Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

owning our work

English answer:

considering our work as our own

Added to glossary by Fabienne Garlatti
Feb 6, 2013 21:48
11 yrs ago
English term

owning our work

English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general)
As in "Innovation is important because owning our work goes beyond recreating what we already know."

Source: in-house document on company values

I'm curious as to what this phrase means exactly in a very general context. Thanks.

Discussion

Fabienne Garlatti (asker) Feb 7, 2013:
French translation used... "Il est important d'innover, car comment s'approprier un travail si l'on se contente de recréer ce que l'on connaît déjà ?"
Robert Kleemaier Feb 7, 2013:
@ Evelyana Thanks for the clarification! :)
Evelyna Radoslavova Feb 7, 2013:
Answer to Robert (can't add a comment) I understand "taking ownership of feelings" as accepting them as your own and facing them, and "taking ownership of work" in the general management context as taking responsibility for one's actions (i.e. quality/errors, etc.). There is usually very little mention of innovation or originality or being different from everybody else. In Fabienne's context, it seems to lean more towards pride, not only in the quality of the work but also in the innovation and the difference. Hence, I tend to agree with Mark.

I would even go further and say that it's a very different point of view: "taking ownership" interpreted as "identifying with our work" sets the worker as someone who is distinct and separate and needs to assimilate himself with the work; interpreted as "producing original work" (I would even say "being the authors of our work") sets him as the creator, without whom that work would not exist.

Responses

+4
6 mins
Selected

producing original work

They seem to be saying that if you simply recreate what you already know then you do not own it; in order to own work, you have to innovate, i.e. produce ideas that can call your own.
Peer comment(s):

agree Evelyna Radoslavova : 100%
1 hr
agree Robert Kleemaier : quite possible
3 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher : yes, in this context creativity is required
5 hrs
agree katsy
13 hrs
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3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Agree with your explanation. It helped me understand that in this context 'owning our work' is really 'considering our work as our own'."
+1
3 mins

being in charge of / responsible for our work

Most likely this is what it means here (unless the larger context suggests that intellectual property issues are implied).
Peer comment(s):

agree BrigitteHilgner : taking responsibility for
8 hrs
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+1
6 mins

identifying with our work

When it comes to innovative products, it is the identification with that new product that makes the designers/inventors/employees take 'ownership' of it. It's a part of their corporate personality and management wants employees to adopt this position.
Peer comment(s):

agree Allison Wright (X) : I have a feeling this stems from the psychological theory that it is a good idea to "take ownership of" your feelings, actions, etc. in order to "deal with" them, i.e. get your "self" involved, and don't "distance" yourself from your work.
55 mins
completely agree with you, Allison.
neutral Evelyna Radoslavova : I would normally agree, but it seems to be given a slightly different meaning here
1 hr
such as, Evelyna?
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