by Asim Jalis
1. I am reading Peter Senge's The Dance of Change. An interesting
idea he starts with is that the underlying metaphor for the
current phase of our civilization, the hidden assumption that
defines all thinking, is the concept of the machine. We see
everything as a machine. Managers are expected to drive
organizations. The manager is the intelligent driver, and the
organization is the machine that he must drive. We measure people
in terms of productivity and output, much as we would measure a
machine.
2. Perhaps a more appropriate metaphor for the organization and
for many other aspects of our lives might be the biological
system. In a biological system things are not as well defined.
Effects lag causes. Change takes time.
3. Use simulation games to train for the reality of business and
life.
4. There is a conflict between patterns of nature and the
patterns in which we think. Our logical mind finds the way nature
works counterintuitive. This is the source of dysfunction.
