?


8 - What are the main stages at the start of the implementation process?

9 - In what order can implementation be carried out?

10 - Can this Project be put into practice and lived out in a unionized company or organization?

11 - Can this Project be put into practice and lived out in a company where the employees are of many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds ?

12 - Why does your ISMA(H) have so many different activities ?

13 - Is it not only possible but also necessary to discover and to create new M.T.?

14 - Are the two scientific research projects absolutely necessary?

3th category

Difficulties encountered in the implementation. Possible solutions

15 - What are the main reasons for the problems encountered during the implementation of Our Project?

16 - Which are the four activities that are the most difficult to put into practice ? Which are the four easiest ?

17 - How many years are necessary for the personnel to be satisfied with the climate of individual and collective      freedom in relation to participating or not in the activities of the M.T.?

18 - How much time is necessary for everyone to be satisfied with the degree of authenticity between the     management and the rest of the personnel in relation to implementing the activities of Our Project?

19 - How can manipulation be avoided?

20 - Is it easy to find managers interested in and capable of living out Our Project?

21 - What are the two main reasons that explain why very few companies or organizations carry on similar experiments for more than 15 years?

22 - Are there many influential managers interested in living out this type of experimentation?

23 - Isn't what you are living out in your company really a form of paternalism ?

4th category

Particular difficulties: the counter-values, humanization and spiritualization values

24 - How do the counter-values present in the work place show up in the day-to-day living out of Our Project?

25 - Why cannot humanization values alone neutralize the counter-values in the long-term?

26 - How can the counter-values be neutralized in the work place?

27 - Is not the line between the spiritual and human dimensions very thin in Our Project? 

 

 

1 - Why were you inspired to experiment with and implement this very out-of-the-ordinary Project?

For many reasons. Here are some of them. First of all, for the founder of the company, for his successor, and for many deceased and retired people as well as for those still working in the company today, the Parable of the Talents (1) is a call to put Our Project into practice. When you have received much, isn't it simple justice and fairness to give much ?

Many are also convinced that with all the property rights and privileges that go with management, there is an equal number of duties and obligations. The creation of profit is the basic goal and priority of the market economy, but profit is not the only goal, far from it, even if, at the beginning of the 3 rd millenium especially in the West, globalization makes businesses forget, or allows them to forget, the other basic goal of the market economy and human work.

Work exists for people and not people for work. For all those with hearts of flesh—they are far more numerous than many think—the primacy of human dignity, the growth of justice and fairness in the work place, the increase of the possibility and necessity of helping, respecting, and loving others are of great importance too.

For all these reasons and many others, the experimentation with and the implementation of Our Project , quite out-of-the-ordinary, are necessary. Our ISMA(H) humanizes and spiritualizes the market economy, while preserving its essential and necessary strengths . All the activities associated with the numerous M.T. contribute to the slow and long-term growth of happiness, well being, solidarity, and brotherhood (loving others), and, at the same time, they stimulate the necessary efforts to increase good communication, efficiency, productivity, and competitive profitability.

 

 

 

 

2- The management of this Project has certainly been easy for J.- Robert Ouimet ; isn't he the main stockholder? He can do what he wants, no?

No! Just the opposite is true. Being the main stockholder can make people in the company afraid. Their fear is moreover legitimate . There is a danger of abusing power , even if only very subtly. On the other hand, there is no doubt that being the main stockholder makes it easier to decide things rapidly (whether for good or for bad). It is important to underline also that our company has existed since 1933, and if we had operated in a climate of "dictatorship," not only Our Project would have long ago been abandoned but also our company would no longer exist. The personnel would have "blown it out of the water." And rightly so.

There is no doubt that in a company or organization in which there are 10 stockholders, who together hold the balance of power , certain difficulties arise concerning the implementation of Our Project . For example, there must be an agreement among the stockholders who hold the balance of power about starting to implement Our Project . This consensus is certainly not always easy to obtain.

The same argument applies in a public company where there are many stockholders. In this case, the president or chief executive officer, elected by the board of directors, holds a lot of power, but he cannot predict how his stockholders will react when faced with implementing Our Project . He must then consult the board, and if the majority of the members are open to beginning (and this will probably not be frequent, due to the risks that have to be taken), then the president can act.

Where the board of directors does not agree, what can the president or the chief executive officer do if he is courageous and mainly concerned, not only with economic efficiency but also with the primacy of human dignity and the growth and well being of everyone in the work place? Such a president or first manager, preoccupied as much with efficiency and profits as with people's inner development at work will be able to begin implementing certain M.T. in one sector of the company . There are more of these managers than many people think. He will see how things go and progressively, over the years, will be able to push the implementation ahead.

__________________

(1) (1) The Parable of the Talents comes to us of course from Jesus Christ (Mt 25:14-30). We believe that even if this parable is interpreted from an exclusively humanistic point of view, it clearly indicates that in all human relationships, sharing is necessary among those who have received more, or much more, than others. It is simple justice and fairness that all people of good will naturally feel in their consciences and hearts of flesh.ct? 

 

 

 

3- In the texts of the Project  and during your lectures, why do you never use the word employees when you speak of the personnel of your company? And why do you frequently use the word to work  instead of to work?

It is of course true that legally each person working ( ouvrant ) in our companies is an employee , but in human relationships, this is only part of the picture. In Our Project , we try to see all people working in our organization, in all their dignity, as persons created and loved by God Love and in whom He lives (everyone seeing God or Supreme Being in his or her own way). Therefore, all the people in the company are highly valuable . This is why we say "every human being, each person, working ( ouvrant ) in our company." It is more than just a question of semantics. Of course, we live this primacy of each person's dignity to the best of our ability, sometimes imperfectly because we are human, and errors and egotism will always exist. What counts though is that we are persistent in our efforts.

