By the Ropes

 By Rev. Craig B. Mousin, university ombudsperson, DePaul University

“The Captain, who had been on the coast before and ‘knew the ropes,’ took the steering oar, and we went off in the same ways as the other boat.”

“One of them, an old salt, who had seen something more of the world ashore, set all to rights, as he thought, — ‘Oh, vast there!—You don’t know anything about them craft. I’ve seen them colleges and know the ropes. They keep all such things for cur’osities, and study ’em, and have men a’ purpose to go and get ‘em.”1

Lessons from the High Seas

“Knowing the ropes,” a maritime cliché suggesting experiential learning that provides insider knowledge learned over time and recognized by seasoned experts as the right way to do the job, also applies to our contemporary workplaces. A leader who has learned by the ropes can be trusted by others in the team to know all the ins and outs of a skill or a profession and lead well. It further denotes someone with no knowledge learning a new skill or profession through experience.

Although Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s quote above juxtaposes knowledge “by the ropes” with learning acquired in college, the term also suggests knowledge shared by all in the workplace for the greater good of the enterprise.

In a recent biography by former Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court Jeffrey L. Amestoy, Slavish Shore, The Odyssey of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., one sees through Dana’s eyes how learning by the ropes provides lessons for our work in the academy, and indeed, even addresses issues dividing our Republic. I had read Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast when in high school. Enveloped in my boyhood dreams of sailing the high seas, I had little inkling that lessons of Catholic Social Thought or managing through the mission lurked within its pages. Amestoy’s biography, however, sent me back to re-read Dana, where I found critical lessons for our times.

Dana, born into a Revolutionary War family, entered Harvard University as one of the Boston Brahmin elite. In his sophomore year, struck by a bout of measles that weakened his eyesight, he dropped out. In 1824, at age 19, he signed on as a sailor, writing, “There is not so helpless and pitiable object in the world as a landsman beginning a sailor’s life.”2  He proudly learns the ropes and soon earns the confidence of the entire crew as he throws himself into the daily routine. His tale reveals the life of the diverse crew from many parts of the world. They must trust one another as they undertake dangerous work and learn to survive despite poor food and sleeping quarters beset with leaks that let in the crashing waves.

When Dana returned to shore and his health had improved, he reentered Harvard and eventually graduated from law school, opening his law practice in 1840. Within months, his office was flooded with sailors seeking relief from wage theft and other indignities from a life at sea. Shipping out for two or more years at sea, sailors would often suffer wage-theft at the hands of captains and ship owners. If brought to court, the captain’s word prevailed against that of an uneducated sailor. Other attorneys, seeking higher and steadier compensation from merchants and owners, refused to take their cases, but the sailors found an advocate in Dana.

He knew the sailor’s life by the ropes. He also knew the unregulated power of a ship captain at sea could lead to abuses. Good captains tempered their power to gain the loyalty of a crew. Dana did not doubt the need for order, given the dangerous work, and believed deeply in the supreme power of the captain. But he also knew that many captains did not possess the self-discipline to control unlimited power. Bad captains lost the faith of the crew and soon found work poorly done, tasks unfinished, and crew productivity lost.

Dana had also witnessed the flogging of two sailors, merely for challenging the captain’s authority. Dana saw how class, education, and culture undermined legal procedures and denied the dignity of some by disregarding their testimony while giving credibility to the one in power.

Bridging Divisions, Honoring Dignity 

Dana’s example raises the question of whether we fully know the ropes of our own institutions. Universities are often critiqued as having silos when departments specialize in one area of learning and know little of the substance of another nor the culture that surrounds that learning style. Do we not also have hierarchical silos within our departments? Does a tenured department chair working long hours as an exempt employee know that the administrative assistant — a single parent and employee-at-will — must leave by five to pick up a child before daycare closes? Does an exempt manager who often puts in long hours understand that the receptionist cannot arrive any earlier because the daycare does not open any sooner?

Certainly, these are not identical problems to reefing a sail as a storm rises around Cape Horn, but tensions arise in the contemporary workplace when we do not know — by the ropes — the demands of different jobs in the workplace. Bullying allegedly impacts one in six workers in this nation.
Despite our best attempts, some of those workers are undoubtedly employed at universities and colleges. Bullies frequently beat the system because, while they are bullying downward, they are often self-servingly reporting upward. Will the procedures set in place by human resources fairly
determine if a person is being bullied when credibility issues are determined by power imbalances?

In the last column that he wrote for Update, Gary Miller stressed the benefits of community in the workplace, noting that Catholic Social Thought emphasizes how humans flourish in the workplace when dignity is respected and community emphasized. We also know that divisions within the community can decrease productivity and well-being for everyone. Dana knew community. He lived and worked with sailors through storms and through clear blue water. He knew the challenges
when bad leaders and outside forces threatened the safety of the ship and the crew. And he saw how
a community in which dignity was honored despite differences in education or class fostered harmony, safety, and productivity in which everyone could share.

