In a message dated 5/16/99 7:31:36 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
max@max-jytte.com writes:
> why
> can different people have success with opposite strategies that are
> partially based on rationals and mental models that are in complete
> contradiction to others that are being used with equally valid success.
I think because every combination, every group, is unique to some degree
or another. This is what is called the human condition. Sometimes you can
transfer some of what you learned with one group to another, but never
totally. It is what keeps a whole lot of us employed.
Max also wrote: I have in my work come to believe, that the moment I feel
this about a particular leadership group, they will feel it, too,
consciously or unconsciously, and we will end up having an open or covert
battle over who knows more. I wonder if you ever experience something like
this, and if yes, how you use it in your facilitation.
Oh, all the time. Academics are arguably the worst (or best) at this
stuff. And they never give in, so mostly I just identify it for what it
is and put it on another agenda for another time when we can just have at
it and be our most self-righteous. In the meantime, I insist that people
respect other's ideas and give them fair hearing and try to focus on the
work at hand (which is usually of lesser urgency and importance than world
peace or brain surgery). I rely heavily on the fact that professors
generally abhor committee work and often will buckle down just to get it
over with. I know this sounds flippant, but there's actually quite a bit
out there among social scientists about the "unique" environment of
academe when it comes to decision-making (or lack thereof). Believe it or
not, I'm fairly successful in getting things accomplished in what is
called a "shared governance" environment -- and getting it done within
someone's lifetime. If I sound like I don't take it seriously, I do.
Very much. I am passionate about learning, though somewhat less passionate
about the bureaucracy that makes learning so difficult. But still I find
that it helps to keep things in perspective. As far as I'm concerned, any
issue that doesn't have the word "terminal" in it (and I'm not referring
to hardware) is one we'll eventually figure out and we may possibly even
enjoy the process. Harriett.
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