Why do we so frequently use the expression "work ( ouvrer ) in our company" instead of "work ( travailler ) in our company? This way of speaking comes from the great importance that we give to the primacy of each person's dignity in the work place.

Work is beautiful. It is really a work (oeuvre) to be accomplished. It is a task to be done. It is the giving of meaning to work. Every act at work therefore can even acquire a meaning that goes far beyond the act itself, and in the grace of faith, it can take on an eternal meaning (each person perceiving the meaning of the word eternal in his or her own way). In addition, human work is of course useful to the people who accomplish it, assuring their security, but is it not also useful to their families, whatever form those families take? So, by this way of speaking, we really want to show what we are trying to accomplish in our company: it is a work ( ouvre ), beautiful and good if possible.

 

 

 

4-  Why is the quite original group of activities associated with the M.T. called ISMA(H) ?

All the management schools of the world at the beginning of the 21 st century teach the different ISMA(E) to promote efficient management. And if the organization functions in the market economy, then it must be managed so as to be profitable, in the short and long term. The integrated systems of economic management stand on the foundation of efficiency (the left-hand column of Our Project ). These systems clearly describe and teach the stages to go through for managing any organization whose role is to be efficient, and profitable if necessary. The main stages are planning, organization, coordination, motivation, and control. Then the cycle starts again.

The foundation of the right-hand column of Our Project is made up of all the values related to the primacy of the human dignity of each person working in the company or organization .

The doctoral thesis explained how a whole series of activities related to the non-economic M.T. (the right-hand column) were experimented with over the years. Certain ones foster in the work place a cluster of humanization values; others foster a cluster of mixed values of humanization and spiritualization; and finally a third group of M.T. offers people who participate in the activities associated with these tools, a cluster of spiritual values.

We have explained how this cluster of non-economic M.T. can foster in the work place a balanced, but varied, range of humanization values, mixed values, and spiritualization values. We have also explained why the system of values is a living system and why and how it functions in a feedback loop. These values function in a feedback loop and are constantly in competition, we might even say in conflict, with the counter-values that we spoke about in the thesis: pride, greed, envy, anger, laziness etc. See the 4 th category of questions.

The cluster of activities in the right-hand column thus forms an ISMA(H) that can strengthen and increase people's well being and happiness by fostering over time values in the work place.

Every organization and company therefore needs a two-part integrated system of management: one for economic concerns and one for non-economic concerns .
We very much hope that all management schools and human resources programs everywhere in the world will learn about the existence and working of this very new ISMA(H) so as to strengthen the movement of values and people's well being and happiness. We know that when people are happy, they work better, they develop their inner selves, and they increase their productivity, efficiency, and creativity. What is more, is it not true that the growth of people's well being at work enriches and enlivens not only their families' well being but also that of their whole social environment?feel in their consciences and hearts of flesh.ct? 

 

 

 

5- Do you feel that the Project you speak about can complement and strengthen the market economy as well as any organization's operation ?

Of course. We are convinced that in modern times the market economy is by far the best economic system. It creates the most wealth, both in quantity and over the long-term. It calls for individual and collective initiative and creativity. It rewards best those who contribute the most to a company's performance, which is fair in a certain sense, if there is no exaggeration. Obviously, we all know there are many and serious exaggerations, and in certain cases injustices and important frauds, many of which have recently been made public. In North America especially, the American and Canadian governments, as well as many important companies' boards of directors, have inaugurated programs to reduce the problem: new and improved laws and regulations to rapidly reduce, if not to eliminate fraud, theft, false representation, and conflicts of interest as well as to increase transparency, honesty, and the pursuit of the common good.

We would like to stress that this system functions much better than in the 19 th century when two very revolutionary documents were written: Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. Since that time, we have greatly increased the justice and fairness of the market economy. Since the Second World War, many improvements relating to justice and fairness have been made to the system: the Charter of Human Rights, labor codes in many countries, more just and fairer collective agreements, a better distribution of wealth through the tax system (even if the redistribution will always be imperfect), social security systems that protect as best they can the weaker and poorer members of society, etc.

We believe Our Project can give to the market economy, and to the efficiency of every human organization, a new boost for increasing human well being and dignity, justice and fairness towards people in the work place, while maintaining the strengths of the system. If this is not done, there will probably be, and rather soon, on Planet Earth, a revolution the size of which we have not seen since the beginning of the 19 th century. Communism appears to have disappeared from most countries. However, the growing inequalities in wealth among countries and among a minute group of high-level company managers, on the one hand, and the rest of the population, on the other, is becoming dangerously explosive! What is more, in the West especially, are there not, at the beginning of this 3 rd millenium, more and more exhausted people working in companies, people who find no meaning in their work and very often no meaning in their lives?

We are convinced that Our Project can give a breath of fresh air to the market economy, to the functioning of all organizations, and to our civilization, but we need some courageous managers and/or influential stockholders who want to share with others and not just think about themselves. 

 

 

2 nd category: How to implement it. The stages of the process.

 

6-What are the basic conditions that must exist in a company before the activities associated with the M.T. can be started ?

There are six basic conditions that must exist before starting the activities in different companies, businesses, or organizations anywhere in the world:

Salaries and social security benefits offered to each person working in the company must be at least comparable (permitting a decent standard of life) to those offered in businesses of similar size and activity.

There must be a healthy climate of freedom, both individual and collective, with regards to people's participation or not in the activities associated with the M.T.

There must be in the organization a leader or group of leaders, an influential stockholder or group of stockholders , interested in living out the spirit of Our Project . They must be ready to face the challenges that will present themselves and to take them on during the gradual implementation of the different activities of the new ISMA(H). They will have to be ready to assume the costs related to making Our Project work.(1) For more precise information, see questions 7 and 8.

The implementation of the activities and the M.T. must be carried out progressively . See questions 8, 9, 15, and 16.