Dana went on to a remarkable career (one which I recommend you learn about by reading the book) and his lessons in dignity expand beyond sailing. He lived and worked in the tumultuous antebellum United States when society was fractured by law and by differing mores. His knowledge of life on board ship, including the terror of flogging, inspired him to defend fugitive slaves running from the tragedy of slavery. The Fugitive Slave Act required that runaway slaves be returned to their purported owners. Dana, consumed with the horror of seeing a man be flogged, knew the horror of slavery in ways that many in the North could not. He knew the slave, like the sailor, was a human being, created in the image of God. He defended fugitive slaves and those who assisted them. Daniel Webster, then
secretary of state, argued that fugitive slave laws preserved the Union and called Dana’s actions in defending slaves treason. Although not a Roman Catholic, by knowing the ropes, Dana demonstrated what Catholic Social Thought teaches about a preferential option for the poor and what St. Vincent DePaul invoked about solidarity with the vulnerable. Dana was not a perfect man — he possessed
some of the erroneous prejudices of his time — but he knew the ropes. That, combined with his moral fiber, led him to advocate for those in need.

We live in tumultuous times. Our universities and colleges are institutions that sustain society while we also challenge society to its better purposes so that all within it may flourish. We must ask ourselves, do we live in silos, or do we engage those not privileged with our resources? Are we protected by institutions regulated by law or procedures that leave others on the outside and unprotected? Do we have internal procedures that seem fair on the surface, but give credibility to those with privilege, at the expense of those that do not know the ropes?

Challenge yourself to learn the ropes of another culture, of those whose views may disagree with your own, or of another group of employees at your institution. Perhaps, like Richard Henry Dana, Jr., it will change your life.

The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s alone and do not represent those of DePaul University or the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. We invite you to respond to this column through the Human Resources and Mission blog. This will permit a fuller discussion of how mission and CST influence the employment process.


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1 Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast and Other Voyages, (N.Y., 1909), 60, 290.
2 Jeffrey L. Amestoy, Slavish Shore, The Odyssey of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., (Cambridge, Ma., 2015), 21 quoting Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast and Other Voyages (New York: Library of American, 2005), 5-6.
3 Robert I. Sutton, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One that Isn’t¸(NY 2007), 25.

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Community as the Foundation of a Healthy Workplace Culture

By Gary Miller, director of Human Resource Process Transformation and Integration at DePaul University

“I always viewed culture as one of those things you talked about, like marketing and advertising. It was one of the tools that a manager had at his or her disposal when you think about an enterprise. ...The thing I have learned at IBM is that culture is everything."¹ -Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.

Organizational culture can easily be dismissed as another management fad or the latest gimmick to come out of the consulting field. Granted — like many other workplace concepts, such as work-life balance, employee engagement, and pay equity — the concept of culture is somewhat vague and can be difficult to measure. Yet, a growing number of organizations have discovered the power of fostering an intentionally positive workplace environment.² Catholic college and university leaders, in particular, may be interested in the positive impact of an intentional culture on an institution’s Catholic identity. 

In their March 2016 article in the Harvard Business Review, Dave Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank advance the practicality of creating intentional workplace cultures by making the concept much more tangible. They write that rather than thinking about culture as “seen through symbols, rituals, stories and other organizational events” or as it “shows up in the values, norms, unwritten rules, emotional responses, or flows of how things are done in a company,” there’s a much more pragmatic view.

The authors propose in their article that an organization’s intentional culture should be built on “the identity of a company as perceived by its best customers, representing an outside-in view of culture. For example, Amazon wants to be known for disciplined execution of customer purchases; Apple for design and simplicity; Marriott for exceptional service; Google for innovation; and so forth. These brands or identities then become infused throughout the company through how employees and managers think, behave, and feel.”

This approach not only serves as a practical way to connect employees to brand and mission, but it also has the advantage of being authentic. For instance, a sporting goods store that hires applicants based on their passion for hunting, fishing, and outdoor activities and encourages employees to share their enthusiasm and knowledge with customers, conveys a certain genuineness, and is, in fact, authentic with regard to its brand.

  

The First Step in Creating Culture

This column focuses on the first of the three steps Ulrich and Brockbank provide to develop a practical and authentic culture: “Define the Right Culture.” To do this, Catholic College and university leaders— from the president to the human resources director to the student affairs director— need to ask: “What is the shortlist of what we want to be known for by our best customers?” (Catholic higher education institutions might substitute students, faculty, administrators, alumni, or donors for “customers.”)³

Not only should the shortlist items reflect the institution’s core brand, I suggest another consideration should be the topics that generate enthusiasm among the college’s leaders.⁴ Given these considerations, one item to consider for your shortlist might be community. I refer to community in a positive sense, in which people strongly identify with the mission (the common cause) and work together in a collaborative fashion to accomplish goals related to furthering the mission.

