>I still fail to understand why we assign more responsibility for this
>transition to OTHERS than to OURSELVES.
BRAVO Rol! As has been said many times by many others, the greatest
change is the change at home. And, as Senge suggests, the enemy is not
out there. If we fail to challenge our assumptions about change and
middle management (or any management for that matter), then the "harder
the system will push back." Let's recognize that leverage begins at home.
To extend Gareth Morgan's metaphor, we are all strategic butterflies who
can flap our wings for change (i.e., the butterfly effect). I see middle
and senior managers who are thirsting for change, for a connection to
things larger than themselves. In education, groups like the Creative
Learning Exchange are working towards helping young learners become
systems thinkers. In my community I meet people who are challenging the
conventional view of community; teachers, students, and administrators
creating new environments for learning; workers creating belief driven
work systems; community members developing self-managed governance
structures for sustainable biophysical systems.
They are all dedicated, energetic, and enthusiastic. They are true change
butterflies who practice belief driven action. What sets them into
motion? An awareness of self, of beliefs, of honesty. Many of them have
never heard of Senge, systems thinking, or organizational learning. All
of them, however, care about the systems that affect them, and intuitively
understand themselves as leverage in those systems.
For myself, systems thinking (and by extension, system dynamics) is not
the dismal science as some have suggested. It is the delightful science!
The science of possiblity, and power to challenge and change. As
butterflies, let's crawl from our caccoons, flap our wings, and create a
little chaos.
We cannot challenge the walls of organizations without first rethinking
and recreating our homes.
Kevin O'Neill
Facilitator and Learner
--ONEILLKR@splava.cc.plattsburgh.edu
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>