> On Sat, 3 Aug 1996 21:21:30 +0000 Robert Bacal wrote:
>
> > I think this paints a very bleak picture of employees...of people who will
> > not decide to function well, unless management sets standards that are
> > good. This is consistent with the notion that staff have no values of
> > their own, and set no standards of their own but for what they acquire
> > from management. Joan has stated elsewhere that she feels that employees
> > (in fact most people) are conformists.
> >
> > I am trying to figure out how a learning organization can be based on such
> > assumptions about the emptiness of staff, that they conform, acquire their
> > standards and values from leaders of the organization, and take no
> > independent pride in their work.
>
> > Any thoughts?
Although 300 others might say exactly the same, clearly it is impossible
for a learning organization to develop (even if one never fully develops,
but that is another issue) with this patronising, stultifying, thinking
which you describe at the end of your message. A SERIOUS attempt at
engendering a LO MUST try to avoid falling into the syndrome of thinking
that suggests that the important questions of values, standards are based
on the mental models of the leaders, at the expense of their subordinates.
Even the basic principles underlying good 'learning organization'
practices (i.e. systems thinking, etc. from 'Fifth Discipline') should be
open to questioning.
If not, there is no way to prevent a well intentioned LO strategy from
dissolving into another top-down 'flavour of the month': TQM with a bit of
Eastern Philosophy thrown in for effect.
--Andrew Rowe adrowe@essex.ac.uk
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>