Clyde Howell offers the following comments:
>After reading a bit here and in another group, it strikes me that the
>way to move into the "inner circle" is to get involved. ...
>On the other hand, to sincerely want to actively learn and explore an
>idea means that you view your questions and contributions as meaningful
>and worthy of public "exposure."
I attended one of the conversations which grew out of reading the Wheatly
& Kellner-Rogers book. At one of the early gatherings (we've had maybe
half a dozen), someone provoked me into 'involvement' with his comments.
He works with various church congregations, and especially with busy
ministers -- ministers who find themselves too busy to do everything.
After having them talk about what it is that they do in being so busy, he
poses a hypotethical situation: Suppose you could pick a few people and
talk with them about whatever you wanted. Who would you invite, and what
would you like to discuss? After they recover from such an outrageous
proposition, they suggest some subject they genuinely have some interest
in exploring, and identify some people whose ideas they respect. Then the
kicker -- his next question is simply this: Why don't you just _do_ that?
What is it that stops you?
The point for me was this -- if I think the subject really is challenging
and if I'm willing to make the commitment, I can _create_ a circle. His
comment removes the excuse of "I don't _have_ time" and makes me admit "I
haven't _made_ time".
One of my values lies in the education of the children. So I went to the
principle of a nearby high school and essentially said, "Here I am; here
are some things I'm interested in, some things I can do; is there some way
you can help me help the teachers or the students?" That has gotten me
involved, it has helped me 'practice' some of the concepts of community
and learning. It seems to me like a win-win situation.
Clyde concludes:
> The point is, though, that being in that circle is not the end, it is
>an (alomst) unintentional by-product of involvement. Please note that
>the idea here is *involvement*, not frequent posting.
I agree completely with this. Am I involved? Yes, in the community and in
the list. I read and think and learn and relect on the various postings
and talk about them others in my organization -- but I don't often offer
my ideas here.
Michael A
--
Michael Ayers
mbayers@mmm.com Voice (612) 733-5690 FAX (612) 737-7718
IT Educ & Perf Svcs\3M Center 224-2NE-02\PO Box 33224\St Paul MN 55133-3224
"Sometimes the right question is, 'Are we asking the right question?'"
Ideas contained in this note represent the author's opinions and do not
intentionally represent the positions of anyone else in this galaxy.
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