Jennifer Niesslein’s article, They’re Not Helping, in February 21, 2008 edition of The Washington Post takes a stab at the explosion of the self-help industry. All the books at the local Barnes and Noble, aiming to improve your waistline, mental state, relationships, career, sex life, focus on taking personal responsibility for those improvements. She notes, quiet astutely, that America’s embrace of self-help rests with our individualistic, pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps culture.
Her article confounds much about the approach of taking personal responsibility on how one should behave either at work or in other areas of life. If we were all taking personal responsibility for our behavior and our actions, wouldn’t everything be wonderful?
Depends on what you think you should take personal responsibility for.
Is it faulty to think that if we each subscribe to the philosophies of the self-help books that we will all be healthy, well-adjusted, emotionally intelligent individuals? Maybe.
Niesslein states, “I’d argue that what self-help does is provide a step-by-step distraction, a nice set of blinders to help readers maintain the illusion that they’re masters of their own destinies.”
What about the organizations we are a part of? What is their role and responsibility for our well being? But, wait, aren’t the organizations made up of individuals? And those individuals are the ones who create policies and practices that influence our lives and well being?
The self-help books will continue to be devoured, some will act upon the recommendations. Maybe luck still is the driving force, as Nielssen concludes.