Answer to Learning Disability with a Focus on Systems Thinking
Systems Thinking:
Answer to Learning Disabilities
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Introduction
The average life expectancy of traditional organizations is only about 40 to 50 years (Stephen, 2000). This is because they usually have tendencies to be retrospective and reactive, instead of being prospective and proactive (Cathon, 2000). ‘Retrospective’ in a sense that organizations respond to agents that are only currently present in their situation, similar to a passive treatment of issues where nothing has been done unless an agent for change is perceived as threatening. And ’reactive’ in a sense that organizations react to stimulus and not anticipating them in the first place –the reason why most organizations thrive only for a short duration, and not a lifetime, according to economists. While the deeper rationale for this behaviour and has something to do with what Peter Senge called as ‘learning disabilities’.
These kinds of behaviour are existent in all organizations to some degree. Certainly, it is also existent in all individuals making up the organization, as each member contributes to the characteristics of the organization as a whole. While being retrospective and reactive is considered a negative characteristic, being prospective and proactive is considered a positive one. The need for elaborating the negative characteristics or the so-called ‘disabilities’ must be tackled precisely by organizations and be made visible to their employees if, as an organization, they aspire to thrive in the business more than the average span.
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Analysis
An organization is a system. This statement is derived from the logic behind ‘systems thinking’, where a ‘system’ is defined as a “set of things interconnected for a purpose” (Cathon, 2000). Looking at the features of a business organization in specific, we can directly derive the correlation of this definition to that statement.
Answer to Learning Disabilities
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Introduction
The average life expectancy of traditional organizations is only about 40 to 50 years (Stephen, 2000). This is because they usually have tendencies to be retrospective and reactive, instead of being prospective and proactive (Cathon, 2000). ‘Retrospective’ in a sense that organizations respond to agents that are only currently present in their situation, similar to a passive treatment of issues where nothing has been done unless an agent for change is perceived as threatening. And ’reactive’ in a sense that organizations react to stimulus and not anticipating them in the first place –the reason why most organizations thrive only for a short duration, and not a lifetime, according to economists. While the deeper rationale for this behaviour and has something to do with what Peter Senge called as ‘learning disabilities’.
These kinds of behaviour are existent in all organizations to some degree. Certainly, it is also existent in all individuals making up the organization, as each member contributes to the characteristics of the organization as a whole. While being retrospective and reactive is considered a negative characteristic, being prospective and proactive is considered a positive one. The need for elaborating the negative characteristics or the so-called ‘disabilities’ must be tackled precisely by organizations and be made visible to their employees if, as an organization, they aspire to thrive in the business more than the average span.
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Analysis
An organization is a system. This statement is derived from the logic behind ‘systems thinking’, where a ‘system’ is defined as a “set of things interconnected for a purpose” (Cathon, 2000). Looking at the features of a business organization in specific, we can directly derive the correlation of this definition to that statement.
References: * Stephen, R. (2000). Creating an Agile Organization through Outdoor Training. Available at http://fablar.in/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Ravi_on_Agile_Organisation.9832337.pdf. Accessed on 2-May-2011. * Cathon, D. (2000). The Learning Organization: Adapted from The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. Hospital Material Management Quarterly. pg.4. * Lane, A. (2000). T551 Systems Thinking and Practice: A Primer. Course T205 Materials.