Preference Fetishes – when preference data becomes more important than what’s actually going on

Tom GibbonsOrganization DevelopmentLeave a Comment

Not long ago I was in a room filled with people who work a lot with personality preference data, as well as our own TMS work preference data.  I happened to overhear a snippet of a conversation between two people that seemed to be trying to figure out a problem someone had and that they were working with.  It went … Read More

The Archeological Approach to Self Knowledge – Digging for Understanding

Tom GibbonsOrganization DevelopmentLeave a Comment

The dominant approach in the West for gaining higher levels of self knowledge is all about digging inside ourselves until we find something of value (either diamonds or detritus) and then reflecting on our find to better understand ourselves.  What we do with that understanding hopefully improves us.  This archeological exercise is pretty much the only way we can imagine … Read More

Sh_ _ Happens – The Sequel

Tom GibbonsOrganization Development1 Comment

In our last e-newsletter we looked at the above phrase through the lens of two types of causality, formative and rational.  We often try very hard to manage our organizations assuming it operates by formative causality when in fact it often operates by rational causality and thus, sh_ _ happens.  In this e-newsletter we take a look at another type … Read More

Sh_ _ Happens – But What Causes It?

Tom GibbonsOrganization Development6 Comments

The first two words above have entered into popular language, especially organizational language within the past generation or so to describe that wide range of unpleasant and unplanned occurrences that we would just rather not have happen to us.  This graphic verbal pairing also legitimizes the very unpredictable nature of much of our experience. This pairing also encourages us to … Read More