Benedictine Keys to Effective Organization
At the base of this effectiveness we find a number of Benedictine organizational keys—harmony, teamwork, and stability.
A) Harmony
It is the ultimate result of the Rule's obsession with obedience. The English translation of the word obedience implies "adherence in a severe manner." In the Latin root of Benedict's day, it meant, "to listen to."
It is true that Benedict penalized for lack of obedience, but the rationalization was to maintain order and, ultimately, to foster harmony within the community.
Harmony cannot coexist with negativity. No organization can achieve its maximum efficiency if grumbling is wide-spread. Benedict did not suppress problems or personal freedom, but required that they be channeled properly through the organization via the daily "employee" chapter meeting, through mentors or the fatherly advice of the abbott (from the root abba meaning "father"). Benedict focuses in on what most managers avoid—addressing negativity at a personal level. What is lost to today's managers is the impact on productivity and profitability. Any manager who has tried to change knows the crippling power of negativity to bind organizations.
Benedict used a process of discipline and a community spirit to avoid such an organizational breakdown and communal negativity. Of course, Benedict's biblical policy did not promote going directly to the sword but to pursue a policy of "reprove, entreat, and rebuke" (1 Tim 4:2). The real application of Benedict's Rule for managers is not to accept negativity as the norm but to aggressively seek to eliminate it. A manager must address negativity head on, and quickly. Like Benedict, managers must first be open to change and the possibility of a need to correct, but ultimately, if it is more a personality problem, it will require a stronger re-proof. It should be noted that when grumbling came from a widespread organizational problem, Benedict's open community daily counsel (employee involvement) corrected this. Failure to root out single negativity will first be reflected in a lack of organizational harmony, but ultimately, teamwork and stability will suffer.
B) Stability
Stability is at the heart of Benedictine community. Through mutual obedience, a family is created that is the infrastructure of Benedictine community. Community, as a word, has Latin roots meaning, "to eat bread together." The Rule of St. Benedict stresses the importance of coming together on a daily basis. This type of bonding was the foundation of community. Even business organizations require a measure of bonding to be successful. Long term successful organizations have strong social ties among their members. So many times business people overlook this key organizational facet. Socialization is bonding.
Stability is the organizational characteristic of strong bonding. Stability has long been a measure of business organization, and is generally expressed by the turnover rate. Business, however, viewed turnover more as an individual or department managerial measure than as a more global measure of organizational strength. Stability is, in fact, the last indicator of community strength. This is why Benedict promoted that the monk, even on a short journey, should return for the evening meal.
There is a direct equation between individual obedience and loyalty with organizational stability. It is a bond and an organizational consent. Stability flows from mutual obedience and codependency. The early industrialists knew the relationship well.
C) Teamwork
Teamwork is the end result of the Benedictine quest for humility. Teamwork personifies the true spirit of community where self is subservient to the good of the whole. Western managers, in their quest to achieve teamwork, have imposed the culturally foreign concepts of Asian teams. The Asian team concept is one rule of the whole, not one rooted in sacrifice for the overall good. In the Asian concept, it is a duty to suppress self over the team. The Asian concept requires obedience but lacks the root of humility. The Benedictine model offers a democratic team approach based on individual humility and the necessary sacrifice. The Benedictine model does not require consensus of the group, only a belief in community by the group.
The Benedictine team allows for individuality but is focused on the community. The virtue of humility is much lost today. It does not suppress individual achievement but does suppress the use of achievement to control and use as power. Some of the greatest individual craftsmen arose from the Benedictine community. It is humility that gives the individual a perspective of self and a role to build community. Individual ideas are fostered, but ultimately the good of the community is the rule by individual choice.
The Benedictine team is much closer to the American sports team where individual statistics are noted and praised, but self-sacrifice for the good of the team is held in high esteem. Furthermore, self-sacrifice for the team ultimately results in a spirit that actually maximizes individual performance. It is this "spirit" that managers seek in teams. It is this spirit that is the hallmark of high performance organizations.
Benedictine teams are democratic in nature and function. A daily chapter meeting was used at the monastery to voice issues. Ultimately, the chapter was obedient to the abbot, but the abbot was bound by the Rule to take all into decisions. It is this mutual obedience that assured harmony and fostered teamwork. The Rule only created the environment for teamwork; it did not enact it by law. Benedictine teamwork is not a result of a structure—a committee format works as well as a "team." Benedictine teamwork does not require "training" but the creation of a communal spirit. It is the result of managerial actions rather than words. Many companies claim to value teamwork, but such claims are more likely to result in employee jokes rather than increased performance. Great teams, like great sports teams, are obvious. You can feel them in spirit. Their hallmark is a great individual having great humility.
