« Santa Discovery Stolen By Spaniards| Main | Blast From the Past »
Kat Splat
I've had the good luck in the last couple of days to get into a polite discussion on a blog about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. It seems like anymore that all people want to do is call each other names and scream and yell. I think it's a shame, and I'm glad to have had a good discussion with somebody who disagrees with me.
When I invented the MAT, the whole point was bringing people together on problem process areas without all the personalization and emotions that so often get wrapped up in these discussions. Network too slow? Custom applications too hard to integrate? These topics take on a life of their own in organizations, full of history and stories about the last guy who tried to make things better but failed.
If we could just talk about what the business does, what is our purpose in the world, and then the quality of those processes, we take the discussion out of the realm of anecdotal and emotional reasoning and instead start talking about solutions.
It's a big change for an organization, and I've found that it takes time for people to "get it" and change the way they look at problems. So many times each of us has a definition of a problem -- "mayor was inept", "president was out of touch" and we take these solutions and try to pound them into whatever the problem we have. We all do it -- it is part of human nature.
What I believe is that if we can define the problem in non-personal terms we are light-years ahead on the road to a solution. With IT issues, it is even better because with all the standards there are out there we already have a common language we can use for this description.
It was good to talk and find common ground. I know that the media likes to have a fight -- no matter what the issue -- and the rest of us can get caught up in it. You know, just when I think the world has gone crazy, I meet some people and we start working things out, just like people do when they're not being herded by politicians. Maybe we got a shot after all taking care of this world.
2 Comments
Leave a comment
Great site! You are so right! If we could follow these folks example and learn to have conversations without personalizing and demonizing and finger pointing and name calling, life would be so much more productive.
But until we reach a society where there is more of polite debate and less of the other, I am glad there are other options. I have had some experience with the MAT and this is one of the things I like so much about it. The fact that it is anonymous and people can really voice what they are thinking. Great concept, Daniel!
Dan I always enjoy to see what you are up to with the Mat. It was encouraging to read the comments written above. The more we remember that we are all in this together, and we are more alike then different. We are apt to make headway in finding common ground.
One thing I like about you Dan, is exhibited by the work you do. You are a problem solver, and that doesn't stop with your MAT program.