Hello to all,
I've been thinking about Maggi's farewell remarks and reading the replies.
I responded to her privately when she left the list to say that I likewise
read very little of what was posted on this list and understood her
frustration. From her post, I concluded that she, like me, was more
interested in practical and applied aspects of a learning
organization...how does it work, how to create one, how to maintain one,
etc. Until now, however, I said nothing to the list as a whole because I
felt that nothing I said would matter.
However, I was wrong. If nearly 2000 people are part of this virtual
organization, and connected via their email systems, then those of us who
do not contribute much or at all bear the responsibility for the emphasis
on theory. Harking back to my youth, if we are not part of the solution,
we are part of the problem, which brings me to my topic. Maggi and I
tuned out and dropped off rather than taking responsibility as members of
this organization to influence its culture. It is easier to be a passive
participant and complain when we don't get what we want.
I believe the tendency is to think of a listserv as another form of mail,
or newspaper, as if it were something created by someone else and
delivered to us. However, it is a compiliation of our contributions. And
it is a constantly morphing, living thing, like any organizational
structure. Threads come and threads go. Some change direction, become
misunderstood, or are revived after a long sleep.
The purpose of a deliberate organization development strategy is to set a
goal and then orchestrate the actions of the players in such a way that
the goal is achieved. Our purpose for having this list is as follows
(excerpts):
> We focus on practitioners, i.e. those working to build learning
> organizations,
...snip...
> we are conducting a dialogue about building learning organizations
Among the many practical and applied topics I have seen on this list in
the last 2 years were discussions about performance management, the
balanced scorecard, mission and vision statements, 360 assessments, and
how to build a business case for a LO. If people like Maggi (and me) are
not contributing or leading practical discussions, then others like us
will continue to tune out and drop off.
What a loss.
What do the members want from this listserv? I'm serious. Are you
looking for ideas? Answers? A group think opportunity? Someplace to air
your thoughts? All of the above? What is most important to you about
this list? Can we conduct an electronic focus group discussion to talk
about our needs and wants with regards to LO? As for me, I'm always
interested in hearing about efforts being made to bring LO into business.
What works and doesn't work? What made a difference? What research is
being conducted?
By the way, I concur that Rick's dedication to this list is a wonderful
asset.
kind regards,
Vana Prewitt
Praxis Learning Systems
Chapel Hill, NC, USA
vana@praxislearning.org
--Vana Prewitt <vana@PraxisLearning.org>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>