I am a also a Star Trek fan and have followed the discussion on this
thread with great interest. However, I am really surprised that the few
things that I dislike about Star Trek, that I thought would be shared by
the members of this list in particular, have not been raised.
It is disappointing to me to think that in the 23rd Century the dominant
leadership/management style is still presented as the military command and
control model. Where is the systems thinking, the process modelling and
simulation, the learning organization? Where is the shared data (except as
presented in the dread enemy...The Borg Collective), the knowledge
network? Why are promotions and punishments still decided on a Captain's
whim? Why do crew members still find their place in the social and
organizational structure through complicated and unruly processes rather
than through careful assessment, guidance and training? Why are there
still narrowly defined roles and responsibilities among the bridge crew?
Why is the virtual presence of the computer limited to a mechanical
hands-free cellular phone? (with the exception of the emergency medical
hologram)
I enjoy the drama of watching the crew of Voyager recreate the voyages of
Odysseus (just with better technology)...but I balk at the management
concepts that Capt's Janeway, Picard, Cisco and Kirk emulate. I appreciate
the personal and ethical traits that each of these characters have been
given...but I would like to think that in the intervening three centuries
we will have learned a lot more about ourselves and each other than this
series portrays.
Live long and prosper
--Ben Granade bgranade@customcpu.com Eagle River, Alaska (907) 696-5831
If you're not having fun...you're not doing it right!
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>