>From: John Gunkler <jgunkler@sprintmail.com>
> Herbert Simon, in his monograph "Sciences of the Artificial," uses the
> example of the path taken by an ant attempting to get back to its home.
> Its path -- an erratic, almost random-looking one -- cannot be understood
> from looking within the ant (assuming one could do so.) Within the ant
> are simply a goal (to get home) and some capabilities (leg strength,
> etc.), none of which help us much in understanding why the ant is taking
> this particular path.
(snip)
> Put together an understanding of the "task environment" and the ant's few
> relevant capabilities, then you'll understand why it turned left here
> (obstruction too steep to crawl over), went right there (downhill slope),
> etc.
John:
This is a good analogy IF you follow the master-slave relationship that
says no man is the master of his own fate. It is also a bit Orwelian in
that you are comparing a mindless man to a mindless ant that therefore has
to be led by controlling collective instincts. However, the ant is not
being led home based on a 'work ethic' of limited capabilities but by the
path she took from the nest. She left the nest to search for food and
thus took a series of turns and divergences to find that food. As she was
looking she left a scent trail. It is this that she is following back to
the nest. Her motive for the path home then is NOT dictated by her 'task
environment' but by the task itself.
This may be, in some ways, related to the 'ant farms' of modern industrial
society and the approach that has been taken in the management of those
'ant farms'. If the overriding philosophy of the management team is one
of 'collective control' and the production of a 'task environment' then
the work ethic, and the learning ethic, of the collective will be dictated
by the task.
Since schools and education reflect, or are modeled after, the prevailing
social structure, 'collective control' will prevail and the hive will
survive. To break free of the attitude of the 'norm' and inject a new
learning ethic into the system an altered paradigm of work ethic will have
to be established. This is how I see it. It is up to the experts of this
type of discussion group to make the changes. If schools are to become
LOs then the 'ant farms' and the attitude of 'task environment ' and
collective control will have to change.
Thanks
My $0.02
Bruce W. Jones
Organizational Development Specialist
Northwest Texas Healthcare System
Amarillo, Texas
brucej@nwths.com
brucewj@amaonline.com
http://www.scenemaker.com/anon/495/cover.dhtml
--"Bruce Jones" <brucej@nwths.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>