Talk About Talk LO6686

RonDavison@aol.com
Sun, 14 Apr 1996 15:31:54 -0400

I've heard it said that about 80 percent of the heat in an office building
is generated by the lights. An example of electrical systems creating
work for themselves. Do discussion groups eventually lose potential in
the same way, putting more and more energy into their own activities
rather than as catalyst for changing the world in which we live?

All this talk about talk seems to me to miss the point.

The posts I most respond to are those that share from personal experience.
They are authentic because they talk to the inanities of modern
management, the poignant moments of simply reconnecting with our own
humanity (as opposed to conforming to the expectations for our position),
and the thrill of discovering new methods / perspectives / philosophies
that allow us to create results we've always desired.

When we talk about talk, we have to be careful. The first derivative of a
curved line typically shows some curve itself; but by the second or third
derivative, the line often goes flat. So it is, to me, with talk about
talk. When we spend too much time talking about how to have a spirited
dialogue, we eventually take time from creating the spirited dialogue we
all apparently desire. And we arrive at conversations that leave us flat.

There, I've done it. I've talked about talk (or, really, typed about
typing).

I guess all I'm saying is that the posts I find most powerful are those
that are authentic, that speak from a place that resonates with me. A
child could speak so simply. Let's remember that we are a community
interested in how to transform our institutions so that we've less
emphasis upon institutions and more emphasis upon individuals and the
healthy communities self-realized people can create.

Will such an endeavor require us to occasionally talk about talk? Sure,
but not as the main focus. One lesson from Deming's teachings on quality
is that cost cannot be reduced simply by reducing costs. (e.g., layoffs
and scrimping on material or equipment eventually lead to "hidden" costs.)
Perhaps conversations cannot be improved simply by improving
conversations. Most important qualities are emergent and cannot be
addressed directly; they emerge out of other interactions.

--
Ron Davison (RonDavison@aol.com), San Diego
"Work is love made visible.  And if you can't work with love but only with
distaste, It is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of
the temple and take alms of the people who work with joy."  -Kahlil Gibran,
Middle-Eastern Revolutionary
 

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