Replying to LO28805 --
Just a thought, a reflection on reading all this stuff about LO's. We
don't seem to find it easy to find them obviously, leave alone creating
them!
My own ideas came some seven years ago by way of analogy with organisms
being made of cells which are interdependent etc. Then I discovered Peter
Senge amongst other things. Of course, the 'organisation' itself is there
to invoke this analogy. So, what is the difference between an organism
and an organisation.
1. The constituent of organism, the cells are full-time members of only
one organism or an organ. My skin cells are mine fro the time they are
created till they fall off as dead tissue. They do not go somewhere else
physically or mentally.
2. These cells are fully committed to the organism, ready to die when
required. They have no agenda of their own.
3. The only purpose for some of these cells is to protect others, or the
organisation as a whole. For example, the cells that sense something is
too hot and transmit that signal!
So, while these cells have evolved in self-interest to co-operate while
specialising in function, they are altruistic.
Can a human organisation ever do this? And if it can't, then does
Organisational Learning make any sense?
I guess Armies, Extremist groups, Religious Orders and Cults come closest
in terms of the behaviour of their members being similar to those of
cells. Sports teams, charities etc. come next in order. Then we get
organisations with higher purpose such as schools, associations, clubs,
causes, political parties and so on. Commercial organisations probably
come bottom of the list. Where do families, Communities and Nations fit
in all of this? One could look at tribes, language groups and so on.
Does 'being in the same boat' work?
So, why is that? This higher purpose seems to have something to do with
it.
Can we still say, dear organlearners? How committed are we? What's the
higher purpose?
Dileep Damle
--"Damle, Dileep" <Dileep.Damle@abbeynational.co.uk>
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