Bill Harris wrote:
>Without getting into the Kohn stuff, this paragraph is reminiscent of a
>line of questioning I'd like to see as part of interviews to hire or
>promote managers:
>
> What books have you read recently?
>
> Have you sought out background, original sources, and contrary opinions
> to those books?
>
>I'd be looking to see if they had a broad background so they could likely
>discern the latest fad from something real or if they could separate the
>good ideas from those which didn't provide value.
Bill,
I like your thinking here. The broad background that you mention is the
equivalent to having a conscious framework (some level of awareness) into
which you are assimilating or accomodating new ideas and information. You
must begin somewhere, but even if you begin by testing your hunches and
doing some exploring as Deming suggested in his Theory of Knowledge, you
will eventually end up with a philosophical system of sorts. As Robert
points out, most pop psych (and pop mgmt books) are not written to present
a balanced understanding of research and thought. As a result, much
management (and personal tampering results). It is up to the individual
to build this context for themselves.
Asking questions such as the ones you mentioned may help you place an
interviewee (or new acquaintance) on a conceptual map, and, I believe,
provide some insight into how they will approach their work and problem
solving situations.
Jonathan Krispin
<jkrispin@prestolitewire.com>
--"Jon Krispin" <jkrispin@prestolitewire.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>