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NTHORTITLEPUB DATE'NOTEPUB TYPEJOURNAL CIT

4,

DdCUMENT4RESUME

EA 016 672

Torbert, William R. J-

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Executive Mind, Timely Action.8320p.

_IReports - Research/Technical (143)Revision; v6 nl p3-21 Sir 1983

EDRS PRICE. MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Administration; Addinistrator Characteristics;

*Administrator Role; Art; Cogfiitive Processes;CognitiNie Style; Educational Research; *LeadershiiQualities; Leadership Training; *ManagementDevelopment; Management Teams; ManagerialOccupations; Models; * genizational Development;Teamwork; *Time Persp tive

IDENTIFIERS *.Executive Mind; *Tim ly Action

ABSTWIFTThe idea 'of "Executive4Mind" carries with it the

notion of purposeful and effective actin. Part I of this papercharacterizes three complements to "Executive Mind"--"ObservngMind," "Theorizing Mind,"'and "Passionate Mind"--and offershistorical figures exemplifying all four types. The-concludingsection of part I, "The 'Transforming Power of ExecUtive Mind,," usesexcerpts from an interview with Lech Walesa to,illustrate,all fourtypes in a single individual. Part II begins by examining Japanesedirectiir kurosawa'ss recent film,-"Kaggmusha" (The Shadow Warrio) asa felicitous illustration of "Executive Mind" and of the dilemmas ofentering the 'executive role and of executive succession. Part IIconcludes by discussing the cultivation of a genuine executive team.The paper's third and final part explores a central feature of .

"Executive ind " -- "timely action. " .After proposing that research joinexistentiall study, developmental theorizing, and empirical testing,variations on the experience of time are discussed, a six-diMensionalspace/time model is, offered, a theory of timely action and anine-stage theory 9f organizational development are elaborated, andthe usefulness of two distinct kinds of inquiry--interactional andinstrumented - -and the incompatibility of "Executive Mind" withideological rigidity are affirmed. (JBM)

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Executive, Mind. TimelyAction is o three-portonolysis of the nature ofexecutive leodership.The outhor exomines thedisciplines thot mokeand sustoin greot execL-fives, citing.from the lives,of such diverse leoders osWinston Churchill, LechWolesa of the Polishi -Solidority Movement,and Red Auerbach of theBoston Celtics. He investi-gates the profoundlydifficult process of execu-tive decision-moking,then proposes theoreti-col models to describehow great leaders usetimeliness;;Self-evoluo-tion,,and the criticolsupport of their col-leagues to come to theright decision at the righttime:

From the forthcomingbook by Suresh Srivostvoand AssOciates, function -ingot the Executive MindJospy-Bass, 1983. Re-printed by permission ofthe author ond publisher.

to,

Executive Mind, Timely Action

°

William R. Torbert

Characteristics *of Executive -Mind

rr, he word "executive" descendsfrom the Latin ex "out" and sequire"to follow,"i.e. "to follow out." Two contemporary definitions are "to carry out...a purpose"and "apt -, skillful" (Oxford English Dictionary). Thus, the very notion of "ExecutiveMind" carries with it the notion of purposeful and effective action.

"Executive Mind" is not enamored of expressiem as such, only of expression that servesa purpose. It concerns itself with the alchemical blend of symbol, timbre, gesture, andtempo that inspires creative, effectual action., "Executive Milid" bespeaks an immensediscipline relating the very sources of human aspiration to the ultimate ends of humanaelkonan immense discipline which few persons imagine as a possibility ,- which stillfeiAr persons actually undertake, which fewer yet master, and which virtually noinstitutions actively cultivate.

This essay begins with reheated efforts to characterize the concerns and the disciplinesrelevant to "Executive Mind." The point is not to "prove" that such a quality as "Executive

'Mind" exists, nor to "prove" that each .historical charactpr mentioned consciouslyexercised "Executive Mind." Rather, its aim is to argue thatrbre as it is in historical andpersonal experience,. such a quality is worth seeking for oneself and for the situations inlife to which one wants to be responsible.

The'initial strategy of this paper parallels Abraham Maslow's early efforts to seek outexamples of."self-actualizing" persons. He wished to elaborate a category of motivationwhich, though statistically rare, could be argued to be an evolutionary aim for many or all.Toward theend of his life, Maslow recognized that human beings harbor an even deeperand moredignifyin need than the need for self-actualization. He described it as the needto achieve meaningful participation in human projects which last beyond ourselves,projects that span the generations. Maslow was seeking to explain why some peopleaspire to act in ways that are both pers2nally expressive and culturally reverberative. Andthis means, in turn, to act in ways responsive to inner impulses and external demands butnot dictated by either, to act freely and artfully rather than compulsively andconformingly, to soulpt action so that it is timely, not timebound. I will argue that thecultivation and exercise of "Executive Mind" is the discipline which coordinates inner andouter worlds and leads to timely action, to action meaningful beyond oneself, through thegenerations.

After the initial efforts to characterize and illustrate "Executive Mind," the final sectionof.this essay attempts to sketch the outlines of the kind of research that serves to cultivate"Executive Mind" and timely action.

FOUR COMPLEMENTARY DISCIPLINES: OBSERVING MIND, THEORIZINGMIND, PASSIONATE MIND, EXECUTIVE MIND

The notion of "Executive Mind" points to More than one rare mental discipline.Influenced by the typologies of Jung (1971) and Mitroff and Kilminn (1978), we can speakof "Observing Mind," "Theorizing Mind,'-and "Passionate Mind" as complements to"Executive Mind." (See Figure 1). As a brief introduction to these disciplines, we can @skwhere they are cultivated in today's universities, and what historical figures can serve asarchetypal representatives of each.

The notions of "Observing Mind" and "Theorizing Mind" areupost familiar to the socialscientist,' although even at today's universities the appreciative stillness of "ObservingMind" is cultivated only by the clinically-oriented methodologies. It is a disciplineepitomized by the nineteenth century natural scientists such as Darwin and Lvell.

...4(Audubon's illustrations of birds.represent a quintessence of the interplay of observationand execution.) Fully cultirated, "Observing Mind" includes not only the outside world,but also the subject's own thoughts, feelings, and actions (Torbert, 1973). -

1.

2. .

SPRING 1983 3

.. Jungian Categories

I

Modes ofPerception

sir-

Modes of Judgment

Thinking

Theorizing, MindThe Conceptual

Intuition Theorist(Mitroff andKilmann)

Serisation

Obierving MifidThe AnalyticScientist(Mitroff andKilmann)

Feeling

Passionate°MindThe Conceptual,Humanist(Mitroff and-Kilmann)

data about the outside and inside worlds-where the executive works and for vivify-ing the purposiveness of the Overall enter-

. prise that the executive serves."Executive Mind" is the mental muscle

that can operate as. the fulcrum between aperson's inner life and the outer world. It isthe muscle that can transform habitual be-havior into inspired, creative, timely action;the muscle managing the play of attentionat the interface of time and space. Just asbodily' musculature provides a personleverage in space, so "Executive Mind" pro-vides leverage in time. Appropriate finan-cial leveraging for a family, an enterprise,or a nation are examples of this capacity.Just as the ultimate development of bodilyleverage gives the great athletes (such asNadia Comaneci at the 1976 Olympics) theappearance of almost effortless ease andspaciousness in the midst of the most com-plex movements, so the,highest develop-ment of mental leverage gives' the greatexecutive the appearance of leisurelinessamidsf the most complex schedule, themost dire emergency, the most momentousdecisions.

The surest sign of the balanced develop-ment of "Executive Mind" in the youngadult (circa ages 20-40) is the primary appli-cation of current executive capacities to cul-tivating "Observing Mind," 'TheorizingMind," and "Passionate Mind." "ExecutiveMind" is unlikely. to manifest itself in a c,u1-turally transforming manner before the sect;cind half of life. Before that, the passion fbirecognition tempts one to seek excellence,power, glory, or truth in terms defined byothers. Who achieves early in life the self-recognition from which temperate and justactions proceed?

Within the university, the pedagogicalmethods of case study, simulation, oralcompetitions, and clinical internships,'pioneered primarily at schools of managment and other professional schools, allseek to cultivate executive qualities.

Gandhi as inquirer seeking integration of"Observing Mind," "Theorelicat Mind,"and "Passionate Mind" through "ExecutiveMind" (and Huxley's The Grey Eminenceasearing portrait of another spiritual-politi-cal figure whose initially parallel search de-viated diabolically).***********************?********

ExecutiveMindThe Pik-ticularHumanist

(Mitroff d'odKilmann)

3

Figure IFOUR QUALITIES OF;MIND

t:*******1:,0*********4,**:;,**********The Buddha as archetypal embodiment of"Observing Mind."**,',.*-0.****************p*****

If "Observing Mind" ,is rarely cultivated,the eternal construttive tension of"Theorizing Mind" is glimpsed almostsolely through personal contact with trulyphilosophical, teachers. Our ordinaryiiterarY forms- virtually preclude theexhibition and cultivation of "TheorizingMind." I can count -only four twentiethcentury literary works' that fully accept thediscipline of ' instantiating "TheorizingMirtd ": Joyce's Finnigan's Wake,Heidegger's What is Called Thinking?,.Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations,and Gurdjieff's All and Everything:Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

*********************************Socrates as voice for "Theorizing Mind,"Periclean Athens as chorus.1.:*****Atz,:**************************

As for the disciplines of "PassionateMind" apd "Executive Mind," these are re-legated at the modern university almost en-firel/y to peripheral activities such as dramaand sports. Even the study of groupdynamics is only rarely seen as the 1processof naming, containing, refining, and ex-pressing the mysterious lifetime pulse ofpassion. Generally, the passions are re-duced to mere emotions, proclaimed irra-tional, and excluded from the'academic cur-riculum. Religion, in the ultimate inversionof traditional teachings, is treated as a pri-vate matter.*******************************Jesus, epiphany of "Passionate>lind.'**************************tr*******

"Executive Mind" relies upon these,otherthree disciplines for discriminating valid

ReVISION Vol. 6 No

BARNA4p'S ViEtif OF THE EXECUTIVE

Although the foregoing introductoryomments may seem removed from thi,

practice of executive leadership in today'sworld, a few brief references to Chester Bar-nard's classic work, The Functions of theExecutive (1938) suggest otherwise.

