Wheatley Dialogue LO10224

Julie Beedon (julie@vistabee.win-uk.net)
Sat, 28 Sep 1996 17:30:37

Replying to LO10200 --

> We tend to break things down, fracture systems in order
>to understand them -- sort of a reductionsit theory. Her challenge was --
>how do we take a system as a whole and approach change that way? She says
>that the way to do this is through relationship, identity, and strength.

Meg's book - Leadership and the New Science ... is one of the most
inspirational I have read over recent years ... I understand she
and Myron have another one out... they are singing my song when
they talk about taking systems as a 'whole'... Russel Ackoff
says similar things in Democratic Corporations... and it leads me
easily down the path of learning about and persuing all forms of
intervention which bring the 'whole system into the room' Having
held a quality 'post' for over 6 years I am fully aware of the
benefits of process improvements but the power of 'whole systems'
approaches to change is a quantum leap from quality and process
improvement....

[Host's Note: The new book is _A Simpler Way_, Margaret Wheatley and
Myron Kellner-Rogers, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, 1996.
...Rick]

Yet there must be reason why we break things down into parts -
easier to understand? easier to coordinate or manage? or do we
feel that working across the whole is so difficult we will only
ever end up with the 'lowest common denominator' rather than the
possibility of whole system synergystic alignment?????

Julie Beedon
VISTA Consulting
julie@vistabee.win-uk.net

-- 

Julie Beedon <julie@vistabee.win-uk.net>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>