Thanks, Phil, for your thoughtful note.
First, I want to say to all readers, don't be afraid to ask questions
here! I do review all msgs before they are distributed and if I think
your question will not be appropriate for the list, I'll do my best to
give you a pointer.
I changed my approach on such questions a while ago, and Phil may be
noticing the result of my change.
I used to decline wide-open general inquiries. Usually I would write
suggesting they ask a more specific question or pointing them to our
archives.
Then I noticed that all of you did a very nice job helping newcomers with
very general questions. And, some of your pointers surprised me with good
starting points of which I was not aware.
This made me rethink my approach. Now, I distribute most inquiries.
I'm sympathetic to inquiries of the form:
- How do I get started learning about this field?
- What are the most important references on X?
On questions like these, the experience of people here on learning-org can
be enormously helpful. In my personal knowledge acquisition, I do like to
read, but I usually seek recommendations... I have no patience for finding
my way through an all-inclusive bibliography or publications list.
Have I got the right balance? I'll take Phil's msg as a request that I be
a bit more selective in distributing inquiries. I'm happy to hear feedback
at anytime.
A limitation of our medium is that, although we have wonderful discussion
and idea generation, it is very difficult to bring closure to a task. I
would love to see a "reader's guide" that would provide a map for study in
our field. Anyone interested?
-- Rick
>One observation I would make on the current "use" of the list is that
>there seems to be a fairly high number of posts requesting references for
>use in University assignments and papers.
>
>While this is fine in one sense, as far as the "learning" side of
>learning-org is concerned, I get a bit worried about the nature of some of
>these requests. A number are not framed in terms of a question or
>inquiry, a seeking out of new knowledge or extending one's understanding,
>but in terms of "I am doing a paper/presentation on knowledge
>management/mental models/personal mastery/strategic human resources
>management etc, could anyone supply some good references?"
--Richard Karash ("Rick") | <http://world.std.com/~rkarash> Speaker, Facilitator, Trainer | email: Richard@Karash.com "Towards learning organizations" | Host for Learning-Org Discussion (617)227-0106, fax (617)523-3839 | <http://www.learning-org.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>