Bill said
> John Paul Fullerton posted a deeply felt and well documented
> comparison that closely equates the Fifth Discipline with Christian
> beliefs. As a Christian I am uncomfortable with the post, perhaps
> it is my problem.
I'm starting to answer quickly, here, so I hope it won't be to either of
our sorrow! Please take these comments as what I have to offer in response
to Your comments.
I had assumed (it appears, in error) that the question about the contrast
between Christianity and "The Fifth Discipline" meant that the two views
were very different. The comments that I sent work at a level of tag
(though not intended playfully at that time). They are observations that
show a commonality of human experience (though I usually don't think of
"human experience" in these terms). "Tag!" we have the same kinds of
thoughts and experiences. Maybe, "Tag!", we've seen the same writings :)
My comments should not be taken to mean that "The Fifth Discipline" and
Christianity are the same thing, though from my note, there wouldn't be
complete evidence of that!
The emphasis of "The Fifth Discipline" and strategic planning in general
as a means of affecting what happens is very different than my experience
of hearing preaching and knowing that I should act on what I have heard as
the word of God. (Lest that inspire fear, Usually that means "yes, I have
been treating someone harshly" or "yes, the battle is hot; however, the
commander has encouraged me.") Working with learning organization
strategies is like learning good programming techniques or seeing
applications of that exactness with other things; I do not think of it as
essential for life. In fact, if learning organizations were what I would
hope they'd be, my impression is that suffering would be done away with
for the most part, and that doesn't seem to be the case at all!
> My discomfort is rooted in awareness that the five disciplines can
> be found in all major religious and philosophies. In fact the
> Eastern religions probably place more emphasis on self mastery
> than does Christian practice or thought.
In Hebrews, the statement is made, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,
striving against sin." That is the most extreme statement about mastering
one's self that I know of in the Bible. Jesus is said to have sweat "as it
were great drops blood" waiting in the Garden of Gethsemene. He said, not
my will, but thy will. He did not want to die, though it seems likely that
if we can face death momentarily without fear, that his thought may not
have simply been about death. The emphasis in "The Fifth Discipline" is as
if people were not commonly tempted to do wrong. There, mastery seems to
be honing one's desire and vision so that the vision is capable of pulling
the individual in that direction. The way I see it, having the power to
get what one wants is not in question; thinking that my honed thought is
the greatest good or even the most beneficial direction for my life is the
question.
Was the knowledge that went into building the A-bomb good? Could we stop
the bomb being built if we had revealed its possibility? We know that
others will ultimately use what we bring. Because knowledge can be used
apart from its original purpose, how powerful a thing should we want to
produce? I'm not scolding (and I'm not originating these ideas, either,
though I did not learn these things directly from the Bible.)
These comments do not mean that learning is bad or that excelling is a
shame. There are projects that I did not attempt, maybe because I feared,
possibly because I did not believe, possibly because I let other things
get in the way. And I think of those projects that would have brought
greater Utility into my tools and possibly greater quality to my work that
I should have accomplished the projects. So I don't mean to quit working.
Have a nice day
John Paul Fullerton
jpf@myriad.net
--"John Paul Fullerton" <jpf@mail.myriad.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>