Replying to LO28250 --
Dear Organlearners,
Alfred Rheeder <alfred@pvm.co.za> writes:
>Purpose should be seen within a specific context.
>Can a system have a purpose without a surrounding
>environment? No, purpose has to been seen within
>the context of a system functioning within a environment ...
(snip)
Greetings dear Alfred,
I agree with you. Fred Nichols explains it indirectly very good in his
reply to "Looping Threads LO28278".
He writes:
>The "loop" has two primary stages: transformation
>(i.e., the conversion of inputs into outputs) and
>transaction (i.e., the exchange of outputs for new
>inputs to continue the cycle or loop that defines the
>system in question).
The transformation happens within the the system SY. The transaction
happens between the system SY and its surrounding systems SU. The
transaction consists, as Fred Articulates it, of "receiving and
supplying". Once we are able to see a chain of links in the surroundings
connecting the "receiving system" and "supplying system", we see the
"loopyness" which Varela speaks of and which Andrew made us aware of.
Fred writes further
>And that forces you to face squarely the fact that
>process boundaries are delineations of these larger
>streams of activity and that where you set the
>boundaries (and, Yes, you set them, they don't exist)
>is probably the most important choice you will make
>with respect to studying and understanding the process
>you have just defined as a consequence of establishing
>its boundaries.
That is why a LO needs to know what is going on in the wider world around
it and not merely the world with which it has its transactions. If it
draws it boundary where its transactions go, it cannot be a LO.
otherwise the I in I Am would not exist. From the systems point of view it
is almost as if the surrounding environment "allows" the system to have a
purpose.
Alfred, you also write:
>For myself purpose becomes a reality when the
>world-inside-of-me comes into contact (fruitfull/effective
>contact) with the world-outside-of-me. The environment
>is inviting me to start looking for the truth of which
>purpose is part of.
I know you personally and thus have to tell fellow learners that for you
this "world-outside-of-me" is one which you explore further and further.
In other words, your loops become wider. I reminds me of homing pigeons.
When they are released at a place far away, they will fly a spiral (larger
and larger circles) until they know where home is. The further away, the
greater the spiral before, suddenly they break out of the pack to head
starte for home. Now if that is not a context based purpose in nature,
then I will never know one.
It is a pity that the swallows have already left for a sunnier Europe.
Days before they leave, they fly higher and higher into the sky, making
wider and wider circles. They do it for several days since they have to
travel very far. They need to get at Europe and not another cold place in
the souther hemisphere like Australia. Next year keep a lookout for them.
>At, I think the important question to ask is how
>to manage the LO-will and LO-choices in a world
>in which the Law of Requisite Complexity (LRC)
>is a reality.
Well, this is what homing pigeons know. They do not go as high up as
swallows, but do make wider circles to see more of where they are. They
know that should they go too high, they cannot duck their eternal enemies
-- falcons and eagles.
>What if the environment demand a quick fix that
>doesn't exist, meaning the organisation or system has
>knowledge that the quick fix / treasure map / miracle
>product the environment demands does not exist?
That is why I hate these treasure maps. They fix the loopyness.
>I have often contemplated what the implications are
>when the value of an organisation lies in how much the
>environment accepts its normative behavior. What if
>the environment accepts me stealing? I have often
>heard numerous people say: "The customer is always
>king". I would reply: " The customer is important, very
>important, but not king"
Many organisations are inclined to draw their borders (in Fred's sense) up
to where the environment accepts its normative behavior (which Fred never
said. ;-) Beyond that they do not care a damn.
In the book Proverbs Solomon asks who will be able to sit with the king at
the table for dinner. Then he answers that it is anyone who are doing
genuine work. A LO has to include all genuine workers in its environment,
no matter how distant.
With care and best wishes
--At de Lange <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.