Hi Tom:
Thanks for a stimulating response. Yes, we have a client who is a union.
The staff that runs this union is also unionized, although by a different
organization to prevent conflicts of interest.
It's my experience, having worked in North America and Europe, that
Canadians and Americans share at least as many similarities as
differences. In fact, I'd be inclined to think that America leads Canada
in progressive thinking about the involvement of unions in transformation
work, collective agreements that are aligned with organizational
strategies based in learning, and so on. We found much more literature
from American sources in our transformation work with this client than we
did on our side of the border.
This union's staff -- also unionized -- did benefit from this
transformation work. So did the staff union leadership. They picked up a
lot of skills, and are in the process of negotiating a simpler, more
effective collective agreement. There is a lot less tension between staff
and management. People feel better and enjoy their lives more because
they are heard and see the impact of their work. I can wax on
philisophically about this, or you can actually call me for references and
see for yourself.
There is no question that Linda McQuaig is right about the structure of
the economy having a significant influence on the outcomes of economic
activity. But then, that really shouldn't be a surprise, should it? The
effect of structure on outcome is some thing we understand far beyond the
context of economics. It's clear that the industrial model favoured the
investor. Isn't it interesting where the most valuable capital exists in
an information-age company? (Hint: between the ears of the people who
work there) Physical and financial capital are no longer holding the sway
they once had. Yes, their importance isn't fading at a momentous rate.
However, their importance is on the decline. Checked the rise of
literature on membership organizations? Followed Charles Handy's thinking
on federalism and organizational structure? Have you looked through the
work of the Emerys on Participative Democracy? Ever looked at how many
more companies pay out some of their profits to employees than did ten
years ago? Isn't this telling us something about a fundamental shift in
the balance of corporate power?
You are correct that micromanaging will not work in organizations facing
real-world challenges. Modern problems and organizations are simply too
complex. Let's be a little more fair in our treatment of the learning
organization concept. Senge was very intentional in calling systems
thinking the cornerstone of a learning organization. He's also quite
clear that individuals can't hold all the parameters that make up even
relatively simple systems. Organizational tops (and even a few
consultants) like to continue to hold onto those command-and-control
coconut chips. Old habits are hard to break, even when working eighty
hours a week and having experienced alienation from one's spouse and
children.
You make some interesting remarks about open systems and complexity. Of
course, in practice, one doesn't have to model every relationship of
affect to have a model of system behaviour that is effective in supporting
the identification of leveraged actions that result in sustained change.
One would be at it for quite some time, building what I call "the dynamics
model that swallowed Toronto." Variables both external and internal to an
organization play a role in explaining the behaviour of an organization as
a system. One needs to be open to both kinds, of course. However, a
model isn't necessarily any less useful if external variables aren't
modelled. Like all analysis, one has to hold an understanding of the
context in which the work is done, and the desired outcomes for the work.
Your speculations about the capabilities of people who work in and around
learning organizations concern me. Are your concerns specific? What are
the things you've really observed? (no need to name names, of course) Do
you have leveraged actions to suggest to alter the dyanmics you observe?
It's easy to sit in judgement of others. No attack is intended by this;
I'm curious to see how far you've taken your thinking past simple doubts
and generalizations.
Thanks again for a thoughtful post.
Jason Smith
jsmith@quantumsolutions.on.ca (work)
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." - Yogi Berra
--"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>