>David Lyle-Carter wrote:
>
>Some years ago I read an interview with Peter Senge in which he openly
>spoke of the essences of the learning organization. I was struck at the
>time by the strong spiritual tone of his words and by the way they echoed
>taoist or zen philosophy.
I was struck in a similar way by the strong spiritual tone of his words
and writings and their echo of zen philosophy. I would also add their
echo of Christian philosophy in the deeper dimension of the teachings of
Jesus Christ [not necessarily the prevailing dogmatic religious teachings
about him]. Senge's writings lead me to Brother David Steindl-Rast and
Fritjof Capra in *Belonging to The Universe*, a dialogue on the frontier
of science and spirituality. Powerful echo to Senge,Deming, and Christ
alike! Brother David's writings lead me to the book *Living Budda, Living
Christ.* I'm interested in the meaning flowing through it all, i.e. all
the echos.
Essentially he pointed out that the essentials of the whole complicated
business of developing a learning organization boiled down to the
simplicity of developing those inherent human qualities latent in all of
us, which allow us to experience a sense of compassion and beauty for the
world around us.
YES! I do believe if you strip away all the jargon and consultant
"hacks", as Deming called them, and get below the tip of the iceberg, this
is the essence of the learning organization-emotionally, spiritually, and
intellectually. It is sad so many limit the Fifth Discipline to a
management book. I love the truth that we all have inherent latent
qualities which allow us to experience a sense of compassion and beauty
for the world around us. This is very refreshing view of human nature. In
church, I get so sick of hearing how evil humans are and about our
defects, original sin, the devil etc! I'm discovering the key to living
Christ is in mindfulness and living in the present moment...even while
working. Senge gives me pragmatic tools to foster mindfulness at the same
time getting results.
I'm grateful. In my openness, I'm experiencing a fresh on-going renewal on
the frontier of science and spirituality. Like John Dicus says, I too am
a recovering engineer. I'm also a recovering Christian. A Zen-Christian
Engineer, if you will, living in the present moment and grateful for
dialogue and the chance to learn new perspectives. All of which help me
discover my interdependent potential within and experience a deeper sense
of compassion and beauty for the world around me. Without that, How can
you truly learn?
Have a Great Adventure!
Don Kerr
--"Kerr, Donald A" <Donald.A.Kerr@USAHQ.UnitedSpaceAlliance.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>