I recently read an article written by Vaughan Bell from the on-line magazine Slate. Mr. Bell referred to a psychological study that I found interesting. In 1956, a psychologist Leon Festinger wrote a book titled When Prophecy Fails. It was a study on a religious cult called the Seekers that were predicting that a major flood would destroy the North American West Coast.
To paraphrase (or is that plagiarize) Mr. Bell's article. "The study was to determine how the "believers" would react to information that did not match up with their beliefs. His theory was that human beings are strongly motivated to resolve conflict - a state of mind called "cognitive dissonance." Festinger wondered whether they would give up their closely held beliefs, or would they work to justify them even in the face of the most brutal contradiction. The Seekers abandoned their jobs, possessions and spouses to prepare for the coming flood and the aliens in flying saucers that would whisk them to safety. But neither the aliens or the apocalypse arrived. The leader of the group received a "message" saying that the group "had spread so much light that God had saved the world from destruction." The group responded by proselytizing with a renewed vigour. According to Festinger, they resolved the intense conflict between reality and prophecy by seeking safety in numbers. That is, if more people can be persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly, it must, after all, be correct. Festinger opined that human beings will adapt to even the most unlikely of contradictions using nothing more than our methods of everyday rationalizations."
As Harold Camping's followers are preparing for Judgement Day this Sunday May 21, 2011, much of the world is laughing at his followers, their beliefs and actions. Yet daily, millions of North Americans are also following "beliefs" that are being proselytized by the corporations that they work for. Many companies (not all, thankfully) have stated Core Values that in no way match their business model nor their actual corporate culture. These corporations expect and demand that those employed by them "believe" in a system that is clearly contradictory to many of the employee's personal values. Corporations might say that they are a meritocracy, when in fact raises, bonuses and promotions may be based on personality and politics. Corporations might say that their shares are the best investment for your retirement, notwithstanding that most experienced investment professionals suggest that you diversify your investments (is having your salary and retirement investments tied to the same corporation diversification? Ask the former employees of Enron or WorldCom). Corporations might say that employees are their most valued assets and prove that statement is false by their actions. Yet corporations will continue to repeat those statements over and over as if anything said enough times (no matter how false) - will be true.
That was a long way to get to the point of this blog post. It is intended that Philosopher's Stone Oil & Gas not only have written Core Values, but ensure that those values are clearly stated and defined in it's documents of incorporation and by-laws. Ensuring a meritocracy will be achieved by management giving clarity to PSOG's vision and strategy for a sustainable charitable foundation and rewarding those employees that meet clearly defined expectations. Employees will not be tied to PSOG with promises of stock options or phantom shares (that are usually apportioned to management in much greater number than to the rank and file staff members) as it is not possible in a charitable foundation. And our employees shall be our most valued asset - because they will not be compensated to the same financial status as many of their peers in the oil and gas industry. Compensation will be a fair and comparable salary capped to 3 X the median family income in the community they work, a bonus maximum of 25% of base salary for all employees, flexible work times (even working at home depending on function and skill set), vacations/sabbatical plans not currently offered in the oil and gas industry and most important - the privilege of working for a purpose greater than ourselves.
I trust that this blog will once again be available for you to read in June 2011. Sorry Mr. Camping - we all have too much to accomplish to have it all end now. To all my friends and colleagues - God Bless.
