Happy New Year to all.
And this is to all who want very much to believe that organizations are
usefully described as "living," and especially to Doc Holloway, who said:
>Interestingly, Steve, is your comfort with the "culture" metaphor.
>Culture is certainly a phenomenon of living systems. So, here we are--I
>agree and empathize with your use of this metaphor (from a living systems
>perspective), yet you use it because you apparently find "culture" as
>antithetical to living systems. What a wonder the use of language is,
>eh?
Language is certainly wonderful, and an endless source of mystification
and confusion.
Your definition of culture is not, of course, any of the standard ones: it
is a circular one that you in all innocence contrive to suit your end in
view.
You begin by assuming "living systems", and then you say that culture is a
function of those systems: you've made language serve your predetermined
ends.
Metaphor begins by looking at the phenomena: in this case, let's say we
see people sitting, standing, running, at rest ,in an open field . As we
look further we say one has a stick in his hand, another a ball. We see an
elaborate and high structure with thousands sitting and apparently
watching the others who are on the field.
When we first look at all this we are not sure if there is a relationship
between all these living individuals. And if we assume that there must be
a relationship between those watching and those on the field, and if we
assume that although those on the field seem disconnected from each other
they are actually related to each other in some sort of common activity,
we need now to uncover that pattern.
Those who believe that organizations are "living" might assume that all of
those on the field and watching them are "cells" in a "body".
I do not find that metaphor helpful, in that I do not know how I would use
the metaphor to find out what actually accounts for the behavior I am
observing.
The "culture" concepts tells me to look structures, forms , patterns,
regularities. It suggests that there are probably rules and codes and
customs at work here, and that if I observe, perhaps learn the language of
those on the field, ask questions, I can begin to understand the "culture"
of what is apparently called by the natives "beesbull" or "baysball": I
need to study this language a bit more.
The "culture" concept is not applied to "living systems": it is applied to
the ways living individuals come together in patterned ways and create
their societies.
One difference, Doc, between the two metaphors is this: "living systems"
answers the question of how this activity is organized; "culture" asks the
question.
Cheers,
Steve Eskow
Dr. Steve Eskow
President, The Electronic University Network
288 Stone Island Road
Enterprise, Florida 32725
Phone: 407-321-8770; Fax: 407-321-4861
email: dreskow@magicnet.net
--"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>