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Dianova e-magazine - november 2008

training program at Dianova italy

Following proposals made by Dianova International, Dianova Italy developed a training program aimed at translating Dianova corporate values into daily behaviors, as well as long term strategies.

Training sessions were conducted at all Dianova centers in Italy and attracted more than 95 staff members, including psychologists, youth workers, drug counselors, executive and administrative personnel.

The session on values was an excellent opportunity for providing reflection on, and analysis of, the heritage built up through years of diverse contributions from a variety of cultures, and consisting of experience, education, stories, anecdotes, coincidences and intuitions that evolved into therapeutic best practices.

Shared values are at the root of any organization and of any human adventure oriented towards a goal. Values represent a foundation which allows adapting smoothly and rapidly to changes while keeping a sense of what we do. After so many years of work, it is worth wondering why we should go into this issue at this moment. There are many responses, but one of them is key: it is the necessity to share the concept of values and identity between all staff members, including those who just joined the organization.

It has also become obvious, in the first years of the 21st century, that we are living these situations of change in a particular environment.

Zygmunt Barman has judiciously described such an environment. "Liquid life", he explains, represents the speeding-up of the passage of time when changes are occurring. The consequences of this phenomenon are not having enough time to consolidate changes through more or less solid, stationary elements.

This situation of constant changing creates a sensation of "liquidity", of continuous transition. What we achieved today may not be valid the day after, and, above all, the formula which could let us reach a given objective may be viable no more when the time has come to reach other objectives. As a matter of fact, we often have no reference to adequately find our way.

The clearest example is provided by "the liquidity of merchandise" available to us in the marketplace. On one day one buys a new car. And one can be certain that the same brand will present another model the day after. With a slightly different look, some additional options, a bit more powerful motor, etc. Nothing fundamental however, no hydrogen powered engine – well, just enough to give us the feeling that yesterday's purchase is more or less out of date. Thus, the satisfaction we have of owning a brand new car turns into something elusive, perpetuating feelings of unsatisfied desire.

We could name other examples, such as computers, cosmetic surgery, food, clothing, etc. The common denominator is always identical: maintaining an ongoing emotional transition, a constant desire.

The working world exemplifies more serious situations: it is nowadays almost impossible to work while being confident of keeping one's job in the long run, specifically for younger people, for whom keeping their jobs could eventually mean the sacrifice of their independence, etc. Living in such a "liquid life" is complex and anxiety-ridden for the individual and for the group.

Our will to reassert our values is, undoubtedly, a response we found without even looking for it. It seems that the strength, the instinctive intelligence, of the group highlights the famous quote by Picasso, "I do not search, I find".

To confront this situation, the group has an advantage on the individual. Mechanisms underlying this advantage resemble the well-known, positive effects of therapeutic communities: an addicted individual integrating with a group devoted to overcoming a common problem joins a set of dynamics promoting change at all levels. Behavioral changes, changes of his vision of what his own life is, the hope of giving sense to his expectations. To accept eventually, and even find pleasure in, time passing.

Values can be an efficient remedy. Values can help us understand that everything is change. Everything is in constant motion. However, after all is said and done, and we remain in the same place, we ask ourselves questions once asked by St. Thomas Aquinas, and before him, by Plato and Aristotle.

Luca Franceschi
Director of Dianova Italy