Many Catholic college and university leaders extol the importance of community. For instance, Catherine McMahon, RSM, special assistant to the president for mission and planning at Gwynedd Mercy University, recognizes its significance in her article on sustaining a mission-oriented culture. She writes that “mission belongs to the community, not to any one person or office. . . . [U]ltimately the success of mission integration depends on the community that embodies it.”⁵

Defining community identity as part of the foundation upon which to build a culture may not seem results-oriented enough for some leaders. Nothing about community, however, suggests that outcomes aren’t important. Generating more revenue than expense, student retention, progress toward strategic objectives — all of these are essential for success and need to be closely monitored. But focusing on the bottom line isn’t what brings out the best in people. Rather, the quality of their relationships with co-workers and managers, integration into the workplace culture, and other such things are key to producing great results. Gallup’s comprehensive engagement research (as well as the corroborating findings of many other credible researchers over the past decade) clearly indicate that great organizational outcomes are directly linked to employees’ experience of engagement and support in the workplace.⁶   In fact, some practical notions about what constitutes a healthy community can be gleaned from standard engagement survey questions.

Not only do employees work better in a healthy community, but it is critical for student success as well. In his February 7, 2013 Inside Higher Education article, Robert Sternberg described twelve research-validated risk factors that account for why most students drop out. Among the factors listed is “disengagement from the university environment” — essentially, a failure of a student’s integration into the community.

While affinity groups and peer mentors may help a student’s emotional connection with a college, such things are not nearly as important as a faculty and staff who want to go the extra mile to help students, who feel good about the institution, and who demonstrate collegiality with their colleagues. To ensure that community is more than just a brand, it needs to be woven into the fabric of a college environment; it needs to be on the shortlist.

Fostering a Community of Persons

Community, being a hallmark of Catholicism and its social teaching, provides a particular additional reason to include it on the shortlist for institutions that want to maintain a Catholic identity. Pope Saint John Paul II wrote in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, (section 21), “A Catholic University pursues its objectives through its formation of an authentic human community animated by the spirit of Christ.” He continues in subsequent paragraphs to discuss the roles of faculty, students, and staff in facilitating community.

Catholic Social Teaching emphasizes the highest expression of community in its recognition of the workplace as a “community of persons.” To this end, John Paul II wrote in Centesimus Annus (section 35) that “the purpose of a business firm is not simply to make a profit, but is to be found in its very existence as a community of persons who in various ways are endeavouring to satisfy their basic needs, and who form a particular group at the service of the whole of society.”

The community of persons emphasizes the collaborative nature of work and the recognition that all workers in an organization are working toward common ends. John Paul II wrote in the same encyclical (section 43) that “By means of his work man commits himself, not only for his own sake but also for others and with others. Each person collaborates in the work of others and for their good. Man works in order to provide for the needs of his family, his community, his nation, and ultimately all humanity. Moreover, he collaborates in the work of his fellow employees, as well as in the work of suppliers and in the customer's use of goods, in a progressively expanding chain of solidarity.”

Additionally, a community of persons recognizes the high dignity of the human person – a foundational theme in Catholic Social Teaching.  Section 271 of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church expresses the dignity of the person as relates to work: “The human person is the measure of the dignity of work: ‘In fact there is no doubt that human work has an ethical value of its own, which clearly and directly remains linked to the fact that the one who carries it out is a person.’”

To further understand a community of persons, consider the alternative extreme that many Americans experience: a society of individuals. According to Michael Naughton, “a society of individuals will usually be focused on limited goals such as survival, security, and success.  The enterprise is seen as a zero sum game since when goods are shared, they are diminished. . . . [T]he principle of equivalence dominates the landscape, where exchanges are defined in terms of a quid pro quo, and where contracts, not human relationships, attempt to establish trust.  . . . Prudence and judgement are replaced by managers’ constant referral to procedures and regulations as the basis of decisions, which are more concerned about process than outcomes.”⁷

The call for leaders to create communities of persons “actually expresses the full realization of what a company and corporation can be. The etymology of the words ‘company’ and ‘companions’ — cum (with) and panis (bread) — suggests ‘breaking bread together.’ The etymology of the work ‘corporation’ — the Latin corpus (body) —suggests a group of people ‘united in one body.’”⁸

After the shortlist items are identified, leaders can move on to the second step of creating an intentionally healthy workplace culture: “Translate the ideal customer-centered identity into behaviors for employees.”⁹ Before considering the next step, however, at least one more column will be dedicated to this essential idea of community and its importance in maintaining a Catholic identity and creating an authentic culture supportive of the mission.

The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s alone and do not represent those of DePaul University or the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.

Footnotes:

1.     Lagace, Martha, “Gerstner: Changing Culture at IBM - Lou Gerstner Discusses Changing the Culture at IBM ” in HBS Working Knowledge, December 9, 2002. http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3209.html

2.     The alternative to fostering an intentional culture is to settle for randomly emergent cultures in every department that are unconsciously shaped by each manager’s disposition. Some of the companies that have done this well are listed in this Business Insider article: http://www.businessinsider.com/25-best-corporate-cultures-2014-8

3.     Both quotes in this paragraph are taken from the Ulrich and Brockbank article. The other two steps that Ulrich and Brockbank present are (1) “translate the ideal customer-centered identity into behaviors for employees”, and (2) “design the right processes, practices, and structures for supporting and encouraging those behaviors.” See the article at https://hbr.org/2016/03/your-company-culture-cant-be-disconnected-from-your-customers