William R.Totrbort,PhD,is Associate Dean of theBoston CollegeGraduate School ofManagement. He hasheld teaching positions

4. at Harvard. Yale. andSouthern MethodistUniversity, and has pub-lished numerous booksand articles on odministration and the socialsciences, including Beingfor the Moit Puppets:Interactions amongMen's Labor.. Leisure. andPolitics (Schenkman.Cambridge 1972) andCreating a Communityof Inquiry Conflict _Col-laboration. Transformo-

'lion. (Wiley. Landon. 1976)

Observing Mind

Barnard describes the role of "ObservingMind" in executive leadership in thefollowing quotes:

The fine art of executive decision consis. ts in not de-

ciding questions that are not now pertinent, in notdeciding prematurely, in not making decisions thatcannot be made effective, and in not making deci-sions that others should make. (p. 135)

There is no principle of executive conduct betterestablished in good organizations than that or-ders will not be issued that cannot or will not beobeyed....To do so destroys authority, discip-line, and morale. (p. 167)

The decision as to whether an order hasauthority or not lies with the persons to whomit is addressed. (p. 163)

All three of these quotations emphasizehow crucial it is for the executive to beattuned to those about him or herto theirways of construing the world, theorganization, and the executiveand tothe temporal rhythms in human affairs.Out of such attentiveness comes the abilityto foster a dynamic' balance of initiativesbetween self and others.

The three quotations communicate anaura of modesty or humility about what theexecutive can and should do. More simply,the quotations describe an eiecutiye.capable of observing without. distortionwhat requires doing. One of the constantdangers which executives courtby vifrue ofthe explicit mandate to make decisions isthat of ego-inflation.. They come to believethat they should make aljdecisions, or asmany as possible, and the more quickly thebetter. Such ego-inflation leads into avicious cycle of fear and ineffectiveness.Addiction to decision-making workreduces the leisureliness characteristic of allfour of the higher mental disciplines,gradually distancing the executive from avivid commitment to an order appealing toothers. Then, meeting with increasingresistance . to decisions, the executive.becomes less Willing to entrust decisions tb.others, still further increasing the burden ofdecision-making.

Of all Alexander's generals and relatives,only Ptolemy observed the limits of his ownrange of command, ,preservin Egypt in'peace, building Alexandria, and dying withthe satisfaction of completed work and acontinuing line. Thi others all struggled forthe whole' of Alexander's heritaje, diedyoung, and enjoyed none of it.

The capacity to listen to temporalrhythmswhether within a morning, ayear, or a lifetime and to await themoment when action can be effective, hasbeet most dramatically illustrated in this

century by Charles DeGaiille's retirementbetween 1946 and 1958. Oirer the decadethat he was officially out of public service,his moral authority increased while that ofthe Fourth Republic dissipated, until, in1958, he w called to end the Algerian Warand to found the Fifth Republic. His staturewas such that the French people turned tohim to redress Erancein a nobler image an"image which, he, by virtue as much of hisobservant retirement after World War II asof his military role during both wars, wasthe very embodiment. A more recent andmore complex choreography of retirementand return to action is being enacted byKonosuke Matsushita of MatsushitaElectric Company (Pascale and Athos,1981). (The capacity for voluntaryretirement is, of course, only one of manypossible manifestations of "ObservingMind.")

Theorizing Mind

The role of "Theorizing Mind" inexecutive leadership is ,suggesed by thefollowing quotations from Barnard:

A formal and orderly conception of the whole israrely presen\.perhaps even rarely pogsible,except to a Jeri)* of executive genets.... Eventhe notion which is here in question .seemsrarely to be stressed either in practical orscientific studies. (p, 239)

*.

The distinguishing *mark of the execute' eresponsibility is that it requires' not merelyconformance to a complex code of morals butalso the creation of moral codes for

others.... Organizations endure...in prOportiokto the breadth of the morality by which they aregoverned. This is only to say that foresight.long purpose% high ideals, are the basis for thepersistence of cooperation. (pp. 281-282)The executive, as Mintzberg's (193)

careful empirical studies- have shown, isconstantly besieged by a multitude ofapparently competitive demands. Atheoretical perspective reveals hiddencomplementarities among issues,establishes priorities, provides . a.

meaningful frame for activities (i.e... acoherent, encouraging, dignifying frame).and endows the ;execuAkve with thevigilance to anticipate the unexpected. inthe absencel of such a theoreticalperspective, the executive's own activitybecomes fragmented and that of theorganization as a whole descends toward"loosely coupled" "ovganized anarchy"(Cohen and March, 1'974; Weick, 1979).

In world affairs during the pastgeneration, perhaps the most strikingdemonstiation of the executive leverageprovided by a synthetic theory whichredefines the entire "stage" is Gamal Adel

-1PRING 1983 5

"Executive Minc'b-g-immense discipliriesources of hurnonultimate ends of hu

anthe veryto the

on..

' Nasser's creation of "The Third World.". This.concept, so pilphasive to so many thatwe have virtually )oirgotten who originatedit, facilitated th transformation of .thefrozen bipolaritx, e post-war world intothe dynamic int" aor we know 'today. Itencouraged and dignified all "ThirdWorld" countries, which .had until .thenworn the sobriquet "underdeveloped" withappropriate,dispiritedness. Egypt itself is aprime . example.. Alone among rabcountries, it has been able ta4 struggletowan4 a new, more positive relationshipto Israel in recent ''ears, just as, a personwho forms a posiffve self-concept therebybecomes enabled to`explore relationshipswith dissimilar persons.

Passionate Mind

To examine the role of "Passionate Mind"in executive leadership; we can begin withthe following comments in Barnyd's TheFunctions of the Executive:- Purpose is essential to give any meaning to the

rest of the environment. The environment must. be looked at from some point of view to beintelligible. (p. 195)

The inculcation of belief in the real existence ofa common purpose is an essential executive?unction. (p. 87),

Purpose is defined more nearly by theaggregate of action taken thyformulation in words. (p. 231)An executive's sense -of purpose is

obviously closely rebated to the implicit orexplicit theory about the nature ofindividuals, organizations, societies, andthe cosmos. But, equally obvidusly, a senseof purpose is no mere logical deductionfrom theoretical premises.. A sense ofpurpose is a passionate, motivating qtiaiitywhich, as Barnard suggests awe, is aprecondition for intelligibility (aprecondition for theorizing) and . a moreprofound shaper of action than theoyy.

Isaiah Berlin (1980) attributes just such acapacity to Winston Churchill during theBattle of Britain. He does so in words thathighlight the dialectical tension betweenthe qualities of "Observing Mind" and

6 ReVISION Voi.6 No

those of "Passionate Mind'':Churdlill is not a sensitive lens which absorbsand concentrates and reflects and amplifies thesentiments of others; unlike the 'Europeandictators, he does not 'play.on public opinionlike an instrument. In 1940 he assumed anindomitable stoutness, an unsurienderingquality on the part of his people, and carried .

on....He idealised them with such intensitythit in the end they approached his ideal andbegan to see themselves as he saw them: 'the 1buoyant and imperturbable temper of Britainwhich. I had the honour. to express'it wasindeed, but he had a non's share in creating it.So hypnotic was the,force of his words, sostrong his faith, that by the Shier intensity ofhis 'eloquence he bound his spell upon themuntil it seemed to them ..that he was indeedspeaking what was in their hearts and minds.Doubtless, it was there; but largely dormantuntil he had awoken it within them.

After he had spoken to them in the summerof1940 as no one has ever before or since, theyconceived a new idea of themselves which theirown prowess and the admiration of the worldhas since established as a heroic image' in the-history of mankind, like Thermopylae or thedefeat of the Spanish Armada., They wentforward i to battle transformed by his words.The spi which they found within them he hadcreate within himself from his innerresou es, and poured it into his nation, andtook eir vivid reaction for an original impulseo eir part, which he merely had the honor to

othe in suitable words: He created a heroicmood and turned the fortunes of the Battle ofBritain not by catching the! mood of hisSurroundings but by being stubbornlyimpervious to it, as he has been to so many ofthe passing shades and tones of Which the lifearound him has been composed.

The peculiar quality of heroic pride and a, senseof the sublimity of the occasion arises inhim...from a capacity for sustainedintrospective brooding, great depth andconstancy of feelingin particular, feelingforand fidelity to the great tradition for which heassumes a personal responsibility, a traditionwhich he bears upon his shoulders and itiustdelivei, not only sound and undamaged butstrengthened and embellished, to successorsworthy of accepting the sacred burden. (pp. 14-15)

Churchill's impact on England in itsdarkest hour illustrates a fundamentaltension between the academic mind and"Executive Mind." ,Where the "objective"academic mind might see only darknessand might regard any other Construction ofevents a a form of dishonesty, "Executive.Mind" is fired by a passion to accomplish animprobable purpose and,_ is, consequently,fundamentally optimistic even at' the)!

