In his discussions of building dams with the Navajo as a young white man in the 1930s (West of th Thirties), E.T. Hall describes how he had to adapt to the ways that were culturally acceptable to the them. As a white manager, and as a young man, he started off coming onto the site noisily, slamming the car door …
New PeopleFit Class
For those who are interested in RO but know little, here is a great introductory course led by Glenn Mehltretter and Michelle Carter of PeopleFit. I’ve gone to one of their classes before and it was one of the best training classes I’ve ever attended. It even rivaled my own, which is high praise coming from such a fathead as …
Knowledge Sharing
An article by James Roberson (“CMb 2004–16: ‘Knowledge sharing’ should be avoided“) got me thinking about the problems inherent in the dictive to share knowledge. You know what happens: the boss, who is too small to be your real boss even though he’s your boss’s boss, gathers everyone together and points out that y’all missed some great opportunities because what …
On Implementation
I’m getting more curious about issues of implementation. I admit that I’ve been more in the theoretical sphere, or simply more curious what it means for individuals within organizations. It’s obvious that implementation has several issues coming along with it, the most important being the same as for any change effort: we still have to get widgets out the door …
Another High Moder
I could probably take over a large part of the powerbase in the world with these men and women. Or at least pull a Cecil Rhodes and determine history for the next 100 years or so. I do need a hobby and that would provide me with endless entertainment.
The Social Nature of Knowledge and Learning
I’ve been reading The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. They have an interesting chapter on knowledge and learning, making the point that you can’t capture knowledge: it’s resident in the social network of your group. Sure, individuals have knowledge, but that knowledge is socially created. And you can’t give it away very easily: Curiously, …
Research Questions
Does a requisitely/naturally organized company have managers that can make better performance evaluations? Does performance matter? More specifically, does what American corporations currently call performance matter? Is this not just a cover for failure to declare clear accountability? Why, when I agree with so much of the Emergence people, do I get so ticked off reading their stuff? (For example, …
Coding CIP Too Low For Strategic Thinkers
Recently I coded a interview with a young programmer for Complexity o Information Processing. This should give a good idea of where someone sits on Jaques’s charts, to be checked against the actual work peformance of the person. I am qualified (but not certified) to determine Strata 1-3, with a possible on 4. Unfortunately, almost everyone that I have coded …
War and Peace and Organizations
It’s interesting to read Tolstoy on organizations. I’ve not gotten this far in War and Peace yet but I saw this mentioned in Senge’s The Fifth Discipline. Tolstoy has a amazing insight into things: you have to regret the loss of him leaving his art later in life.
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Project Management vs. Getting Something Done
When Project Management goes sour, it does so because it becomes more about completing the items on the list rather than accomplishing the end goal. Software engineers have made this such a regular lament that you have to believe it has entered into folklore as a song cycle.