Dear organlearners,
Dietrich Dorner in his book, The Logic of Failure, in the chapter on
planning, writes about methodism, not the Wesleyan variety, but the sort
which is a kin to incrementalism, though obviously not the same. Here's a
piece of what he says:
"The effects of "methodism"- the unthinking application of a sequence of
actions we have once learned...The motivation is the same, however: we are
most inclined to deconditionalize a form of action and use it over and
over again if it has proved successful for us or for others. Clausewitz,
from whom I have borrowed the term methodism, observes: 'So long as no
acceptable theory, no intelligent analysis of the conduct of war exists,
routine methods will tend to take over even at the highest levels....War,
in its highest forms, is not *an infinite mass of minor events*, analogous
despite their diversities, which can be controlled with greater or lesser
effectiveness, depending on the methods applied. War consists rather of
*single, great, decisive actions*, each of which needs to be handled
individually....' We can summarize Clauswitz' advice thus: In many complex
situations, considering a few "characteristic" features of the situation
and developing an appropriate course of action in the light of them is not
the essential point. Rather, the most important thing is to consider the
specific, 'individual' *configuration* of those features and to develop a
completely individual sequence of actions appropriate to that
configuration. The methodist is not able to cope with specific,
individual configurations on their own terms, for he has his two or three
ways of proceeding, and he uses one or the other depending on the general
features of the situation as a whole. He does not take into account the
indivduality of the situation as it is evidenced in the specific
configuration of its features." Dorner, 170-171.
What these approaches are, in some respects, are the reflection of the
amount of energy which is required to maintain both a macro and micro
perspective of situations at the same time. The greater the energy,
either personally or as a team, the greater capacity for doing the hard
mental work. Otherwise, we fall back into the tried and true, which does
work, maybe some of the time, but doesn't provide the impetus for change
which takes organizations to another level of performance.
Ed Brenegar
Leadership Resources
Hendersonville, NC 28791
704/693-0720 voice/fax
brenegar@bulldog.unca.edu
--Edwin Brenegar III <brenegar@bulldog.unca.edu>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>