As usual, I don't have anything terribly practical to contribute -- just
an idea that I've been wanting to pursue for a long time. I am terrible
at reading flow charts, organizational charts, etc. They all look like
Rube Goldberg concoctions to me. Maybe part of my difficulty is that I
don't see systems, organizations, etc., as being truly linear or at least
so neat and tidy. I really like the concept of fractals. To me, that is
a great model for an organization. I've played with the idea of putting a
dot on a page and calling it my org chart, and then enlarging it a frame
at a time to show a fractal in motion -- with all its surface uniqueness
and underlying repeated patterns. I guess I am more comfortable with what
is a more fluid, dynamic, biological model than I am with the sort of
reductionist approach of flow charts. I do use flow charts and org charts
to help describe specific processes, e.g., the production cycle of the
class schedule or catalog -- but I don't like them for whole systems.
Have I just contradicted myself?! Anyway, my two cents
worth.........Harriett.
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