Love is a better master than duty

Yesterday, I attended the monthly professional development luncheon for the Public Relations Society of America. The speaker was Ron Smedley, whose consultancy Synergistic Resource Associates helps organizations wade through the muddy waters of Human Resources risk issues, among others.

We had asked Mr. Smedley to talk to us about ethics in Social Media, and, in particular, how we as Public Relations practitioners can offer counsel to our administrators regarding good policy regarding employee participation in the interactive online world.

It was interesting, and useful for my job, but what really struck me was his comments at the close of his presentation. He told an anecdote about how Albert Einstein learned to overcome his deficiencies as a musician early in life when he "fell in love" with a particular classical composition. The story goes that Einstein's terrible violin talents improved immeasurably once he heard this particular song, because he was motivated to play it over and over again until he mastered it. I forget the particular piece, but, anyway, the story continues that many year later, Einstein played as a guest musician in a symphony performance of some note. One guest, surprised at Einstein's worthy talent as a musician as many people were, commented to Einstein about his surprise at the natty' scientist/inventor's musical talent.

Einstein was said to have replied "Love is a better master than duty." The consultant's point in using the story was to illustrate to us that our development of social media policies should be motivated by our desire to encourage our employees to participate, truly, because of the fun and freedom of the medium. I was delighted to hear this point of view, since one of my pet peeves about "how corporations treat people" has historically been that corporations create "bad policy" that "hurts people" more than it helps them.

I would love it if the policy I hope to influence at my own organization could adopt this philosophy "in spirit" so that, ultimately, the net effect is that people behave because we trust them to, and yet, we still have the ability to protect the corporate interest in the event people disappoint (which, of course, they always do)!

I guess I really love people, and that has been my joy in life, and--at times--my downfall as well. I usually put relationships before duty, and that is not always prudent in the corporate setting. But, I am learning the balance as I mature. I have a long way to go!

The master's class is helping me see such markers in my life, too.
But, this week, I wanted to post on this topic since it was one of those particularly compelling ("aha") moments for me. Thanks, Ron Smedley. (And Priscilla Sohn, who found him and arranged for his presentation to our group.)