DLS-CSB Admin Blog

DLS-CSB as a Living System

"Organizations are living systems," says Margaret Wheatley. "We want organizations to be adaptive, flexible, self-renewing, resilient, learning, intelligent --- attributes found ony in living systems."

More than two years ago, the College made known its intention to become more like a living system (as opposed to having machine-like attributes). We even talked about having meaningful conversations and making connections.

We hoped then that as the College organizes as a living system, each one of us would develop shared understanding of what is important, what is acceptable behavior, what actions are required, and how these actions will get done. We expected too that each one of us will demonstrate self-organizing behaviors and that school leaders will support these self-organizing efforts.

So the question is, "Are we a living system yet?" Why or why not?

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P.S. Before posting your comments, take time to read these articles (to ensure that the "conversation" is truly meaningful):

• The Irresistible Future of Organizing
• Goodbye, Command and Control
• Higher Education and the Forces of Self-Organization

posted by Adi @ 9:59 AM