Organizational Artistry LO12362

John Prendergast (jprender@PLANT.MIT.EDU)
Tue, 4 Feb 1997 19:32:22 -0500

[Arbitrarily links to LO12315 by your host...]

Following this thread reminded me of a quote from the movie "Searching for
Bobby Fischer" and a certain model of artistic development it implies. I
wanted to share it with the group.

"What is chess do you think? . . . Those who play for fun or not at all,
dismiss it as a game, the ones who devote their lives to it, for the most
part, insist that it's a science. It's neither. Bobby Fischer got
underneath it like no one before him and found, at it's center, art."

My experience as a manager and as a dancer has led me to believe that this
progression, from game to science to art, is inherent in almost any human
activity that affords opportunities for self expression. It was certainly
true in dance and although not immediately apparent, it also true in the
organizations with which I've been associated.

It seems that the road to art is always paved with play, mastery, and
ultimately, self expression. As individuals and organizations learn and
become artistic, we move through these stages.

Game - Emulation - We imitate what we seek to learn, trying it on for
size. We approach new things from many angles as we explore new ideas. By
playing with new concepts we learn rules, protocols, and basic skills.

Science - Integration - We put our skills together and consciously build
outcomes, testing and adjusting as we go. The learning becomes part of us/
our organization. We explore the relation of our new knowledge to
ourselves and the world.

Art - Extension - Through confidence in our new medium we can transcend
it. The medium, whether management or music, becomes an extension of
ourselves. Through it we can now express ourselves/our organization, Art.

I think that this idea ties to many of the contributions in this thread
and there are many ways to explore it but I'll leave it you to comment.

Best Regards
John Prendergast

-- 

John Prendergast <jprender@PLANT.MIT.EDU>

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