Peter's response to John Warfield's approach raises what I think is
an important distinction for those pursuing organisational learning.
That distinction is between "intervention" and "development".
An intervention, I would say, has the primary purpose of producing a
result largely external to the participants and only secondarily, if
at all, the purpose of education and development.
A devolopmental approach, has the primary purpose of producing
learning or development results largely internal to the person or
group and secondarily, if at all, the purpose of "external" results.
This distinctions transforms many proposed interventions - and
proposed developmental efforts - depending on which distinction is
chosen. I can read John's offering as an intervention and see its
power and I can also see its power as a developmental process. Each
will be carried out in distinct ways and likely produce significantly
different results.
-- Michael McMaster <Michael@kbddean.demon.co.uk>