Art. Work, Value and Freedom

Artists might also be regarded as purveyors of real values -- Wolf Kahn

Last year I was walking through arguably the world's most beautiful airport when my eye was drawn to a box of cards containing the work of artist Wolf Kahn. What he did with color and trees was arresting, so I bought the box. This week I picked up his book titled 'Pastels." Pages of great impressionist images that are like lightning and snow, exciting and peaceful. Wolf's words are as captivating as his art. What follows are some of his thoughts on the the value of one's work.

"The “Real Value” of One's Work

Every inhabitant of a developed country lives in a world of too many things and, unless he is very poor, or ascetic to the point of saintliness, he is encumbered by this surplus of objects. We know that these things, rather than simplifying our existence, often tend to complicate our lives. They need space, repair, storage, and eventual transfer to others. Anyone engaged in the manufacture, sale, and maintenance of things shares the guilt. Nearly all of us are part of the problem; only the purveyors of ideas are exempt. As artists, we inhabit both the world of ideas and the world of things. A picture can be regarded as just another object, another piece of junk (and, regrettably, often an expensive piece of junk, requiring special care). The artist, seen under this light, is a manufacturer of luxury items on which people spend their disposable income. It is as though he were running a jewelry store, or at best, an upscale winery.

Artists might also be regarded as purveyors of real values, which is, of course, how I prefer to view them. However, real values are not satisfied if an artist merely makes something that someone else likes, or even if the art object stretches the public’s awareness, or, as so much of present avant-garde art wishes to do, if it stretches the function of art to enlarge the sphere of permissible expression, whether of general issues, or sex, or politics. The practice of art should have an effect not only on the public, but even more importantly, on the artist himself, by enlarging his sphere of freedom. Once this is understood and becomes a profound part of artistic practice, the problem of being a mere manufacturer of expensive objects disappears; pictures are justifiable because they are steps in their maker’s artistic development. Each picture is valuable only insofar as it contributes to this development, because it enables the artist to go on in a freer, larger way to his next picture."

I love the blending of art, work, freedom and the growth of an individual. Art and work are both inseparable and interchangeable. Inseparable because an artist's work has real value when it comes from within and touches or "affects" others. Kahn says it expands the artist's "freedom in a larger way" to go on. Interchangeable because work whether artistic or simply labor that comes from within also affects the worker as well as others, often producing "things" of real value.

The workers efforts become his art. Work and art, art and work, inseparable and interchangeable, both capable of enlarging a person's freedom.

So thank you, Wolf Kahn, for making me ponder art and work and work and art. And since today is the last day of October - what better way to end the month than with your pastel titled "October Splendor?"

Conceptual Skill

"The essential aspect of the executive process is the sensing of the organization as a whole and of the total situation relevant to it." Chester I. Barnard

Conceptual skill involves the ability to see the enterprise as a whole; it includes recognizing how the various functions of the organization depend on one another, and how changes in any one part affect all the others; and it extends to visualizing the relationship of the individual business to the industry, the community, and the political, social, and economic forces of the nation as a whole.

Recognizing these relationships and perceiving the significant elements in any situation, the administrator should then be able to act in a way which advances the over-all welfare of the total organization.

Hence, the success of any decision depends on the conceptual skill of the people who make the decision and those who put it into action. When, for example, an important change in marketing policy is made, it is critical that the effects on production, control, finance, research, and the people involved be considered. And it remains critical right down to the last executive who must implement the new policy. If each executive recognizes the over-a;; relationships and significance of the change, he is almost certain to be more effective in administering it. Consequently the chances for succeeding are greatly increased.

Not only does the effective coordination of the various parts of the business depend on the conceptual skill of the administrators involved, but so also does the whole future direction and tone of the organization. The attitudes of a top executive color the whole character of the organization's response and determine the "corporate personality" which distinguishes one company's ways of doing business from another's. These attitudes are a reflection of the administrator's conceptual skill (referred to by some as his "creative ability")-the way he perceives and responds to the direction in which the business should grow, company objectives and policies, and stockholders' and employees' interests.

ACTION POINT: Examine and understand the relationship of all of the parts of your organization.

Human Skill III

Here is a situation in which the production manager was so preoccupied with getting the physical output that he did not pay attention to the people through whom that output had to be achieved.

Because human skill is so vital a part of everything the administrator does, examples of inadequate human skill are easier to describe than are highly skillful performances. Perhaps consideration of an actual situation would serve to clarify what is involved:

When a new conveyor unit was installed in a shoe factory where workers had previously been free to determine their own work rate, the production manager asked the industrial engineer who had designed the conveyor to serve as foreman, even though a qualified foreman was available. The engineer, who reported directly to the production manager, objected, but under pressure he agreed to take the job "until a suitable foreman could be found," even though this was a job of lower status than his present one. Then this conversation took place.