4.     In the management classic, Good to Great, Jim Collins discusses the important role of leaders who are passionate about the contribution their organization is making to society. He summarizes the concept in an article on his website:” http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html

5.     McMahon, Catherine, RSM. (2014). It Takes a Village: Creating and Sustaining a Mission-Oriented Culture at a College or University. In the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, A Mission Officer Handbook: Advancing Catholic Identity and University Mission, Vol.1.(pp.19-22). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

6.     A sample of studies that show the relationship between engagement levels and positive business outcomes include: Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Report:http://www.yorkworks.ca/default/assets/File/analyst-insights-HBR_Achievers%20Report_TheImpactofEmployeeEngagementonPerformance(1).pdf; 2013 Gallup Engagement Survey Results (see the summary on page 9): http://www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.aspx; Specific Best Practice Employers Engagement Findings: http://www.apqc.org/sites/default/files/files/Link%20Engagement%20to%20Bus%20Outcomes.pdf; and Towers Watson 2012 Survey: http://www.towerswatson.com/en/Insights/IC-Types/Survey-Research-Results/2012/07/2012-Towers-Watson-Global-Workforce-Study

Given that at least 4 of the Q12 questions seem to measure employees’ community-like experiences, it could be argued that employee engagement is at least partially the degree to which an employee is experiencing community. Consider the research findings of the 2015 Great Places to Work Survey: https://s3.amazonaws.com/bestworkplacesdb/publications/WO_2015_BestWorkplaces_en.pd

7.     Naughton, Michael. The Logic of Gift: Rethinking Business as a Community of Persons (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2012), pp. 43 & 44.

8.     Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection. Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (PCJP). The document grew out of a seminar sponsored by the John A. Ryan Institute at the University of St. Thomas (MN) and the PCJP, held in February 2011, called “The Logic of Gift and the Meaning of Business.” Sec. 57 at https://www.stthomas.edu/media/catholicstudies/center/ryan/publications/publicationpdfs/vocationofthebusinessleaderpdf/PontificalCouncil_4.pdf .  

Note that although the text speaks of companies and corporations, its concepts are to be very broadly interpreted to include all types of workplaces, as explained in the document’s forward: “The text is intended as an educational aid that speaks of the “vocation” of the business men and women who act in a wide range of business institutions: cooperatives, multinational corporations, family businesses, social businesses, for-profit/non-profit collaborations and so on.”

9.     The second step that Ulrich and Brockbank present is:  “translate the ideal customer-centered identity into behaviors for employees." See the article at https://hbr.org/2016/03/your-company-culture-cant-be-disconnected-from-your-customers

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Pope Francis, through his recent encyclical on the environment, offers Catholic higher education the opportunity to reflect on its mission.

By Scott Kelley, assistant vice president for Vincentian scholarship, Office of Mission and Values, and assistant professor, Department of Religious Studies, DePaul University

The papal visit to the United Nations on September 25th, 2015 will be the fourth papal visit to the United Nations in its 70- year history. This leg of the Apostolic Journey reveals the commitments of a pope who seeks “to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” so that they may seek together “a sustainable and integral development” (Laudato Si’, 3,13). Catholic colleges and universities have a unique opportunity on this occasion to pause and reflect on their mission to be “an ever more effective instrument of cultural progress for individuals as well as for society” (Ex Corde Ecclesiae, 32), and are well positioned to contribute to this dialogue about our common home. As such, it is important to take note of this historic and symbolic Apostolic Journey.

In the opening paragraphs of Laudato Si’ Pope Francis does not mince words about the profound challenges facing the human family in the 21st century. In stark contrast to the familial metaphors of St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Sun where the exclamations of “praise be” describe a deep reverence for creation, our common home today “cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of goods.” “The violence present in our hearts,” he argues, “is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, water, air and all forms of life.” Pope Francis’ concern echoes the reflections of numerous scientists, philosophers, theologians and civic groups who believe the next few decades of the 21st century may well be the most challenging of any in human history as a burgeoning human population continues to exhaust, deplete, and destroy the very resources required to sustain human life. From environmental refugees displaced by sea level rise to wars over water, from the inequalities of growing urban environments to the acidification of the oceans, the human family must take better care of our common home.

In the Great Work, Thomas Berry identifies four fundamental establishments that shape human culture: governments, corporations, religions, and universities (4). The papal visit to the United Nations indicates a deep respect for the work of the United Nations as a dialogue between three of those fundamental establishments. It also presents an opportunity for Catholic colleges and universities to engage their mission, identity, and values to address the pressing challenges of the 21st century. How will they participate in this dialogue? Three questions can help guide the reflection: what does Pope Francis ask of Catholic colleges and universities in Laudato Si’? How can Catholic colleges and universities enter into dialogue with all people about our common home? What unique perspectives can Catholic colleges and universities bring to the dialogue?

Integral Ecology: the vision of Laudato Si’

Because today’s problems demand a vision that is big enough to account for every aspect of our global crisis, Pope Francis uses the phrase “integral ecology” to orient the discussion about our common home (137). The term “ecology” is most frequently used to describe the branch of biology that studies the relationship between living organisms and the environments within which they develop. Such an approach corrects the fragmentation of knowledge that occurs when bits of information are examined in isolation, a fragmentation that can become a form of ignorance  (138). Integral ecology seeks to examine the different relationships that shape human life including the environmental, economic, social, and cultural.

