Social Decorum

The Quick Study Series : I

Everyone remembers their first 6 months at work … pure hell! Its an illustration of the difference between self induced thoughts and thoughts that relate to the physical environment. It is the difference between dream and reality … indicating as it does the appearance of a harsh nature of reality … and the gap of separation everyone comes to experience between caring natures and the entirely logical nature of the physical.

It is the Mafia of the workplace. Everyone toes the line like a dutiful soldier … every thought taken is tied in to a common will … that manifest itself as obedience … to the policies … guidelines … of the workplace. It engages each one as an ally … working for his greater good. All those who have worked at it … wear their acquiescence and nature of conformity … like a badge earned.

Perhaps the most critical aspect of the experience … is the way it creates a feeling of total denial of the individual personality we grew up on … in the home and school. To a young man … it is the beginning … of his experience of the outside world. He makes an effort at adaptation … and quickly learns what the rules of engagement are.

The impact of the experience starts to grow … his school or college friends … who have started work elsewhere … are now too busy … and they grow apart from their former association. The individual then finds himself alone … in facing up to the situation in the workplace … his responses increase in the intensity of involvement … and he finds a greater volition to participate … in the dictates of the workplace.

The professional nature of work … takes over the intuitive basis of knowledge in the individual. Nobody seeks any personal assurances from him. His actions are based on the operating manual … it is the new mind of the actions he performs. He grows specialized in the nature of the work he is engaged in … and strives to improve his specialization … to present himself as a resource person in the field of the work.

In any specialization of knowledge and skills … we find ourselves reviewing the work that was done before. In product orientation … it may refer to the design … materials used … function … handling … benefits … satisfaction … packaging … price … and the production function. In handling customer buying habits … it may refer to … outlook … lifestyle … social norms … individual natures … and social behaviour .

A new input into the nature of the existing conditions … would involve a rigorous affirmation of its validity. That would create an advancement on past thesis on the issue. To do so … the individual must be organized as regards his findings … to be independently reviewed by his peers … and to create an acceptance for them. To that end … the individual has to … at some point … bring themselves into an organization of their thoughts and actions.

Our society refers to its institutions … as the representation of social norms. In much the same way … an individual working on a specialization … is an individual organization … before it comes to be institutionalized in society. To what extent does it improve on the experience … of a person entering into society … workplace and government? It is the answer we seek today.