Influential managers or stockholders who have decided to implement the M.T. must first of all aim at the long-term growth of the well being of everyone working in the company. The implementation of the activities must not have as its primary objective the growth of efficiency and profits . In any case, people in the work place will catch on right away and will not be taken in. The thesis proves, however, that if the implementation of the activities is first and foremost carried out for the well being of the people working in the organization, then efficiency and motivation will naturally and legitimately increase, profitability too.

This last condition is fundamental . There must be in the department or organization that tries to implement the new M.T. a small spiritual support group composed, at least in the beginning of the implementing process, of managers and/or stockholders interested in implementing Our Project . The objectives and operation of the spiritual support group are described in The Golden Book . Without this support group, we are convinced that Our Project will not survive over time . 

 

7- Which company managers, or which department, must be responsible for implementing the activities of the ISMA(H) associated with Our Project ?

The ideal is certainly that the company's director general, if not some influential stockholders, be responsible for seeing to it that the implementation of the activities associated with the ISMA(H) is carried out progressively. They should follow the guidelines described in the questions and answers in this chapter.

These leaders will make sure that there is in the organization, if it has 500 people working for it, an upper-level personnel manager (who is unfortunately called the human resources manager, as if human beings are resources). There must be, however, an agreement and a "clear understanding" between this personnel manager and the director general and/or the influential stockholders.

In a smaller company, less than 150 people, the director or influential stockholder can himself organize and supervise the activities of Our Project .

 

8- What are the main stages at the start of the implementation process?

Here are the main stages that must be gone through during the first 26 months of implementation:

Identify a core group of influential managers and/or stockholders who would be interested in implementing and living out Our Project . Prudence is advised in identifying these influential managers and/or stockholders. It is sometimes difficult to identity the right people.

Frequently repeat to all the personnel that everyone in the company must feel totally free to participate or not in any of the activities; managers know that they must be present for certain activities.

Proceed slowly with the implementation of the activities.
   
Distribute a short résumé of Our Project in the department or organization where the implementation is to begin (the six chapters of Our Project , The Golden Book , or its equivalent); also distribute a description of how the activities of the M.T. work, an explanation of the first M.T. that is to be put into practice, and the main values fostered in the participants by the M.T. This document should be explained to the personnel aimed at by the experimentation.

During the first twelve months, begin the implementation of a small, spiritual support group . This group will choose its forms of silence, sharing, and prayer, if desired. It should meet regularly at least once a month . 

 

 

9- In what order can the implementation be carried out?

The implementation of the following activities must be done gradually and slowly. This will take a minimum of ten years before most of the M.T. will have been put into practice. It is strongly recommended not to implement more than two new activities a year in any one department .

We have classified the gradual implementation of certain activities in one possible chronological order . This order can and must often be adjusted according to conditions.

Here is one possible chronological order for the implementation of the activities of several M.T., which we have discovered and tested since 1970. We will present them in two different groups . The first group of activities can be opened to all the personnel of a department or an organization (including the directors and managers). During the first years, the second group of activities should be opened only to members of management.

  

1 st group of activities for all the personnel:

1st activity:  The biennial research project on the organizational climate and people's well being and

2nd activity :  the annual shared bonus ;

3rd activity :  A Gesture : visits to and help for less fortunate people; community meals; wall posters; annual mottoes;

4th activity : testimonial meetings , at first once a year;

5th activity : the triennial research project on the accumulation of values received during the previous three-year period by participants in the activities of certain M.T. as well as on the improvements and changes to be made to the operation of the activities;
 

6th activity : an ombudsman ;

7th activity : a room for inner silence and reflection.

 

2 nd group of activities just for management :

1ière activité :  the treatment of people laid-off ; special activities during the hiring of new people; dinner for four;

2ième activité: a small, systematic(1) spiritual support group ;

3ième activité: an annual, one-on-one, non-professional meetings (2) ;

4ième activité: Bref moment de silence intérieur, au début de certaines rencontres (3) ;

5ième activité: a brief moment of inner silence at the beginning of some meetings(3) ;

the triennial groups reflecting on the texts of Our Project , on the quotations and references, and on ways to improve the functioning of the activities. 

 

 

10 - Can this Project be put into practice and lived out in a unionized company or organization?

    We are convinced that it can . The main goal of Our Project is to reconcile the long-term growth of the well being of people working in the company and the growth of efficiency of an organization and the profitability of a company in the market economy. We think that there are many union leaders and many businessmen and stockholders who would be interested, after a certain period of "getting used to each other, " in collaborating for the increase of people's well being, personal development, and happiness in the work place as well as for the growth of the organization's or business's efficiency and profitability.

    This period of "warming up" to each other takes time, for the unions and for management, time to reconcile the left-hand column and the right-hand column. The two parties must make efforts to increase mutual confidence and then to go from a climate of negotiation through confrontation to a climate of negotiation by collaboration . For management and those it represent, isn't it a matter of deciding to pay more attention to justice, fairness, and the people's well being at work; for the unions, isn't it a matter of deciding to make the necessary efforts to give more importance to the company's or organization's need to be efficient, and if it functions in a market economy, to be as profitable if not more so than its immediate competition?

    It is quite obvious that there are many union leaders and management people who are not interested in the ideal of humanizing business and of giving it more and more heart and soul, a heart of flesh and not a heart of stone. We respect these people's reasons and points of view, but we are convinced that all parties lose in battle. What is more, does not work exist for man and not man for work ? Finally, we know from experience that when we authentically concern ourselves with the growth of well being (not just with the growth of efficiency), we also succeed in progressively increasing the motivation and productivity of everyone working in the company or organization, and this through the normal ups and downs of economic life. Consequently, profitability also grows if the company functions in the market economy. When people at work are happy, they obviously work better .
    But be careful, and we repeat, be careful. Experience has shown us that this adventure will not work if the people sense that our(1)motivation for paying attention to their well being is first and foremost the desire to increase individual and collective efficiency and profitability. This is true for managers and very especially for directors, and even more so for the main stockholders.

