The following comments were received from visitors to www.WingedHorse.com. From these early comments www.Otherviews.org grew and along with it a commitment to give voice to and more importantly listen to other views...becausee that is how we learn, by challenging our assumptions and exploring the alternative viewpoints. The great discoveries and achievements were not bolts of lightning or instantaneous moments of devine inspiration but the result of minds disciplined to look beyond the assumptions. Creative genius is not a god given inspiration but the result of focus and persistence. The exploration of alternatives and the search for perfection are the things that make us human.
THIS WAS THE FIRST EDITION OF COUNTERPOINT *
"...change is really about instability...in the real business world you try to avoid change because if you change too much it is assumed that you haven't been doing your job."
J.P.
Wings: True, change happens because a system is unstable, but consider that in biological systems the absence of change is one way to define the absence of life... or put another more blunt way; death. Change is an inevitable part of any viable system, without it there is stagnation and death.
If a system is viable [this is another question entirely] then there will be change and the the effective management of this change must be a part of the effective management of any organization within the system. It is not up to management to deny change and it is an even less appropriate for management to fail to anticipate and respond to change. In fact you might say that the fact of change is the primary purpose for management's existence.
If a system were completely "stable" [without change] management would be theoretically unnecessary because every activity would be endlessly repeated and little or no supervision of the organization would be necessary. Not only does this "ideal" not exist, who would want to be there? Change is an opportunity [for most of us I hope].
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"This vision business is hocus-pocus... just pay attention to what is happening now and you'll be a lot farther ahead."
A.J.H.
Wings: hmm..."This vision business" is what puts one foot in front of the other, navigating the opportunities and obstacles of the near and distant future. The question and dilemma is how far into the future is appropriate? The answer to that is another question: How far is necessary to be a leader and how far to negotiate the winding stairs that are immediately in front of you? How much is really necessary?
There is no question that "vision" is an essential component of survival, the question, again, is how much is essential? There's a point where vision can become a handicap, where the "now" is made more difficult by a vision of how it will eventually be. That difficulty is really a problem of discipline not of the appropriateness or futility of vision. In the end vision is the kind of stuff, like fine wines, that you can't possibly have enough of provided that you have the discipline to use it appropriately.
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"I think that too much "vision" is a VERY BAD thing because it means that you aren't focused on the here and now and the day to day problems in favor of looking out the window."
G.P.M II
Wings: Even "looking out the window" can be a way of focusing, the question is not about the whether of focus but about the what of it. Unfortunately one of today's most debilitating diseases is the misconception that results can me only measured materialistically in today time. Materialistically it is unfortunate because all great products of our world resulted from someone taking a pause to look out the window.