5

darkest moment of despair. This optimismis in no sense a fatalistic "just, wait,-everything will be okay" attitude, butrather ihe ability to draw energy from asupreme challenge or demand.

Executive Mind

The role of "Executive Mind" in executiveleadership is to balance observation,strategy, and passion in responsible actin."Executive Mind" so coordinates actionthat it effectively transforms (past, empiri-

, cal) physical and social realities intoffuturepurposes. In Barnard's words, ,I

(To develop] the non-logical, tee i itional,even the inspirational processes...means de-veloping the artistic principle in the use of themind, attaining proportion between speed andcaution, between broad outlines and finenessof detail, betWeen solidity and flexibility. As inother arts...constant practice is required. (p,322)To penetrate beyond the surface of these

initial statements about "ExecuOve Mind,"it is necessary first to destroy the.senSe ofantagonism between science and art withwhich many of us are bred. It is also neces--Sary to eliminate the sense that, science isobjective and precise whereas art is subjec-tive and imprecise. In particular, we are allfamiliar with essays and discussions aboutwhether management has' now become ascience, clear and certain, orstill remains anart, mysterious and uncertain. But anyonefamiliar with traditional artswhether wethink of the pyramids, of jiu jitsu,, of sitarragas, of the Commedia del'Arte, ofShakespearean sonnets', or of a Balanchineballetrecognizes that mathematical preci-sion and predictable (objective) effects onparticipants are of the essence in the arts.Conversely, anyone familiar with the fron-tiers of Science today recognizes that thefoundations of mathematics, of Rutter, oftime, and of intelligence are all shrbuded inmystery. The, distinction between scienceand art is not between two kinds of know-ing, but between knowing and doing. Atheir best, management sciences and man-gement arts will complement one another;nc management will certainly remain an

kt so long as there is-anything to manage.

THE TRANSFORAIING POWER OFEXECUTIVE MIND

Not every executive whose desk is clear,whose office is quiet, and who creates a per-sonal relationship, with a visitor beforedoing business has in fact mastered the dis-ciplines of "Executive Mind." This style

' may merely re,present.an imitatibm(proba-bly.a parodying) of an impressive mentor.Nevertheless a clear deskjrabOlizes control

,6

over one's own timeover one's worlds ofconcernwhether as an accomplislied'fact,.as a distant aspiration, or as a subterfuge. Infact, erripirical studies show that executivesfrequently experience themselves as losingthe battle for sufficient control ov,,er theirtime to address the issues they regard asmost significant (Cohen and March, 1974,Perkins, 1967)..

an executive role; the experience ofcontrol over one's time, of clear mindamidst multiple demands, can only comefrom familiarity with three interpenetrating'scales of "time-events"one's own lifetimecalling, the temporal rhythms of one's en-terprise, and world historical cthrents.With this knowledgeor better, with thecontinuous thirst f this knowledge, sinceit is never complete, static, :or fullyexplicit comes the ability/ to meet 'eachnew demand calmly and actively, and toweave each new demand into the .tapestryof one's life work. In thi4 way, "ExecutiveMind" exercises a transforming influence

.%;:ithin its sphere of ,activity. As suggestedearker by the mention 'of Churchill: De-Gaulle, Gandhi., and NaSser, the exercise of"Executive Mind" can transforsm the verydefinition of a local situation, or of a nation,prof the internationalbalance of power.

Thus, "Executiye Mind" operatesbeyond the frontier of conventional judge-ment. Yet it 'never loses sight of the dumbpower, the unsohscious wisdom, and thesheer necessity cif conventional judgement.Conventional praise and blame may definethe context for future action. but they donot directly affect "Executive Mind." In-deed, cerriin Sufi masters choose "the pathof blame," whereby thby $intentionallycounter-balance the attractive power oftheir charisma by sculp ing actions %:.hichattract ame as well. In his way., t ey seekto culti to a passion ely and reciseli4:ambiguou arena wi in which aspirantscan struggl to disc er what is up to them.Similarly, ce psychotherapists and.or-ganizatidnal consultants (e.g., Perls,gyris) 'cultivate negative/ transferenceamong their clients with the intention ofminimizing any tendenc* in the clients tobecome passiv j,N. dependent u'pon the in-terventionist as a heroic savior. To choosethe "path of blame," or, more generally, tooperate in a balanced fashion beyond thefrontier of c0i5Ventional judgement, re-quires epic detachment f m the outcomesof action, "works wrough involved" Mthe words of the Blingtnel Gita .,The Buddh-ist phrase for this state of;mind is "nopraise, no blame." And we are all familiarwith Henry Ford's vulgar version: "nevercomplain, never explain."

Excerpts from Oriana Fallaci's iMerviewwith Lech Waiesa (Boston Globe, 3:13 81)

si,R1'Nt 1983 ,

To operate Fri a balanced fashionbeyond the frontier of conventionaljudgment requires egoicdetachment from the outcaction,

(

ca9, gerve 'as a isumrrkry illustration of thecomplementarity amo?Iphe four qualitiesof higher 'mind, and of the capacity thesequalities equeath to change the very de-finition-6f a situation: - /- /I. Observing Mind: ,

Q: Don't you ever feel scared..in-adequate.,.by the responsibility you...took infront of ygur country and of History?', A: Nie, nie, nie, because I am a man of faithand because* know that this moment needs aguy like me. A guy who can make *decisicMswith good sense and solve problems in a cauti-ous, moderate way. I am not a fool, I do under-stand that too many injustices got accumulated(kiting theN 36 years, so things cannot changefrom morning to night. It takes patience, ittakes wisdom. I mean, the. rage that peoplewould lilce to burst like a bomb must be control-led. And I know how to control it, because Iknow how to reason, though I am not a

. learned....( simply know that I smell things, I feelsituations, and when the agl issilent ( understand

what it silently says. And it with a voice, with

the proper words. . ,

Q: Let's talk about the day you jumpedbeyond the fences ;of the Lenin shipyards inGdansk]. .

&Well, long before it happened we had con-sidered the po sibility of some big strike

---'1

Gdansk, We-h d considered it in our meetings;. when we taug t the workers the history of P.0-

land and the union laws. In fact, I had made *thyself ready to avoid an excessive situationand I had told the workers if there is an uproar,I want to be informed at once. And when I wasinformed, I immediately realized that the up-.roar had burst early because the situa:tion'wasripe, thus I had to get into the shipyards. Thetrouble was that four 'gentlemen, I mean fourpolicemen, watched me day and night. I gotthem lostI won't tell you km because I mightneed that trick again in the futu-2nd I got tothe shipyards and I jumped inside.

re"got there at

a crucial moment. In fact, there was-a meetingof 2,000 workers and the big boss was askingthem to leave, making his promises. Arid no-

,

body tared to oppose him. As a matter of fact,they were already leaving. e

,

II. Theorizing Mind

8 ReVI4/ N 6 No.i."

$

Q: AU communism failed? 4A: Ha! It depends on the way jou measure

the concept of good, bad, better, fworse.Be-cause if you choose the'example of what wePolish have in our pockets and in our shops,'then I answer that.communism has done verylittle for us. If you choose the example of what is.in our souls thstead, theft I answer that corn=munism Nis done much for us. Intact our soulscontain exactly,. the contrary. of hat they.wanted. They wanted us not to believe in Godand our churches are full. They wanted us tolematerialistic; and incapable of sacrifice; we artantimaterialistic, capable of sacrifice. They

. wanted us to be afraid of the tanks, of the guns,". and instead we don't fear them at

Q.: Lech, where did you learn to talk likethat,from whom? a

A: I don't know. told you that I neyer read abook; anything. I never had teachers either, norexamples to imitate. I.always solved problems

..aloste,Even the technical ones, like to fix-a TVseftor a sink, I think therit over and I fix them inoly_way. Politics is the same, I thirik it over andI find the solution, or at least a solution. As forthe moderate line! gave to Solidarity, however,1 can fill you that I set it after the defeats of 1968and 1970. It was then that I reakzed the neces-,sity of working without impatience; otherWiq,we would break our heads. I said to nivself:Le'ch,,,a wall cannot be demolished with butts.We must move slowly, step bystep, otherwisethe wall remains untouched andye break ourheads. You know, I have been arrested 100hetes, more or less, usually 48-ho arrests,,and one thinks very well in jail, becadse in jailthere aren't noises and one is akine. It was in jailth t I also found the way of sowing doubt intothe inds of my jailers, to make them releaseme a d to make them understand how wrongthey ere toward the country and themselves.Fina , it was in jail that r discovered the sys-te of informing people about my arrests. Be-cause it isoseless to be arrested if people don'tkno.w.

Q: What was system,A: Well, when they released me and 1 went.

home, I placed myself in front of a bus stop and,even if I had money to buy my ticket, t pre-tended to be penniless. So I asked thepeople tobuy my ticket, explaining that I had beenar;

, rested and why. People got interestedend)ought my ticket. Then I took the bus and dur-

ring the trip I continued to explain; I held sort ofa rally for them to warm up feelings.