    Moreover, it is good that it is like that! Otherwise, the situation would really become a case of "people exploiting people," and the majority, especially those who work "on the floor" of factories have an intuition that tells them whether or not the company's efforts at making them happy are primarily carried out to increase their well being and human dignity. If such is the case, they will work better, produce better, and contribute fundamentally and increasingly to the efficiency and profitability of the organization. 

 

11- Can this Project be put into practice and lived out in a company where the employees are of many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds ?

    From the sociological and psychological points of view, it seem clear that the implementation of the activities associated with the new ISMA(H) will be easier if the people who work together are not very different culturally and ethnically. However, we can affirm that most of the activities of the first kind (with a high concentration of humanization values) and those of the second kind (with a mixture of humanization and spiritualization values) can be implemented in the vast majority of work places, regardless of the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of the people who work there.

    Whatever the mixture of cultural and ethnic groups in a company or organization, it seem obvious that the activities of the third kind (with a high concentration of spiritualization values) will have to be implemented more slowly than those of the first and second kinds. Before implementing the activities of the third kind, it is essential to organize discussion groups and exchanges of points of view with the different cultural groups, especially different ethnic groups, so as to identify their preferences in relation to the activities of the third kind. In a company or organization with a great variety of cultures and ethnic groups, it will be even better to structure the discussions, the exchanges, and the consultations with the different cultural and ethnic groups. This will allow the implementation of the activities of the third kind to be carried out progressively.

 

 

12- Why does your ISMA(H) have so many different activities ?

  In order to stay healthy, do not people need a lot of different vitamins , which have to be taken at different times and doses, according to each person's needs? It is the same thing in the work place of every business and organization. The activities associated with the M.T. (each vitamin) foster in the people who participate in them many different values . Our scientific research has proved this. These values, as we have shown in the thesis and in The Golden Book , complement one another.

    This is why people working in the company or organization, being able to choose whether or not to participate in one or another activity, have access to a sufficiently vast variety of values so as to contribute to the growth of their own well being as well as to other people's too. They thus give meaning to their lives at work, and to their lives in general. 

 

13- Is it not only possible but also necessary to discover and to create new M.T .?

   The research projects and the groups reflecting on the different activities of the M.T. allow for identifying the M.T. that must continue to be used just as they are, those that need to be progressively changed, and those, in certain cases, that must be abandoned.

    The biennial research project on the organizational climate, the triennial research project on the contribution in values of the activities of the M.T., and very especially the reflection and discussion groups dealing with the texts and activities of Our Project , all these have allowed us to identify the following:

    - the changes to be made to the way the ISMA(H) functions;

    - the new activities that the personnel would like to experiment with in order to respond to individual and    collective needs for fostering values in the work place.

 

14-  Are the two scientific research projects absolutely necessary?

Yes, the two kinds of scientific research projects are absolutely essential; they complement each other. It is also very important to follow up on their results , which must be reported to all the participants as soon as possible after each project. It is important to indicate to them the list and the timetable of the improvements that will be made in the culture and operation of the organization. The results of the two kinds of research projects are a very necessary cardiogram for measuring the implementation, evolution, and contribution of the different activities of Our Project , as well as subsequent improvements to be made to them.

    The first kind of research project measures the evolution of the organizational climate. Its 25 questions try to identify what is working and what is not working in the organizational climate, and, what is more, to identify the measures needed to improve the climate, human well being, communication, and the efficiency and productivity of the organization.

    The second kind of research project measures the main values that the participants in the activities receive or want to receive. This second form of research project also allows for improving certain activities, for changing the approach of other activities, for abandoning where necessary still others, and for creating new ones.

    Over time, people notice that they have an influence on the decisions made after each research project. They notice the improvements made in line with their suggestions. The thesis naturally deals in depth with this subject as well as with the fundamental importance of the two kinds of research projects, which can over time stimulate the growth of at least 20 profoundly human values, and these values slowly contribute to the long-term growth of many people's moral and spiritual well being at work as well as to the long-term growth of the company's efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

    For the two forms of scientific research projects to be really effective, one fundamental condition must be assured . Our experimentation has shown that the first time the research project was carried out, the participants were prudent, even if the questionnaires were anonymous. They were right to be prudent because in the research project on the organizational climate, and on well being in particular, after filling out the anonymous questionnaires, the qualitative part of the project took place . In front of everyone, the administrator then calculated the average of the results of their answers to the question. This average was announced to the participants. The administrator then asked them if anyone would like to comment on the average of the group's answers to the particular question.

    During the early years, the participants said little about the research projects. They were afraid that some of their comments would be put into the report, with their names , and that later on "they would pay the consequences, just by accident ." It goes without saying that the project reports must never, never have any names associated with the comments.

    We saw that the participants in the research projects spoke a bit more the second time around and even more the third time. Why? Because they saw that the people who spoke up not only did not "suffer the consequences" but also did not receive reprimands from management after the project. What is more, and this would be even worse, no one left the company "just by accident" some months later for having said certain things or made certain reproaches during the research project. During the third project, the people said whatever they wanted to say without fear of "paying the price." It's wonderful for all the participants in the projects and even more so for the pursuit of the common good, which is what Our Project aims at.

    Therefore, the two kinds of scientific research projects as well as their results are fundament elements of the necessary cardiogram that measures the growth or decline of people's inner development at work as well as the evolution of the organizational climate. On the other hand, they measure the implementation, evolution, and contribution of the various activities of the ISMA(H) to human well being and the efficiency of the organization. Finally, these projects allow us to identify the improvements to be made to the way the activities, and thus they manifest once again their importance. 

 

3 rd category: Difficulties encountered in the implementation. Possible solutions.

15- What are the main reasons for the problems encountered during the implementation of Our Project?

