Faith Communities and Learning Organizations LO21941

Richard GOODALE (fc45@dial.pipex.com)
Sat, 19 Jun 1999 17:51:47 +0100

Replying to LO21926 --

Dear At

Thanks for your characteristically courteous and thoughtful reply. One
specific comment. When you say "A LO cannot sustain itself when it's
members learn intermittently..." I must disagree. For one thing, if we
define "learning" inclusively, we are all learning all of the time.
Whether or not we want to, the neurons and other chemical compounds in our
brain are continuously making connections, regardless of our free will.
For another, even if one defines learning more exclusively, I cannot
conceive of it happening in anything other than an intermittent way. My
brain would hurt if I tried to meet an ideal of continuous learning. An
effective balance beween learning, teaching and doing is what we should
all strive for, IMHO.

John Zavacki, in his post (LO2190), makes a very interesting point when he
says "A factory, a basketball team, an infantry platoon can become a
'faith community'" The success of each of these organisations depends to
a very large degree on the faith and trust which exists between the
members and each other, and between each member and the values of the
organisation. I had never thought of this before, but this Kirkegaardean
leap of "faith" is a good metaphor for what is required for true
"empowerment."

Finally, Gavin Ritz, in his post (LO21910) makes the important point that
"fear" is an essential element of both "faith" and "learning." To me, any
truly effective organisation implicitly or explicitly makes use of man's
natural fears to develop his potential. And, as Gavin rightly points out,
as the central fear in all of our lives is death, it is not at all
surprising that "faith" can become "Faith," or that these "Faiths" can
become barriers to learning if not looked at holistically, as At and
others do.

Thank you all for helping me learn a thing or two over the last few days

Richard Goodale

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"Richard GOODALE" <fc45@dial.pipex.com>

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