July 30, 2014
At work, when you are requested to make efforts to fulfill a goal, vision, task, etc., what are the emotions that you experience? Are you able to name that emotion (or emotions)? How do you describe the physical sensations that you experience in those situations? This is just an example situation that I use to illustrate the distinctions that exist between the emotion of “commitment” versus the emotion of “compliance”.
Committed or Compliant?
In my experience, I find the word “commitment” being bandied about like a Nerf arrow shot randomly. I hear phrases such as: “Are you committed?” “Let’s commit to this venture.” “The dean is committed to this-or-that.”
In this example of commitment at work, the word itself became diluted enough that it had lost its original meaning and value. Exploring what “commit” means, we find that it comes from the Latin root committere; to ‘join, entrust’. [1] Using this definition, it appears trust must exist prior for commitment to take place. The individual story of commitment is defined by Newby (2013) as, “This initiative deserves my full attention and effort and I am giving it.” [2]
Compliance, on the other hand, is defined as having a story of, “I will go along with this initiative because I do not have the freedom to decline.” (Newby, 2013, p.23) This internal story of compliance may create frustration and resentment which may lead to a loss of trust in the workplace (or in interactions with others).
Changing the Story
Understanding the distinctions between “compliance” and “commitment” may be what is required to create trust and hence fulfilling goals, visions and tasks.
In what areas of your life are you taking committed action? In what areas of your life are you in compliance?
These are the questions that I’d like to explore with you because these are stories that you hold within as being “true” in your experiences. Exploration of these themes and the associated stories may allow awareness to blossom. From this new awareness, you now have a platform upon which to consciously create new actions and make new decisions to move you forward.
The photo above is one of Kusunoki Masashige, a loyal samurai who was committed to the ideals of his Emperor Go-Daigo in 14th century Japan. [3] He was committed because he had freedom to make decisions and align himself to the values that he believed in; that of samurai and of service to his emperor. There was no compliance, no resentment of his role within the Emperor’s operation; he died in service and was awarded the highest decoration from the Meiji government centuries later.
Commitment and Compliance in Organizations
Within your work environment, what assessments do you make about your commitments?
Are you committed or compliant? How about your peers and bosses?
And in what ways does this affect your team’s productivity?
Hiring an Ontological Coach to work with you and your team may help you to identify areas which may be improved. The distinctions made above between “compliance” and “commitment” can be subtle; often, I find the terms are used interchangeably with disastrous results.
By understanding what constitutes effective requests and offers, promises and declarations, you and your team can make decisions from a space of understanding. This may lead to greater commitment and less compliance from your team suggesting greater job satisfaction and improvement of team morale.
I’d love to work with you to deconstruct your existing paradigms of language and emotion and use movement to shift into a space of awareness from which effective decisions are made. I offer my perspective, my experiences and will work with you to define and make distinctions in “commitment” and “compliance.”
References
- https://www.google.com/search?q=define+commit
- Newby, D. 2013. An Introduction to Ontological Learning. 23-24
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusunoki_Masashige
- http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2014/06/18/u-s-workers-cant-get-no-job-satisfaction/
- https://www.google.com/search?q=define+comply
- https://www.google.com/search?q=define+complete