Thanks,
Skye.
Indeed
Arie de Geus is one of my favorite authors since the publication of his seminal
HBR article "Planning as Learning", in 1988, to the publication of
his book "The Living Company", that you mentioned.
Having
been a practitioner, that entered Shell after the University, in the
Netherlands,
as an Engineer, and retired as V-P for Strategic Planning of the Shell Group,
his study on the longevity (and learning, adaptation and change) of companies
is a master piece.
Being
a modest person, he is much less well known then the presumptuous academic
Peter Senge that has tried to "discipline" the so called
"Learning Organizations" with limited success.
It
is interesting to note that, in his Forward to de Geus' "The Living
Company" (a book with limited sales), Peter Senge wrote: "It was through Arie
de Geus, whom I met
over 15 years ago, that I first became seriously acquainted with the
concepts of organizational learning. That meeting began the journey
of a life time".
Interestingly this words are not also
in the beginning of Senge's well known "The Fifth Discipline",
neither in any other book or paper from Peter Senge that I have red.
Even if de Geus was the precursor and Senge the
follower, last year de Geus, that lives in the UK after his retirement,
accepted to give a Conference for the SOL-UK, in London, with the
title 'ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING – 20 YEARS POST SENGE - a talk by Arie de
Geus'.
My complain to the Executive Director of SOL, where I
have quoted Senge's words above, and said that "the title of this
presentation is erroneous and even unethical, if not fraudulent" never
received an answer...
But probably things will self-organize one day...
Regards
Artur
________________________________
From: Skye Hirst <[email protected]>
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2011 1:54 PM
Subject: [OSList] Skye on living companies
Thanks Arthur - reminds me of the thoughts of Arie deGeus in his book on "The
Living Company" who studied what makes companies last beyond 40 years.
He makes an analogy between oxygen for living organisms and money for
companies. "To support life, we need oxygen to breath; but breathing oxygen is
not our purpose. Similarly to support continued operation, companies need to
make money and profit; but that is not their purpose. When it is made their
purpose they become money machines; rigid mechanisms unable to adapt and learn."
Skye Hirst, PhD
The Autognomics Institute
Perceiving the Process Nature of Life-itself
[email protected]
www.autognomics.org
Twitter @autognomics
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