This is a post in my series on organizing ”between and beyond.” Other posts are here. This is a retrospective of what has happened during the week. The purpose is to reflect on the work itself. Here is my previous retrospective. Here is my next retrospective.
What has happened? What needs to be done?
This week I’ve read Evelyn Fox Keller’s biography A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock. Barbara McClintock was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Here is my book review. Barbara McClintock pushed her observational and cognitive skills so far that few could follow her. She stressed the importance of having a ”feeling for the organism.” It was her conviction that the closer her focus, the greater her attention to the unique characteristics of a single plant, the more she could learn about the general principles by which the plant as a whole was organized.
Likewise, I think the greater the attention to the unique characteristics of a single organization, the more we can learn about the generative order for organizing. Paraphrasing Barbara McClintock, it’s important to have a “feeling for the organization.”
What was good? What can be improved?
I make progress, but—again—would like to spend more time on this work than I actually can.
Related posts:
Organizing in between and beyond posts
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