Big Boss and People Space

Big Boss and People Space

By John Taylor; 25 October, 2005

The Bab as Big Boss

October 16th is Boss's Day, only four days before the Birthday of the
Bab. In lieu of reviewing detailed discussions on the Baha'i Holy Day
in the press, I have been enjoying the spate of articles on
boss-employee relations written for this occasion. And after all, the
Manifestation of God is the Boss of all bosses, and the love that
every seeker after truth spontaneously feels for the Bab must surely
condition the world for fairer management and better relations with
authority figures generally.

Searching Google News and its compendium of recent articles using the
keyword "boss," I found one journalist noting that not many bosses got
their boss day card this year -- not surprisingly since relations
between workers and bosses today seem sunk in an all time low.
Bullying is rampant. Lack of communication and gossip are even worse.
One website I heard about here seems to deal fairly positively with
problems with bosses, called:

http://www.badbossology.com/

It has several articles on common problems with bosses and helps the
worker understand and deal with the various kinds of bosses. The site
even shows how you can forward these articles directly to your boss's
email mailbox, completely anonymously. Do not try this if your boss
has only one or two people under him, would be my advice.

One study found that breakdowns in communication between labor and
management make gossip the most reliable source on what is really
happening. In the workplace if consultation and planning are out of
joint, the grapevine is the only way to plug into the future, into
what to do next. Much as bosses and human resources people (not to
mention, Baha'u'llah) talk against gossip, it often serves useful
purposes in an organization. Those who are cut out of the gossip mill
often feel "lobotomized" and lose touch with others; hearing gossip is
a sign of acceptance, it is a key to understanding the hidden dynamics
and complexities in every organization. From our Baha'i point of view,
I guess you could say that there is a thin line, or rather a
gradation, between informal Ad Hoc consultation and gossip. In my
experience I find sometimes that only after a conversation is finished
and I am reviewing my day in the evening, only then can I analyze and
decide whether it was mere gossip or useful, informal consultation.

This informal, non-organized management style was the mark of the
Bab's leadership. As soon as it was known what He was about, the Shah
had Him imprisoned. Normally that would be the end of any
organization. But the Bab had His Writings to communicate, and He had
Baha'u'llah to coach the Babi' leaders in what to do. It was informal,
inchoate, spontaneous; leaders and followers, save a few, all went off
to glorious martyrdom. Normally that would be the end of it. But as
`Abdu'l-Baha points out, the Bab's trump card as it were was
Baha'u'llah, working behind the scenes to train Quddus, Mullah Husayn,
Tahirih, in how to do the ultimate act, sacrifice yourself to the
flames, leap into the breach, keep hands off the meddling of the usual
human religious leader. This was unique, at least since the ministry
of Jesus.

Another study reported by Reuters is "Unfair bosses get to workers'
hearts" (25 October 2005
<http://abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_1490108.htm>)
found that poor bosses are literally killing those under them. Male
public servants in a ten year study who reported that they felt they
were treated fairly by their boss had thirty percent lower incidence
of coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in developed
countries. The author of the study writes, "Most people care deeply
about just treatment by authorities, Lack of justice may be a source
of oppression, deprivation and stress." What makes a worker feel that
way?

"People consider that they are being treated fairly at work when they
believe their supervisor considers their viewpoint, shares information
about decision making and treats individuals fairly and in a truthful
manner."

Sounds an awful lot like the Guardian's description of an ideal
Assembly member, does it not? And it actually, measurably, improves
the health of the community to have leaders like that! Amazing. I am
very interested in how the relations between boss and employee change
in different situations and political climates. Since in effect,
Baha'is elect their bosses, who only function authoritatively and
decisively as a group, though they are expected to act and intermingle
separately as well, how will that example affect the office and
factory of the future? Will bosses be elected?

Another idea and question especially is bothering me lately: how do
you reduce bullying by making bosses accountable? The idea is to use
PDA's or other small devices to give feedback to bosses. If he makes
unreasonable requests or is unfair, he should feel it, right away,
from those under him. How that would work specifically I am still
trying to work out in my mind. One start has been made, a study
reported in the Toronto Star, A1, 17 October, 2005, called "Hey chief:
Bosses fail employees' performance test." In this online poll
employees rated their bosses according to whether they recognized
their own errors, ability to make the job interesting and challenging,
consideration of their wellbeing, etc. Most fell below par. I think
quicker feedback direct between each party would raise the competency
quickly and reliably.

