> from Carol Johnson <carol_johnson@weains.com> said:
>
> Going to the edge without facts sound a little like making decisions about
> the physical world while being in a sensory deprivation tank. With no
> knowledge of temperature, sound, visual cues, etc. we're not on the edge,
> we're over it. We can only be of value to an organization by being in the
> organization, which means being in facts.
In a former life I managed a jet-engine experimental research laboratory
where we simulated actual flight without leaving the ground. We made the
engine think it was in flight by introducing intake air at the correct
conditions, and by reducing the pressure at the tailpipe. When I first
started work, my mentor always reminded me that the name of the facility
-- engines systems laboratory -- was carefully chosen. In the facility,
parts of a jet engine (compressor, turbine, combustor, control system,
etc) were assembled into a complete engine and tested as a system. The
engine was then allowed to interact with its environment as a larger open
system. It was in this laboratory that we were able to investigate subtle
anomalies that were observed in flight. We could keep an engine in an
operating mode that would have been unsafe in flight for a long enough
time to collect information for further inquiry.
We could not do our work unless we understood the engine (and the
components on the engine), aircraft, pilot, and the flight environment as
a total interdependent system.
Which brings me to "going to the edge."
The phrase "expanding the envelope" contains a wealth of learning. To
expand the envelope of an engine (the same applies to an aircraft), we had
to cross the threshold between the known and the unknown. We had to come
to the edge and cross over. This always carried risk. More so in flight
than on the ground, but usually a great deal of risk. Even if the risk
were only financial loss.
Therefore we always had a great deal of generative dialogue about the
threshold, and what might lie beyond it. We assessed the risk in a
systemic sense. We looked at short term and long term goals. We looked
at the consequences of taking the risk and the consequences of not taking
the risk. And very importantly we prepared ourselves for the crossing of
the threshold into the unknown. We readied the instrumentation we thought
we would need to understand the unknown. We prepared a number of
observers to log what they saw. We discussed safety and how we would
return to the "known." Once all this had been done, we "empowered" the
person at the controls to do his or her best -- in an atmosphere of
"unconditional love."
Increasing our understanding of the total system AND continuous generative
dialogue made it possible to keep pushing out the edges of the envelope.
We went to the edge without facts in a sense, but we never went to the
edge without preparation and systems understanding. Of course there were
always surprises, unexpected failures, and tremendous incidental learning.
But we always seemed to be prepared for the discovery and surprise.
My fondest recollections of those days were when we (as 20-25 year olds)
were trusted with millions of dollars of equipment in the wee hours of the
morning. The learning was exponential and the results were important.
Much of what we take for granted in air travel safety today was learned at
2:00am on many exciting nights.
Interesting correlaries are: that during the day, the more senior people
who "knew better" would always second guess the events and try to control
the outcome in political ways that did not fit reality. Even though the
information required to design better engines was already circling the
globe in informal networks, the talk of the day changed to the number of
formal reports required to achieve the next pay raise.
The power of the informal organization is breath-taking. If senior
leadership cannot bring themselves to breathe life into what wants to
exist, at least they could leave it alone. It is painful to watch the
infrastructure and network have the life squeezed out of it through
high-control practices.
Coming to the edge and crossing beond is the essence of a living system.
"To be is to follow Beauty even when she shall lead you to the verge of
the precipice; and though she is winged and you are wingless, and though
she shall pass beyond the verge, follow her, for where Beauty is not,
there is nothing. (Kahlil Gibran)
Dreaming the past and the future,
John
John Dicus | jdicus@ourfuture.com
CornerStone Consulting Associates | http://www.ourfuture.com
Growing Learning Communities Through Whole System Processes
2761 Stiegler Road, Valley City OH 44280
800-773-8017 | 330-725-2728 (fax)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations
For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>