The Four R's

When you were little, you may have heard people talk about “the three R’s” that are taught in school: reading, (w)riting and ’rithmetic.  By contrast, the culture and camaraderie within your office environment will benefit if you focus on “the four R’s” – respect, responsibility, ritual, and relationships.

Here are some quotes about those four attributes for you to ponder:

• RESPECT:

“Knowledge will give you power, but character will give you respect.”

Bruce Lee

“If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law.”

Winston Churchill

“Respect for right conduct is felt by everybody.”

Jane Austen

• RESPONSIBILITY

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

Abraham Lincoln

“Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.”

Khalil Gibran

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

• RITUAL

“Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment that demands personal honest and, ultimately, reinforces humility.”

Eric Zorn

“Much that passes for education is not education at all, but ritual. We are being educated when we know it least.”

David P. Gardner

“”People have traditionally turned to ritual to help them frame and acknowledge and ultimately even find joy in just such a paradox of being human.”

Michael Pollan

• RELATIONSHIP

“Assumptions are the termites of relationships.”

Henry Winkler

“People change, and forget to tell each other.

Lillian Hellman

“No road is long, with good company.”

Turkish Proverb

Which of the four R’s do you think works best, in your current office culture? Which of the four may be a weak link in the office chain?