Replying to Robert Bacal and others
Dear Robert,
Thanks for your comments on the way lists operate.
In your last paragraph you wrote:
>When you see a shift on this list in terms of tone and content, I
>suspect you will be able to link it to the behavior of a teeny
>segment of posters - either those that have stopped their previous
>posting behaviour, or some people who have jumped in to take the
>steering wheel. Or shifts in how Richard controls content and
>messages (or not).
I think you are correct in saying small numbers of "posters" may have a
large influence on the list. But I do not see that as a problem. That is
how a largely self organising system like a list works. If more people
posted, and those posts were interesting and challenging and questioning,
it would harder, I imagine, for a few people to take over.
I suppose in this sense the price of a free flowing, self-organising list
is eternal participation, to paraphrase a well known saying...
So, an encouragement to get in and participate or at least ask the
questions on our fingertips.
This raises the point of how to facilitate a conversation with people you
cannot see or even know if they are there. When you can eyeball people
face-to-face, you can ask them a question directly or ask other
participants to be attentive to those who's body language tells you they
are on the verge of speaking.
On-line facilitation is not the same in this sense, unless the moderator
sends direct messages to people asking them to contribute.
Philip
PS Robert, I saw your performance management book in a shop window the
other day facing out on to the main drag of what we call "the Education
Precinct" in Sydney. [Two large (30,000 student) Universities and a very
big Technical College within a few hundred metres of each other].
Congratulations on arriving in OZ!
Philip Pogson
Leadership Development Strategy Consultant
Staff Development Branch
University of Technology Sydney NSW 2007
Australia
ph: +61 2 9514 2934
fax: +61 2 9514 2930
mobile: +61 0412 459156
"I always know a good idea when I hear it, because of the feeling of
terror that siezes me."
Ben Rick
CEO Lockhead
--Philip Pogson <ppogson@uts.EDU.AU>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>