Michael McMaster wrote:
> However, there is a very important missing here. That is, we are
> talking about systems composed of living, self-generating, linguistic
> (ie. intelligent) entities and, while some of the characteristics
> remain the same when extended into the system, many do not.
>
> An intelligent organisation (corporation) of intelligent entities
> (human beings) is not limited by these characteristics of non-living
> and non-intelligent systems.
>
> Living systems can know the whole IN DIFFERENT WAYS than non-living
> ones and that is by patterns and implicit connections. Particularly
> when these are embodied in language systems, and the agents have
> access to the language, can other possibilities emerge.
You have hit on an important point in your last paragraph. I learned long
ago that jargon arises out of a complex set of interactions in which there
is a need for specific (specialized) language to exactly describe what is
happening in a field of endeavor and a need fofr self/ego-gratification
for the work that people perform. By creating jargon we effectively
exclude those who do not do what we do and can, therefore, justify (in our
minds) some degree of superiority over others.
I have had many ocasions, though, when the language was not only
jargon-like, but secret as well. Keepers of the system (not just
managers) would have the code key but wouldn't share it. A commonly
expressed sentiment was that others just wouldn't understand it ("it's
technical"). The net effect of this practice and attitude was widening
schism in the organization and a predictable effect on effectiveness.
This is why the challenge for many of us is not to understand the LO
principles or business principles or even ethical/moral principles. The
challenge is to translate those concepts into language that others can
understand and to which they can relate in some meaningful way.
I wonder, why do we often try to circumvent jargon by commonly creating a
different jargon? Why do we seem to have difficulty using "common
language" that everyone already understands to express these ideas and
visions?
--Clyde Howell orgpsych@csra.net
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>