III. Passionate Mind

1)

7

Q: This is great politics,. Lech.A: Nie, nie, .nie. I am no politician. I have

never been..Maybe one day I'll be one. I havejust started to look around and understandtheir tricks, their calculations, but today I am nopolitician. The proof is that, if I were 'a politi-cian, I would like doing what I do now. I would

1

never Kavelehoughof it. instead, I'm fed upand I tell you at once whatl am:I am a man hillof anger, an anger' Kaye kept in my stomachsince I was a boy, a youngSter. And when a manacomulates' the anger I hive accuthulated forso many years, he learns to manage it-all right.Which explains why I control "so Well thecrowds and the strikes. Ha! Opehasiol5e,veryangry in order to know how to control the anger',of the people. One Was to have learned to livewith it. Listen, my rage been stored up for .so long that I could kegp it in at least,* mote !

years....

IV: Executive Mind

(Continuing from the moment-at the.Leninshipyard in Gdansk, when the workers were

. I felt my blood boil. I elbowed my waythrough the crowd; I set myself in front of himanddo you know boxing?_ I landed him a 'straight.left and I put him down so quickly thathe almost fell out of the ring. I mean, I shoutedat him that the workers wouldn't go anywhere

Illustrations of ExecutNe Mind

if the weren't sure they had obtained whatthey wanted. So they felt strong, and I becametheir leader, and I still am. .

Q; Lech, what doses it meanto be a leader?A: It fl Bans to have detenninatiim, it means

, to be resolute inside and outside, with our-selves and with others...

1 know 'how to say things with the properWords, like I did with the peasants at the strikein ielenia Gora, for instance, when,' yelled atthem: "You've started the wrong strike, you'idiots, You champions of stupidity, I'm against.:you." And 300 people remained speechless.Well, speiking to the crowds isn't always the-art of going with the crowds. Sometimes it's theart of going against the crowds::...

Demands must be put at the right time;.with-out impatience. Look at the monument weerected for our dead;, our workers killed by thepolice,in 1970. Had we built it at once or twoyears later, now it wohldJae simply the branchof a e, eagyfo cut. Instead, today its a. treeand ig+pots are so deep that nobOdy can extir-pate them, and if it will be cut it will blossom_again.

The mot felicitous recent artistic'rendering of "Executive Mind" isKtirosawa's film Kagemusha (The ShadowWarrior). Depicting ,the jousting forsupremacy among three warlords, justbefore the establishment of the shomnate

sin Japan, Kurosawa focuses on the warlordknown as The Shadow Warrior. During hllslifetime The Shadow Warriar gains hisname from the practice of having one of hisbrothers impersOnate him at times on thebattlefield so that the enetny never knowswhether he is actually present. After hisdeath (which occurs early in the filin) TheShadow Warrior's name gains anadditional dimension of meaning, for hisfinal fill to his circle of brothers and,generals is to keep his death a secret forthree years and to continue to impersonatehim for that time, using a common thiefwho looks like him and who has !wentrained to enact his role. The, intentionbehind this is to keep their enemies off-balance. Here is an ultimate exercise of"Executive Mind": arranging to continue toact effectively even after death.

I mentioned above that "ExecutiveMind" cultivates such an intimacy with therhythms of timeof social history, ofinstitutional development and of thepersonal evolution of one's immediatecirclethat it conveys a dynamic quality ofstillness, or situatedness. This quality

-

permeates the traditional Japanesedisciplines of balanced movement andattentive 'sitting, visible throughout

'kurosawa's film and almost unendurabledeliberate to the over-excited Westernobserver). This quality of situatedness, isalso vividly illustrated by the Strategicdisposition of the forces of The Sliad.smvWarrior in battle. There are four "divisions"of troops, named Forest, Wind, Fire,.'anaMountain. Forest is the infantry whichattacks first, Wind is one wing of cavaJrv,Fire is the other 'wing that enters at adecisive moment with short swords, andMountain is the force that surrounds TheShadpw Warrior himself. The Shadow,Warrior (or his substitute) sits immobile-atop a mountain behind the ba ttlea.Lobserving. Should the enemy breakthrough to his position, the warriors of theMountain division create a human shieldaround their leader who maintains his'.posture throughout. The legend is that theclan cannot be defeated' so long a9 theirleader remains still.

The executive, Barnard tells us, must.bal-ance solidity witia flexibility. Kagemushablends mountain and shadow, solid, endur-ing immobility with the simultaneous eva-nescent flexibility to be in two places at once,moving invisibly at will. As "mountain,"Kagemusha empowers his own forces; as"shadow," he confuses the enemy.

8 SPRING 1983

7Executive Mind" conveys a dynamicquality of stillness, or situatedne s.

Oft

THE DILEMMA OF ENTERING THEEXECUTIVE ROLE

A second central character in The ShadowWarrior is the cprniirri thief (read "sinner"in Christian terms) Who is first pressed intothe role of impersonating The ShadowWarrior at the latter's death. Even thoughthe thief is an accomplished actor in, the

rnexteal sense, the, executive role makes aSpiritual demand on himto maintain acontinuous perforMance throughout hiswaking lifefor which he is utterlyunprepared and by 'which he is utterlyhumbled.

. In the Most deeply affecting scene of thispowerful film, the thief is introduced by theShadow Warrior's generals to hishousehold retainers who are to be the onlyothers to share in the secret of his trueidentity. With these men the thiefmay relaxtemporarily and be himself, to his immenserelief. They can Also offer .him furtheradvice- about The Shadow Warrior'Sintimate habits of movement, ex' ression,and speech. In the course of the foking thatfollows, it Is clear ithe retainers do notbelieve that the ' friendly, anxious,unprepossessing thief could ever play TheShadow Warrior convincingly. OnhOrseback and in battle regalia he maydeceive the troops, but close up he simplylacks the tangible but undefinablesituatedness of The Shadow Warrior. Thereis none of The Warrior's calm, immobile,ceaselessly vigilant presence. How will thethief possibly succeed in deceiving TheShadow Warrior's own grandson, let alonehis concubines? It is inconceivable that theact will work for three days, let alone forthree years.

In the midst of the slightly derisivejocularity, the thief asks lightly, "How'sthis?" Instantly, he becomes The ShadowWarrior, so undeniably bringing hisrhythm and his aura of authority back to lifethat tears spring to the eyes of his retainersand of the audience. The act is no longermere) an act: the thief has demonstratedthe auftrity of "Executive Mind," theauthority to transform the 'very definitionand atmosphere of a situation. He has,infact, visibly become; by a supreme act ofattunement, imagination, and will, and by

,ReVISION V0L6 No

c

9

his undeniable effect on others, what heearlier merely pretended to be. At theverymoment when his opportunity to "play"the executive was vanishing in anxioushilarity, he "saw" in a new way what, thechallenge was and "rose to the occasion."

Each of us is called to exercise 'ExecutiveMind" in our adult life, at the very least inregardeto our own life as a whole and inregard tO our children., if not also in' the.organizations, professiops, and polities ofwhich we are members. And each of usenters the executive role as unprepared asthe common thief, no matter what ourprevious training. Ordinary analytic andcalculative thought is incommensurable

- withthe merest shadow of"ExecutiveMind." We can gain access to "ExecutiveMind" only through the continuoushumility of accepting the inadecluac-y of oprordinary thoughts, emotions, and'movements to our calling. Only, suchhumility can motivate a listening for othervoices beyond our ordinary thought, alistening which quiets , our ordinary,lumbering, grandiose, anxious WalterMitty daydreams. The experience of thislistening gradually attunes us to theawesome complex of personal", social, andcosmic rhythms, and 'thereby grants us theauthority to enact a role voluntarily andappropriately.

In order to help him achieve the properstate .of receptivity and transmissiontheproper state of in-formationfor his role inthe highest rituals,*the SOng of Heaven isplayed for the Tibetan Dalai Lima. TheSong of Heaven consists of a seeminglyunbearable din, cymbals clashing andmountain horns. bleating atonal) andandirregularly. Such is our dilemtha imeveryday life: to become in-formed amidstthe inner and' outer noise. Genuinely .

effective organizingthe gift of "ExeutiveMind'4,R-generates order from chaos.Unlike even the most efficient conceivablemachine, which generates greater order

locally at the expense of a general increasein entropy universally, effective organizingis ("magically") universally uplifting. So farare we from effective organizing; so mushdoes humility become us.

Like the-common thief and the actor in astage play, we will inevitably feelimprischied within our role on occasion. Wewill not be listening to our lifetime calling,or )he call will -conflict with variousmomentary whims. We will want to retiretempofarily from the publicity of the stage.We will want to cease being artful and justbe ourselves. And it is of course necessaryand desirable to meditate in solitude and to'relax in the spontaneity of friendship.Indeed, as stated before, leisureliness is ofthe essence to all the higher states of mind:

tr

all are achieved through a purelyvoluntary, playful process (Torbert, 1972).But, paradoxically, to be oneself, to bespontaneous, to be leisurely, to be friendlyare the highest disciplines, th'e.consummate arts. these possibilities arenot natural in the ordinary sense; theybelong primarily neither to our biologicalnature, "first nature," nor to 'socialconvention, "second nature," but rather toyet a "third nature." Our biological andsocial' natures are simply the raw material-to-be-transformed for this .third nature.Only a lifetime commitment to artfulinquiry and performance gives Us access toit.

Thus, "Executive Minetreats the wholeof life as an art-forma form of theatre withstages and wings, with rehearsals andperformances, with active collaborators,antagonists, "straight men," andaudiences. It recognizes the need for theinterplay of -strategy aid spontaneity, butalso the need for a great deal of"undramatic," craft-life work, in settingone scene or another (Mangham andOverrington, 1982).

