Simon:
You responded:
>Ed and I will never agree: different generations, different lives,
>different worlds. Collective structures such as organizations have nothing
>to do with revealing our true selves- on the contrary, it is impossible to
>find our true selves in an organization- because the excessive structure
>(job procedures, reporting relationships, task setting and so on) prevents
>effective learning. An individual can never overcome organizational debris
>such as politics, cultire, offices and hierarchy sufficiently to explore
>let alone reach their full potential within an organization.
Simon, I don't disagree with you. You are expressing a realist point of
view, mine an idealist. I accept what say is correct and the experience
which many people have. I choose not to accept it as the way it should
be. I don't think that organizational structures can reveal our true
selves. That comes in human community, which does happen within
organizational structures. I distinguish between the structure of
organizations and the relationships between people within them. My
complaint is that the structure does not serve the relationships, but in
reverse. That is why we are all so short sighted, bound by short term
results and far too easily to make decisions which impact tens of
thousands of people in a disruptive way.
You wrote:
>They stay because they do not realize that there are viable alternatives-
>more
>dynamic forms of organizations such as collapsible corporations.
Yes, there are viable options. I left a higher ed structure to become a
consultant, in order to put my organizational structure subservient to my
relationships.
Finally, Simon, there may be a generational difference here. I'd be
interested in your perspective on that. I think that it is also a product
of different academic fields of concentration. Thanks for your
challenging response.
Ed Brenegar
Leadership Resources
edb3@msn.com
--"Ed Brenegar" <edb3@email.msn.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>