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In a message dated 7/1/05 4:17:27 PM, MareiKiele@web.de writes:<BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000A0" FACE="Arial" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2">And now - being given your little finger I want the whole hand!<BR>
Please, share the story of the Canadian Indian tribe and why throwing bones worked. I am sure it's a great one.<BR>
What would I need to offer on this market place of conversation to make you start typing?</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000A0" FACE="Arial" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"> If you come to Halifax: I could pay with a ten minute massage (which you might need after a lot off typing).</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
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Marei;<BR>
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I'll take your offer since Joelle and I will be driving 700 miles from Boston to Halifax. I have a brother in Boston whom I will get to see, along with his family, on this trip. I will need a massage, for sure. But, only 10 minutes? Are you an expert in reflexology? That might work. lol.<BR>
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The story is contained in the book "The Social Psychology of Organizing" by Karl Weick (2nd edition) on page 262/63. Actually, the whole book vibrates with Open Space principles and precursors, it appears to be a good read, from my brief thumbing through it. Joelle is the deep reader of this book, and related the story to me probably 20 years ago. I saw it in action in the company where I spent 28 years. Much thrashing about gaining virtually nothing. Many times less than nothing. Several long and disheartening stories about management blindness we may talk about some time. Planning for losses and bragging about making the plan (huh?); deciding 15% defective was OK because the defective product could be re-used and that became 'gospel' and part of the 'annual plan'. (Big Sigh---and I'm not kidding, all those who are slapping their hands to their foreheads in disbelief).<BR>
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The story is referenced from O. K. Moore's work "Divination, a new perspective" in </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><I>American Anthropologist </I></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2">59: 69-74; 1957. The discussion is about introducing complication to increase adaptability of the organization by use of random numbers or other randomizing methods. The Naskapi Indians of Labrador, Canada, faced the question every day of where they should hunt for food. They determined this by holding dried caribou shoulder bones over a fire. As they heated, the bones developed cracks and smudges which were then "read" by an 'expert' (I'm betting Shaman). The cracks indicated in what direction the hunters should go to look for game. The Naskapi believe that this practice allows the gods to intervene in their hunting decisions. It works.<BR>
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The underlying reasons are postulated as being the following and relate to the decision procedure:<BR>
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1. The decision of where to hunt is not a personal or group choice. If no game is found, the gods, not the group (or expert), are to blame.<BR>
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2. The final decision about where to hunt is not affected by the outcomes of past hunts. If the Indians were influenced by the outcomes of past hunts, they would run the definite risk of depleting the stock of animals. Their prior success would induce subsequent failure. (Paul's comment: your prior success will blind you to the emerging reality and will mean nothing when a paradigm shifts--See "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Christensen). <BR>
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3. The final decision is not influenced by the typical human patterning of choice and preferences, which can enable the hunted animals to take evasive action and become sensitized to the (repeated) presence of human beings.<BR>
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Thus, the use of 'bones' is a means of avoiding fixity of behavior when the emerging reality calls for adaptability, flexibility, creativity and originality. And, today's environment certainly calls for those traits, in spades, because the speed of change is so rapid </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><I>and</I></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"> far-reaching. It can enhance or destroy a business or other enterprise more quickly than ever before (I'm reminded of John Engle's efforts in Haiti---a social worker killed there this week).<BR>
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My point with the financial planners was that we were always so far off from the eventual outcome (comparing the December final annual plan with the December outcome one year later) that the time and effort could be dispensed with and instead we could begin to discover what was emerging and develop flexible, adaptable, and creative response schemes instead, using the freed-up resources to do it at no increased cost. Not only that, but it would be way more fun; would eliminate the monthly variance from plan meetings that occurred ad nauseum, which also had no meaning since what they were describing was already far in the past; and would focus people's attention on the important criteria for affecting real outcomes. But, the unstructured-ness of this approach just wasn't part of how they saw the world. The illusion of control is very strong.<BR>
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So, Marei, there you have the story. Looking forward to my 30 minute massage because this took the better part of an hour (finding the book, etc.) and I figure a 1 for 2, when it involves massage instead of typing, a good trade. lol. But, of course, you did not agree before hand so I can't hold you to more than 10 minutes. (big smile)<BR>
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Warmly,<BR>
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Paul </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"></FONT></HTML>
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