Replying to LO29860 --
Dear Organlearners,
Alan Cotterell <acotrel@cnl.com.au> writes:
>There is a danger in clerical interpretation, it lies in the almost
>absolute lack of comprehension of RISK, over the ages.
Greetings dear Alan,
The above made me smile, not because of contempt, but because finally i
think i know why the clerical interpretation is so dangerous. It is
because of making information the basis for knowing. In it lies the
greatest risk possible. Even Jeremiah, the last prophet of the kingdom of
Israel, had to learn this. He then tried to warn his people against the
"clerics" of his day by saying that the people should not trust their
clever words saying "it is the Lord's word".
>Apart from the 'build my house on a rock', and some
>religous laws about sleeping on roofs without parapets,
>the Bible is almost devoid of mention of risk management.
I do not think so. It depends on how we articulate risk managment. Should
we think of it as becoming prepared for future changes outside our
control, then the Bible has information tips on it as long as my arm. For
example, think how much the Bible has to say on strategic planning. But if
we seek for modern risk methodologies like insurance, constraint analysis,
investment in securities and safety practices in technologies, we will
search in vain for anything on them.
I must say that i find this topic fascinating and also vital in
transforming an organisation into a LO. After many years of talking with
members of various kinds of organisations, i have observed the following.
They keep quiet on moral issues until i have established a heart-to heart
relationship with each of them. Only then they will pack out in private,
sometimes with horrifying stories. Often i have discovered that the high
risk areas in an organisation are associated with a lack in morals or
ethics.
But the one thing which stands out like a pole above water is that an
individual (like a manager) or a group of them (like a managing board)
cannot decide what the morality or ethics of the organisation shall be. It
has to be based on an "impartial" system which everybody can learn about
so as to reach concensus and act in solidarity. I think that this is why
the word 'natural' appears in the heading of the topic. And even nature
sometimes seems to be partial.
It is unusal hot here in Pretoria -- close to what is called a heat wave.
But i have read this morning in the news papers that Australians in Sydney
have to bear temperatures of up to 45C. Wow, i feel sorry for them. I have
experienced such temperatures only in deserts like the Namib, Bushmanland
and Kalahari. Here one has to know what to do and how to do it, otherwise
one will get crazy. Keep sane and hopefully cooler weather will soon set
in.
With care and best wishes
--At de Lange <amdelange@postino.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
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