To throw in my $0.02 worth, I'm becoming fond of Occam's razor and
Argyris' (and others') ladder of inference. I like high level concepts
that tie well to concrete reality, and I find concepts that need fewer
assumptions and constructs more attractive than those that require more.
I recognize that some concepts just aren't simple. You can't _do_ quantum
mechanics without a bit of serious math, for example.
We have gotten into some pretty heavy theory that requires serious
investment to learn well enough to apply, and yet it may not be clear to
many of us where we'd use this to make better decisions and facilitate the
creation of better LOs _next_ week if we could apply it. So we (perhaps)
muddle along with other approaches.
That may be one of the strengths of "systems thinking." For some, it's a
weak relative to systems dynamics (for some, I know, it's a superset), but
it has helped many make more progress than they would have otherwise.
To pick another example often quoted here, Deming's simple SPC tools are
only a small subset of statistics, but they are sufficient for many to
make impressive strides. Those who really understand statistics may make
more elegant progress, but it doesn't pay back for most of us.
In the follow-up to the original comment (and to the head of a pin
thread), I'm not sure I see the concern taken totally seriously and at
face value. I would recognize such if the answers were in the frame of
reference of the original "issue raiser."
I think that is important to the future of this group. It's not that we
shouldn't discuss such issues, but that we should ensure we have
sufficient diversity of issues.
Bill
[Host's Note: William of Occam (my dictionary prefers "Ockham"), English
Scholastic Philosopher, 1285? - 2349?. I understand Occam's Razor to be
the principle of parsimony, that in the event of two or more competing
theories of equal explanatory power, the simplest should be used. My own
personal version is, when adding refinements to a theory or explanation,
the extra detail should add enough explanatory power or be dropped.
...Rick]
-- Bill Harris Year 2000 Program Office mailto: bill_harris@am.exch.hp.com Hewlett-Packard Company phone: (425) 335-2200 M/S 330C fax: (425) 335-2483 8600 Soper Hill Road web: http://hpweb.lsid.hp.com:8080/~billh/ Everett, WA 98205-1298Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>