> Joining in here with a change philosophy that might interest listeners on
> this list. Panduranga Shasthri Athwale is the 1996 Templeton prize winner.
> In his convocation address(1994) he narrated his philosophy.
>
> "When I go to the villages, I enter into a dialogue with them. I don't go
> there to change them. Who am I to change them? Initially only a few
> come. Gradually the number increases. We just talk. Any topic".
>
> These are not the exact words but the essence. Athwale contribution has
> been to transform whole villages into productive, environmentally
> conscious communities. People, mostly fishing communities were reduced to
> unproductive beings due to vices and ethical standards. Athwale has
> stayed with communities for several years. His work is recognised widely
> now. I doubt this example is directly relevent. However, Saunders
> suggestions appear to have similarities.
Dear Orglearners,
Thomas,
I have followed this thread with much interest. If this thread means
"transforming an organisation into an LO", then the thread should have
been named "Emerging into an LO" rather than "Migration to a LO". I think
your sentence "I doubt this example is directly relevent" reflects my
uncertainty as to what the thread is really about.
I am very glad that you have quoted Panduranga's narration of his
philosophy. It reminds me of the philosophy of Socrates. Nevertheless,
what is important about such philosphies? They are conducive to
emergences. Emergences are at their best as spontaneous self-organisations
towards a higher, complexer order of existence.
Trying to force an emergence by external control and work, is usually
contraproductive and thus leads to immergences rather than emergences.
Why? Emergences happens at the edge of chaos. There is a great difference
between going self to the edge of chaos and being externally forced to it.
Those things essential to go self to the edge are the same things needed
to ensure an emergence rather than an immergence when getting there. (I
call these things the seven essentialities of creativity.)
I have noticed how some facilitators tried to present the formation of an
LO as a nice, easy, gradual excercise. This is a fallacy and a myth. The
formation of an LO is like the birth of a baby. It is not a nice, easy,
gradual excercise. When it happens, its a complex event of pain, toil and
ecstasy.
For example, Senge stresses that the formation of an LO depends on the
personal mastery of all its members. Personal mastery is not a matter of
getting 50% or even 80% in an exam. Personal mastery is to know that a
level of at least 99.9% has been reached. Personal masery is an experience
similar to climbing to the peak of the highest mountain in a continent or
to crossing the continent's greatest desert on foot or to running the
longest ultra marathon on that continent. If you are afraid of chaos, stay
away from such high mountains, vast deserts or ultra marathons. And forget
about LOs.
When we wish to "transform an organisation into an LO", it has to happen
as an emergence and not as a migration. But once a LO has emerged,
migration does become important in the sense of digestion. The LO which
has emerged, is still bare like a newly born baby. It has to grow (get
embodied). It has to grow in terms of what it can take up from its
environment.
You may disagree with me, saying that a LO can be set up by migrating to
it. In that case I can give you a test to determine whether what have been
migrated to, is indeed a LO. Does the LO have ubuntu? (See my contribution
on ubuntu somewhere in April.) A LO without ubuntu is impossible.
One of the most soul touching ubuntus to observe, is the ubuntu of the
Comrades. "The Comrades" is an ultra marathon over a distance of 90km
(50mi) being run yearly in the province of Natal in South Africa beteen
the coastal city Durban and the high altitude inland city Pietermaritzburg
which has to be completed in less than 11 hours to qualify as a Comrade.
The Comrades is one of the most striking examples of a LO in which
everybody is a winner, even the runner who crosses the finish line 1
second before the 12th hour. It is an event which few would even recognise
as an organisation, except for the fact that it has to be organised by
others than those who participate in the event. "The Comrades" is a true
LO because it has ubuntu. If nobody else wants to do it, I will some day
tell you more about "The Comrades" as a LO and its ubuntu.
Best wishes
--At de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre for Education University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa email: amdelange@gold.up.ac.za
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>