Dear Organlearners,
Leo Minnigh <L.D.Minnigh@library.tudelft.nl> writes in what
was the subject:
Problem solving and systems thinking LO20388
>But I am still very curious about the WHEN. At what time and
>at what distance from the beginning of the tube, these
>turbulences start?
(snip)
>Please, dear follow readers, I hope that some of you will see that
>this question is not philosophical, neither abstract. Keep in mind
>that if the same principles of the physical world are valid in the
>world of mind, these principles will give also some clues on the
>development of Learning Organizations.
Greetings Leo,
I think that it is a most important question.
For example, take two people who marry. In previous centruries, long
before humans even knew formally about learning organisations, but did
have tacit knowledge on LOs, the engagement was thought as the period to
set up a LO between these two people. Obviously, many couples failed to
recognise the importance of the engagement.
Consider me and my dear wife. We got engaged for about two years before we
got married. And after the mariage we thought we were a perfect couple.
But it took us another five years to become a LO. Seven years in total
since the engagement. Eleven years in total since we have met each other
for the first time.
>The question is now: how could we coalesce into a learning
>organization which could emerge to an even higher degree of
>richness in 'being entropy'? So we contain together a high
>amount of free energy to produce a high amount of entropy.
>How long does it take from the start of the coalescence to be
>a learning organization?
Leo, we will have to collect data to know more about it. I have given you
my personal details concerning my marriage. I think you have to take the
seven years beginning from our engagement as the realistic figure. One
thing I can tell you all, if we as a couple did not become a LO, the
stretches of massive entropy productions since 1976 would have destroyed
our family as a LO. I will not go into that, but believe me, our LO has
been thoroughly tested.
Skip the next two paragraphs if necessary because of its religious
dimension.
-----skip------
I now want to refer to an example recorded in the Bible. Jesus taught
his disciples for three years. Many incidents during those three years
show that they did not function as a LO. Even after His death and
resurrection it still took fifty days to become a LO. Think of the
incident when they, after His resurrection, again asked Him when He
will restore the Kindom of God. As the true Master, He did not rebuke
them because they have not yet emerged, but told them what they must
do in the coming days. Eventually, with tongues of fire of the Holy
Spirit, they emerged into a LO. Now consider Peter as a test case.
Should he have had his dream about the "unclean food" before the
actual emergence and declared it to his fellow disciples, they would
have kicked him out of their circle in a couple of days.
Unfortunately, the Bible document not very much on the zealotism of
most Jews. For this we must consult other authors like Flavius
Josephus.
I specifically refered to this example, not to bring up any religious
issue, but because we can learn so much from it, whether we are
Christians or not. Obviously, again we must bear in mind that the
formal concept of a LO was not known in those times. Furthermore,
whatever we infer from the case as a possible LO or not, we must
respect the documentation of data in the Bible.
---- continue----------
I think the emergence time will depend very much on the
* the nature of every person who belongs to the would be LO,
* the nature (business) of the organisation itself,
* the nature of the environment in which the organisation
has to function
* the nature of the guidance by management and facilitators
in terms of the five disciplines
* the commitment of every member, from the errand person to
the CEO to succeed in the emergence.
My experience is that the consensual commitment (getting it and
maintaining it) is the critical factor.
Best wishes
--At de Lange <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>