Doc,
You have a number of interesting comments on how nations operate and how
they make or fail to make changes in direction. One (possible) refinement
I wish to make, and I am interested in your thoughts on this.
At referred to scapegoating, and you go on to say it is an ancient
political ploy. This is certainly true. But I believe At was making the
point that people scapegoat, not as a ploy, but as a sincerely-meant
analysis of why and how things fail to work as they intended. It is this
form of scapegoating -- not the delibearte ploy, but the sincerely-held
belief -- that is by far the most dangerous, the most self-limiting, the
most inimical to learning. You may have understood this, but it was
unclear to me from your response.
Interestingly, this unconscious form of scapegoating occurs in
corporations all the time, and seems to spring into being instantaneously
from the 'aether' so to speak. It does not have the long time line that
you mention in your post.
Also, living in Africa, I saw many villages that disliked their
neighboring villages. I attributed their dislike and distrust to
misunderstanding and lack of significant contact. It is easy under those
circumstances to misturst and blame rather than try to understand. Most
small villages existed for only a few years -- 10-20 at most -- so the
mistrust of neighbors did not have the same time line as you mention,
unless the mistrust sprung from deeper, probably tribal, roots.
--Rol Fessenden L. L. Bean, Inc. 76234.3636@compuserve.com
1 - Challenge the process. 2 - Inspire a shared vision. 3 - Enable others to act. 4 - Model the way. 5 - Encourage the heart.
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>