Unreconcilable Differences LO17715

Bill Harris (billh@lsid.hp.com)
Thu, 9 Apr 1998 13:17:46 -0800 (PDT)

Replying to LO17688 -- was: Employee Ranking Systems

> > But, suppose we're a learning organization here... what can we learn from
> > each other's positions that advances all our understanding?

One thing I haven't seen as I follow this thread from a bit afar is a
discussion regarding how a learning organization deals with unreconcilable
differences. That's what I think I meant by my "tough issues" query.
It's not clear the group will ever decide one of the "opinions" on this
matter is right. It seems possible :) that such a potential for ongoing
disagreement may also exist in our workplaces.

Do we (or our workplaces) have to have agreement on such issues (or on
what subset of such issues) to continue to function productively?

If not, is there a lesson for us in dealing with the diversity of
ideas/beliefs/opinions we see? What is the minimum that we do need
from each other in such issues? How would we propose staying
productive when our passions are so caught up in this one issue? Are
there lessons we can learn from this discussion that would help us in
dealing with situations we find back home?

If so, how will we ever create learning organizations if we require
agreement from our colleagues up front on issues they may hold as
dearly as a number in this discussion hold their positions?

I have my ideas, but I'll stop here for now.

Bill

[Host's Note: Bill, OK to stop for now, but I hope we'll hear your views
on these matters sometime soon. ...Rick]

-- 
Bill Harris                             Hewlett-Packard Co. 
R&D Engineering Processes               Lake Stevens Division 
domain: billh@lsid.hp.com               M/S 330
phone: (425) 335-2200                   8600 Soper Hill Road
fax: (425) 335-2828                     Everett, WA 98205-1298 

Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>