Hall (1994) talks about skills development and the four phases of consciousness. As an individual evolves, he or she must master the skill set associated with the phase. In phase one an individual masters instrumental skills: reading, writing, counting, thinking logically, being competent in your work. Interpersonal skills are associated with phase two and include coping with conflict, affirming the work of others, articulating personal goals, stating anger objectively and projecting your imagination into another’s world. In the third phase imaginal skills are developed and an individual becomes competent at perceiving the hidden meaning in standard data, combining and adapting new information, initiating new ideas from seeming unrelated data, dreaming and imagining new futures–that are possible and making your values conscious. Finally, in the fourth phase, an individual masters system skills. Hall (1994) defines system skills as a “peculiar blend of imagination, sensitivity, and competence that gives rise to the capacity to see all the parts of the system as they relate to the whole and include the ability to plan and design change in systems–institutions, societies, and bodies of knowledge (p. 110). System skills, he tells us, require the integration of all the other skills.

Erzsebet Szekeres certainly seems to fit not only the definition of a social entrepreneur, she approached the issue of services for persons with disabilities with a transformative vision. She made the decision that disabled people were not qualitatively different than non disabled people, they are quantitatively different. People without disabilities are simply able to do more things by themselves, or independently. Given the options for raising her son, 24 hour a day care at home, or a state run institution, Szekeres decided that she wanted a place for her son to live and work and interact with others and it wasn’t the Pilisvorosvar Social Home. She single handedly spearhead the assisted living movement in Hungary and provided persons with disabilities places and spaces to live as independently and fully integrated with the non disabled population as possible. She clearly has developed the capacity to see all parts of the system as they relate to the whole and plan and design change in institutions.

As I finished reading her story including her frustration with the state run institutions in Hungary and their reluctance to embrace any kind of change (competency addiction) I thought about the Department of Rehabilitation and its partners. While the department has no state facilities (that would be Dept. of Mental Health and the Department of Developmental Services) we do contract with community rehabilitation programs. Of course our goal as a department is to ensure that our consumers work in the most integrated setting possible. I haven’t yet done a site visit, and don’t yet fully understand how our not for profit community partners work. As I read about Szekeres and her centers some of it sounded familiar, the breakdown of jobs for contract work for example, but I have not seen it firsthand for myself.

I’m planning on doing some visits in the near future. I think that when I go, the lens that I will be looking through will be heavily influences by the values and skills articulated by Hall (1994) and the vision executed by Szekers.

As an ex-alum from the Disability Access Section of DOR (formerly the ADA Implementation Unit) I was quite interested in the two selections on disability in Bornstein’s (2007) book, How to change the world. Abidi’s article brought to mind the early struggles of the disability movement in just getting things as simple as ramps for public transportation and doors wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs. His story is inspiring and remarkable. For just a couple of hundred people to achieve that kind of change in national policy and get the passage of the Persons with Disabilities Bill (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) passed is nothing short of amazing!  It took so many more so much longer here in the U.S.

His crusade to get ensure equal employment opportunities for persons in India is still being fought here in the U.S. I found it more than coincidental that his personal story about getting a job as a reporter so parallels that of the CBS television journalist here in the states. ( I can’t recall his name) Almost the same story verbatim.

Szejeres’s story on Assisted Living for the Disabled, more closely follows the services provided for those with developmental disabilities in California. The passage of the Lanterman Act in 1969 ensures those with developmental disabilities including mental retardation and severe autism will be provided services from the state free of charge. Currently my role in the Department of Rehabilitation is working with Community Partners, such as Pride Industries and other supported employment vendors that provide opportunities for employment and the services leading to employment in both individual and group settings for this disability population. California has moved away from the model of work activity programs, (more commonly known as sheltered workshops) and toward the model of customized work or micro-enterprise: providing the consumer the capital to start up their own ventures. These ventures range from providing pet waste removal services to shredding confidential documents for large law firms. It was fascinating to read what Szejeres accomplished on her own with no help from the government, especially when I know that in California it takes two departments to provide those kind of services and opportunities.