 

    The experimentation as described has shown us that many people in the company or organization experience problems, tension, contradictions, and breakdowns as well as encouraging successes during the implementation of Our Project . Here are some of the causes, both simple and complex.
    The main causes that we have observed of the problems encountered during the implementation of the Our Project are the following:

    -  the organizational climate is bad , and human well being decreases (right-hand column);

    - the company's economic situation becomes difficult, and during certain periods, which every company or organization goes through, the situation becomes precarious and even dangerous (left-hand column).

    - the counter-values (inappropriate behavior, called sins by some) which exist in all areas of human life, not excluding the work place, increase and sometimes take control: pride, egotism, hypocrisy, self-centeredness, manipulation, exploitation, envy, anger, laziness, theft, fraud, and indifference. The 4 th category of questions and answers goes deeper into the considerable challenge of the counter-values in every company and organization, if not in every person's life . See questions 19, 24, 25, and 26.

    Let's look now at the main problems encountered during the implementation of Our Project .
    1.     This new way of doing things in the work place raises questions and often fear in many people . Such questions and fear are quite understandable. They are due to cultural, psychological, and sociological factors, and are often grounded in philosophical, religious, and theological concerns. This is natural since people in the work place have their own cultures and references for their values and priorities.

        Here are some of the main reasons for the fears and questions:

        People are afraid of

        — being compromised
        — being had
        — losing freedom
        — the unusual, the unknown: "Where will these activities lead us later on?"
        — latent proselytism
        — being classified as religious or spiritual
        — mixing work and religion: "Spiritual matters have no place at work."

    2.    This new approach to managing a company or organization (the human aspect and therefore not specifically economic) fosters values in the work place thanks to the use of the activities associated with the innovative ISMA(H), even when implemented progressively as it should be. Consequently, it creates a slow and deep mind-set and heart-set among the people who work in the company where the activities are implemented . Sociology and social psychology, among other sciences, help us to see that any change of mind-set in the work place creates trauma, tension, fear, and sometimes opposition for everyone involved, even if the implementation is progressive. All this is quite understandable and variable . Most people prefer, when it is possible, to avoid relatively important mind-set changes at work. Here then is another important problem encountered during the implementation of the new ISMA(H).

    3.     Due to the considerable workload carried by all managers and people in the work place , most people have the impression that the new activities will overload them .

    After implementing Our Project during many years, we have discovered that this is in reality absolutely not the case. The time apparently lost is rapidly recouped thanks to the values received during the activities associated with the M.T. It seems obvious that these values and the growth of human development that they foster contribute in a very efficient way to the growth of motivation and human well being, to solidarity, and to brotherhood, among other things.

    4.     The presence or absence of people in different activities creates the impression on everyone's part?whether we like it or not?that there are two groups (cultural dichotomy):

    ?those in favor of certain activities (those who participate in them)

    ?those opposed to certain activities (those who do not participate in them)

    Many people therefore, consciously or not, " continually judge and classify themselves and others ."

    5.     The monetary costs of the activities, even if it is not high (about .02 % of sales which includes, among other things, the paid-time for participation in the activities, and the annual shared bonus) are by far compensated for by the gains brought about by the slow growth of people's well being and happiness at work. This growth contributes to increasing motivation and the sense of belonging; to reducing absenteeism and the rate of personnel turn-over; to improving communication, efficiency, productivity, solidarity, human dignity, justice, fairness, brotherhood, faith, and hope (as each person interprets these last two).

    6.     Frequent contradictions and break-downs of various sorts relating to the many, necessary decisions having to do with the growth of the company's or organization's efficiency and profitability, on the one hand, and the decisions relating to the growth of people's well being and happiness (reorganizations, lay-offs, etc), on the other.

    7.     When the director or certain upper-level managers are present at one or another activity, many members of the personnel often feel, especially during the first years , obligated or implicitly encouraged to participate . This is the case even if the director or upper-level managers make it quite clear that everyone must feel totally free to participate or not. Over the years, between 5 to 10, this tension diminishes and disappears. The participants and non-participants in the activities realize that there is no discrimination made on this point. For example, the non-participants realize that they have as much chance at promotions as the participants. 

 

 

16-  Which are the four activities that are the most difficult to put into practice ? Which are the four easiest ?

   The four management activities that are the most difficult to make work are the following:

    - the meetings with laid-off people, after they have left the company;

    - the brief moments of inner silence at the start of company meetings;

    - the installation in each work place of a small room for inner silence and renewal;

    - the small spiritual resource group.

    The four easiest to make work are the following:

    - the testimonial meetings and conferences;

    - the shared-bonus;

    - a Gesture, community meals, wall-posters, and the Prize of the Heart;

    - the biennial research projects on the organizational climate and people's well being and happiness.

 

 

17- How many years are necessary for the personnel to be satisfied with the climate of individual and collective freedom in relation to participating or not in the activities of the M.T.?

  It seems that, whatever the size of the organization and the number of people working in it, at least five years are necessary for people to see enough evidence to clearly indicate to them that the members of the personnel who do not participate in the activities very much, or at all, are not affected when the time for promotions comes around. This realization will come about slowly, very slowly. Or the other way round, those who participate in several activities will not receive more promotions than others. This is but one example, among many others, which reinforces the personnel's confidence that there is really a climate of complete freedom.

 

 

18- How much time is necessary for everyone to be satisfied with the degree of authenticity between the  management and the rest of the personnel in relation to implementing the activities of Our Project ?

Here is one of the fears of people working in the company or organization relating to the implementation of the activities of our ISMA(H):

    "Will the company managers organize the activities, which probably do not exist in any other company or organization, with the primary goal of improving productivity and profits or of helping us in our personal development at work?"