When one speaks of the environment, one refers to the relationship existing between nature and the society which lives within it (139). Environmental degradation, pollution, and depletion of natural resources do not constitute a crisis that is somehow separate from others, but rather is one dimension of a more complex crisis that is simultaneously social and environmental. Pope Francis describes the need for ongoing research that should give us a better understanding of how different creatures relate to one another, making up a larger ecosystem, and how healthy ecosystems provide essential services to human life, including “dispersing carbon dioxide, purifying water, controlling illness and epidemics, forming soil, breaking down waste” (140) to name a few. Part of the dialogue about our common home must include a more comprehensive understanding of and appreciation for the ways in which we are embedded in complex ecosystems. Take, for instance, the lessons from Biosphere 2, an Earth systems science research facility at the University of Arizona, which was a painful reminder of our utter dependence on natural systems that we do not fully understand and are not able to replicate. In the experiment that lasted from 1991 to 1993, eight researchers lived in a closed system they believed was capable of sustaining human life, but the effort was eventually scuttled when food and oxygen rates began to diminish and species of plants and animals began to die off. The takeaway? Humans are not capable of replicating Biosphere 1, the only home that can sustain human life.

An integral ecology sees that human life is also shaped by economic, social, and cultural systems where environmental problems “cannot be separated from the analysis of human, family, work related and urban contexts.” Taking a more integral and integrating vision into account, an “economic ecology” moves beyond the traditional focus of economic growth that seeks to standardize, simplify, and reduce costs (141). A “social ecology” seeks to understand the institutional nature of human life, moving from the primary social group of the family to the wider local, national, and international communities (142). A “cultural ecology,” comprised of historic, artistic, and cultural patrimony, constitutes the shared sense of identity of each place necessary to build a habitable city (143). The notion of integral ecology must become an essential learning commitment if we are to address the challenges of the 21^st century. We must have a much better understanding of our common home, and our place within it.

UN Sustainable Development Goals: a plan for the 21st century

Pope Francis’ visit to the United Nations on September 25^th is not a global speaking platform to “pontificate” on the ills of the 21st century or to preach to the Catholic faithful; it is a profound, public, diplomatic endorsement of the United Nations as a place - the only place - where all people dialogue about our common home. Nor should the timing of the papal visit be lost on Catholic colleges and universities; on this occasion, more than 150 world leaders are expected to attend the Sustainable Development Summit at the UN headquarters to formally adopt the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon describes poignantly:

This is the People’s Agenda, a plan of action for ending poverty in all its dimensions, irreversibly, everywhere, and leaving no one behind. It seeks to ensure peace and prosperity, and forge partnerships with people and planet at the core. The integrated, interlinked and indivisible 17 Sustainable Development Goals are the people’s goals and demonstrate the scale, universality and ambition of this new Agenda. (Nino, 2015)

Pope Francis is not only drawing attention to the need for dialogue about sustainable and integral development, he is also recognizing that this dialogue has been taking place for many years and that the SDGs are an outcome, a road map, a blueprint, an actionable vision for governments, corporations, religious institutions, and colleges and universities as well. 

Throughout 2015 the United Nations will continue to celebrate 70 years of dialogue among all people in search of a sustainable and integral development. Its history marks a profound expansion of thought emerging from the debris of World War II and the courtrooms of Nuremberg. By resolution 217 A (III) on December 10^th, 1948 the General Assembly formally adopted the UN Declaration on Human Rights to guarantee the rights of every individual everywhere.  Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the committee that drafted the document and later recounted the challenges of that dialogue:

Dr. [Peng Chung Chang of China] was a pluralist and held forth in charming fashion on the proposition that there is more than one kind of ultimate reality.  The Declaration, he said, should reflect more than simply Western ideas and Dr. [John Humphrey of Canada, Director of the UN’s Human Rights Division] would have to be eclectic in his approach.  His remark, though addressed to Dr. Humphrey, was really directed at Dr. [Charles Malik of Lebanon], from whom it drew a prompt retort as he expounded at some length the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas.  Dr. Humphrey joined enthusiastically in the discussion, and I remember that at one point Dr. Chang suggested that the Secretariat might well spend a few months studying the fundamentals of Confucianism! (United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights History of the Document, 2015)

Dialogue is not easy, especially among people with different worldviews, but there have been and continue to be many breakthrough moments.  In the second half of the 20^thcentury, the United Nations saw that human rights are not the sole responsibility of government, but that all four fundamental establishments need to commit to them.  In 2000, under the leadership of Kofi Anon, the UN Global Compact was launched as the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative so that business, and the social sector, could work together as a force for good, guided by their commitment to Ten Principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, in addition to the broader SDGs.

