John Discus kindly posted some quotes related to a question re Meg
Wheatley's discussion of pattern.
And some additional perspectives:
the North American Medicine Wheel (Cherokee) please forgive me if this
information is incorrect I know little about the North American Medicine
Wheel, however, I have a picture of a wheel and each direction north,
south, east, west etc has a diffferent perspective. And it is my
understanding that when talking about the future, making decisions etc
each different perspective is called upon.
The North East perspective is labelled "design and choreography" - I
assume translated for non-indigenous peoples - I think this is the
perspective that Meg Wheatley talks about in thinking of the "pattern" of
the organisation
I also have from Caitlin Matthews "The Elements of the Goddess" a picture
that depcits 10 aspects - one of these she calls "the weaver" - I assume
this is looking at the pattern once again
I have also heard it called "the pattern keeper" - to me it is a way of
looking, feeling, imagining the system's patterns, relationshipos, beliefs
about itself - or another word - it's identity ,
In mediaeval times - "the storyteller" - had permission to say in metaphor
what was actually happening in the system - what patterns the
"storyteller" could see emerging in the system
In our times - Argyris and Schon - I believe are great "pattern" observers
and interventionists into the pattern of the system
or any-one who might call themselves a "process consultant" in Edgar
Schein's terms
paying attention to the relationships - the how people interact with one
another in the system - listening to the stories, myths, legends, beliefs
the system has about itself
Bob Dick and Tim Dalmau have called this the "identity and unity" of the
organisation for a number of years.
I feel very strongly about this as I believe that many so called "change
interventions" intervene into the structure and the processes of the
organisation - what is concrete and observable without considering the
current, past and future "pattern" or identity and sense of unity in the
organisation.
So while we muddle around with the structure - we have a huge impact often
adverse impact - on the "patterns" - "identity" and this is ignored.
I also have a belief that if we spent more time paying attention to and
working with the patterns, the relationships, the beliefs etc to bring to
the surface what is the current set of beliefs the system holds about
itself and built more respectful, constructive realtionships with one
another in the system the changes in the structure and the changes to the
processes would emerge from these conversations. These changes would be
implemented with a spirit of trust and commitment as they emerge from the
system itself rather than from an external or internal power broker who
decides what the system will change.
Lastly it seems to me that the patterns are actually held in the system's
unconscious "collective unconscious" in Jungian terms and helping them
become conscious - naming the patterns is the first step.
Best Wishes to all
Deb Lange
Deborah Lange & Associates
Director of ELOGUE Pty Ltd
http://www.gil.com.au/comm/profcounsel/deb.htm
>And on page 220:
>"Thus a living system is determined in different ways by its pattern of
>organization and its structure. The pattern of organization determines the
>system's identity (its essential characteristics); the structure, formed by
>a sequence of structural changes, determines the system's behavior. The
>behavior of living systems is structure-determined."
>==end of quote==
>
>John Dicus | jdicus@ourfuture.com
--Deb Lange <deblange@ozemail.com.au>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>