(Fwd) How does our theory become practice? LO23597

rbacal@escape.ca
Sun, 12 Dec 1999 20:40:52 -0600

Replying to LO23568 --

On 11 Dec 99, at 14:42, Richard Karash wrote:

Steve wrote:
> >Do you think we on this LO list are such people: more interested in
> >verbalizing about theories than in applying them?

Richard replied:

> Steve, from your tone, prior msgs, and off-list communication, I think
> you are not just asking... I think you believe the LO list is guilty as
> charged. Am I right in this interpretation? That's what comes through.

Richard, it would be interesting to talk not about what INTERESTS people
on this list, but how they BEHAVE on this list and the content of messages
and what it portrays to others entering the list, or sitting in the
background.

I think you will find that only a very small percentage of posts have
anything to do with getting things done in a real work environment. Most
are philisophical, metaphoric and often do not map easily onto the world
of the practitioner. (BTW, there's nothing wrong with that, just not my
cup of tea).

Does this mean people aren't interested in applications? Well, we don't
know since most people don't post (and you and I have gone through these
issues before privately). But given it seems the majority of posts ARE
about things other than application and "getting things done", it isn't
surprising that one can draw the conclusion that people aren't interested
in applications.

On occasion, I get asked about resources re: learning organizations, and I
always hesitate mentioning this forum because I know the people asking are
looking for help AT WORK.

Sometimes I think that this list gives a skewed vision of what LO's are
about, and the people that are interested in LO's, an innaccurate one, I
hope, but it IS a concern.

My personal reputation is on the line when I recommend something, and for
someone who wants to know how to bring about an LO in their company, can I
refer them to a list where one of the most common words used is entropy?
Essentialities?

Personally, I can't....maybe others can.

Visit the work911.com supersite at http://www.work911.com for work related
articles, or to find almost anything including lists .

-- 

rbacal@escape.ca

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