The experience of the United Nations over their 70-year history has been a living example of dialogue in search of sustainable and integral development, a dialogue that has evolved from a focus on the public sector exclusively to a focus on all sectors of society. This expansion of scope affirms one of the abiding principles of Catholic social thought, the principle of subsidiarity, which recognizes the importance of intermediate groups that operate between the State and the individual (Laudato Si’, 157). The 17 SDGs are the outcome of a broad dialogue between all sectors of society about our common home that began at the Rio+20 Conference in 2012. With a common aim, a shared platform, and common metrics such as the Human Development Index, the dialogue at the United Nations provides the kind of actionable principles and outcomes that make sustainable and integral development possible, which may be why the Catholic Church and the United Nations have been mutually supportive.  On June 22^nd Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations formally endorsed “the verbatim inclusion of the sustainable development goals and targets” (Archbishop Bernardito Auza. 2015) and the Directors of the UN Global Compact enthusiastically endorsed the vision of Laudato Si’:

We believe Laudato Si’ should inspire the private sector to do more to protect the environment and address climate change. We offer the UN Global Compact and our network-based infrastructure as a bridge, connecting the encyclical’s vision of integral ecology with practical efforts underway to mobilize responsible business (Kell et al, 2015, italics added).

Perhaps Pope Francis’ visit to the United Nations is less about introducing papal teaching to the world, and more about introducing Catholics to the profound work of the United Nations as a place for dialogue about our common home.

The Cultural Patrimony of Catholic Colleges and Universities

As one of the institutions that shape culture, according to Thomas Berry, Catholic colleges and universities have a unique role to play as instruments of cultural progress for individuals as well as for society (Ex Corde Ecclesiae, 32), if cultural progress is understood to mean the kind of sustainable and integral development described in Laudato Si’. Cultural progress can come about through participation and advocacy in various capacities at the United Nations, through ecological education, and by transforming the world of work.

Through organizations like The International Federation of Catholic Universities, Catholic colleges and universities have an opportunity to participate and advocate in various United Nations bodies such as UNESCO (the United Nations System) and the Commission of Human Rights (Geneva). Many religious orders that sponsor Catholic colleges and universities already engage the United Nations through the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations. These are essential forums for participating in a dialogue among all people.

In addition to participating in dialogue, however, Catholic colleges and universities have an opportunity to re-frame dialogue about our common home through ecological education and spirituality (Laudato Si’, 203-210). Ecological education can help forge a new lifestyle that is not prone to a “compulsive consumerism” that becomes “a seedbed for collective selfishness,” where any genuine sense of the common good disappears. Obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, especially one that few people are capable of maintaining, can only lead to violence and mutual destruction; however, human beings are capable of making a new start, despite their mental and social conditioning. A critique of the “myths” of modernity (individualism, unlimited progress, competition, consumerism, the market without rules) can be instruments of cultural progress by bringing healthy pressure to bear on those who wield political, economic and social power (Laudato Si’, 210). As educational institutions, Catholic colleges and universities can prepare students for a new ecology of daily life, which is precisely where Catholic colleges and universities are best positioned to contribute their cultural patrimony. From the many different spiritual charisms - Franciscan, Benedictine, Vincentian, Jesuit, Dominican – and the array of Saints and notable figures, there are many resources for reading the signs of the times, asking critical questions, and seeking to integrate all facets of human life, including the environmental, economic, social, and cultural. These traditions provide invaluable resources for sustainable and integral development. They too are part of the cultural patrimony that is threatened by compulsive consumerism.

Beyond forming a new ecology of daily life, Catholic colleges and universities can also help put the Sustainable Development Goals in motion through the world of work, which is the key to the entire social question as St. John Paul II examined in Laborem Exercens. Here as well, the Catholic tradition has much to offer initiatives like the UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), whose purpose is to “develop the capabilities of students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy” (United Nations, n.d.). Unfortunately, the term “management” is often associated exclusively with management education in business schools, but could be seen in a much broader way as an opportunity to put into practice the values of global social responsibility as articulated in the UN Global Compact. These principles can guide all who contribute to the higher educational endeavor to implement the vision of an integral and sustainable development in their local communities. As a report from McKinsey and Company recently argued,

[t]he 21st century will not be dominated by America or China, Brazil or India, but by The City. In a world that increasingly appears ungovernable, cities—not states—are the islands of governance             on which the future world order will be built. Cities are humanity’s real building blocks because of their economic size, population density, political dominance, and innovative edge. They are real “facts on the ground,” almost immeasurably more meaningful to most people in the world than often invisible national borders. … In this century, it will be the city—not the state—that becomes the nexus of economic and political power (McKinsey & Company, n.d.)

As they have done since the early middle ages, Catholic colleges and universities can help build cities that are centers of learning, exchange, culture, and opportunity. Cities in the 21^st century, however, must be shaped by the vision of integral ecology articulated in Laudato Si’ and guided by the Sustainable Development Goals. For all these reasons, the Apostolic Journey to the United Nations on September 25^th is an opportunity for Catholic colleges and universities to reflect on their contribution to this larger dialogue on integral and sustainable development.

