Simon writes:
> Ed and I will never agree: different generations, different lives,
> different worlds.
Simon, I don't understand how the conditions you mention inherently
prevent you and Ed from agreeing. I can see how you would think that, but
I don't see it as an absolute fact.
Clearly your reality and Ed's reality are different. But that doesn't
preclude agreement. I wonder if there isn't something you can each learn
-- as well as all the rest of us on the list -- about from each other's
reality.
I believe it is through exploring each other's realities that we maximize
our learning potential. But, honestly, I struggle to do this myself.
Sometimes I'm so preoccupied with being "right," that I cut myself off
from learning from others. And sometimes I'm so convinced that I can see
"reality" better than others that I take what they say, twist it just a
little bit, so it will fit nicely into my world view. I don't like myself
when I do that. I wish I were more open all the time; more open to new
ideas, new ways of thinking, new patterns of behavior. My dogmatism is
often my greatest source of frustration!
Personally I'm learning a lot from this thread. I'm learning from your
reality, from Ed's and from everyone else who is participating. Not only
am I advocating my beliefs, I'm quietly reflecting on the beliefs of
others. I'm trying to maximize my learning by being open to each
perspective.
I'm trying not only to read the words and the concepts created by those
words, I'm trying to read the underlying feelings that go along with them.
I want to understand, for my own benefit, and so I can communicate better
with other people, the deper reasons for creating organizations. Everyone
has their own purpose for wanting to be a part of an organization; I can
learn from each purpose. And when I can really understand why other people
want to be a part of an organization then I'm better able to relate with
them, share with them, and learn from them.
I'm sorry, Simon, if I used your message to express a more reflective side
of me. It wasn't my intention. I'm just really enjoying this thread, more
than I have any other thread in a long time, probably because of how much
I value the question and the possible answers. I love organizations.
They're sacred entities to me. To understand why we create organizations,
and why we create the type of organizations we do, and how we might create
different types of organizations is now my lifelong quest. And so I want
to learn from every possible source, every conceivable idea, whether I
agree with those ideas or not.
-- Benjamin B. Compton bcompton@enol.comLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>