My interest in LO is coming from a different angle, really not related to
the practice of learning. I am interested in working structures. From
systems point of view and from intellectual point of view. The company
organization is for me a working structure. The ownership structure of
interrelated companies is another structure. The organization of the
Vatican and the catholic hierarchy is another very interesting structure.
I don't see these structures as Learning Organizations. I see
them as utility structures to achieve certain objective. When the
objective is learning, than these structures are LO. I do agree that most
structures where humans intermingle have elements of learning. So we can
speak of any humane activity as a LO.
For this reason I don't see private companies for profit as LO even if
they have elements of a LO.
Scanning the history of the ages I came to some basic facts. The
communities with the most educational establishments, not counting
theological establishments have better culture and standard of living. The
communities with democratic government have better culture and standard of
living. The communities where the citizens have the most say on the
creation of their laws have better culture and standard of living.
The Friendly Local University Company described in
http://www.interlog.com/~flucacad can serve as a model for an ideal LO.
The Friendly Local University company is owned by the students and
professors. The process (the running of the university is owned by its
rector. Each student buys a share in the university and also buys a share
in any lab that he is interested in. The students and professors therefore
can own a share in different parts of the university. The management of
all the processes are by students and professors taking turns. The
professors have a contract with a group of students to teach a class. The
students are members of the university for life or any suitable time frame
that they choose.
I was following your discussion on Compassion & Sense of Beauty,
and I was impressed by the depth of understanding of the subject.
I will appreciate if those of you who will find time to read the
page, to communicate your comments to flucacad@interlog.com, or as part of
your discussion.
Demetre Tziougras
--CLONE <flucacad@interlog.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>