    Through our experimentation, we have learned that all the personnel in the organization, especially those who are not part of management, sense and evaluate very quickly the authenticity in the communication between the personnel and the managers, as this authenticity relates to the activities of the ISMA(H). The non-management people can especially sense the degree of authenticity of the person who is set in authority over them, as well as that of all the managers. They frequently speak among themselves about this evaluation, and this is normal. Their intuition allows many people in the organization to know if communication with the managers in relation to the ISMA(H) is on the whole authentic or not.

    If it is authentic , it is due to the fact that the activities of the ISMA(H) have as their main goal to contribute to the personal development of those who work in the company.

    If it is inauthentic , it is due to the fact that the activities have as their main goal "efficiency and profits," nearly exclusively, and not primarily the personal development of the people in the work place.

    We are convinced that if communication is inauthentic, the activities of our ISMA(H) are doomed to failure, and the personnel will, for good reason, do what is necessary to put an end to them. If the degree of authenticity and integrity is unacceptable, the activities are then used " to exploit and manipulate the personnel, " and that is very serious.
    Certain questions in the biennial research project on the organizational climate evaluate the degree of authenticity that we are trying to measure through the questions.(1)

    (back)

    ___________________

    (1) See the biennial questionnaire on the organizational climate, especially the following questions on 1) communication with your immediate superior, with other departments, and in each work group; 2) the degree of agreement or disagreement with the non-economic objectives of the ISMA contained in Our Project ; 3) the consideration, respect, and dignity that exist in the company as compared to other companies; 4) "Since the beginning of my work in the company, I believe that what I have experienced here has really been (harmful, neither helpful or harmful, or a positive contribution) to my personal development and renewal."; 5) the possibility of freely expressing one opinions at work; 6) the evaluation of support, welcoming, and generosity of fellow workers in relation to the difficulties encountered at work and elsewhere; 7) (a very important question) the degree of authenticity in the work place as it relates to the ISMA(H) of Our Project ; 8) (the most important question) the evaluation of the degree of sincerity of the people I work with at all levels of the company (including my superiors).

 

 

19- How can manipulation be avoided?

    Let's look at some possible ways. They will help avoid what may be perceived as manipulation, recruitment, or proselytism.

    ? Over time, probably at least five years for a middle-sized company, it is necessary to attract and managers and administrators who can gradually be interested in the M.T. associated with Our Project . These people must be "non-proselytizers," non-preachers, authentic in their relationships, and not full of themselves; they must be interested in being influenced and enriched by the values of others as well as influencing and enriching others; short on words and long on examples . They must be managers and administrators who want to live in a healthy climate of individual and collective freedom, one of an agreeable blend of humanization and spiritualization values. This blend will over time allow the infusion of more and more heart and soul into the work place. This will happen while maintaining the growth of the company's or organization's efficiency and profitability.

    ? Repeat over and over again that people attending the activities must not judge people who do not ; repeat just as often the reverse, that people not attending the activities must not judge the people who do.

    ?Choose an ombudsman .
    ?Carry out an anonymous, biennial research project on happiness, well being, and the organizational climate. This project will measure the manipulation going on in any part of the company organization.(1)

 

  top of the page

 

20- Is it easy to find managers interested in and capable of living out Our Project ?

We have discovered over the years that it is much easier than we thought to find managers who are not only interested in but also capable of living out Our Project and of administering the different activities of the M.T. The main reason is that more and more managers are seeking to give meaning to their work. Many of them did not think that a company could have a solid economic development and at the same time make the necessary efforts to reconcile, as well as possible, the growth of the people's well being with efficiency and profitability, even if everything human is by nature imperfect.

    Before deciding to join our company, many managers are surprised to learn that all the activities associated with the M.T. offer them a variety of values that can over time enrich their lives while they earn a living in a climate of total freedom. Many thought that is was not possible in a company for people to grow and develop while still earning a living, to give meaning to work, to prove that work exists for people and not people for work, to have "a heart of flesh," and all this without weakening the company's or the organization's competitiveness. On the contrary, they discovered that authentic concern for the growth of people's inner development at work contributes to greatly reducing burnout, which is on the increase now in our time of globalization.

 

 

21- What are the two main reasons that explain why very few companies or organizations carry on similar experiments for more than 15 years?

Reason #1 : For every manager, director, or stockholder who tries to have a heart more and more of flesh and not of stone, it is often, even frequently, complex and heart-rending to have to choose between the two columns (well being and efficiency) of Our Project . Managers must make good decisions that lead to the growth of well being of the people working in the company or organization while respecting the rules of the market economy, which, as we know, demand an extraordinary discipline. This discipline often affects the well being of people: reorganizations, lay-offs, demotions, factory closings etc. The choice between the two columns is therefore very difficult to make wisely .
    Reason #2 : The second reason is related to the first. Here is what is so difficult and exhausting : for managers and stockholders to have the necessary wisdom, intelligence, and sustained courage to constantly make these difficult choices between the two columns of Our Project ?especially not to discourage the personnel. What is more, even when the choices and decisions are made, despite all the good will, reflection, and prayer, for those who want it, managers can make mistakes.

    If managers and stockholders in their professional lives do not renew themselves by an opening to and a relation with the Transcendent?as this Transcendence manifests itself to each person and even more in the form of spirituality that fits each person?they will not be able to make it through. The majority of them after a few years abandon their desire to constantly try to reconcile happiness with efficiency and profitability. At that point, the organization or company becomes once again preoccupied first and foremost with efficiency, productivity, and profitability. The organizations are then managed by a culture of "stone-heartedness" instead of "flesh-heartedness." Is this not what we are living now with globalization? This awareness leads us to the following question: "Are there influential leaders interested in living out this type of experimentation?"

    (1)Let us not forget that in the biennial research project on the organizational climate, we directly ask the two following questions :

    - "In my company, the personnel is treated with (much less, neither less nor more, much more) consideration, respect and dignity than in the other companies that I know." The answer varies between  -5?0?+5.

