Consumer culture

In our post-industrial consumer culture, the question of what meaning is, or what it means, has become increasingly difficult to define. It can encompass many things to many people while at the same time nobody can pinpoint how. This brief essay will tackle this difficult subject and it will attempt to relate meaning to value in our contemporary culture and how organizations can translate meaning and value into their members. According to the Princeton University online dictionary, meaning is “the message that is intended or expressed or signified” (Wordnet).
Humans understand the world through sign systems and relationships. A person’s subjective experience relates to the objective world of signs through language and relationships. Individuals try to come to terms with the significance of their actions by forming relationships that can help them to understand the significance of objects as well as subjects. This is why we form relationships, but people also want to understand how we relate to society at large.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines value as “Something (as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable (Value). The conversion of meaning into value occurs when relationships evolve to form shared understandings of the world and how people relate to it as well as to each other. These values then get re-incorporated back into the language. Philosopher Ian Heath states this significance, “Meaning can transform the individual, while values can transform relationships (Heath).

What this means for organizational leadership is that it is crucial to develop meaningful relationships to create values that can guide their members in a mutually beneficial environment.
Works Cited
Heath, Ian. (2003). Meaning and Value. A Modern Thinker. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from http://www. modern-thinker. co. uk/ Value. (2008). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/value%5B1%5D Wordnet Search. (2008). The University of Princeton. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from http://wordnet. princeton. edu/perl/webwn? s=meaning