Peace Makers

To make shalom is to balance and fulfill both self and community. In a just community each person has the ability to be his or her authentic self and, in doing so, contribute creatively and positively to the lives of others.

In a community of the righteous each person will fully value and empathize with their neighbors. In the shared lives of such a community the ultimate purpose of God is discovered and lived out.

Humility allows us to learn from our experiences, listen to others, and cooperate with others. In these experiences, and especially as we listen and cooperate with others, we come to truly know others and fully identify with them. With these skills, and the resulting wisdom, we are enabled to pursue our own purposes and the purposes of the community in a complementary manner. The outcome of this way of living together is shalom.

While this may sound like religious-talk, this is also the outcome of good management. Here is how our secular Saint Peter (Drucker) describes a similar process and outcome:

The knowledge-based organization therefore requires that everyone take responsibility for that organization’s objectives, contribution, and, indeed, for its behavior as well.

This implies that all members of the organization must think through their objectives and their contributions, and then take responsibility for both. It implies there are no “subordinates”; there are only “associates.” Furthermore, in the knowledge-based organization all members have to be able to control their own work by feedback from their results to their objectives. All members must ask themselves: “What is the one major contribution to this organization and its mission which I can make at this particular time?” It requires, in other words, that all members act as responsible decision-makers. All members have to see themselves as “executives.”

Next it is the responsibility of all members to communicate their objectives, their priorities, and their intended contributions to their fellow workers – up, down, and sideways. And it is the responsibility of all members to make sure that their own objectives fit with the objectives of the entire group. (Post-Capitalist Society, page 108)

Drucker insists that this culture of responsibility is fundamental to the productivity needed for business success today and in the future. The tone is different from the Gospel of Matthew, the substance is similar.

The ultimate fulfillment of a business organization is a product of blending and balancing the needs and gifts of individuals – workers inside and customers outside – with the goals of the enterprise. When managers succeed in creating this sort of environment they deserve to be called peacemakers.

Organizations which develop these characteristics have a sustained competitive advantage compared to organizations that do not. Workers are more productive and contributing, objectives are more likely to be achieved, innovation is more common, and customers and clients are more likely to be loyal.