Incremental Change/Feedback LO12363

Benjamin B. Compton (bcompton@geocities.com)
Tue, 04 Feb 1997 17:53:45 -0700

A while back, I think somewhere close to when the Disappointment -- No
Soul thread started, I posted a message which quoted Tom Peters. The quote
was:

"Incrementalism is innovations worst enemy."

A number of people responded to this post. One (who I can't remember)
suggested that innovation is the result of a whole lot of people making
incremental change.

And then there were a few who were quite turned off by the fact that I
quoted Tom Peters. In fact, I felt that a couple of the responses were as
close to personal attacks that I've had on the list. At the time I was
under a lot of emotional pressure so I didn't respond because I didn't
know if I was correctly interpreting the messages.

I do remember, however, that when I read them I was pretty hot under the
collar. One in particular annoyed me to the point that I slammed my desk
drawer and blurted out of few obscene explicatives which scared the people
in my office away.

Things have calmed down a bit since then, and I'd like to understand why
people felt that it was:

A) Shallow for me to quote Tom Peters

B) Why the quote I referenced isn't accurate

C) If there are indeed those who feel like my participation on this list
distracts from its usefulness and/or credibility (an implication I felt
was embedded in at least two of the replies). If so, I'd like to
understand why you may feel this way.

-- 
Ben Compton
The Accidental Learning Group                  Work: (801) 222-6178
Improving Business through Science and Art     bcompton@geocities.com
http://www.e-ad.com/ben/BEN.HTM
 

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