Production manager: "I've had a lot of experience with conveyors. i want you to keep this conveyor going at all times except for rest periods, and I want it going at top speed. Get these people thinking in terms of 2 pairs of shoes a minute, 70 dozen pairs a day, 350 dozen pairs a week. They are all experienced operators on their individual jobs, and it's just a matter of getting them to do their jobs in a little different way. I want you to make that base rate of 250 dozen pair a week work!" [Base rate was established at slightly under the 75% of the maximum capacity. This base rate was 50% higher than under the old system.]

Engineer: "If I'm going to be foreman of the conveyor unit, i want to do things my way. I've worked on conveyors, and I don't agree with you on first getting people used to a conveyor going at top speed. These people have never seen a conveyor. You'll scare them. I'd like to run the conveyor at one-third speed for a couple of weeks and then gradually increase the speed.

I think we should discuss setting the base rate [production quota before incentive bonus] on a daily basis instead of a weekly basis. [Workers had previously been paid on a daily straight piecework basis.] I'd also suggest setting a daily baste rate at 45 or even 40 dozen pair. You have to set a base rate low enough for them to make. Once they know they can make the base rate, they will go after the bonus."

Production manager: "You do it your way on the speed; but remember it's the results that count. On the base rate, I'm not discussing it with you; I'm telling you to make 250 dozen pair a week work. I don't want a daily base rate."

Here is a situation in which the production manager was so preoccupied with getting the physical output that he did not pay attention to the people through whom that output had to be achieved. Notice, first, that he made the engineer who designed the unit serve as foreman, apparently hoping to force the engineer to justify his design by producing the maximum output. However, the production manger was oblivious to (a) the way the engineer perceived this appointment, as a demotion, and (b) the need for then engineer to be able to control the variables if he was to be held responsible for maximum output. Instead the production manager imposed a production standard and refused to make any changes in the work situation.

Moreover, although this was a radically new situation for the operators, the production manager expected them to produce immediately at well above their previous output-even though the operators had an unfamiliar production system to cope with, the operators had never worked together as a team before, the operators and their new foreman had never worked together before, and the foreman was not in agreement with the production goals or standards. By ignoring all these human factors, the production manager not only placed the engineer in an extremely difficult operating situation but also by refusing to allow the engineer to "run his own show," discouraged the very assumption of responsibility he had hoped for in making the appointment.

Under these circumstances, it is easy to understand how the relationship between these two men rapidly deteriorated, and how production, after two months' operation was at only 125 dozen pairs per week (just 75% of what the output had been under the old system).

ACTION POINT: Identify and balance the human needs in each work situation.

Human Skill II

Human skill cannot be a "sometime thing."

Real skill in working with others must become a natural, continuous activity, since it involves sensitivity not only at times of decision making but also in the day-by-day behavior of the individual.

Human skill cannot be a "sometime thing." Techniques cannot be randomly applied, nor can personality traits be put on or removed like an overcoat. Because everything which an executive says and does (or leaves unsaid or undone) has an effect on his associates, his true self will, in time, show through. Thus, to be effective, this skill must be naturally developed and unconsciously, as well as consistently, demonstrated in the individuals every action. It must be an integral part of his whole being.

ACTION POINT: Be yourself, consistently.

Human Skill

...human skill is primarily concerned with working with people.

Human skill is the executive's ability to work effectively as a group member and to build cooperative effort within the team he leads. As technical skill is primarily concerned with working with "things" (processes or physical objects), so human skill is primarily concerned with working with people. This skill is demonstrated in the way the individual perceives (and recognizes the perceptions of) his superiors, equals, and subordinates, and in the way he behaves subsequently.

The person with highly developed human skill is aware of his own attitudes, assumptions, and beliefs about other individuals and groups; he is able to see the usefulness and limitations of these feelings. By accepting the existence of viewpoints, perceptions, and beliefs which are different from his own, he is skilled in understanding what others really mean by their words and behavior. He is equally skillful in communicating to others, in their own contexts, what he means by his behavior.

Such a person works to create an atmosphere of approval and security in which subordinates feel free to express themselves without fear of censure or ridicule, by encouraging them to participate in the planning and carrying out of those things which directly affect them. He is sufficiently sensitive to the needs and motivations of others in his organization so that he can judge the possible reactions to, and outcomes of, various courses of action he may undertake. Having this sensitivity, he is able and willing to act in a way which takes these perceptions by others into account.

ACTION POINT: Create an atmosphere of approval and security and encourage your team to participate in the planning and carrying out of things that directly affect them.