"Executive Mind" accepts the distancesbetween inner self.and one's performanceat any given time, as well as the distancebetween one's performance and 'others'perceptions. Likewise, "Executive Mind"accepts and works with (though movestoward bridging rather than maintaining)the distances between the inner circle ofcolleagues who share one's vision and whotake acting roles, and the wider audiencewhich may very well not share one's visionor apprediate the distinction between actingand reacting. And, finally, "E*egritiveMind" accepts and works willf thedistances between contemporary political,economic, aesthetic, religious, andscientistic ideologiet and the praxis ofvoluntarily creating non-elitist, highcultures through the exercise orExecutiveMind."

In this sense, "Executive Mind" isprofoundly anti-utopian. The vision ofcollapsing all distances and tensions intoeffortless, ",classless" harmony strikes theactive imagination as mere passive lunacy.Quite the contrary, it is the very distanceand tension betweenthe thief's nature and,the executive role he assumes which,accepted at the critical moment when he ismost tempted to relax in the bosom ofhoUseholdin the classless harmony ofcamaraderietransform him and thewhole 'play" frorti the farce it could soeasily have become to tragic stature.

THE DILEMMASUCCESSION

OF EXECUTIVE,

A third character in The Shadow Warriornot yet mentioned here is Kagemusha'sson. If the thief can teach us about thehumility appropriate to entering anexecutive, role (see Jentz, 1981 for asystematic treatment of the dilemmas ofentering an executive role), the fate and*aCtions.othe son can give us insight ihtothe humilify appropriate for the executivewho prepares to leave his executive role.

The dilemma of leavingsan executive roleis, of course, the dilemma of succession.The Shadow Warrior does not resolve thedilemma of succession by having the thieftake his, role. He only prolongs thedilemma: ,But to prolong the dilemma ofsuccession may have been the principal aimunderlying the entire, magnificentcharade. For Kagemusha's son is aquerulous sort who seems at once insecure,jealous of, and alienated from his father,not yet prepared to take the executive role.The three year interregnum may he thefather's effort to allow the son furtherseasoning after the father is no longerpresent to overshadow him.

In any event, the interregnum does'notachieve this purpose. The son undoes thefather's lifetime work as soon as he gainsthe father's seat. Order descends intoviolence and chaos.

The highest art of "Executive Mind" -isconfounded by the dilemma of succession,the dilemma of parentage, the dilemma ofthe generations. Those who believethemselves, Consummate executives needonly refer to their family lives for evidenceto the contrary. This is simply to say thatour own family is close enough to us tonTake it difficult for us to blind ourselves tothe fact that it is beyond our control.Whether our family flourishes ordisintegrates, we properly ° pray for

"guidance rather than crediting ourselves.The dilemma of successipn faces x;Xecutiveswith their limits, theIr mortality. Thegreatest leaders face their limits throughouttheir lifetime, continuously seeking worthycolleagues and successors to complementand to confront them. Lesser leaders .turnaway from their own limits by cultivating,rather than disowning, legends ofomniscience, omnipotence, andinfallibility.

CREATING EXECUTIVE TEAMS

These considerations lead us to the single'greatest concern of "Executive Mind"between entry to, and exit from, theexecutive role=namely, thaultivation of agrifiline executive team. In ah executive

11,

40 SPRING 1983 11

"Executive Mind" treats.the *hole Qflife as an art-form.

0

ft

01,

V.

team, every member takes the executiverole, takes responsibility for the welfare ofthe entire enterprise (Mills, 1965). Onemajor reason for this concern is the one justdescribed: "`namely, the desire to providecontinuity for the entei,rise beyond thelifetime of the individual chief executive.Other reasons include the need fordifferent channels of access to top-leveldecisions, the need to confrontassumptions about such decisions, and the

4. need for multiple perspectives on thesituations that surround such decisions.These different channels and perspectivescan only *be provided by human beings (amechanical management informationsystem cannot do the trick) because therellvant information is frequently notavailable in hard figures. It is subtle andimplicit rather than categorical and explicit(recall Walesa's comment, "I smell things. Ifeel situations, and when the crowd is silentI understand what it silently says").Moreover, the assumptions to beconfronted in making, implementing, andevaluating top level decisions are of heldin a fiercely subjective manner. People tendto yield more readily when conhtntedcourageously or with artful indirection bytrusted and respected colleagues thanwhen presented with so- cabled "objectiveinformation" which they can interpretaway.

An interesting example of executivesuccession and cif the developnient,pf anexecutive team is found at Delta Airlines,the world's most profitablemirline over thepast thirty years. Part of the interest of theexample is that the founding chiefexecutive of Delta, C. E. Woolman, doesnot appear to be primarily responsible forthe development of the executive teamwhich succeeded him. Rather, as Woohnanapproached his seventies and after havingsuffered a heart attack, his cadre of: topofficers began, first imperceptibly and then

12 R,e.VISION Voi..6 No

\more openly, to shift the managegient tothemselves, learning how to manage byconsensus. When Woolman died in 1966,the senior management team continuedright on without the difficulties ofsuccession experienced . by other majorairlines. Today, at Delta, the office of thechairman in effect includes not only- thechief executive officer and the +ice-chairman, but also the seven senior vice-presidents.. This senior management teammeets every Monday morning, and,although each member has a clearlydefined "area of responsibility (e.g.,Marketing, Finance, Flight Operations),they operate interchangeably, iniportantdecisions handled quickly by whoever is inthe office (Business Week 8/31/81). . .

As the Delta example sttpests,-.."Executive. Mind" (indeed, each of thehigher mental capacities) derives not solelyfrom individual genius and discipline butrather from a collaborative exercise inwhich the playful vigilance and the propersubordination of each uplifts the team as awhole (Valli, 18).

One important sign of executivegreatness is the capacity to generate morethan, one great team duringlecutive'scareer. By this standard, one', mightnominate Red Auerbach, general manageroPthe Boston Celtics and organizer of threedifferent championship basketball"dynasties" during his career, as thegreatest contemporary Americanexecutive. Interestingly, the elusive butunmistakable common theme of thesethree teams is the running and passing andrebounding (the discipline- and t'he self-subordination) of their greatest stars.Complementing this theme is the regularcapacity of the team'as a whole for playing"above their heads" in emergencies, ratherthan fall' g apart. The Celtics at playtepresen"Executi Mind" of which I am aware (so

the best physical metaphor Tiror

long as we recall that their play occurswithin a formal, well-defined game, withthe result that the greatest strategychallenges to "Executive Mind"thecontinuous reconceptualization andtransformation of the very Hiles Of thegameare not being exercised). It hardlyseems coincidental thatt, the coaching ranksOf the NBA have beWdisproportionatelypopulated by former Celtics during the pastgeneration. .

11

1

PART III Research Cultivating Executive Mind, Timely Action

L

The importance of timely action is mem-tioned again and again throughout theforegoing pages. However, simply lookingat the conceptual distinctiong among the(our qualities of higher mind does not tellus .What we need to do or whaiwe need toknow to cultivate timely action. As a ,socialscientist who has simultaneously takenexecutive roles, I have repeatedly faced thequestion, "What Idnd of research cultivatestimely action?". To address this question I .

will be advocating a view of social scienceresearch that is significantly at variancewith the kinds of knowledge derived fromthe two current research approaches, i.e.,:.the hy-pothetico-deductive "quantitative"'approach and the naturalistic, clinical, her-Meneutic,. or anthropological "qual-ita five! approach. .

Research that leads toward timely actionrequires what I shall call an "existential

e study" that one makes in the midst of one'sdaily actions. the knowledge and action to-Which this kind of research leads reviyifiesthe research process itself' rather, thancoming after the conclusion of the research.This existential study .aims to penetrate inthe "metaphysical" direction beyond theself - enclosed, embalming qualities ofreactive emotion and associational thoughtto the four active modes of higher mind. Inthe "physic 1" direction, it aims for livesensation o one's own acting and for"immacula perception!' of thesurrouncli g world. Thus, this kind ofresearch mbraces self.study, study ofphenomena external to oneself, and studyOf the interplay between self and world.

This 'existential study in turn fosterswhat I will call "developmentaltheorizing." This is the:process of makinghypotheses about a situation: from adetached perspective, although one isintegrally involvedas though one couldwatch the progress of a football game from-a birds-eye view atop the stands, with thecoach's commitment to ongoing '-strategizing and intervention,' whilesimultaneously playing on the field. Suchtheorizing guides both action and study; itexplores the interplay among the.developmental rhythms of person, polis,tradition, and cosmosit does not isolateeach from the other as the acadeMicdisciplines so frequently do. It alerts the

' actor not only to what is gieneral, but also towhat,is unique about the scene he or she isenacting with others: Such theorizing alsoreaches beyond itself to re-mind the actor ofexperiential "territories" beyond hiS or hercurrent expliCit knovidge..

4'1' 12

Empirical tetng to determine the <

.operative influences at any given timecomi3lements existential study anddevelopmental. theorizing. An .executive'sempirical tests'yield two types of data: (1) .

primary (real-time) qualitative data and (2) /_secondary, instrument-derived quan-titative data. For example, today .bothgovernment and corporate executivesmanage -'multiple, fluctuating, andfrequently conflicting constituencies on adarto-day basis-, while simultaneouslydeveloping strategic pleas based oneconometric and policy 'models :driven byinstrumented data. Rather than treating.only one .type of data as legitimate, theexecutive practicing existential Study-anddeVelopmental theorizing mill iodic forromplementarities between the two, aswell as complemenitarities between real-

. time and analytical modes of validation:Otherwise, analytical knowledge and real -.time action become increasingly alienatedfrom one 'another, just 'as campaigpromises 'and strategic plans so frequently:become increasingly divorced from day -to-day governmental and corporate dec on- -

making.. ,

To join existential study; dev opmentaltheorizing, and 'cal ting in, themidst of action is obvious y a tall order. MVclaim is, simply, that any other approach.will inhibit timely action, (See Argyris andSchon,' 1974'; Lindblom and Cohen,. 1979;and Unger; 1975 for arguments compatiblewith this claim.)

