Valuing the Values we value by Ross Milne.

Oh if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
I wonder what would happen to this world

- Harry Chapin 1978

This opening refrain epitomises the existential angst that one comes to when contemplating one’s existence, one’s choices and one’s responsibility. The extract expresses the experienced angst associated with the phenomenon of the difficult decisions one must make in the course of everyday living and with it the profound responsibility that one must take for making one’s choices. It is no wonder that one avoids the difficult choices and convinces one’s self that such responsibility is beyond one’s capability.

This presentation explores these aspects through firstly an exploration of the philosophical origins of value and its associated constructs. In doing so it dissects the word philosophy within the original Greek construct from which is drawn the aspects of the value of values.

The presentation shifts the discussion of philosophy from ancient Greece to twentieth century France and the work of Jean-Paul Sartre. Using Sartre as an underlying basis the paper illustrates the current dichotomy which permeates much of organisational life. This aspect is then compared with the writings of Mary Parker Follett and John Kotter to draw a common thread. The presentation concludes with a possibility.

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Ross is currently spending time creating a contemplative garden space and exploring axiology. He began his working life as an engineering scientist majoring in continuum mechanics, operations research. After stints as an Energy Research Fellow and Distribution Planning Officer in FMCG he returned to complete his ME as a Temporary Junior Lecturer in Computational Techniques. Following a stint working as a Consulting Engineer in Traffic, Transportation and Energy in the private sector Ross returned to the tertiary education sector first as a Traffic Research Fellow before settling into a 20 year period of learning facilitation in Business Schools in a range of Management subjects in the tertiary sector.

Ross spent his last 10 years in a Health faculty teaching Methods of Research and Enquiry to undergraduate students in a multidisciplinary environment. During this later period Ross spent 30 years exploring the nefarious construct Leadership. It was from this journey that Ross developed an interest in Philosophy and more recently Axiology.

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