As a follow-up to
the
previous posting on this subject, we decided to look at the issue of why
organizations such as CESJ — or any organization, for that matter — even have
core values in the first place.
Obviously, the best place to start looking for an answer is CESJ
itself. Why does CESJ have core
values? Because —
Successful organizations start
with people firmly committed to a set of core values, which cannot be
compromised without weakening the organization. CESJ’s strength, unity and
programs flow from our founding principles, agreed upon by consensus from our
first meeting on April 7, 1984. Our core values were developed to guide us in
our work, to attract others sharing these values and to serve as the very basis
of CESJ’s existence.
As an organization open to all
people, we think that our core values, once understood, are universally
appealing. We see this reflected in the broad diversity of the backgrounds of
those who come together because of these shared values. The essence of our
founding principles has not changed from the founding of CESJ. But, as we
discuss them together and with others, we will continue to refine and clarify
our values by consensus.
That’s a good description
of why CESJ has core values, but where does CESJ get off making the claim for
all “successful organizations”? Well,
the first answer is “solidarity,” defined briefly as a characteristic of groups
per se.
 |
| Karol Józef Wojtyła (John Paul II) |
Of course, there’s
more to it than that. A lot of people
have taken on “solidarity” as a popular buzz word, especially since the pivotal
role played by the Solidarność
(Solidarity) movement of the 1980s in Poland in ending Soviet rule, and the
pontificate of Pope John Paul II (Karol
Józef Wojtyła, 1920-2005, elected 1978).
It makes sense,
then, to examine the role of solidarity in the thought of Karol Józef Wojtyła, in which the concept
holds an important place. As he
would later state — putting the word in quotes — solidarity is a “virtue,” the
habit of doing good, but not in the same sense as, e.g., justice and
charity. In his encyclical issued as
pope on the twentieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio he explained
that solidarity —
. . . is above
all a question of interdependence, sensed as a system determining relationships
in the contemporary world, in its economic, cultural, political and religious
elements, and accepted as a moral category.
When interdependence becomes recognized in this way, the correlative
response as a moral and social attitude, as a “virtue,” is solidarity. (Solicitudo
Rei Socialis, § 38.)
Specifically,
solidarity is a principle that fulfills and completes that general justice
which permeates all virtue, a sort of “general social charity.” Solidarity, in fact, appears to relate
to social charity as legal justice relates to social justice, viz, a
general virtue as it relates to a particular virtue. It is not a particular virtue (a virtue that
is defined by a specific “act” directed at a specific “object”; a general
virtue, unlike a particular virtue, does not have a defined, “particular” act
or a direct object.), nor does it exclude non-Christians.
Solidarity is, of
course, a virtue Christians necessarily have, but not one that is exclusive to
Christians. As Wojtyła noted, “Solidarity is undoubtedly a Christian virtue. In
what has been said so far it has been possible to identify many points of
contact between solidarity and charity, which is the distinguishing mark of
Christ's disciples.” (Ibid., § 40.)
 |
| David Émile Durkheim |
In the context of
Wojtyła’s Thomistic personalism,
then, solidarity describes an awareness of rights and duties within a
particular group that define how sovereign individuals relate as persons to one
another and to the group as a whole. All
people as members of a group have solidarity when they have that awareness and are
able to participate fully as members of that group.
Solidarity in Wojtyła’s thought is an essential
prerequisite for social justice, for (as we will see) only members of groups
can carry out acts of social justice. By
this means cooperation is achieved, not by absorbing people into the group or
collective, but by mutual interaction and give-and-take in exercising rights
and attaining the common goals and aspirations of the group.
Solidarism as
conceived by Wojtyła is thus in sharp
contrast to that of, e.g., the sociologist David Émile Durkheim (1858-1917). Durkheim, whose conception of God was a
“divinized society” (Fulton J.
Sheen, Religion Without God. New York: Garden City Books, 1954, 54), held that only the collective has
rights. Individual ethics are merely
expedient and necessarily give way before the demands of social ethics. As
Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950) put it, for Durkheim, “religion is the
group’s worship of itself.” (Joseph A.
Schumpeter, History of Economic Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press, 1954, 794.)
 |
| Fulton J. Sheen |
So, clearly it is
important to have solidarity, properly understood. And as to why every organization needs the
core values around which solidarity is built, there are at least seven reasons
(probably more) as to why organizations need to identify and live out the core
values of that organization.
Specifically,
·
They determine organizational characteristics.
What makes that particular organization distinct from all other organizations?
What differentiates it? One way to do this is with a set of core values.
·
They dictate personal involvement and
alignment. When an organization takes on people, it wants them to be
in alignment with its values. People can always be trained in skills, but they must
be in alignment with the organization’s core values.
·
They communicate what is important.
What’s important to the organization can be clarified in the values for everyone
to see for people inside and outside the organization.
·
They influence overall behavior.
Core values influence how people act.
·
They inspire people to action.
People take positive action because they aspire to live up to those core
values.
·
They contribute to the overall success
of the organization.
·
They shape the organizational culture.
We will start to
examine CESJ Core Values point by point in the next posting on this subject.
#30#