I’d like to say that California is light years ahead of India in terms of securing public sector jobs for persons with disabilities, but I’d be lying. Despite many gains and the implementation of LEAP (Limited Employment and Appointment Program) into Civil Service, the number of persons with significant disabilities employed by the state is much lower than anticipated since the passage of the American’s with Disabilities Act. It will be interesting to see if the workforce shortages projected for the next three to five years will result in an increase of employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. We may just have to turn to India and Hungary for best practices on how to make that happen.

In Transforming Consciousness: The Values Gap, Hall (1994) addresses cycles of value growths. According to Hall, people experience a dramatic shift in consciousness at cycle four. When a person reaches the fourth cycle, they begin to change the institutions that make up their life. Instead of just reacting to the dictates of the institution, a person begins to create the world that he or she is living in. By cycle four a person becomes inner directed, no longer giving authority to parents or laws, or teachers or religion to impose values. By cycle four, an individual becomes inner directed.

At this cycle, a person realizes not only that they have a unique or special talent, but that they need to share that talent with the world. In cycle four the individual finally recognizes that they are an equal among equals. Cycle four allows individuals to acknowledge the symbiotic relationship between leadership and the leadership design of a specific institution. Leadership is no longer seen as the purview of a single person, but it is seen as a team or group reality.

The most important difference in those individuals operating from the fourth cycle is their ability to operate from a higher level of impersonal functioning. As a result, imaginal skills: “learning from experience, choosing to act creatively on complex alternatives, and the ability to see and act on new ideas not previously thought of” (Hall, 1994, 158) become more fully developed.

All of the examples of social entrepreneurs that Bornstein (2007) mentions in his chapter are operating at a cycle four at a minimum. Harely Henriquez do Nacimento who works to reduce and eradicate HIV/AIDS in the northeastern region of Brazil relates that in order for his workers to be effective, they become part of the community, listening, listening, listening, for at least six months before broaching the topic of AIDS. This allows his staff to build commitment and confidence

Wojciech Onyskiewicz of Poland realized that he needed a solution to the impasse of acquiring donations of food from farmers who had no patience with the welfare system. An alternative to asking for donations, Onyskiewicz found, was to barter. He trades trips to the city for the country children for donations of food. He designed a real solution for real people.

Eresebet Szekeres, in staffing her centers for people with disabilities in Hungary, does not look for resumes full of credentials, rather she looks for people that believe it is possible to make a difference. She recruites people that demonstrate empathy, flexible thinking, and a “strong inner core.” (Bornstein, 2007, p. 212)

The exceptional individuals chronicled by Bornstein all learned and continue to learn from experiences, chose and continue to choose to act creatively on complex alternatives, and saw and continue to see and act upon new ideas. All of these people recognize the importance of facilitating opportunities for their staffs to explore and discover the deep reason that they are doing the work that they are doing, to identify and acknowledge connection. All of these individuals have begun to change the institutions that make up their lives. Are we as a cohort at cycle four yet? Will we begin to change the institutions that make up our lives?

DEMOGRAPHICSGender: 2 Females, 4 Males

Ages: 30-60

Ethnicity: 3 Caucasian

1 Latino

1 Japanese

1 Chinese/Mexican

Occupation: 1 Training Officer

1 Grant Manager

2 Associate Analysts

2 Office Technicians (Secretaries)

Education: 2 High School Diploma

2 Bachelor’s Degree

2 Master’s Degree

Income: $35, 000 – $62,000

Civil Status: 1 Single

4 Married

1 Separated

Children: 2: 0

2: 2

1:3

1:5

COMMENTS AND IMPRESSIONSOverall the group felt the film was very good, well produced and engaging. The majority of the group was quite surprised by the information presented , especially “planned obsolescence”. Most of the group looked at the situation from the perspective of “what are we doing to our planet and how will that impact our children?.” Several group members felt that companies/businesses should have the responsibility of disclosing their processes in terms of environmental impact: from how they obtain their materials/resources to how they dispose of the waste produced.

Most agreed that a more sustainable way of using the planets limited resources needs to be developed and implemented. All agreed that they would think twice before purchasing more “disposable stuff.” All agreed that they needed to ensure that they recycled whenever possible, and all agreed that they needed to buy used products whenever possible, and at the very least try to buy products that are made from recycled materials.