The foregoing summary Will no doubthave seemed vague and abstract to manyreaders. We-can flesh out what this kind ofresearch entails in two ways. First, verybriefly, we can rerate this kind of research tomore familiar kinds of Study,, to the

inqualities of mind elaborated earlier in thisessay, and to common executiveSecond, at somewhat greater. length, wecan explore what existential study anddevelopmental theorizing 'initially revealabout the very nature of time and of timelyaction

Whereas todays regnant paradigm ofscience dividis the . world in two; the"territory".to be studied empirically and the

. "map" which makes theoretical sense of theterritory; the kind of real-time inquiryintroduced here divides the world in fourand treats each of the four divisions as a"territory" to be studied:

1. .heworld dtitside. 'This is studied in the'natural and physical sciences, history,and empirical social science through

SPRING 1983 3

/

J

P

acute observation- of the environment(i.e. by extroverted Observing Mindand empirical research instruments).

.2. One's own behavior in durational time.This can be studied through audio andvideo `tapes (i.e., by extrovertedObserving Mind).; and through others'feedback, through sports, and throughthe performing arts. All of the aboverely on refinement of one's innersensual awareness (i.e. by introverted,Observing Mind).

1/4. 3. The "eter#ial" lawfulness of one's ...own# thoughts and passions. -,This *Is to be

studied through therapy, friendlyconversation, various. card and boardgames, philosophy, certain 'projectivetests, and meditation (i.e., byTheorizing Mind):

4. One's life possibility and purpose. This isto be studied through the sacred textsand 'ceremonies of the great religioustraditions using prayer as a vehicle(i.e.,;hy Passionate Mind).

On7,i 11 institutional scale, theexecutive encounters four analogousarenas of action:

1. external opportunities, emergencies,and competitors

2. role-defined tasks3. strategic planning with regard to major

initiatives4: governing policies' and Symbols of

institutional identity, purpose, andself-correction (Torbert, 1981b)

These :four arenas of action embracedifferent time periods:

1. emergencies arising at any moment2. role-defined tasks recurring within' a

monthly quarterly, or yearly cycle3. major, strategic initiatives typically

.reqtiiring on the order of three, to fiVe. years

4. the institutional self-study pioCess thatan executive appreciating theimportance of. acistential study wouldseek to encourage. This process wouldmature over a period of a generation as.different members and groups withiri*the institution find reasons fo test self-study for themselves.

Of course,, in practice, the effective'scientist onexecutive, through the exerciseof "Executive .Mind,h seeks to weavetogether the four different -temporalstrands, the four different institutionalresponsibilities, aiV4Il as the fotatiferenttypes of research, so that they become

'mutually supportiv

VARIATIONS ON THE EXPERIENCE OFTIME

In an effort next to suggest briefly theoutlines of. what existential study showsabout the relation of knowledge, time, andaction, will be speaking aboutunderstandings that. have shapedthemselves through years of existentialstudy with guidance from many teachers;understandings that cognitive argument

and externalized empirical data alone canneither confirm nor disconfirm,

`. understandings with which the reader canbest enter into dialogue through his or herown existential study,

The kind of existential study I amspealing about ,early on reveals thediffe(ait experiences of time. Not allex/Aences of time support . effectiteaction. Executives can study the differentways of experiencing time in order, totranscend the limited time frame weoperate in day tO day. First, one's .study,shows repeatedly how rarely one is' awareof time at all; in waking life as in dreams oneis most frequently time-oblivious. Thisquality bf awareness is utterly incompatiblewith intentional, timely action.

In most Circumstances of modem life, oneinitially finds oneself confronted with thereality of time by clocks and (perhapsMutually conflicting) commitments to besomewhere at a certain time or finishsomething by a certain time. Oneexperiencetitne as a constraint; one is time-bound: In this state of awareness, one is alsonot acting but being acted upon by forces,powers, and authorities of which one isonly peripherally aware.

A specific kind of knowledgea specifickind of questioning and answeringisassociated with ordinary time-obliviousand time-bound states of awareness. Thiskind of questioning and answering seeks todetermine situation- specific, time-boundfacts. For example, if I. am in a strange

ReVIS 1.0 N VOL 6 No. i

building, a where the bathroom is, andthen en p at a bathroom' when I followthe di 'ons given, I hitye learned asituation-specific, time-bokind fact. The factabout the direction to the bathroom is validonly for this particular building and for thetime the building exists. Obviously, thiskind of knowledge is absolutely necessaryto daily living. To feel that this kind ofknowledge existsthat questions about,"local" facts normally produce useful'answers =generates; an initial: sense thatthe world is- understandable, and that onecan "negotiate" with it.

If one moves hey d time-obliviousexperience and dine- and experience,and makes an effort to tudy oneself inaction with attention si ultaneously to

',

-

Possibility.

passion, thought, sensation, andperception to the objecting worldoneoccasionally experiences time as duoition.

riOtgoing impulses, thoughts, ations,o/rid

de's awareness actually "accompani"

effects. The experience of time as duration4 can have. a valiety of flavors. One can

experience it as the dry, endlesS monotonyof Naitingwhich reemphasjzes one's time -boundedness. Or, a(the other end of the,spectrum, one can experience a liberating

', sense of participating in continuity; in thevery essence, in the veryclanceof life itself.

This experience , of time as durationalverges, paradoxically, on another quality oftimethe experience of timelessness. Asone's attention becomes capable of tracinginterlacing developmental patterns andgaps, ("black holes*. in time?) within one'songoing experiencing of durational time,the exigencies of clock-time, which mightearlier have distracted one from existentialstudy, become appreciated as notes in a ,

continuous (and thus eternal or timeless)symphony of passionate commitment,ironic detachment, and circumspect action.But ne does not listen to this symphonywih5opthe ease, pleasure, and security withw ich one listens to a Beethovensymphony. This symphony is not yetcompleted. One properly listens for eachsucceeding note as a composer listens forthe next note in the original process ofcomposing, i.e., with an inquiring frame ofmind. As one's existential study continues,one finds oneself returning again and againto the same questions. The questioningitself, peiiiaps even more than anyparticular pattern of answers, isappreciated as the key' to consciousparticipation in this timeless symphony.

Through this eternal questioning, one isnot listening for factual answers, nor foreternal formulae, but rather for "actual"answers. The answers come from impulsesthat call for translation through language,tone, and bearing into symbolic gesturesactionswhich redefine and real-ize whlitis at stake in the human drama. This modeof "timeless" questioning in the search for

c"timely" impulses which can transform"time-bound" and "time-oblivious"settings is the balancing act the executiveproperly cultivates. Every executive wants

...to know when to act in a transformingmanner, for every executive is charged withtransforming, dreams into actionsitall thewhile suffering interruptions anddisillusionments. No short course in "TimeManagement" will introduce him or her tothe demanding real-time knowledgenecessary to act in a timely fashion.

11 Durahon

\

Vemity

Extensity

Levity

\

Gravity

Possibility

t' Eternity

Dr,111,7,C,O.

roo, Durationo-ne

4Orrenud,

..Extensity

14

A SIX DIMENSIONAL MODEL. OFSPACE/TIME

In seeking knowledge wouldenhance my own timeliness in action, Ifound it -useful to imagine space/time as asix-dimensional manifold, with threespatial 'dimensions and three temporaldimensions. Each of these dimensions canbe distinguished in one's experience at anymoment. The &three spatial dimensions,though commonly thought of as height,breadth, and depth, are experienced asgravity (sensation of one's bodysituatedness), levity (What one's attentionrises to visually, audibly, Or intellectually),and extensity (breathing 'and movement).As already suggested,' I have named thethree temporal dimensions duration,eternity, and possibility. Duration' is theexperience of the moment -to- moment(one - dimensional) "line" of time. Eternityis the experience of thematic (two-dimensional) "cycles" or pa tterns,of time,of the relationships among moments, of thesense in which this moment is archetypal,ever-repeated. Possibility is the experienceof the (three-dimensional) "volume" oftime, the "fullness" of time,..or as theGreeks and the theologians call it, "kairos"(Gr: opportunity). (See Collin, 1974;Priestley, 1964; Torbert, 1981c for moreextended treatments of this notion.)

The six-dimensional paradigm impliesthat whatever I may imagine myself to bedoing, I will in facts only be behaving insubordination to various eternal laws(biological, psychological, sociological,astrophysical, etc.) unless I am in a positionto see and. play with those laws from thesixth dimension. Moreover, the notion ofdifferent dimensions emphasizes theincommensurability of the experience ofeach quality of space and time. I amreminded that to think about the sixdimensions is not to experience them. Atbest, such theorizing reminds me of thepossibility of existential study; at worst itsubstitutes itself for study.

