Replying to LO27973 --
Ever more dear LO'ers
Anyone who scans the contributions to this dialogue will soon find
that my old friend At with many wise and thoughtful posts and in
particular his 7 E's of creativity plays an anchor role in many of the
discussion threads. I am still very much the novice here, both as time
passes and measured by my ability to absorb from this fountain of
insight and knowledge.
Yet for me time is also of the essence and I am going to risk a
strategy that says, "Go with the current; let the stream grab hold of
you and see where it takes. If there is risk ahead, or when one's mind
gets trapped in a whirlpool of circular reasoning and turbulence and
loses its laminar flow, there will be people at hand with much greater
understanding and insight to drag one to safety."
We have been discussing what I believe to be a need for direction, in
LO as in any other venture or process that we as people can undertake.
I am suggesting that the Golden Rule (GR) as it finds expression in
the normative directive (Decision maker, improve the worth of your
system!) - which is quite contrary to current management practice and
philosophy in the west - is a constant that can define such direction
in an optimal manner.
Alfred (LO27973) asked whether there is no danger in adhering to a
constant; whether there is not a dynamic in expanding the "Do unto
others . ." into more explicit forms, an idea At taook further in his
response to Alfred (LOxxxx).
In this post I want to approach the GR from anonther direction - by
applying just one of At's 7 E's. The one of liveness "becoming-being".
A duality that has one aspect with the nature of process, or change,
and another that refers to a condition, or state. [And I am aware of
the fact that the 7 E's form a unity and that grabbing one in
isolation is a near heresy (:-)), but i'll risk the censure]
It will serve no learning purpose to simply use At's description of
this E - rote learning, At? - so I am going to risk showing my lack of
understanding in order that At and the rest of you can tell me where I
erred. The focus will be the GR and what it means for people and
organisations, so that the discussion does not stretch too wide into
generalities.
Something that has gradually become apparent in the posts I have read
here is that there is a quite strong focus on the LO itself - either
in terms of the LO list itself, the LO methodology or then in the
application of LO to an organisation. In a sense the
LO-methodology+LO-organisation has become an isolated and for
practical purposes a closed system - in a sense a self-referring
system.
I have a problem with this in the sense of 'being'. I can perhaps best
explain this conceptual problem by asking: If one were the only person
left in the world, would the concept 'I' still have any meaning?
Internal changes can be observed, so that the 'becoming' would still
be relevant [I think] as one introspectively observe what is happening
- as individual or as group/organisation - but in the final esence
'being' may well become irrelevant when I/organisation is completely
isolated.
One needs a reference space - defined for the individual and the
organisation by the environment in which it exists and functions - in
order to achieve the status of 'being' to have an own identity and to
be fully aware of that identity. And to a certain degree - if not
fully so - that identity is defined by the nature of the relationship
with the environment, which, as discussed previously [One hand
clapping] can range from predatory through to the silly altruistic.
The above come across as statements, but they are more like questions
in that I am searching for the proper place of both the individual and
the organisation in its relationships with others. To me it is that
aspect of life that contributes to 'being' and may even make it
possible.
(Perhaps I should say "Ouch!" in advance. Just to be on the safe side)
With kind regards and best wishes
daan
Daan Joubert
Looking for a Dunce cap that will fit!
Roodepoort
South Africa
--Daan Joubert <daanj@kingsley.co.za>
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