Several commented that instead of focusing on how to fix the current consumer driven system by making manufacturing processes more sustainable, the emphasis should be on shifting the values paradigm: change the focus from the “You suck, so buy more,” to recognizing that value comes from “internal character and relationships (family and friends).” While most agreed with this sentiment, several wondered how that sort of shift in consciousness might happen absent some sort of cataclysmic event.

Most participants didn’t disagree with anything in the video. The questions the group had ranged from wanting to know if mother’s milk is so toxic, why is it still touted as the best way to feed a baby, to wanting to know what data sources were used and if there were examples of longitudinal data to support some of the claims made.

Other’s commented that her explanation of the cost of the $4.99 radio was not very clear: “The section discussing who actually paid for the radio, where she said she didn’t because she only paid $4.99 (She said that $4.99 was only a fraction of what it actually cost to produce and transport) saying that the forests, people in the third world, factory workers etc. paid didn’t make sense to me for two reasons:

a. Initially, it didn’t make sense because my gut impression from the way she said it was that they literally contributed to paying for part of the radio for her. A literal interpretation, but that was my initial thought (and confusion), although I knew that was not what she meant.

B. More significantly she started the video by showing the corporations with ta big dollar sign on them, indicating corporations out for profit only. There is no profit in charging $4.99 if it literally cost more than that to produce. That is not what she meant. She meant, but didn’t say, that there were collateral costs others paid to make it able to cost only $4.99 AND THE CORPORATION STILL MAKES A PROFIT: A little more elaboration on what externalized costs were might have helped: Cost externalizing is a socio-economical term describing how a business maximizes its profits by off loading indirect costs and forcing negative effects on a third party.

Another participant felt that the video teetered on the edge of Conspiracy Theory, that secret meetings, post WW II, built this hidden empire to trash the planet and people. And another participant demanded to know who funded the video.

However, all agreed that armed with this new awareness of what is required to make something new and get rid of something old: they would make wiser choices and not just buy for the sake of buying so that we break the cycle of greed and entitlement one person at a time.

     I came in toward the end of Bush’s State of the Union Address this evening, just in time to hear him talking about immigration: illegal and otherwise. He did, to his credit, articulate that we, the United States, do have a labor problem, and in some cases not enough skilled labor to fill all of the jobs that are open and that are necessary. Earlier today I had been thinking about a news program expose that I had either seen on television or listened to on National Public Radio (NPR) concerning illegal Chinese immigrants and how they are deployed as wait-persons, bus people or cooks to an entire network of Chinese restaurants all over the East Coast and Midwest via a handful of “work centers” operating out of New York City. ( See Hot and Soured: Slave wages and unsafe housing — exposing the unsavory side of cheap Chinese in Vermont at http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2007/hot-and-soured.html;

Chinese Restaurant Workers in U.S. Face Hurdles at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10069448 and, Chinese restaurant workers head west looking for jobs at http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-02-15/vandenbussche-restaurantworkers/)

     Restaurant workers pay between $30 to $60 to be dispatched by area code to their next job, and more often than not, have no idea in what city or state they are working. They spend anywhere from a couple of weeks to a year at one location before going back to New York and back to the work center for their next assignment. Many of them have paid up to $60,000 to smugglers for the opportunity to come to American and work 12 hour days, six days a week, for tips only. Honestly, the concept of illegal worker, had for me, generally conjured up an image of someone from south of the border. That many Chinese restaurants are staffed by contract immigrant labor, and slave labor at that, was quite shocking to me.

