>Let me try to go a step further. Isn't part of our dilemma about
>whether it's accurate, or useful, to use the living entity metaphor
>for organizations and their capacity to accumulate, process, and act
>on information ('learning") found in the fact that the very word,
>"learning," is a construct completely dependent on the experience of
>living human entities? Thus, even to apply it to the experience of
>non-human living creatures is inherently "inaccurate" and metaphorical,
>and even more in the instance of non-living organisms.
Yes ! This is the essence of the discussion. Once we accept that learning
organizations can exist then we have ascribed what we consider to be life
related characteristics to them already. The we are simply exploring the
limits of the mental model. What feeds an organization for sustenance?
What is the organization equivalent of being "unfit"? What causes
premature "death"? And so on.....
Keith Cowan
kcowan@orion.GlobalDEN.com (CIS:72212,51)
--"Cowan, Keith" <kcowan@orion.globalden.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>