I agree with Julie Beedon regarding list participation. I'm a low level
staffer in a large company (small fisch-big ocean). This list permits me
to have a "peer to peer" relationship with many of you who are far more
competent and educated than I. There is an old proberb about "Iron
sharpening Iron" that I feel has merit in this discussion
I'm finding my thinking skills are improving. Since I'm an illustrator,
I think in pictures, and this tends to hinder my verbal and writing skills.
Since the internet limits me to words only-I'm forced to think through my
responses, and I get feed back on the quality of what I write-so in a
sense, this listserv is a learning organization of sorts - I'm learning
quite a lot.
On Thu, 20 Jun 1996, Julie Beedon wrote:
> If only those who posted regularly were on this list I doubt the
> list would last - it exists, and grows, because of something else.
> I post fairly regularly although I expect Judith could spot rythms
> in my postings... they are to do more with the nature of the
> conversations than how busy I am. I have been known to post things
> at midnight - much to the annoyance of my family. I know people
> who have tried other lists and come back to this one.
I'm on 3 lists. This is by far the best. One of the other lists
(speaking as a change agent) is shutting down and re-organizing itself
to include only people who wish to interact, and limit lurkers entirely.
I plan to "re-enlist" but it will be interesting to see if the list
survives, or if it just de-generates into a small clique with a narrow view.
> There is something in the nature of the dialogue which IMHO makes it
> easy to read as well as post to. The diversity of participation is very
> rich and I have learnt about many areas of knowledge I had never
> heard of through this list.
Me too!
> So if as an organisation (is this list one??) this list needs that
> type of participation - ie self-managed and fluctuating with
> different styles of participation - how do we develop and allow
> for that in organisations (and why do we bother to measure numbers
> of staff suggestions - for number of contributions would *not* be
> a good measure of contribution to this list...
In a previous post, someone suggested focussing us on some specific
subject categories in order to provide some "order" to the percieved
chaos. I posted the idea that "archeological order" is viable, yeilds
un-expected results and in my view, provides the greatest opportunity for
revelation of new knowledge, but you are going to get dirty digging it out.
This may just be my "farmers" viewpoint, but nature is messy, so why
fight it.
> >I get a lot out of this list just by reading it, and I don't have to prove
> >what a "change-agent" I am by posting. Maybe the REAL change-agents are too
> >busy to post, ever think of that?
This is an important idea. There is a need in some to wear a badge to
prove they are a "real" member of a group. I don't know that the LO
listserv (organization-or what ever we are) needs that if we are really
into the Learning Organization concepts. It's easy to get superficial and
wear the hats and badges of in a faddish sort of way-and miss completely
the essence of what is going on. I view the LO list as a sort of touch
stone to provide me a wider view of reality than I ordinarily (or
naturally) have. I believe that we are drawn to certain ways of thinking
or sets of ideas just because that's the way we are. It's very important
to break out of our own way of looking at things from time to time or we
will just end up submerged in our own little fantasy-entirely
disconnected from reality. Your perseption of reality isn't much like
mine. So I need you, and if not you-than others to give me a wider view.
So.... let's not do the "management thing" and get caught up in numbers
and measurements (left brain rational, procedural, whatever) to the
detriment of the heart and soul elements that hold the essense of our
conversation (right brain, intuitive, conceptual, n-dimensional... whatever)
later....
Michael Erickson
sysengr@atc.boeing.com
(when ever you have a list... You better get a bilge pump)
What sailors know...
--Michael Erickson <sysengr@atc.boeing.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>