    Ong (2003) in his chapter, “Asian Immigrants as the New Westerners? also discusses this reality, but devotes the majority of his time to a consideration of the new “High Tech Sweatshop.” Ong focuses not on uneducated and unskilled restaurant workers, but on software engineers, programmers and pieceworkers. For these high tech workers the “work centers” have been replaced by “body shops.” Body shops hold worker’s visas, find them employment and keep between 25 percent to 50 percent of their salaries. Because the shops keep the green cards, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for workers to change jobs or to complain about any unethical practices employers or the body shops engage in. According to Ong, accepting bribes from alleged contract workers, who might have purchased false papers and qualifications, is a common recruitment practice Once in the U.S. these workers are vulnerable to a multitude of tactics designed to keep them in check. One of the worst practices Ong documents is home based assembly work, or piece work. Often times companies in the electronics industry will send work home with their shop floor workers. For this workers are paid a piece rate. Even with the assistance of family workers, it is not unusual for the group to net less than minimum wage. These workers and their family members, including children, assemble circuit boards and wiring boards which involves the use of toxic solvents and fusing components most often with no safety measures in place. Most workers, already paid an hourly rate, accept the piecemeal rate and don’t report it, hence no overtime is paid.

     Ong observes that the global restructuring of the electronics and IT economy has resulted in a stratification in the industry that is both gendered and ethinicized. The contract manager: Chinese; the Engineer: East Indian–both of them male–while the piecemeal work is done by South East Asian Females. Ong goes on to state “What is striking now is that local Asian network production systems deploy cultural authority, kinship, personal relations and language to take advantage of employees working in substandard conditions…what kind of idealism remains in a moral project of citizenship increasingly governed by mobile, flexible, and supranational forms of capitalism?”(Ong, 2003, p. 264)

     It’s very important that In our national debates about skilled and unskilled labor, about green cards and H B-1 Visas that we don’t forget the rights of those forgotten workers, those that might have the appropriate documentation, but are certainly not earning the appropriate wage nor receiving the appropriate benefits.

Lately it seems as if I have been on way too many interview panels, most recently one for my old job, Chief of Centralized Services. There were four candidates, two Boomers and two Gen Xers. The job was offered to a Gen Xer. The second runner up was also a Gen Xer. Last month our CIO promoted to a very prestigious position with the 21^st Century Project, and a Gen Xer was appointed as acting until the position is filled. The CIO position is a pivotal one, especially as the Departments begins its transition to a new field computer system. As I watch these women move up, I’m curious to see what effect, if any, their very different approach to work will have on our Department.

O’Hara-Deveraux (2004) devotes a chapter in her book, Navigating the Badlands, to exploring the differences in the workplace values of the generations. The younger generations have a set of personal values and expectations about what they want from their work life that is markedly different that those of the Veterans and the Boomers. The Global Young, as she refers to the Gen Xers and the Net Generation, are wary of older adults and expect to experience a communication gap. Gen Xers find the power politics and poor delegation skills of the Boomers off-putting. Gen X values include informality and freedom at work. The Net Generation, she writes, feel disengaged, but are at the same time optimistic that they will discover ways to communicate effectively with and mitigate the gap between themselves and older generations. Net Generation values include sustainable economic development on a global level, as well as earning a good income and engaging in challenging work.

As these young global workers start moving into management, I wonder how our Department will change? Will these new workers change the culture of the organization, or will the organization change them? What will the value system look like?

Hall (1994) defines values as those important or key words that illicit a conscious response from an individual. The word can be spoken or written, as long as it somehow, in some way, heightens the awareness of the person digesting the word. Hall took his work around values to a company that hired him as a consultation. When Hall talked about exploring their values, the CEO was initially taken aback, but gave Hall access to all of the company literature concerned with mission statements, company values, vision statements, and with the priorities of the organization. At the same time Hall distributed a very thorough questionnaire based on the Hall-Tonna inventory of values to the employees in the company. As he compiled the data, Hall states that he was quite surprised to discover that the values and priorities identified by specific individuals in the company were very similar to the values and priorities the company espoused in its management and organizational literature. The implication of this, Hall suggests, is that the values and priorities of an organization, will over time, become internalized by the people who are part of it. He named this phenomenon The Genesis Effect. So how will the influx of so many new workers into the workplace, specifically Gen Xers and the Net Generation have on the values of the organizations that they become part of?

I’m leaning toward believing that the values held by the young global workers will infiltrate and change the existing value structure of our organization. They are positioning themselves now, and their optimism, energy and commitment to work life balance is difficult to ignore. I fully suspect that within the next ten years, I will be reporting to someone half my age. This could be a lot of fun