Ben, with his usual propensity for developing a good idea, says to us:
> I've heard a number of managers -- all at different levels in the
> organization -- say "well, we've got to run on faith. What
> other choice do we have?"
Do these managers really mean faith, Ben? When I've encountered such a
situation, it's always been a case of running on hope: hope we don't get
caught, hope me make it without the required resources, hope we survive.....
> Running on faith is an act of ignorance, and I'm not sure
> ignorance ever produces the type of results we want.
Religions only run on faith, Ben. Without it, they are something else.
Manufacturer's, service organizations, schools, and governments MAY run on
faith, on a belief in the value of what they do (which may or may not be
quantifiable, or even provable). To have faith is not ignorance. There
are so many examples of the good works that come of faith (and I do
believe you are alluding to religious faith here, no it's generic
counterpart) that require faith to begin, but intelligence to complete.
> The alternative to faith -- or, depending on how you look at
> it, the twin of faith -- is reason. The use of reason in governing our own
> lives and the lives of our organizations is critical to our long-term
> success.
Reason is based on faith, Ben, the faith that Newton was, indeed, correct,
that Darwin wasn't pulling data out from under his hat, that the academic
community is reasonably honorable. Or do I mean belief instead of faith?
John F. Zavacki
jzavacki@greenapple.com <mailto:jzavacki@greenapple.com>
--"John Zavacki" <jzavacki@greenapple.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>