Another characteristic of Benedictine teams is that they equate to community. The push today is to form multiple teams within an organization, which actually can lead to a breakdown in community and overall teamwork. Benedictine teams are totally integrated using committees for more specific problem solving, employee involvement, and administration. Benedictine communities used the daily "team" or chapter meeting to focus on one rule, one community. Committees were used to involve employees and develop a specific focus on an issue. Committees were part of the community, not separate teams as we see in many of today's structures
Applications of the Rule
I. SET RULES AND ENFORCE THEM
Democracies are inherent organizations of laws. Our freedom and unity are established by laws and discipline. In business, an organization's harmony is dependent on mutual obedience and discipline. Rules should be clearly defined and enforced. Use an employee policy manual and train on it with new employees.
2. DEVELOP STABILITY VIA EMPLOYMENT
Stability is the cornerstone of a Benedictine organization. Stability is achieved through social ties and meeting physiological needs. The Japanese have lifelong employment, but American companies have achieved the same effect with a guranteed year in economic hard times. Employees need that type of future stability to develop community or team spirit. Employment stability builds stronger organizations than variety in benefits.
3. IMPROVE ON STABILITY VIA FAMILY
Form strong social ties within the organization. Christmas parties and the like are important to build on. Remember the root of community is "breaking bread." Be generous in company dinners and lunches for retirements, company meetings, etc. where employees eat together. Use an employee social committee to involve people. Another important activity is a family day with picnics and ball games. Most important is to maintain these activities even in hard times. Cutting the budget first in these areas is a direct signal of instability.
4. ZERO TOLERANCE OF NEGATIVITY
Managers today are trained to address negativity being caused by the organization rather than the individual. Early monasteries learned that negativity has individual roots. Negative individuals should be "rebuked and reproved" early. Benedictine obedience for the good of community should be stressed in all training. If this fails, "excommunication" is needed for the good of the organization. Remember the Rule of St. Benedict called for kindness, guidance, and even support of the excommunicated.
5. USE EMPLOYEE COMMITTEES RATHER THAN TEAMS
Benedictine management allows only one team (the community). For specific focus or problem solving, the community chose subchapters as committees. Committees have fallen on hard times in today's "team managed companies." In fact, committees offer a way to involve employees while maintaining the overall team.
6. FORM COMMUNITY VIA OFF-SITE GATHERINGS
Community cannot be built on a nine-to-five schedule. A general "chapter" meeting of all employees every year is one approach to a better working community. A two-to three-day off-site general meeting to set goals, objectives, and renew mission is a great technique to build community.
For more Information:
Business Success, Journey to Excellence, Creating Performance that Endures
At the base of this effectiveness we find a number of Benedictine organizational keys—harmony, teamwork, and stability.
A) Harmony
It is the ultimate result of the Rule's obsession with obedience. The English translation of the word obedience implies "adherence in a severe manner." In the Latin root of Benedict's day, it meant, "to listen to."
It is true that Benedict penalized for lack of obedience, but the rationalization was to maintain order and, ultimately, to foster harmony within the community.
Harmony cannot coexist with negativity. No organization can achieve its maximum efficiency if grumbling is wide-spread. Benedict did not suppress problems or personal freedom, but required that they be channeled properly through the organization via the daily "employee" chapter meeting, through mentors or the fatherly advice of the abbott (from the root abba meaning "father"). Benedict focuses in on what most managers avoid—addressing negativity at a personal level. What is lost to today's managers is the impact on productivity and profitability. Any manager who has tried to change knows the crippling power of negativity to bind organizations.
Benedict used a process of discipline and a community spirit to avoid such an organizational breakdown and communal negativity. Of course, Benedict's biblical policy did not promote going directly to the sword but to pursue a policy of "reprove, entreat, and rebuke" (1 Tim 4:2). The real application of Benedict's Rule for managers is not to accept negativity as the norm but to aggressively seek to eliminate it. A manager must address negativity head on, and quickly. Like Benedict, managers must first be open to change and the possibility of a need to correct, but ultimately, if it is more a personality problem, it will require a stronger re-proof. It should be noted that when grumbling came from a widespread organizational problem, Benedict's open community daily counsel (employee involvement) corrected this. Failure to root out single negativity will first be reflected in a lack of organizational harmony, but ultimately, teamwork and stability will suffer.
B) Stability
Stability is at the heart of Benedictine community. Through mutual obedience, a family is created that is the infrastructure of Benedictine community. Community, as a word, has Latin roots meaning, "to eat bread together." The Rule of St. Benedict stresses the importance of coming together on a daily basis. This type of bonding was the foundation of community. Even business organizations require a measure of bonding to be successful. Long term successful organizations have strong social ties among their members. So many times business people overlook this key organizational facet. Socialization is bonding.
Stability is the organizational characteristic of strong bonding. Stability has long been a measure of business organization, and is generally expressed by the turnover rate. Business, however, viewed turnover more as an individual or department managerial measure than as a more global measure of organizational strength. Stability is, in fact, the last indicator of community strength. This is why Benedict promoted that the monk, even on a short journey, should return for the evening meal.
