BELIEFS: They Choose Me & I Choose Them

                                           © 2003, Dr. Bill DeMarco

Beliefs are one of three segments of the Values element of my Culture Model. Beliefs, along with Needs and Attitudes, taken separately and in their interaction, make up our unique Values proposition.  Beliefs are ideas viewed as being true by most members of a society. This applies to personal, societal, and organizational cultures alike.

 Our Beliefs come from two sources.  In some inexplicable way, they are partly given to us by everything and everyone that came before us and partly developed through our life experiences. In this sense, they both choose us and we choose them. Our core or fundamental beliefs are the inexplicable kind. Our life experiences commingle with our core beliefs throughout our lives constantly calling out for reappraisal/ revalidation/ (re)commitment.

At a fundamental level, we are in search of truths about the meaning of life, love, and happiness.  It is what Jefferson described in the U.S. Declaration of Independence as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  Since our beliefs represent our understanding of the meaning of truth in important aspects of our lives, they are most often refined but rarely significantly changed.

From a cultural standpoint, the important thing to remember is that Beliefs are ideas viewed by individuals/most members of a society as being true.  While constantly subject to reappraisal/revalidation/(re)commitment, Beliefs  frequently act as cultural hot spots when challenged. To a large extent, this explains the reason for the personal and societal conflict between traditional religious and secular beliefs, both belief systems capable of profoundest impact.  The former calls for personal sacrifice in support of a higher calling. The latter debunks sacrifice and supports a notion of personal gratification here and now.

This plays itself out in the business world as well. A business world corollary has always been the company-specific belief system informally described as “how things are done around here”.  It defines what is important, what it takes to get ahead, what it takes to continue to be employed.  For many employees today, personal core beliefs about the meaning of life and happiness are being challenged, leading to what I call cultural decision-making “moments of truth”.

 Two metaphors at polar opposites of the Belief spectrum:

1. Supremacy of Scientific Knowledge!

Image number one is a metaphor for a belief system that says that there is truth only in scientific knowledge.  It likely supports a bottom-line first business culture.

2. Supremacy of a Supreme Being!

Image number two is a metaphor for a belief system that says there is a Supreme Being, the Creator of all things and the source of all truth.  It likely supports a people-first business culture.

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Some Contemporary Philosophical/Religious/Business Belief  Systems & Movements

 Anarchism     Atheism     Baha’i     Behaviourism     Buddhism     Capitalism

Christianity     Communism     Confucianism     Creationism     Environmentalism

Evolution     Feminism     Free Enterprise     Free Will     Globalism     God(s)

Hinduism Human intellect     Humanism     Human Sexuality     Islam     Jainism

Judaism     Nationalism     Native Spirituality     Paganism     Personal Gratification

Personal Sacrifice     Positivism     Relativism     Right to Choose     Right to Life

Roman Catholicism     Secularism     Sikhism     Supreme Being     Socialism

Taoism     Theory E     Theory O     Unitarianism     Wiccanism     Zoroastrianism