Muddling Through

[Chris Corrigan]

I actually think that muddling through is not a correction to the
conventional wisdom that stretegy and planning is the way to go.
Muddling through has always been the way.  The evidence is actually
overwhelming.  Show me something in the world, a finished process,
project, thing or event, that was not the result of muddling through.

Strategy is figuring out which way to muddle.  Good strategists are
great muddlers.  They seem to muddle in the direction of the resources
or of the political will or of the greatest benefit to others.

Planning is fun, and very useful for the short term,  like on the last
half day of an Open Space.  But planning that goes beyond "when will
we talk again" or a simple to-do list needs to be aware that the
muddle factor increases as the time frame increases.  More
importantly, and more seriously, planning that creates a complex long
term to-do list is both disempowering for people and largely
ineffective.  It ties people to the plan (rather than the other way
around) and limits exposure to true sources of inspiration and
innovation.

For a comprehensive set of data on the effectiveness of muddling,
check out the Nobel Prize winners speeches at http://nobelprize.org/.
When you come to a Nobel Laureate that says that their accomplishment
was the result of a great strategic plan, let me know.

Rather than crow about their planning, here is what one recent
chemistry laureate, John B. Fenn said.  He quoted the American poet
Walt Whitman:

"A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul"

How about that eh?

Chris

-------------------------
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

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