How does our theory become practice? LO23610

Winfried Deijmann (deijmann@dialoog.net)
Tue, 14 Dec 1999 01:37:43 +0100

Replying to LO23523 --

Dear fellow learners,
Here are my two penny thoughts to the subject.

You can't make a compass work unless the compass-needle is attached on a
pin to the center of a scale. The compass is necessary to point out a
direction, but it doesn't tell you where to go to.

A schoolclass without a teacher is meaningless and an organizational
learning list without a moderator is pointless. A good moderator is like
the compassneedle, only pointing out a direction but he doesn't prescribes
anybody where to go to. A good moderator is also like a good teacher:
giving direction, initiate issues, creating a save, open environment, but
leaves the responsibility for the development and growth of his students
where it belongs, at/in the student themselves.

What Rick has shown throughout the years is, that he is mild to the person
but hard for the case, just like the compassneedle who can only point out
where the Northpole is situated. Like a good teacher he has also heart for
the matter and heart for those who have, out of there own free will,
joined the classroom. But he refuses to let students turn out his
classroom into a bombingarea. His interest in, motive for and attitude
towards the list-initiative and its supporters has always been the
opposite of this thread: "How does (our) practice become theory?" It is
so much easier, worthy and more meaningful to distillate a theory out of
practice. So why shouldn't we just do that?

Looking back at more than three years of participating in this list I
conclude that Rick's disciplined way of moderating this list works very
well.

IMHO I think it is time that something should be given back to Rick.

What would sincerely interest me is how many listmembers are willing to
honor Rick's efforts by making up a balance and try to answer this question:

What is the theory behind the practice of this list?

What made this LO-list to what it has become today?

And to each participant of this list: What did I do (or didn't do) to make
this list to what it has become today?

Before doing this I would like to hear Rick's thoughts and (dis) approval
on this initiative.

If we really want to surprise him we perhaps should do this through another
channel than this List.

I am willing to collect contributions through my private emailaddress, or
set up a temporary webpage with a survey, where the above proposed
questions can be answered, and arrange them in a kind of report that we
can present Rick somewhere in February 2000.

Greetings from stormy Holland,

Winfried Deijmann

-- 
Mr. Winfried M. Deijmann - Deijmann & Partners - Zutphen - The Netherlands
Artists, Consultants and Facilitators for Organizational Learning,
Leadership and Action Learning Events
Het Zwanevlot 37. NL 7206 CB Zutphen, The Netherlands
<deijmann@dialoog.net>
Phone + Fax: +31-(0)575-522076
website: <http://come.to/dialoog>

For information about our international workshops: <http:/dialoog.net/deijmann/workshopsuk.html>

"An educated mind is useless without a focussed will and dangerous without a loving heart." (source unknown)

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