Re: Organisational thinking LO3283

Jesse W. White (jwhite@comp.uark.edu)
Thu, 19 Oct 1995 08:57:56 -0500 (CDT)

Replying to LO3235 --

Michael: There are several things that come to my mind that your
commentary evoked.

On Sun, 15 Oct 1995, Michael McMaster wrote:

> Replying to LO3142 -- was Mental Models by Org type? LO3142
>
> Jan says "organisations don't think". She says that only people do
> that. I challenge the assumption that organisations don't think.
> What is "to think" that organisations can't and/or don't do?

Where does groupthink and synergy fit in?


> My challenge first of all requires that an operational definition of
> "to think" be created. (It does not require that we get the
> *correct* definition of "to think".) I can't imagine that you can
> come up with an operational definition that I can't demonstrate as
> existing in organisation. If you attempt the first, I'll attempt the
> demonstration.
>
> Here's a hint at where I'm coming from. When we say "people think"
> we are referring to a result of the activities of a vast number of
> cells, of a large number of processes, of a huge number of states or
> conditions of elements (ie neurons). From all this activity emerges
> "thinking". So are people thinking or are these other elements doing
> the thinking. And if we choose to locate the "thinking" part as
> people couldn't we similarly say all the people's thinking together
> in some community, say, is the organisation thinking?

If diet affects cellular growth and "brain food" exists, then what sort of
corporal diet will keep the LO cells healthy? How will disorders be
avoided (cancer, dementia, stroke) and treated?


> How can we talk about organisational learning, for instance, if we
> can't talk about organisational thinking? And if we are going to
> talk this way, surely we should be able to say what we mean when we
> use the term.

Holistically, can we separate learning from thinking? Isn't thinking
continual processing and comes full circle to learning?

--
Jesse White
jwhite@comp.uark.edu