There is a direct equation between individual obedience and loyalty with organizational stability. It is a bond and an organizational consent. Stability flows from mutual obedience and codependency. The early industrialists knew the relationship well.
C) Teamwork
Teamwork is the end result of the Benedictine quest for humility. Teamwork personifies the true spirit of community where self is subservient to the good of the whole. Western managers, in their quest to achieve teamwork, have imposed the culturally foreign concepts of Asian teams. The Asian team concept is one rule of the whole, not one rooted in sacrifice for the overall good. In the Asian concept, it is a duty to suppress self over the team. The Asian concept requires obedience but lacks the root of humility. The Benedictine model offers a democratic team approach based on individual humility and the necessary sacrifice. The Benedictine model does not require consensus of the group, only a belief in community by the group.
The Benedictine team allows for individuality but is focused on the community. The virtue of humility is much lost today. It does not suppress individual achievement but does suppress the use of achievement to control and use as power. Some of the greatest individual craftsmen arose from the Benedictine community. It is humility that gives the individual a perspective of self and a role to build community. Individual ideas are fostered, but ultimately the good of the community is the rule by individual choice.
The Benedictine team is much closer to the American sports team where individual statistics are noted and praised, but self-sacrifice for the good of the team is held in high esteem. Furthermore, self-sacrifice for the team ultimately results in a spirit that actually maximizes individual performance. It is this "spirit" that managers seek in teams. It is this spirit that is the hallmark of high performance organizations.
Benedictine teams are democratic in nature and function. A daily chapter meeting was used at the monastery to voice issues. Ultimately, the chapter was obedient to the abbot, but the abbot was bound by the Rule to take all into decisions. It is this mutual obedience that assured harmony and fostered teamwork. The Rule only created the environment for teamwork; it did not enact it by law. Benedictine teamwork is not a result of a structure—a committee format works as well as a "team." Benedictine teamwork does not require "training" but the creation of a communal spirit. It is the result of managerial actions rather than words. Many companies claim to value teamwork, but such claims are more likely to result in employee jokes rather than increased performance. Great teams, like great sports teams, are obvious. You can feel them in spirit. Their hallmark is a great individual having great humility.
Another characteristic of Benedictine teams is that they equate to community. The push today is to form multiple teams within an organization, which actually can lead to a breakdown in community and overall teamwork. Benedictine teams are totally integrated using committees for more specific problem solving, employee involvement, and administration. Benedictine communities used the daily "team" or chapter meeting to focus on one rule, one community. Committees were used to involve employees and develop a specific focus on an issue. Committees were part of the community, not separate teams as we see in many of today's structures
Applications of the Rule
I. SET RULES AND ENFORCE THEM
Democracies are inherent organizations of laws. Our freedom and unity are established by laws and discipline. In business, an organization's harmony is dependent on mutual obedience and discipline. Rules should be clearly defined and enforced. Use an employee policy manual and train on it with new employees.
2. DEVELOP STABILITY VIA EMPLOYMENT
Stability is the cornerstone of a Benedictine organization. Stability is achieved through social ties and meeting physiological needs. The Japanese have lifelong employment, but American companies have achieved the same effect with a guranteed year in economic hard times. Employees need that type of future stability to develop community or team spirit. Employment stability builds stronger organizations than variety in benefits.
3. IMPROVE ON STABILITY VIA FAMILY
Form strong social ties within the organization. Christmas parties and the like are important to build on. Remember the root of community is "breaking bread." Be generous in company dinners and lunches for retirements, company meetings, etc. where employees eat together. Use an employee social committee to involve people. Another important activity is a family day with picnics and ball games. Most important is to maintain these activities even in hard times. Cutting the budget first in these areas is a direct signal of instability.
4. ZERO TOLERANCE OF NEGATIVITY
Managers today are trained to address negativity being caused by the organization rather than the individual. Early monasteries learned that negativity has individual roots. Negative individuals should be "rebuked and reproved" early. Benedictine obedience for the good of community should be stressed in all training. If this fails, "excommunication" is needed for the good of the organization. Remember the Rule of St. Benedict called for kindness, guidance, and even support of the excommunicated.
5. USE EMPLOYEE COMMITTEES RATHER THAN TEAMS
Benedictine management allows only one team (the community). For specific focus or problem solving, the community chose subchapters as committees. Committees have fallen on hard times in today's "team managed companies." In fact, committees offer a way to involve employees while maintaining the overall team.
6. FORM COMMUNITY VIA OFF-SITE GATHERINGS
Community cannot be built on a nine-to-five schedule. A general "chapter" meeting of all employees every year is one approach to a better working community. A two-to three-day off-site general meeting to set goals, objectives, and renew mission is a great technique to build community.
For more Information:
Business Success, Journey to Excellence, Creating Performance that Endures
This sounds like a path for success in both business and life. Blessings, Catherine
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