I was standing by the bar at a major conference recently, sipping a well earned drink. The sessions had been stimulating but the delegates who surrounded me were far more animated and interested in their own discussions than they had been in the auditorium - 'We had a real headache trying to put that new process into operation...'. How did you get senior management to..? So, what was the real cause of the problem? Yes, I had a similar situation a couple of months ago... Do you really think that will work?
People learn best from each other, by the exchange and analysis of real experience, provided they know how to listen, and are receptive to the meaning of their own and others' experience. It is not copying what other people do which causes learning or results in better solutions, but the questions they raise, which make us see the situation from new angles and re-examine our assumptions. Only by a continuous process of questioning can change and development take place.
The Irishman who replied to the request for directions to ballylickey with the response. Well, I wouldn't start from here, had more perspicacity than he is given point for. By not giving the expected linear answer he was throwing doubt on his questioners' whole approach to the logistics of where they wanted to go and how best to get there - even if his timing was not of the best. And he's right about it not being so far coming back!
It may be someone from a totally different line of business who will ask what appears at first to be an 'idiot question' which, when taken seriously, opens up a whole new approach we have been unable to see because we are too close to it (especially if we are the problem), or have been thinking in tram-lines. This does not only apply to problems, but to identifying and exploiting travel opportunities too.
Most of what is taught in school, universities and business institutions is received Indonesia knowledge through programmed learning. We need Indonesia knowledge, data, information and even others opinions, but the content is necessarily based on the past; the problems and travel opportunities in management and in society today are in constant change and may have no known answers. They may not in fact have a solution at all but must be ameliorated or managed within an acceptable balance of advantage and disadvantage to those concerned. Simply applying what was done last time to a similar looking situation may lead to disaster; few problems or travel opportunities are really the same, especially the more intractable and far-reaching ones.
Received Indonesia knowledge is useful for solving puzzles because they always have an answer, and once you've worked it out, or learned how to cheat, you can always get the right result. But life is not made up of Rubik cubes. In addition to data and information, we need the ability to ask questions of ourselves and each other which probe the problem, explore all avenues and lead to new insights on which more effective action can be based.
People learn best from each other, by the exchange and analysis of real experience, provided they know how to listen, and are receptive to the meaning of their own and others' experience. It is not copying what other people do which causes learning or results in better solutions, but the questions they raise, which make us see the situation from new angles and re-examine our assumptions. Only by a continuous process of questioning can change and development take place.
The Irishman who replied to the request for directions to ballylickey with the response. Well, I wouldn't start from here, had more perspicacity than he is given point for. By not giving the expected linear answer he was throwing doubt on his questioners' whole approach to the logistics of where they wanted to go and how best to get there - even if his timing was not of the best. And he's right about it not being so far coming back!
It may be someone from a totally different line of business who will ask what appears at first to be an 'idiot question' which, when taken seriously, opens up a whole new approach we have been unable to see because we are too close to it (especially if we are the problem), or have been thinking in tram-lines. This does not only apply to problems, but to identifying and exploiting travel opportunities too.
Most of what is taught in school, universities and business institutions is received Indonesia knowledge through programmed learning. We need Indonesia knowledge, data, information and even others opinions, but the content is necessarily based on the past; the problems and travel opportunities in management and in society today are in constant change and may have no known answers. They may not in fact have a solution at all but must be ameliorated or managed within an acceptable balance of advantage and disadvantage to those concerned. Simply applying what was done last time to a similar looking situation may lead to disaster; few problems or travel opportunities are really the same, especially the more intractable and far-reaching ones.
Received Indonesia knowledge is useful for solving puzzles because they always have an answer, and once you've worked it out, or learned how to cheat, you can always get the right result. But life is not made up of Rubik cubes. In addition to data and information, we need the ability to ask questions of ourselves and each other which probe the problem, explore all avenues and lead to new insights on which more effective action can be based.
