The work of The Putman Group is based on a highly distinctive viewpoint, rooted in the powerful discipline of Descriptive Psychology and refined by over 35 years experience with organizations of all kinds. You will find much here that cannot be found elsewhere; determining its value is of course up to you.
To help you decide whether it's worth your time to engage with us, here are some core principles that are reflected throughout our work. Each principle is stated and briefly explained; for more, just click on the statement you are interested in.
Please note that these are principles, not values. Principles articulate what you take to be true and real; values articulate what you intend to give priority in your actions. Both are important, but they cover different ground.
Core Principles:
- An organization is a community with a mission. An organization consists fundamentally of people interacting with other people, using methods, tools, technology, money, relationships and systems of all sorts to accomplish a specific purpose. This human reality of organizations is primary and must be kept continually in focus if the organization is to thrive and succeed.
- An organization exists to create value – and the value it creates looks very different to different participants. This principle is far more fundamental – and far more important – than the common notion that we all see things based on our own needs and experience. Navigating these different views is essential to effective leadership and sustained organizational success.
- An organization has an emergent order. The complex but very specific logic of people interacting in work relationships provides the framework within which an organization creates its value. Organizations that respect and act upon their particular emergent order are powerfully effective; organizations that ignore or violate it are self-limiting at best. This order is inherent to the organization, and different for every organization.
- Work relationships are the core infrastructure through which an organization creates value.Relationships in organizations are like the air we breathe: an all-pervading, crucial aspect of life that is essentially invisible. But just because we typically take relationships for granted doesn't mean we should. In fact, extraordinary competence in achieving results through organizations requires highly-developed competence in building and navigating work relationships.
- Leadership is the outcome of an intentional process. We view leadership NOT as requiring a specific set of personal characteristics, skills, or organizational standing, but rather as the outcome of an intentional focus on participants and their contributions to the mutual endeavor.
