Priorities LO18700

Jason Smith (jsmith@quantumsolutions.on.ca)
Wed, 22 Jul 1998 06:17:42 -0400

Replying to LO18693 --

>In case you are not clear about your priorities, i.e. because
>- you never thought about it
>- you notice that priorities change from situation to situation
>- you lost connection to the feeling for importance
>- your priorities are superposed by items that ought to be priorities
>- you know, there are priorities, but they are tacit - you don't get access
>(just a short brain storming)
>
>What can be done to become clear about your priorities?

I prefer to use the language of vision and outcomes to priorities.
Setting a personal vision and then some strategic outcomes that take me in
the direction of realizing that vision seems to work better for me. I can
then look at the supporting structures and perhaps skills I need to
realize those outcomes. Dialogue with others is essential for me since my
personal vision and outcomes need to be in alignment with those of our
firm and with those of my family.

>What about becoming/changing of priorities - or is this the frontier to
>the realm of principles, where learning ends?

I'd also add personal values into the mix which govern how I plan to
govern myself in the effort to reach my outcomes: with honesty, respect
for others, and so on. I think if we use the vision-outcomes-values
framework, we don't head into a place where learning ends.

>Isn't it part of "caring" to acknowledge that people are usually all but
>clear about their priorities?

I struggle a lot, personally, when I forget that most people with whom I
come in contact are works-in-progress -- continually learning from
experience. It's all to easy for me to just focus on where they are and
not include a consideration of the road they have travelled. I guess
that's about patience and caring.

>What else does contribute to integrity?

For me, there are certain values that contribute to integrity: honesty,
are two of the biggest for me.

>Just a few provoking questions which IMO are important in the context of
>learning organisations. What do you think?

I agree that these are important questions. For me, partnership is an
important organizing principle in a learning organization. This means
dialogues to develop shared understandings of our outcomes,
accountabilities, expectations, and so on. It's an important lever for
accelerated learning.

With metta,
Jason

-- 

"Jason Smith" <jsmith@quantumsolutions.on.ca>

Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>