How do you get away from the deficit way of thinking?
In my last post I suggested that the quest for the ideal future diverts people’s attention from what is going on around them in the present moment. Always paying attention to the deficit between where they are now and the ideal where they would like to be, they miss the possibilities of the present.
Again drawing on Patricia Benner’s The Primacy of Caring, here are three questions she suggests that can open up possibility:
- "What can be done now, in the meantime (before the ideal can be realised)?"
- "Is there another way to achive the same end?"
- "Is the end in sight the most worthy?"
In looking for the possibility inherent in the current situation there is still the notion of desire or some good to be achieved.
Benner suggests that decreasing your reliance on a preconceived end or means of getting there can offer a new point of departure for new possibilities that were not previously available. To me, this applies as much to individuals in their personal lives as much as it does to people in organisations.
Stephen, Spot on! Reminds me of what Dave Snowden has to say about KM and I whole heartedly endorse:
“Knowledge Management should be focused on real, tangible intractable problems not aspirational goals. It should deal pragmatically with the evolutionary possibilities of the present rather then seeking idealistic solutions.”
best wishes David
Comment by David Gurteen — May 21, 2009 @ 8:50 am
I am a bit puzzled by the third question, Stephen, which seems to me capable of proking endless rounds of discussion about ends which might be more worthy.
Chris
Comment by Chris Mowles — May 24, 2009 @ 11:11 pm
Hi Stephen,
In reading your post, and David and Chris’s comments, a couple of quick thoughts came to mind.
First, in relation to the present-v-future discussion, I would see the (constructed) present as always including our perception of the likely/hoped for/feared future (as well as of the “re-membered past”, as I think Stacey et al would describe it). So, from this perspective, the “evolutionary possibilities of the present” that David refers to have, embedded within them, the current conceptions of past experiences and future aspirations.
Secondly, I agree with Chris’s point about Benner’s third question. And, besides the endless debate that this might provoke, who can say what will turn out to be the “most worthy”? In the complex social process that is organization, intention isn’t the same thing as outcome.
Cheers, Chris.
Comment by Chris Rodgers — May 26, 2009 @ 9:16 am
[...] we could do on a day-to-day basis to move ourselves forward. I drew on comments by Dave Snowden, Stephen Billing and John [...]
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