Hello OLers,
The list of HR strategies was interesting. However I was rather surprised
to find that "Systems thinking" was missing in the list for the next three
years. Is it that it would be made away with, after all?
On the concept of teaching thinking, I have been interested in a similar
issue. I find that most of us do not think beyond what is tangible, in our
daily lives. However we are also increasingly feeling the need for
systemic thinking. In order for this to occur, one would have to transcend
beyond immediate tangible benefits, identify the not-so-obvious patterns
and the not-obvious-at-all underlying structures. I have often found it
very difficult to communicate a mental model based on systemic thinking to
others. Of course, even the converse is true. I have found it difficult to
understand all aspects of a mental model being communicated to me by
others. This problem is similar to the problem of how do we teach
thinking.
Recently I have been considering an idea called "Informal Research
Networks (IRNs)", which are some sort of collapsible networks of people
groups from heterogenous backgrounds. To begin with, each group consists
of people from similar backgrounds. Each group starts by addressing a set
of issues regarding a general strategy or mission -- which they think
should be addressed -- from their perspective. Periodically all the
groups pool together and exchange their work. During this time, groups
also exchange individuals among themselves. The new groups then continue
with their earlier work which would have probably been altered by newer
insights.
The period of an IRN would last some months at the end of which the
strategy is chalked out based on the outputs of all the groups. This would
hopefully address issues comprehensively, and since every group would have
addressed the same strategy, it would be easier to communicate mental
models.
I would be very interested in more inputs in this regard. I would also be
very interested to find out all the issues this thread can bring forth.
Best Wishes
Srinath
--Srinath Srinivasa <srinaths@lotus.iitm.ernet.in>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>