I have read Jim Collins and Jerry Porras' book, Built To Last: Successful Habits Of Visionary Companies (book is listed in My Favorites in right side bar)which has inspired me and given me many ideas about how to work to make GCASA even better.
One of the things that Collins and Porras found that Visionary Companies do is stick to their core ideology while they push for continuous improvement. This idea very much resonates with our philosophy at GCASA.
An important component of a company's core ideology are its values. These values are not some saccharine pollyannish ideas that sound good but something that defines the organization at a visceral level. Different people might have different ideas about those organizational core values are but I would say they are four fold: we treat everyone, clients, staff, referral agents, general public with respect. We also recognize people's intrinsic worth and dignity no matter how low they have sunk in their lives. We believe in a person's right and responsibility to become actualized, that is, to realize his or her potential, and we believe in continuous improvement in one's own life, in one's family, in one's community, in one's place of work etc.
So the four values which resonate most deeply with me are dignity, respect, actualization and continuous improvement. These are the things that GCASA is committed to as it goes about its work. This means we are not driven by regulatory requirements, or payors, or evidence based practices. We are driven primarily by a client centered orientation which is respectful, protective of dignity, empowering of individual growth, and always trying to become better at what we do.
Let us know what you think. Leave us a comment. What do you care most deeply about as you go about your work in the substance abuse field, or as you interface with the substance abuse system.
This is article #1 in a series on Organizational Excellence.
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