>On Mar 3, Tuwenia Barnes asked:
"If your organization is not currently following the disciplines, how do
you get people motivated to think about their personal vision? How do you
get people to even start using dialogue? From the readings, I understand
that these things cannot be forced on employees, but just how would one
get started? Say for example, you're a manager or an executive and you
want to turn your company into one that is focusing on team learning. What
do you do first?"
I think Senge addressed this, saying you start where you can. My
experience has been that I used to quote tapes and books I got excited
about it, expecing others to get excited, and got pretty much glassy-eyed
responses. I now find it's more effective to start using the ideas I
think are so great myself, even if I'm the only one doing it, and somehow
draw other people into it. So if I want everyone to have a personal
vision, I start by asking myself "What's mine?" and try to answer that;
and then maybe I share it with others when and how it makes sense, and
maybe I ask them theirs. A metaphor I think of is skating (which I'm
actually not very good at!!) gliding about, getting a feel for where I am
and what's around me, and sometimes I wonder how thick the ice is I'm
on... but it usually holds me.
I think many people also get enamored of an idea and then want it to
happen or "make it happen" - NOW! Or start a program so everyone enlists
or is enlisted. Maybe it's wanting the security of a group of believers
who can support what I do or want to believe. I also think we have far
too much of this almost everywhere and it's what causes many of our
problems - forcing solutions onto people and systems instead of trying to
understand what's really going on and helping solutions to emerge. To me,
that latter is the heart of dialogue and personal and shared vision. Heck,
I may not even know what I think until I say it, and then I may want to
change my mind! <grin>
So, I'd say if you like the ideas, great. Try them. Explain them to the
extent you need to (that takes thought), but try them yourself and look
for others to try them with. And accept that you won't always get it right
and may not like all of what happens or doesn't happen. To me, that's when
you know you're learning (ouch!).
-----------------------------------
FYI - My name is Charlie Holdener. I've been lurking on and off for a
while and this is my first post. Background: Born in southern Illinois
near St Louis, lived in Chicago, Cleveland and now on Long Island (I never
thought I'd be FROM so many places - and it's taught me some things); have
spent 15 years in software development (am still), of which designing
solutions to problems has always been my strongest and most interesting
area; read Covey's 7 Habits 6 years ago which really started me in a new
direction; have attended FCE Community Building Workshops which really
opened my eyes in many ways; am very interested in using the LO concepts
(though Systems Thinking is the hardest for me to get!); and, like all
here, I suspect, am trying to figure out what all this means! It's good
to be here.
Charlie Holdener
76103.2237@compuserve.com
--Charlie Holdener <76103.2237@compuserve.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>