    - "Do you feel obligated to participate in the activities associated with Our Project ?"

 

22-  Are there many influential managers interested in living out this type of experimentation

The answer is that many are interested but few act. They are afraid , it seems. There are many who realize that their responsibilities of economic management alone already take up " eight days of the week and 25 hours a day ." Moreover, this is not wrong because it is very, very heavy and difficult for managers and stockholders to manage the left-hand column (the economic column) of Our Project . So most of them seem, up to now, to have opted for not getting into the implementation and management of the numerous activities associated with the new ISMA(H).

    Finally, it is important to add that, later on, if some universities introduce into their programs, especially into the faculties of management or liberal arts?such as in industrial relations courses?the teaching of this new ISMA(H), the students and future leaders may possibly become interested in implementing certain activities in their own places of work. It would then be necessary to organize symposiums and forums for managers and directors so as to explain and compare the experiences of the participants relating to the implementation and functioning of the activities associated with the ISMA(H).

 

23- Isn't what you are living out in your company really a form of paternalism ?

 If paternalism means being authentically and primarily preoccupied with the well being of people in the company (efficiency and profitability being the next priorities), if it means wanting, despite our own human limitations, individual and collective, to love the people around us without invading their private lives, and to continually respect their freedom, then "yes" in our company we are "paternalistic." In any case, is it not true to say that if we had lived this form of "invasive paternalism," the people working in our company for 20, 30, or 40 years would long ago have "blown it out of the water." And with good reason. 

 

4th category: Particular difficulties, the counter-values, humanization
and spiritualization values. Possible solutions.

We have previously answered all the questions in these three categories:

        -           The source of inspiration underlying the implementation of Our Project
        -           How to implement it. The stages of the process.
        -           Difficulties encountered in the implementation. Possible solutions.

We want to deal now with the category of questions having to do with the balanced, harmonious, and complementary cluster of humanization and spiritualization values that are, so to speak, at constant war with the counter-values present and active in every work place. To deal more fully with this subject, we need to refer to the three illustrations of Our Project . (1) This balanced cluster of humanization values, mixed values, and spiritualization values is fostered in the work place especially in the activities of the 3rd kind, (to a lesser degree by those of the 2 nd kind). This balance of values makes possible the long-term growth of human development as well as the long-term growth of the company's profitability and the organization's efficiency. (2) Only this balanced cluster of values can meet and deal with the power of the counter-values.

The next four questions deal with the heart, the Keystone, of all the innovative experimentation with the activities associated with the ISMA(H). This heart and Keystone are the unavoidable condition and the absolute necessity for the slow growth in the work place (3) not only of humanization values but especially of the values related to Transcendence, therefore values of a spiritual order (4)

We are confident that the answers to the next four questions, added to those already presented will clarify the objective reasons that explain and justify the contribution and presence of spiritual values in the work place. We are also confident that many readers and listeners will be not only reassured but also motivated to begin this experimentation in their own work place.

________________

(1) The 4 th category of questions deals especially with the mixed values and the values of spiritualization fostered in the work place by the ISMA(H) of Our Project . Let us not forget that the role of these values in the work place is illustrated concretely for a better understanding by the Keystone of the illustration of the two columns, in the center circle of the illustration of the six circles of Our Project , and in the center of the very important illustration on the movement of values which circulate in a feedback loop in the work place, and which are fostered by all the activities associated with the ISMA(H).
(2) See questions 6, 8, 9, 14, 15, and those in the 4 th category.
(3) This unavoidable necessity exists not only in the work place but also in all human life. See the preceding references in Arthur Rich and Maslow.
(4) This is why we have framed the answers to the next four questions so as to visually underline their particularities and their fundamental importance for the long-term implementation of the activities associated with our new and innovative ISMA(H).

 

 

24-  How do the counter-values present in the work place show up in the day-to-day living out of         Our Project ?

We feel that every objective observer will realize that in his own daily behavior and in that of each person at work or elsewhere (to different degrees according to each person's personality), there is an on-going presence of many counter-values such as pride, egotism, self-centeredness, hypocrisy, manipulation, exploitation, envy, anger, "I-don't-give-a-damn-ism", laziness, theft, fraud, etc.

These counter-values can rapidly reduce the growth of happiness and well being, individual and collective, in the work place (right-hand column). They can also destroy the company's or the organization's profitability and efficiency (left-hand column). Experience has proved this.

 

 

25- Why cannot humanization values alone neutralize the counter-values in the long-term?

Let us look at the main reasons why the humanization and ethical values by themselves are not able, over much more than 15 years, to foster the long-term growth of people's happiness and well being at work or an increase of the company's or organization's efficiency and profitability.

?The human dimension and humanization without the spiritual dimension does not go very far (the reverse is also true; this is explained in depth in the thesis). The human dimension without the spiritual cannot be happy and develop completely or for the long-term. The history of civilizations proves this. Only values of spiritualization (complemented by humanization values) can overcome the counter-values (lack of love and respect for human dignity, pride, egotism, hardness, stone-heartedness, evil, and others), which are powerfully active in every work place and in every person's life. We repeat: the history of civilizations proves this.

? To increase over the long-term (25 years) solidarity, brotherhood, listening to others, human dignity, faith and hope (however these two values may be perceived and received by each person), experience shows that humanization values by themselves do not last long.

? Only a happy blend of humanization values with certain spiritualization values in the work place can make possible, for each person who wants it, solid and long-term personal, inner development.

Each person at work has been created by God ⁽¹⁾ who is Love (each person seeing Him as he or she wishes) who loves and lives in each person. Therefore, spiritualization values are unavoidable and absolutely necessary for people's long-term, inner development in the work place.

