John wrote:
> I did notice that I use "assume" (or "make an assumption") to convey the
> idea that someone arrived at a "truth" by ignoring (or not utilizing)
> something that was "reasonably" accessible. But when I say "suspend your
> assumptions," it sounds more like suspending the use of mental models --
> and I'm not sure how controllable that might be. Am I saying suspend
> judgement?
An assumption is something we take forgranted, we might for example make
the assumption that everyone on this list is interested in learning
organisations and as such are offay with the work of Senge, Argyris, Schon
etc.. An assumption to me is something that we haven't particularly
thought about, we make a leap based on limited knowledge/experience. As
our knowledge base increases those assumptions may change. I guess we're
into the realm of preconceived ideas. When is a preconceived idea an
assumption?
Mind models to me are the methods by which I arrive at an idea or an
assumption. I don't see them as suspendable.
I guess my interpretation is that my assumptions are my conclusions and my
mind models are the means by which I arrived at those conclusions.
I'm very interested to hear what others think.
Jo
--"Jo Hamill" <jhamill@srv1.mis.ed.ac.uk>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>