Doc Holloway writes:
>Steve--while I agree with you about a basketball team, I don't agree with
>your statement overall. Accepting the Gaia concept, that this planet is
>a living organism--and applying the criteria of living systems to
>organisms that don't otherwise fit the mental models we usually associate
>with life--it may be possible to acknowledge that some complex
>organizations exhibit living characteristics. This doesn't mean that
>human organizations are human entities--simply that human organizations
>may be considered as living entities. Perhaps it's a simile run amok,
>perhaps not. There are certainly other organic organizations, or
>communities, consisting of individual living entities, that are
>considered living organizations--molds and fungi come immediately to mind
>(please--no Dilbert jokes here!).
Doc, I find it easier to help other people see their blind spots than to
look at mine. And that's what I like to do: help others to see the errors
of their ways and language, while asserting that mine are rooted in
"reality."
So:
Who accepts the Gaia "concept" that "this planet" is a "living organism"?
You, Doc? Why? Is Gaia Mother Nature dressed up for the new millenium?
And if Nature is indeed Motherly, and alive, which is arguable, does that
mean that my desk, or a basketball team, or a sales organization is also a
"living organism"?
You say that human organizations can be looked at as if they were living
organisms. Sure they can: if you want to do that, and get some useful
insights from doing that, you're of course free to do that.
Here's another metaphor for you: please tell me if mine also gives you
useful insights.
"Organizations are machines."
"They are made up of moving parts designed to mesh and work together. They
need to be powered by a source of energy, and if the source of energy runs
out, the machine can grind to a halt. The moving parts of the
organizational machine need to be fitted together properly, and a single
part that fails to function can cause the entire machine to malfunction.
The organizational machine needs lubrication to minimize the inevitable
organizational friction that generates heat as well as light. . ."
Which one of the metaphors is "true," Doc? Your biological metaphor or my
mechanical metaphor?
My first conclusion:
Neither sociophysics or sociobiology is "true."
My second conclusion:
We who presume to help others improve their group performance can become
problems for those we offer to improve, and to society as a whole, if we
are blind to the limits of our own language and the praxis which is based
on that language.
Cheers, Doc, and onward.
Dr. Steve Eskow
President, The Electronic University Network
288 Stone Island Road
Enterprise, Florida 32725
Phone: 407-321-8770 Fax: 407-321-4681
email: dreskow@aol.com
--"Dr. Steve Eskow" <dreskow@magicnet.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>