Responding to Chris Michel (chris.michel@daytonoh.attgis.com)
We have a STOL group that has been working in our college for over a year
to help understand the organizational dynamics at play in this educational
setting.
We are the largest two-year technical college in the US, with over 70,000
students, 3,000 employees, 2 public television stations, 2 business
incubators, an annual budget in excess of $203,000,000. Last year, we did
a survey of our management council (>125 people) to determine their mental
models regarding where we were on a "community continuum" (see The Systems
Thinker, September 1994).
The results were almost perfectly symetrical and wildly bi-modal. The
survey results were given to our STOL group for examination and learning
purposes. Their work (written up in The Systems Thinker, October 1995)
used specific ST tools (causal loops, behavior over time charts, left-hand
column, vision deployment matrix, etc) to bring the mental models at play
out into the open. My experience has shown that our mental models are not
really that different than those of any other comparible organization.
(The word comparable is the key, as there are few organizations of our
size, scope, history, and culture.) The distinguishing difference is that
the mental models of each organization are an accompilation of the mental
models of the people of the org, and each person may have different
models. These differences will depend on how they view the world, their
personal history, their life experiences, and the culture that they are a
part of.
I would be happy to share the work of our group if you desire. Thank you,
JBR
In your assessment of corporations as learning organizations, has anyone
>established separate mental models for corporations depending upon
>different criteria?
>
>Size(large or small); purpose (business, education, profit, non-profit);
>presence (multinational or in-country, national or local/regional), etc.
-- James B. Rieley Director The Center for Continuous Quality Improvement Milwaukee Area Technical College 700 West State Street Milwaukee, WI 53233 414.297.7806 414.297.6475 FAX rieleyj@milwaukee.tec.wi.us