Robert Bacal writes in LO 10371....
>individuals are cognitively limited in terms of grasping complex systems
>and relationships as exist in society/organizations. The tentacle like
>relationships are rather overwhelming emotionally and cognitively,
>particularly if we consider the brain as a information condensing machine.
>
>An interesting question though. IF individuals are cognitively limited in
>grasping complex systems, is it possible for a group of individuals to
>collectively understand a complex system?
>From my experience, it does take the 'collective' to analyze and
understand the system. Everyone brings their own view of the organization
[as seen from within their horizon of observability] -- you need enough
diverse individuals that together can see the whole system. When we get
all of these views interacting in a room, we get a better grasp of what
the whole organization is really like. My experience comes from
consultants and clients, together, interpreting diagrams of emergent intra
and inter-organizational relationships. Neither group can create as good
a result as both interacting together.
As the 'collective' learns, some of the understanding is passed on to
individuals -- how much of the learning remains in the
collective[relationships/connections] as Robert infers, I'm not sure. But
it feels like that learning is part of the glue that forms and maintains
'communities of practice'.
Valdis Krebs
inflow@concentric.net
--Valdis Krebs <inflow@concentric.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>