DP wrote:
...SNIPPED...
>There is also another issue that pertains to RESEARCH and LEARNING. I
>think I have something to say on this. I will keep it short and will
>elaborate if there is an interest in the list. Traditionally, research was
>visualised in a global way. Almost everybody could become part of it -- at
>least in principle. A theory developed in the US could be tested in
>Australia. This implied a global research community. The practice of
>'referencing' might be seen as contributing to strengthen such a community
>and ensure that research progress is not hindered. However, in a more
>contemporary context, we are speaking of local 'LEARNING COMMUNITIES' --
>and in principle there can be infinitely many such communities. We are not
>sure if all the learning communities can be part of ONE global research
>community. What sort of 'referencing' practice might be relevant in this
>new context? I treat this as a question worth discussing.
I have been involved in a discussion of an intellectual property that has
been in the public domain for nearly 30 years, but has recently been
copyrighted by one of the original principals, and has left thousands of
former colleagues worldwide in legal limbo. The effect of this
individual's apparent self-interest has been a stunting of communications,
a divisiveness within what had been a fairly positive and very creative
community...and a definite atmosphere of paranoia, since this fellow sues
at the drop of a hint, even if he is listed in the credits.
In another situation, one of the long-standing "pillars" of a group
decided to use the group for his own purposes, and set into motion a
series of events which did not appear to come from him, as he did not want
to be identified as the source of the machinations. The result of this,
and the subsequent revelation of his misconduct, was that the group has
splintered into many smaller, similarly-purposed groups, often in direct
competition with one another.
I hope I am following your ideas congruently, as I just joined this list,
but when I consider proper referencing of ideas, concepts and such, I find
that the divisions and distinctions can become exceedingly fine, and
sometimes it comes to the point of being a guessing game or moral judgment
call. IMO, the open-source model to be a particularly effective strategy
to defeat those who would use groups in the manner described above, since
profit can only be derived from one's effective =use= of the collective
knowledge, not from "possession" of the knowledge or "control" over the
others working with the knowledge -- the things that usually divide
learning communities internally or from one another. This works great for
scientists and programmers, but acceptance outside of technical R&D work
seems to be meeting a lot of opposition, since it is contrary to most
businesses' traditional strategies.
In particular, I would be interested in exploring positive ways that a
community divided by a profit-driven grab of knowledge or resources can
regroup into an effective research body, preferably one "immune" to
similar divisive forces. Central to this seems to be a trust issue, and
the establishment of a system which encourages mutual trust and support
between individuals, groups and the host community. One of the projects I
am working on, Evoco, http://www.evoco.net has as its main goal the
creation of an internet-based network facility for connecting and
co-ordinating various individuals and organizations who share only one
basic belief -- that they want to help create a world that we all want to
live in. Building this kind of trust into the infrastructure is central
to its success. So any insights others can share on this idea will be of
definite interest to me and many others.
Applying the Methods of Business to the Business of Transformation,
KT
Katie Hernandez - ICQ 11136094
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EVOCO - Transformational Leadership - http://www.evoco.net
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--Katie Hernandez <kthernandez@worldnet.att.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>