People Space

For some reason an exam by a local psychologist at school found that
Silvie has problems with "small motor skills." So yesterday she had to
take a day off school while I drove her an hour's drive to Brantford
for a more elaborate exam in the Lansdowne Children's Center. They
found that if anything she has motor skills slightly above grade
level. At least I had some time with her, which is unfortunately quite
rare now that at Grade Six homework is dominating her life. The system
is hard at work turning her into a drudge, a slave to the machine,
crushing her creative spark. I never did like homework as a student,
and I hate it more as a father. Her mother insists that every iota of
this slogging insult to real learning is done, and done right, and I
cannot intervene, so I console myself in the thought that this is a
good discipline. I enjoy seeing good marks from her as a result of
this massive, hateful time spent but most of me is crying for her
inside. I hate, hate, resent, hate, hate these precious hours of a
young life wasted slogging. The three R's I spit out of my mouth.

One good that came out of this was that as we drove through the Six
Nations Reservation and Silvie fiddled with the camera and read
Brilliant Star Magazine, I heard an interview on CBC radio with Fred
Kent -- a fellow who should be better known than Clark Kent. Check out
his "Open Space People Space" website at:

http://www.pps.org/

It includes a link to the entire interview, which I encourage you to
listen to. This fellow, I swear to you, is working out the details of
how Baha'u'llah designed the people spaces of the future. Think of it,
the Mashriq is at the center with a wagon wheel of service
institutions surrounding it. You reflect, meditate, restore in the
prayer building and the gardens around it, then you go out and serve
humanity in the service buildings, the school, hospice, etc. This guy
is saying essentially the same thing: if you want to have a vibrant,
living city or town or neighborhood, you have to design it around
people, not the ego of some monomaniacal architect. That is, put at
least ten good things in the center, things that people need and will
attract them to come and "hang out." Put a park in the middle, and a
farmer and small vendor's market. The park lets people wind down and
relax, the market charges them up by giving variety, an assault on the
senses. It is much better than the vermin of big box stores bred by
enslavement to the automobile. Here you walk, you get exercise, you
use the body God gave you to restore the soul, to buy, to relax, to
mix with young and old.

Kent points out that in a properly designed space you feel at home.
You can put yourself on display, not arrogantly but in the confident
manner of a host to contented, well fed guests; you can sit down on a
bench next to someone of a totally different cultural, racial
background and just share the surroundings with one another. This Kent
guy expresses this image so beautifully in such a brief time that I
would use his interview as an exemplar if I were teaching a public
speaking course. I would love to tour the world and visit the public
spaces he recommends, and just take in the atmosphere. In fact you
can, he sponsors a yearly conference with tours to local neighborhoods
that have his stamp of approval. Attendees take home a kite and share
photos of themselves in their own favorite people places, flying a
kite. I guess the theory is, if you cannot fly a kite there, what kind
of people place is it, anyway? To learn about the conference, go to:

http://www.openspace.eca.ac.uk/conference/conference.htm

I would like to get one of these kites and fly it in the grounds of
the Mashriqs of the world. I hear that the Santiago, Chile Mashriq was
almost approved to go into a downtown park, which would have been
ideal for what Baha'u'llah had in mind. As it is, it is going up in
the middle of an empty field way out in the suburbs. Maybe eventually
the whole city will move over there, and the Mashriq will be in a new
central market square. Hope so. With the structure of the Mashriq, 9
sides, 9 gardens, several institutions, it is interesting to see how
on this site they talk about the "power of ten." In an essay on how
this applies to small vendor's markets, they write:

"Underlying all PPS's work is the "Power of 10"--the idea that at
least ten focal points are necessary to make a great place, with each
of those areas offering ten things to do. Public spaces exhibiting the
Power of 10 offer the depth, meaning and visceral connections that
create satisfying everyday experiences. This principle has a strong
effect when applied to public markets, and lends them a competitive
advantage over many other commercial forms. It is interesting to note
that many innovations which have proven successful at public market --
connecting with local farmers and producers, adding public seating,
rebuilding a sense of community, adapting to site specific needs --
are now being copied by savvy retailers such as Whole Foods."

I think the whole glory of the day of God will only flare out when our
built spaces reflect His Spirit by bringing souls together in a
positive atmosphere. Spirit burned in, as it were. I would like to get
a program like SimCity and work out the details of how all this might
come together using mound architecture. Maybe the mounds could come
out like spokes on a wheel from one city square, a space with a
market, city square, park and house of worship in the center, under a
big dome. The blueprint of it all is the Mashriq, but many details
need to be worked out.

--
John Taylor

badijet@gmail.com