Rol, TJ
I found your dialog on this point interesting, especially in light of the
continuing conversation on ranking, performance evaluations, and so forth.
I share your experience, Rol, with doers and planners . . . and TJ asks a
great question, and that's the tie in with those other threads.
I've had the great pleasure to work with people who act appropriately,
quickly, intuitively and successfully during times of great danger, and
when there is physical risk to their own lives. Their operative word is
ACT. These people are of heroic stature during those times of chaos and
urgency. The planners, on the other hand, may give a good account of
themselves--but they are just not in the same class with these actors.
Unfortunately, sometimes these emergent actors find themselves in role
positions for which they have little or no skill, or harmony, because
these roles call for deliberation, processing, planning, and coordination.
Sometimes people wonder how the hero can become so incompetent.
The only reason I bring this up is because organizations need the thinkers
and the doers--we need to integrate them together, without putting either
one in the place where their skills are working against them. The
greatest folly has been to confuse the person of action and the person of
deliberation--putting each one in charge of the wrong organizational
element.
T.J. Elliott wrote:
> Your post made me think of Karl Weick's quote of the little girl in
> Sensemaking in Organizations: "How can I know what I think until I see
> what I say?" There is value at time in just the cycle that you propose
> (and it fits a lot of learning theory). I find two difficulties. The first
> is giving up the assurance that comes from the planning. It may be false
> but it is a security blanket and a protection from blame later on. (Yes,
> I think those motivations are still potent in many organizations.) The
> second problem is figuring out which model to use when. Both have merit;
> there are situations when planning before action is very useful even
> necessary (e.g., launching a spacecraft, lighting your last match at a
> snowy camp site). How do you know which to use? How do you get yourself to
> follow some sort of practice that will get you on the right track?
Doc
-- "We think highly of men when we do not know the extent of their capabilities, for we always suppose that more exists when we only see half." -Marquise de SabliThresholds--developing critical skills for living organizations Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Please visit our new website, still at <http://www.thresholds.com/> <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com>
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