This paradigm implies that existentialstudy of the interplay of the six dimensionsis my only genuine possibilitythe onlytransforming action .1 can takethe onlytruly executive action I can takeuntil Ibegin actually to experience this interplayon a continuous basis. (There is a long anddangerous intermediate period when onesporadically, 'experiences the interplay ofdimensions, but quickly falls back intomere fantasies, or altogether forgets aboutthis experience.) In *sort, this paradigmsets self-study-in-action as its highest normand regards timely action as possible only ifsuch self-study results in six-dimensionalawareness. The purpose pf social science

SPRING 1983 15

4

from this' perspective is primarily thecultivation of this living six-dimensionalawareness in persons. The development ofa written body of knowledge which cancommunicate the opportunity for suchawareness to others is a secondary aim, andthe". development of publicly verifiableevidence in support of propositions is atertiary aim.

According to this six-dimensional modelof space/time, timely' action occurs when ahuman being interweaves the eternal lawsof psyche, polity, and cosmos in such a waythat a possibility is actualized in a moment dfdurational time. At such a moment, humandestiny is so truly enacted that it makes anindelible mark on civilization.and becomeslegendary.

In the Christian calendar, Jesus's lifebelongs at the "center" of duratiOnal timebecause God miraculously iutervened frombeyond the realm of naturarlaw (the virginbirth and the resurrection) to bring humankind the possibility of redemption. Thisredemption, it is claimed, each persontoday can actualize through an activeacceptance of this very definition of thehuman situation.

1n the Communist_ Chinese collectivisthagiography, the miraculous Long Marchis regarded as the actualization of an

. impossibility. The heroic efforts whereby.Mao, Chou, and the Red Army escapedencirclement by C iang Kaishek in thesouth and marche 6,000 miles north invirtually continuo battle over the courseof an entire year to refound the Communiststate represent the sacred, kairatic momentof attunement across all the territories ofhuman action. -

TIMELY ACTION AND THE STAGES OFTHE DEVELOPING ORGANIZATION

The foregoing notions may provide avery broad orientation to issues of timingwith which "Executive Mind" concernsitself, but they are certainly not specificenough or propositional enough to becqpidered a theory of timing. It was notuntil I tried retrospectively to understandwhat had occurred during a two-yearperiod of starting and directing% school forteenagers from impove *shed backgroundsthat I became serio ly interested indeveloping a theory of ing. Impressedby Erik Erikson's noti that historicindividuals like Luther and Gandhi are soinfluential because their personal strugglesparallel societal struggles and theirpersonal transformation becomes a vehiclefor a wider social transformation, I sensedthat an adequate theory of timing wouldapply analogically to all scales of socialprocessto the development of a

6 ReVISION Vol. 6 No

conversation, t development of anindividual, the development of anorganization, the - development of aneanow,y, etc. Executive action becomestimely'' effective as it "speaks," not justto the developmental moment of any onesocial process, treated as though inisolation, but rather tq the developmentalmoments of all the subtle layerings of socialprocess present any human interplay.Butlexecutives cannot analyze tAis complexlayering eternally. They require, a singlelens through which they can refocus,quickly, again and again at different "focallengths" (e.g.,-one focal length might be asocial unit of a certain size, another mightbe a social unit of a vastly different size; onemight be a time period of weeks, another of.generations). This constant refocustng isthe effort necessary to clarify ',whAtleadership their organizatipns currntlydemands, what effects their own actionshave, and what archetypal roles they areplaying in the human dramas in which th4are participating.

Eventually I hit upon a nine-stage theoryof organizational development that paraleleled Erikson's theory of personal develofment and seemed to account best for taresequence of events in the life of the schoolwas studying., Included below are diagranisof Erikson's theory and of the torgani40-tional parallels I ,developed (Figure 2). Fol-lowing these diagrams is .a chart that out-lines the characteristics of each of, theorganizational stages (Figure 3). It is not myaim in this article to present or defend thecontent of this stage theory. For that, I 'Canrefer the reader elsewhere (Torbert 1974,1976, 1978a). The principle points I wishtoMake here concern the structural reasonsfor the relevance of this kind of theory toexecutives.

I have already suggested that one charac-teristic of a theory useful to executives is itsapplicability to all the scales of social lifewithin which one's actions are embedded.

A theory useful to executives must alsobe both descriptive and normative. Becauseexecutives find themselves in the midst ofaction in unique situations and wish to actincreasingly effectively in the futurk, theyrequire a theory that both describes whatthey are currently experiencing and pre-scribes effective next steps.

A third feature of a theory useful toexecutives is that it alerts them tqoth whatis general and what is unique in their situa-tion. This would seem to be highlyparadoxical requirement for a theory, sincetheories are constructed in ge eral termsmeant to apply across particular ltuations,identifying what they have in c mmon. Inone sense the theory of timingt, fired hereis no exception to this rule. Thethtracteris-

15

Figure 2

tics of each stage are described in generalterms meant to apply across situations. Butif readers study the characteristici of thestages after the "Pre-defined productivity"or bureaucratic stage, they will find thatthey describe increasingly abstract meta-structures within which exedutives (andgradually their immediate teamsand wider

-systems) can organize their actions to ad-dress what is unique in their situation.

Another reason why this theory of timingisparticularly apropos for executives is thatmany of its features guard against preoccu-pation with' the theory in a literal-mindedway. The same features guard againstblindness, to realities not highlighted by thetheory. The 4ee-by-three matrix withinwhich the stages rest can serve as a remin-der that the behavioral, structural, andspiritual qualities of experience all co-existcontinuously. Indeed, the three rowsof the

matrix are intended to re-present the threedimensions of time (sensual duration,. eter-nal questions, and timely possibilities). Thematrix also indicates that development isnot merely a sessential unfolding, but re-quires "external shocks" to "jump" fromone row to the next (Thrbert, 1974; 1976)."Observing Mind" is alert to the implicit"layers" of the developmental process as

. well as to the current stage. It is also alert topotentially facilitating "external shocks.""Theorizing Mind" is not just absorbed inthe internal logic of a theory, but rather cul-tivates the paradoxical, diale 'cal, andironic modes of thinking characte tic of

/the highest stages of development. estmodes'' treat no terms as literal, nbcategories as static, and no logic as conte t-free.

Lastly, this theory of timing ad sesone particular supreme irony fa the

STAGE THEORY OF INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

from Torbert, CREATING A COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY, London, Wiley, 1976

Model of\kson's Stages

Relational Successful Self .

experimentation environmental recognitionmanifestation

1

JPhysical/behavioral (Birth) Trust

Social/structural Initiative

Spiritual/historical Intimacy

Autonomy

Industry Identity

Generativity Integrity

The organizational analogies to Erikson's categories were named as follows:Stages of Organization De4elopmenti

Relational SUccessful Selfexperimentation environmental

manifestationrecognition

Behavioral Shaved fantasies --a.- Investments Determinations

t -

Structural Experiments Predefinedproductivity

Openly chosen'structure

tSpiritual Foundatio

communityLiberating symbolsand disciplines

16SPRING 1983 17

Figure 3

7

STAGES OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

Characteristics of the Stages of Organization Development

I. Fantasies(a)' Dreams, fantasies about future, initial visions;(b) informal conversations with friends, work associates;(c) diffuse collaboration discussing of working with others on occasional, related pro-

jects to explore shared interests; .(d). episodic exploration of varied parts of the social environment to see how they relate to

fantasies, where opportunities exist, what potential con4equences of action would be.

II. Investments - .

(a) Organizers mace definite commitment to enterprise;,(b) "parent" institutions make finanbal, structural, spiritual commitments to nurture;

4(c) early relationship-building among potential leaders, members, clients, advisors;(d) leadership style negotiated;(e) issues arise about the validity, reliability, and depth of the various personal and in-

, stitutional commitments.

III. Determinations(a) Specific goals clients, staff, members determined (hiring, admissions);(b) recognizable physical territory delineated;(c) first common tasks and time commitments;(d) psychological contracts between parties and ()lionization defined implicitly or

explicitly;le) persistence/unity exhibited in face of perceived privation or threat.

IV. ExperimentsAlternative legal, governing, administrative, physical, production, communication, plan-ning; scheduling, celebratory, and/or interpersonal structures/processes practiced (mod-eled, role-played), tested in operation, and reformed.

V. Predefined productivity(a) Focus on doing the predefined task;(b) viability of productsingle criterion of success;(c) standards and structures taken for granted (often formalized, institutionalized);(d) roles stabilized, job descriptions written;(e) effort to quantify results based on defined standards;(f) reality conceived of as dichotomous and competitive; succuess/failure, leader/fol-

lower; legitimate/illegitimate, work/play, reasonable/emotional.

VI. Openly chosen structure'.(a) Shared confirmal reflection about larger (wider, deeper, more long-term, more

abstract) purpdses of the organization;(b) development of open interpersonal process, with disdokure, support, and confronta-

tion on value/stylistic/emotional issues;.(c) evaluation of effects of own behavior on others in organization and fo alive research

on effects of organization on environment ("social accounting"); i.e., determiningwhether abstract purposes are being realized in practice;

(d) dirt facing and resolution of paradoxes: freedom versus control, expert versus par-ticipatory decision-making etc.;

(e) creative, trans-conventional solutions to conflicts;(f) organizational his-story becomes my-story; .

(g) deliberately chosen structure with commitment to it, over time; the structure unique inthe expenence of the participants or among "similar" organizations;

(h) primary emphasis on horizontal rather than vertical role differentiation;(i) development of symmetrical rather than subordinate relation with "parent" organiza-

tion;/ (j) gaining of distinctive-public repute based on the quality of collective action within the

organization.