Works Cited

Archbishop Bernardito Auza. 2015. “General Statement on the Zero Draft, Post-2015 Development Agenda.” Accessed August 17. http://www.holyseemission.org/statements/statement.aspx?id=572

Berry, Thomas. 1999. The Great Work: Our Way into the Future. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Ford, Liz. 2015. “Sustainable Development Goals: All You Need to Know.” The Guardian, January 19, sec. Global development. http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/19/sustainable-development-goals-united-nations?CMP=share_btn_link.

John Paul II. 1990. Ex corde Ecclesiae Apostolic Constitution of the Supreme Pontiff

John Paul II on Catholic Universities. Accessed August 17. http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae.html

------- Laborem Exercens. Accessed August 17. http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091981_laborem-exercens.html

Kell, Georg, Lise Kingo, and Fiona Reynolds. 2015. “Open Letter to His Holiness Pope Francis from the United Nations Global Compact Responding to Laudato Si’.” Accessed August 17

https://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/Environment/Laudato_Si_Open_Letter_UN_Global_Compact.pdf

McKinsey & Company. (n.d.).“When cities rule the world.” Accessed August 17, 2015. http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/urbanization/when_cities_rule_the_world

Meadows, Donella. 1994.“Biosphere 2 Teaches Us Another Lesson,” The Donella Meadows Institute. Accessed August 17, 2015, http://www.donellameadows.org/archives/biosphere-2-teaches-us-another-lesson/

Nino, Florencia Soto. 2015. “Consensus Reached on New Sustainable Development Agenda to Be Adopted by World Leaders in September.” United Nations Sustainable Development. Accessed August 13. http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/08/transforming-our-world-document-adoption/.

Francis. 2015. Laudato Si’ - On Care for Our Common Home. Accessed August 17. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

United Nations. 2015. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. History of the Document. Accessed August 17. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/history.shtml

United Nations. N.d. “Principles of Responsible Management Education.” Accessed August 17. http://www.unprme.org/about-prme/the-six-principles.php

The Agility Shift by Pamela Meyer

Pamela Meyer is an adjunct  professor in DePaul's School for New Learning.  Michael Mink wrote a summary of some key points from her book on how to better equip employees for challenges ....

"AMarine Corps motto is "Improvise, Adapt and Overcome." Similarly, organizations that can quickly spot a challenge or opportunity faster than their competitors and respond effectively are likelier to deliver results, says Pamela Meyer, author of "The Agility Shift." She notes that Gap (NYSE:GPS), the established clothing firm, is closing 175 stores in North America, while Zara, "its more agile counterpart, is thriving.

Bill Jensen, author of "Future Strong," adds that 40% of today's Fortune 500 companies will not exist in 10 years."

BY MICHAEL MINK, FOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

09/15/2015 01:53 PM ET

http://news.investors.com/management-leaders-and-success/091515-771098-in-business-you-must-adapt-and-overcome-challenges.htm

Rethinking Work

"In his 1998 book, “The Human Equation,” which reviewed numerous studies across dozens of different industries, the Stanford organizational behavior professor Jeffrey Pfeffer found that workplaces that offered employees work that was challenging, engaging and meaningful, and over which they had some discretion, were more profitable than workplaces that treated employees as cogs in a production machine."

 --By BARRY SCHWARTZAUG. 28, 2015    
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/opinion/sunday/rethinking-work.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

Mission Officer Handbook: Collaborating with Partners, vol. II (2015)

 

"The follow-up to volume one, this invaluable guide builds on the numerous and varied roles of the mission officer, specifically as they relate to collaboration with those inside and outside the campus. Authors focus on ways for the mission officer to collaborate and animate mission within academics, student and alumni affairs divisions, campus ministry, the greater community, and more. In addition, a section is dedicated to mission accountability, a contemporary issue for every higher education institution looking to renew its accreditation."

-Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities 

http://www.accunet.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3798

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Organizing Good and Productive Work: A Management Priority

By Gary L. Miller, Director of Human Resources Process Transformation & Integration, DePaul University

Over the past several years, many sectors of society have called on corporate leaders to be more responsible, undoubtedly in reaction to the seemingly unending incidents of corporate corruption and business decisions that have appeared contrary to the general interests of society. Congress has enacted laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley and citizens gave rise to the Occupy movement. Even business leaders have called on colleagues to address the interests of all stakeholders on par with investors’ interests, as exemplified by John Mackey’s and Raj Sisodia’s book, Conscious Capitalism.1

The Church has also been interested in promoting responsible behavior by organizational leaders and, in 2012, issued an explicit statement through the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Drawing on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection (VBL) called upon Catholic business leaders, as well as all leaders of good will, to be cognizant of their extremely important role in society to promote human dignity and the common good. As such, the document stated, leaders should engage in several key activities. Of relevance to this column is its calling for leaders to recognize their vocation to “organize good and productive work.”2

The VBL directs its message to leaders in all types of organizations, not just for-profit businesses. Leaders of Catholic colleges and universities have a unique opportunity to respond to this call, in part, by conveying the message to their students so that they may carry it into their professional lives. Given that the document is addressed to “all business leaders of good will who have an influence on the behaviours, values, and attitudes of the people comprising their enterprises,” an appropriate response may also involve conveying the message to all those within their institutions who have direct reports, including frontline supervisors and middle-level managers. But how can the Pontifical Council’s message be promoted by Catholic employers in a way that actually affects management behavior and yields extraordinary results?

