Nancy Morris re-introduced our previous speaker, Martin Itzkow. Please review prior minutes for full Bio.
At the first presentation we went through the process of answering a survey related to our personal values. Since that visit, Martin has analyzed our responses and compiled a summary of our values, as we stated them, at that first presentation.
A summary of how the club members see Winnipeg:
- Positive Values leading to Current Culture:[3] Goodwill, Friendship and Compassion
- Current Culture leading to Desired Culture:[7] Diversity, Sustainable Funding, Future Generations, Engagement, Culture, Community Involvement and Potential
- Cultural Entropy:[12] (The Cultural Entropy score reveals the amount of energy consumed in doing unproductive or unnecessary work). 12 is a very high number for a group. Not good! // Uncertainty, Lack of Resources, Bureaucracy, Ghettoized, Racist, Short-Term Focus, Stagnant, Confusion, Isolation / Loneliness, Greed, Sustainable Funding, Power and Centralized.
What we want for Winnipeg:
Theme #1 (Common Good): Caring, Compassion, Cooperation, Social Responsibility, Sense of Belonging, Openness, Commitment, Inclusiveness, Ethics and Fairness
Theme #2 (Future Winnipeg Performance): Continuous Improvement, Innovation, Synergy, Listening, Responsibility, Accountability, Transparency, Excellence, Stewardship and Financial Stability.
Theme #3 (Growth): Professional Growth and Results Orientation.
Theme #4 (Community Transformation): Poverty Reduction.
Martin stated that values are core to who you are. He wanted us to all consider, ‘am I getting what I want out of my life?’.
In this ‘connected world’, we are actually not connected as much as we think we are. A lot of people are only concerned with how everything will affect them personally. If your values are not being respected this will be obvious to you because you will find yourself in conflict with others all the time. You must try to be civil in your personal interactions. Respect the other person and their viewpoint. A good way to do that is to ask, “please tell me more”. A person’s values are incredibly important. Objectively listen to what is being said and hear them. Tell them that you really want to find out what matters to them.
Different socio-economic groups will see the same situation differently. As an example…a teenager on the street in Charleswood begging for money. A study group of people aged 35 and younger have used words to describe the teenager as a ‘scam artist’ or ‘on drugs’. When asked what are you going to do? The study group almost uniformly said they would ignore him. Depending on how true your values of Service and Goodwill are you may try to help the teenager get off the streets with the proper professional help.
Think of your 3 core values. Do you really live them? The only time we really pay attention to our values is when there is conflict with them from someone’s actions or statements.
Martin Itzkow was thanked, on behalf of the Club, by Bill Johnson.