(Crisis of transition to spiritual ground)

i8 ReVISION Vot.. 6 No. 17

VII. Foundational community) .ta) - Regular, personal, shared research on

, havioral qualities of experience; ,x(b) transcendence of pre-existing culturacal gories and appreciation of the continuous

interplay of opposites, action/research, politics, past/future, s mbolic/diabolic,etc.; -

(c) organization survives a challenge or crisis during which .its existin structure fails,- . shared purpoge (spirit) revealed as sustaining; .

. (d) new experiences of time: interplay of creative timeliness, timelessce-enachnenp of ar-chetypal patterns, and time-Bound personal needs and situational reqUirements;sprritas illOminatOg and meeting the past and future; history as Myth (where mythmeans ultimate trtNth). ; - ,

ations among spiritual, theoretical, and be--,

VIII oLiberating discipline'(a) Lowering of me rship boundary betweenorganization and environment; inclusive

rather thanexclus e, given commitment by aspirants. to self-transformation;(b) tasks deliberate) ironic to elucidate hidden relationships among-task, process, and

purpose, incomprehensible (unpleasant, undoable) without reference to their expres-sion of and inspiration from organizational processes and purposes ;

(c) commitment by "leaders" to premeditated structural evolution over time;(d) "leaders" use all authority granted to exercise psychosocial, jiu-jitsu, leading to in-

creased sense of their authority among members;(e) openness (vulnerability) of "leaders" to challengeregarding their authenticity. ,

IX. (Uncharted in author's experience)

1. The reader should recall that few organizations achieve the final three sta s. Therefore, someof the above characteristics may seem unfamiliar. . .

wiii-be-iihteersteel-itertiverift4lieepoper.

executive. On the one hand, as noted ear-lier, "Executive Mind" is profoundly anti-utopian iiisdfar as utopianism implies staticharmony. On the other hand, as also noted,"Executive Mind" seeks to ma .dreamscome true. Is there an inherently ynamicdream or vision to which "Executi Mind"can commit itself without falling intoutopianism? This theory points to just sucha vision: The developmental stages pointpersons, interactions, institutions, and na-tions toward increasingly dynamic modesof organization. The culmination is "com-munities of inquiry" where no presOmp-don is sacred and where all conflict iscivilizing. At the same time, the very notionthat organizing occurs on multiple scales ofsize and duration dissolves the simplisticvision of a moment when world society as awhole becomes a macroscopic communityof inquiry once and for all. Instead, there isa growing recognition that we live in a mul-tiplicity of spatial-temporal relationshipsand that each of us plays a critical role in de-termining the scope, the signikcance, andthe fruitfulness of each relationship. Thisrecognition forces us to examine the ques-tion, "what is up to me now in the rhythmicdevelopments in which I am participatingwith ,pthers?" A vision of momentary, mic-roscopic communities of inquiry, arisinghere and there, then vanishingMgradu-

18

..$

ally influencing wider historical currents--',arises to replace simplistic political ideol-ogy, then vanishes.

4EVIDENCE'

Supposing for the moment that theforegoing kind of theory can genuinelyedify executive action, how does "Execu-tive Mind" gather, sift, and weigh evidencein testing the validity of a given theory, and

sin testing how one' own actions can betterharmonize h what onemost deeply wishes? The executive's re-lationship to evidence is very different fromthat of most social scientists today. Theexecutive is not ordinarily in a position.toput hypotheses to rigorous/empirical testsbefore making decisions and taking ac-tions. On the other, hand, as an "insider,"both with respect to his own purposes widwith respect to day-to-day institutional op-erations, the executive potentially haseasier access to subtle, uncoded types of in-formation than social scientists seekingdata as outsiders.

Because I have brought asocial scientist'sperspeCtive to the situations in which I havetaken executive roles, I have subjected thestage theory outlined Above to more rigor-ous testingthan most conceptual schemesused, by executives receive. But, from an

SPRING 2983

"Exedivq Mind" is profoundly anti=utbpiOn.

4..,

-+Tempirical point of view. the fhe ory is still in/its infancyNNevertheless, as an executive, I

have developed much stronger confidencein the validity and heuristic value of the-theory than the empirical evidence wouldseem to warrant. The following pagessuggest bow, an executive may justifiablydevelop such confidence.

Since initially constructing the nine-stagetheory, I have explored, sometimes infor-mally, sometimes rigorously, whether thetheory can help to analyze a wide variety ofevents. These range from a 60-second radioadvertisement, to 'a two-hour meeting of a,group of ten persons, to a five7year institu-tional change at a school of management, tothy history of the United Sfates (Torbert,1978b,1981b). Three other gesearchers haveused the theory to interpret the, develop-ment of seven "free schools," Of a univer-sity, and of a religious order. Even moreimportant to my confidence in thehave been the two instances of, executiveSuccess (on a minor scale) that occurredwhen I used the theory to discipline mythinking in the midst of ongoing organiza-tional events. In both cases, the theory ledme to experiment with modes of behaviorquite alien to my ordinary managerial style,yet uniquely effective. I judge them as "un-iquely effective" because in both situationsall members-of each institution, (13 in onecase, 65 in another case) unanimously ag-reed to and implemented fundamental in-stitutional changes with little or ,no vesiduak

-conflict after the change. These changes were.not inherently easy ones. They threatenedparticular interests and provoked anxieties.Once enacted, they transformed institu-tional duties and experiences. In one casehalf of the members had their (citifieschanged, in the other everyone's dutieswere changed. In neither case did other institutional members share, thy paradigmand theory ofbtiming I was relying on.Hence, the changes were seen as successfulfrom a variety of points of view.

In empirical terms, of course, two casesdo not nearly_ a proof make. And it is cer-tainly one of the functions of an empiricalorientation to cultivate modesty about thecertainty one attributes to one's purported"knowledge." Nevertheless, executives arefrequently in the position of "betting their,

careers" on judgements based on concep-tual schema tested no more rigorously thanabove. To counsel executives to test theirconceptual schemes more adequatelybeforecontinuing to act is to offer absur,d advice.To counsel executives to treat themselves asengaged in a continuing inquiry as they act,rather than acting' dogmatically, makes `more dense, but in no way makes room forthe conviction a Churchill must convey.during the Battle of Britain. There Ore mo-ments when, however inquiring one'sinner attitude, explicit tentativeness pro-hibits nimble/. Does this mean that greatsexecutives, and great scientists as well (Mit-roff, 1974), must blind themselves to evi-dence on occasion, or that they must act ina willfully counterfactual way?.

I do not believe so. Instead, my own ex-perience suggests to me that an executivemay appropriately "add up"4iis- data dif-ferently from the conventions qf parametricstatistics. For example, the two cases citedabove substantiate for me the value of con-tinuing to test this theory in action. Were Iter take an eitemal, analytic point of view, Imight not draw the same conclusion. But,because I was a participant i each of thesetwo cases, the theory guide what I saidand did on different scales at fferent mo-ments. It generated increasing institutionalresponsiveness and coherence on almost alloccasions from the point of view of participants with different perspectives and differentstakes in the outcomes. Thus, from a real-

. time point of view the theory was subjectedto multiple tests, not just two. Moreover,the degree to which the consequences of,'these tests mutually reinforced one another-furtheic substantiates my sense of the ele-gance and power of this theory. (Of course.an alternative.hypothesis is that my actionswere irrelev. ant to the fundamental institu-tional changes, Ilutrthat the theory kept mepreoccupied in a relatively- harmless fash-yin. ti theory that makes executives, feelpowektil while actually rendering them'

'harmless may seem even more elegant toithile.)

But the central point here is imRlicit in theunderlined "for me" above. The two_ casesdo not provide strong general substantiationfor adopting this theoryfor you, or you,or you to begin testing this theory. The twocases provide strong substantiation of thetheory for me to the,degree that I was alert totheir moment-td-moment developmentthrough the exercise of "Observing Mind,"and was helped to be even more alert by thetheory itself. ,

Put another wa'y, the.executive can en-gage in two distinct types of empirical in-quiry-7first-hand, interactional inquiryand second-hand, iinstrumented inquiry.Both types of empirical inquiry are impor-

20 ReVISION VoL6No.i19

tant to the executive!and the results of eachcan correct the other. First-hand,' interac-tional inquiry is not generalizable beyondthe time and placeof the inquirym:Itothe rest of the life of the Inquirer.. d-hand, instrumented incgry is potentiallygeneralizable. gn the other hand, first-hand interactional inquiry provides con-tinual testing of the quality of mind and thetheory of tuning guiding the inquiry. Sec-ond-hand; instrumented inquiry providesno.ptich test. Thus, the notion of first-hand,interactional inquiry opens intq a wholearena of evidence and of validity testing notconsidered in the conventionalmeth6dological literature. The concern todevelop a kind of research that cultivatestimely action leads beyond sodal science asformal inquiry, to social science as living in-quiry.

CONCLUSION

In the six-dimensional- paradigm ofspaditime, action theory is appropriatelygeneralizable only one person, at a time

from the inside out through the exercise ofthe four qualities of higher mind (althoughthese is a minor role for "external 4hocks"such as this paper). In the early phases oftesting a ,theory in executive action, thetheoty "proves itself" as much -by the de-gree to which it cultivates an alertness'which reaches beyond its own categories asby the degree that its categories directly in-form effective strategy and action;.

"Executive Mind" is incompatible withideological figiditii. Together, the fourqualities of high& Mind resist addictiorAo

, any substance and any theory.How can an executive possibly maintain

lifetime credibility if he or she is addicted toanything and consequently unable to betrustworthily responsiveand educationallyunpredictable?

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