? The appeal to the Transcendence ⁽²⁾, as live by each person according to his or her own conscience, allows us to ask for the Creator's help and guidance so as to have the necessary strength, wisdom, and courage to put into practice over the long-term the activities of the new M.T. This appeal to Transcendence opens us to a light and to a support that are like a promised gift from the Creator to each person who is disposed to receive it . This light and support allow for finding the means to reconcile the unending contradictions and breakdowns that exist between the numerous decisions to be made for increasing people's well being and inner development at work, on the one hand, and those decisions needed to increase the company's or the organization's productivity and profitability, on the other.

⁽¹⁾ All actors in the life of the company are free to interpret the value of Transcendence as they wish. Transcendence may be the Creator, the Supreme Being (Higher Power), God Love, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or any other opening to Transcendence. To this value of Transcendence can be added, for those who want it and according to their personal choices, different forms of reflection, meditation, and prayer during work (and this, naturally, without stopping work. It is completely possible).

⁽²⁾ The appeal to Transcendence is contained in the Keystone of the illustration of the two columns and in the center circle of the illustration of the six circles.

 

 

 

26 - How can the counter-values be neutralized in the work place?

It seems evident to us that the counter-values are present and active, to different degrees, in every person as well as in the work place. Human experience shows that counter-values are still active in the work place, especially in people who forget or do not recognize or do not want to recognize that the spiritual dimension of the values is the force capable of helping people who decide to call on Transcendence to progressively neutralize the counter-values in the long-term.

The spiritual dimension of the values belongs to the base of the two columns and to the Keystone of Our Project as well as the center circle of the illustration of the six circles. The company's activity as well as the goal of human work are founded on this base, in the Keystone, and in the 6 th circle, thanks to the spiritual dimension. Only the spiritual dimension, which is fostered by the base and the Keystone, can overcome the destructive effects of the counter-values in the work place.

The base, the Keystone, and the 6 th circle contain the fundamental values on which Our Project stands. These fundamental values must therefore inspire all decisions made in the organization. The vase of values constitutes the criteria for evaluating the ultimate goals of the company's and any organization's activities, on the one hand, and the ultimate goal of human work, on the other .

The basic value for the left-hand column is efficiency.

The basic values for the right-hand column are those related to the primacy of people's human dignity and of their relationships with others.

The basic values in the Keystone and in the center circle of the illustrations of the six circles are faith and hope and also the possibility for personal renewal and the growth of each person's inner strength, and this thanks to the activities of the ISMA(H).

These basic values also orient the putting into practice of the activities of the ISMA(H) and the decisions that contribute to the growth of people's development and well being (right-hand column). They also orient and influence all the decisions that must be made in the economic management of the company (left-hand column).

The Keystone and the center circle constitute the specific spiritual reference that underlies our management and operation; they must be in harmony with the basic values common to the two columns, especially the values of efficiency and those related to the primacy of people and their relationships with others. 

This is particularly true when there is a conflict between, on the one hand, efficiency (economic) and, on the other, the human dimension, a conflict that is constantly going on in every organization and company. Everyone knows when there are tensions, contradictions, and breakdowns in the company's organizational climate. As we know, this happens frequently.

If the economic goal (efficiency and profits) is fundamental for the company, the ultimate goal of the company's activity must be in line with all people's ultimate goals, with their inner development, their well being, and their happiness.

Does not work exist for people and not people for work?

 

27- Is not the line between the spiritual and human dimensions very thin in Our Project ?

In order to answer this question adequately, I recommend that the reader go over again questions 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, and 15 as well as the questions in the 4 th category. The answers there indeed bring out that the line is very thin between spiritualization values, such as faith and hope, and humanization values, such as solidarity and listening to others. The line is so thin that there are values, as they are described in The Golden Book , that we classify as mixed values, such as brotherhood and the primacy of human dignity. Note that these mixed values are a balanced blend of humanization and spiritualization values.

All these values complement, enrich, and reinforce each other. The more they are present and complement each other in the work place, the more people's well being and inner development will grow over the long-term . Not only do they complement each other, but if some do not exist at all or not very much, there will be a general weakening of the values and therefore of well being, of "better being," of happiness, and of human development in the work place.

We must insist that a human being, a person, is one, but a diversified unity. People carry within themselves vital, cultural, and spiritual needs . This is why the line is so thin between the spiritual and human dimensions. The two are complementary and absolutely necessary.

On this point, let us not forget Maslow's pyramid of needs which emphasizes the necessity and the existence, not only of vital and cultural needs but also of spiritual needs. Let's not forget either what the well-known, Swiss economist, theologian, and philosopher, Arthur Rich, had to say in his main work Economic Ethics : "The criteria of faith, hope, and love, as constitutive elements of the human person appeared as decisive points of reference during the search for the meaning of the economy and of human work."

Therefore, human work can have an eternal meaning, just as the long-term happiness of each person at work so too that of consumers, suppliers, and customers of the products and services offered by each company and organization. 

What is more, experience has shown us that like spiritual values, humanization values grow weak and disappear. So also without deep humanization values, if spiritual values are left to themselves, they will also wither and disappear.

The human dimension needs the Divine as the Divine needs the human dimension since the Divine has given us the precious and heavy gift of freedom. The Divine decided that He needed to be present in the human dimension. The Divine is present in the human dimension, when it is healthy. 

This is why we want to repeat what we have written in the preceding paragraph:

A human being, a person, is one, but a diversified unity;
People carry within themselves vital, cultural, and spiritual needs.⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾ Here is a concrete example drawn from the experimental results of people who have over the years participated several times in different activities of the M.T. This example, relating to A Gesture, helps us understand better why the line is so thin between the spiritual and human dimensions.

When certain people in the company, in groups of six or seven, discretely offer their services, during paid time, to one or another charitable organization that offers meals to less the fortunate, very often, if not always, the participants in this activity, A Gesture, receive not only humanization values but also spiritualization ones. The participants receive solidarity and listening to others but also, among others, the mixed value of human dignity.

 

top of the page