Thanks once again, John and Rol, for stimulating another thought and
insight for me. Your description of the change/remain the same polarity
got me to thinking that, given the perspective that things--environments,
relationships, external and internal forces, etc--are always changing in
some ways, the very moments of "stability" themselves which we experience
are evidence that we are changing as well. In the midst of a changing
world, remaining the "same" requires us to adapt and adjust constantly to
new situations and circumstances. Those people we identify as working
hardest at "not changing" have the toughest challenge of all. And perhaps
it is our own limitation that we sometimes appreciate neither their
dilemma nor their skill in "making changes"...
And I am also aware of the fact that it is not only discomfort, confusion,
and pain that motivate us toward change. My years of working with children
at the pre-school and early elementary levels taught me that curiosity,
pleasure, playfulness, delight, and wonder are all a part of the process
of learning and growing as well, and for that I am eternally grateful!
Tobin Quereau
Austin Community College
quereau@austin.cc.tx.us
On Wed, 17 Apr 1996, John Woods wrote:
> While it is true that pain or discomfort is an impetus in getting people
> to look at the paradigms and values and the behaviors they engender are a
> reason for the pain/discomfort, there is something else we need to
> consider here. That something else is at the heart of the learning
> organization paradigm. It has to do with a couple of issues: First,
> change is constant (or our systems are dynamic, not static). To somehow
> suggest that we are not changing through time is a false assumption in my
> opinion. We and our organizations are either improving or deteriorating;
> we never stand still.
[Quote of prev. msg trimmed by your host...]
--Tobin Quereau <quereau@austin.cc.tx.us>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>