Your analogy reminds me of this I just read the other day:
"Some countries initially felt they were isolated from AIDS, but now
they realize there is no such thing. There is no border, no boundary.
We've learned that walls endanger because they encourage a false sense
of security. Even if you could impose the perfect program for screening
international travellers, infected people will get in, and some of your
own citizens will come back infected. In the meantime, people won't
follow safe sex practices, because they figure they're protected inside
their walls. (...)
One of the major barriers we face in trying to get countries to deal
effectively with AIDS is the tremendous gap between social myth and
social reality. I think closing this gap is a useful step. It's
important to deal with things as they are, and not as somebody would
like them to be. (...)
I have asked a lot of government officials and experts, 'At what age do
young men and women in your society begin to have sexual intercourse?'
This is not prurient curiosity on my part. I'm trying to figure out when
you might start certain kinds of educational programs. The expert thinks
a minute. He may take on a reflective look as he considers his own
adolescence, and he makes a decision. Is he going to tell me when he had
sexual intercourse, or when he should have had sexual intercourse? The
answers are not at all scientific, and frankly, people often don't know
what's going on in their own society in terms of sexual practices and
drug use."
- Jonathan Mann, director of the Global Program on AIDS, from the
book: "Reinventing the Future: Conversations with the World's Leading
Scientists" by Thomas Bass, 1994
Great book. But the (somewhat paraphrased) quote fits rather nicely if
you replace screening with "hiring process" and "career advancement"
with "sexual practices".
How do we want our organizations to work? What should the life-cycle of
an employee be? Can we state that frankly in a way that's both good for
the company and good for the employees? Where do managers go as they
grow older? Up or out? If up, where does the CEO go?
"Some countries initially felt they were isolated from AIDS, but now they realize there is no such thing. There is no border, no boundary. We've learned that walls endanger because they encourage a false sense of security. Even if you could impose the perfect program for screening international travellers, infected people will get in, and some of your own citizens will come back infected. In the meantime, people won't follow safe sex practices, because they figure they're protected inside their walls. (...)
One of the major barriers we face in trying to get countries to deal effectively with AIDS is the tremendous gap between social myth and social reality. I think closing this gap is a useful step. It's important to deal with things as they are, and not as somebody would like them to be. (...)
I have asked a lot of government officials and experts, 'At what age do young men and women in your society begin to have sexual intercourse?' This is not prurient curiosity on my part. I'm trying to figure out when you might start certain kinds of educational programs. The expert thinks a minute. He may take on a reflective look as he considers his own adolescence, and he makes a decision. Is he going to tell me when he had sexual intercourse, or when he should have had sexual intercourse? The answers are not at all scientific, and frankly, people often don't know what's going on in their own society in terms of sexual practices and drug use."
- Jonathan Mann, director of the Global Program on AIDS, from the book: "Reinventing the Future: Conversations with the World's Leading Scientists" by Thomas Bass, 1994
Great book. But the (somewhat paraphrased) quote fits rather nicely if you replace screening with "hiring process" and "career advancement" with "sexual practices".
How do we want our organizations to work? What should the life-cycle of an employee be? Can we state that frankly in a way that's both good for the company and good for the employees? Where do managers go as they grow older? Up or out? If up, where does the CEO go?