Uncovering the Act of Organisational Learning LO28892 (Part 3).

From: Jan Lelie (janlelie@wxs.nl)
Date: 07/24/02


Replying to LO28884 --

Hello Peter, dear viewers,

[As a contributor to this list i write:

Thank you for your meta-perspective. As a facilitator of change i write: [[You
wrote:

> Replying to LO28863 --
>
> Knowledge Management is about 'knowing how to know' and 'learning how to
> know better'. A 'Learning Organisation' is about 'learning how to learn'
> and 'learning how to learn better'.

and i don't deny that, these are good definitions but i wrote:

"Knowledge Management" - in my view - is not about knowledge, but about
managing people. But "Learning Organisation" is not about learning, but
about organising. etc.

Please mark the double quotes around the concept (one concept, two words),
the Capitals and the lack of quotes around the parts after about. What i
try to convey is that one can say one thing (knowledge management is about
'knowing how to know', which is true and mean it, and that it - over time,
under circumstances, in certain contexts - also can be about something
else. When Management says "Knowledge Management" - what ever the
definition used, the managed know it is about managing people, not about
managing knowledge - most of the time. But they will never say so and act
as if this is not the case. Even when you confront them with this
behavior. And so also with Management, who will not admit that "Knowledge
Management" is about managing people. Meaning - in my perspective - is a
social construct that cannot be known superficially, meaning is more a
process - deriving meaning, attributing meaning - than the correct
definition.

I will - nor can - deny that managing, sharing, dealing, informing,
creating data, information and knowledge is the core of our socializing,
organizing, managing processes, but part of these processes is also 'not
"Knowledge Management"' - not as we know it.

The problem is in the framing: only if knowledge management is used with
the intention of liberating, freeing people, making them stronger, more
able to learn, to create and manage their knowledge themselves, knowledge
management will have an impact on organizations, change and defensive
routines. Our language still lacks the proper grammars for communicating
frames, that is why i wrote the " "-s. We continuously use frames of
reference - most of the time subconsciously - and assumptions on the
frames others used. Communicating is about sharing frames, behaving. These
frames are part of the 'tacit' knowledge and are communicated through
behavior, not through words - it you capture what i mean.

> In effect they are the Ying and the Yang of Change.
>
> Change Management is about 'learning how to change' and 'learning how to
> change better'. As a Change consultant I can only *help* people not
> *force* them.

I like the *frame*: what do you intend, how am i to "read" this? Why do
you write *force*?

I'm also in the business of facilitating change - a Change Facilitator -
and i assume i cannot even *help* or help people (a very wise
organisational sociologist supported me in solving a personal problem: i
used to react strongly on being helped, when people started helping me, i
went in denial, refusal. Often this was seen as highly competitive. Why? I
learned from him that helping people implicitly puts people in a frame of
dependency, a socially unequal situation - a helper is "better" than the
helped -, and as i didn't want to be in a "lower" position, i refused
being helped. It has a connection to the "Shifting the Burden" and
"Addiction Loop".) i can only support them, facilitate. This is nothing
special: we're all facilitators of change, but some of us just do not know
it. How do we manage this knowledge? - end of writing as a change
facilitator.]]

Perhaps we should add the frame, the context, the position we use when writing
a message. We may use signs like ', ", *, - , (), {}, [] etc. ]

- end of writing as a contributor to the LO-list

All the best, success,

Jan Lelie

-- 

With kind regards - met vriendelijke groeten,

Jan Lelie

LOGISENS - Sparring Partner in Logistical Development mind@work est. 1998 - Group Resolution Process Support Tel.: (+31) (0)70 3243475 or GSM (car): (+31)(0)65 4685114 http://www.mindatwork.nl info@mindatwork.nl

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