Deliver a Consistent Message 

Many Catholic colleges and universities already emphasize the importance of treating employees with dignity through various philosophy and mission statements. Catholic employers might want to build on this foundation by ensuring all management documents use language consistent with the dignity referenced in their mission statements. For instance, are employees referred to in management policies and training materials as just another of the institution’s assets? Are they “capital” rather than persons with knowledge, skills, and abilities that they use to contribute to the organization’s success?

Some organizations have even given up using the term “Human Resources.” One company frequently listed as the best place to work in America by Forbes magazine has taken the lead in this regard. Google’s “People Operations” sends a strong message that its employees are recognized as people, not just resources. This may be a small matter for those who sit close to the apex of an organization, a position that automatically confers a great deal of respect. But for those who are working in the middle or bottom of the organization—the people whose efforts are responsible for the daily operations of the college or university—words can make a big difference.

Stress Dignified Working Conditions

Dignified work environments are safe, harassment-free, and fair, also emphasized in the various philosophy and mission statements of many Catholic employers. The VBL, however, makes it
clear that dignified working conditions additionally enable people to engage in “good and
productive work.” The document offers guidance in how this should be accomplished; it states
that employees should be empowered to do their jobs effectively, through proper training, the right tools, and an appropriate scope of autonomy.

Unfortunately, many workplaces entangle employees in muddled processes or do not provide adequate training. These organizations and departments make it difficult for employees to be successful, which was the topic of Rev. Craig Mousin’s column in the winter 2014 issue of Update.3 To effectively promote the VBL’s message, mission and philosophy statements must go beyond addressing how people are treated on an interpersonal level. Treating employees with dignity necessitates giving them real opportunities to succeed at work, develop their skill set, and contribute meaningfully to the mission.

Develop Soft Skills 

Soft skills are often labeled as “touchy-feely” and seen as secondary to management’s real work of producing results, often with an emphasis on immediate results. This bias is reflected in business school curriculums that have “traditionally excelled at teaching ‘hard skills’ like finance and accounting,” according to the Wall Street Journal, which goes on to observe that “soft-skill classes aren’t as respected as much as ‘hard’ courses.”4

Extraordinary outcomes, however, are not necessarily driven by managers with hard skills who focus solely on results. Rather, great outcomes appear to be more likely produced by managers who can do such things as promote healthy cultures and develop teams, both soft-skill competencies. Consider Google’s research. After Google found that “managers had a greater impact on employees’ performance and how they [employees] felt about their jobs than any other factor,”5 the company decided to identify which particular behaviors make a manager effective.

The extensive research that followed, part of “Project Oxygen,” gathered thousands of observations and examined more than 100 variables. The results didn’t reflect well on intense results-at-any-cost managers and those who rely on hard skills. In fact, having technical expertise came in last in the list of eight important managerial attributes and behaviors, behind seven soft skills. Google found that managers skilled in these eight behaviors oversaw departments that produced substantially better results than others. Needless to say, the company wisely expends significant resources to measure their managers’ execution of these behaviors and to provide development opportunities so that managers can perform them well. It turns out that soft skills are necessary for managers if they hope to produce better than mediocre results in the long run. Moreover, these skills are needed to build a culture that promotes human dignity in an environment of good and productive work.

Measure

The corporate world has come to learn in the past decade that employees respond enthusiastically when they feel valued, when their core needs to learn, grow, and develop are met, and when they are respected. They’re more committed to their employer, more invested in their work, and score much better on measures of well-being. In short, they’re engaged, and organizations with high percentages of engaged employees have significantly better business outcomes than those with lower proportions of engaged workers. This been the great organizational management discovery of the past decade, confirmed by many Gallup studies.6

This research has led to the development of numerous tools to measure employee engagement. These survey instruments should be of interest to Catholic employers, not only because they reflect the degree to which employees are engaged and can predict future business success, but also because they measure the degree to which managers are creating conditions of good and productive work.

The Pontifical Council’s relevant message deserves priority consideration among organizational leaders of good will who want to help shape a society that respects human dignity. Leaders,
including those at Catholic colleges and universities, can help create work environments of good and productive work in their organizations by stressing the importance of dignified work environments, enabling their managers to build effective departments through their employees, and measuring results.

The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s alone and do not represent those of DePaul University or the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.

1. Mackey, J., & Sisodia, R. Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2014). A summary of the book is available online.

2. Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection. Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (PCJP). The document grew out of a seminar sponsored by the John A. Ryan Institute at the University of St. Thomas (MN) and the PCJP, held in February 2011, called “The Logic of Gift and the Meaning of Business.” The
discussion of “Organizing Good and Productive Work” begins at chapter 44.

3. “Labor: Cost of a Commodity or Commitment to a Covenant?” in Update, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Vol. XL, No. 4, winter 2014.

4. Korn, M., & Light, J. (2011, June 7). “On the lesson plan: Feelings.” The Wall Street Journal.

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