Question Authority!
When I was growing up this was a saying I often saw. While as a youth it sounded neat and cool. But something did not seem right in that absolute statement. It later became evident to me that this statement was actually slightly off the mark.
Question authority reasonably and intelligently and with respect. That is what I feel is appropriate. Of course it does not fit well on a bumper sticker, but it is nonetheless a better approach to things. Questioning authority does not unto itself show disrespect. It can often be used to affect change in a group or organization by establishing if there is too much authority, or not enough. Such Questioning of Authority can also be used to redefine responsibilities in defining the actual authority. Just because the Authority exists as it is now and is the “Status Quo” does not mean it meets the needs of those it is supposed to serve.
The “Status Quo” as we call it is the death knoll for all involved in whatever group organization or relationship it exists in. Life is a dynamic with outside influences constantly changing the shape and form of whatever it touches. From the change in political structure to a change in the supermarket you use there is a result on whatever you do in life.
From prices to television, things change, as such, “organizations” are required to change to adapt to the new environment they now find themselves in. One way to keep the dynamics internally from becoming chaos as a result of change is information communication. But even then this is a reactive methodology. Instead a proactive strategy of establishing sensors and observers outside the norm of the closed group can alert those who ultimately had the authority and responsibility within that closed environment to implement slow change in their structures to allow an easier transition into the change that is inevitable.
Questioning the Authority or Status Quo of a dynamic is an appropriate thing to do if done with insight and finesse. We all hate it when a child goes on a pattern of asking why to every answer you provide. Such is the case in dynamics using adults as well. But questioning things can often yield important information and opens the possibilities of finding new and potentially better ways to achieve the desired results of a dynamic. However most people are afraid and resistant to change even though the world around them is constantly changing and will force change upon them.
Most consulting companies today use MIS (management information systems) thinking they can identify significant changes that affect the Company. However, often those results are old and show that change has already had an effect on the Company or organization. The dynamics of the group now must decide if and how to react to that influence that has effected a change in the dynamics. MIS but those are only a small part of what should be done. How the information is obtained is as critical as the information that is obtained. And how far out to track things that can have these effects on a Group is always a question. Can an event in Guam have an impact on your group? Most people would say no, but how do you know? Today events from around the globe are available on the Internet. Sometimes they can start a trend, or a movement. Most often they are isolated events. But as with intelligence agencies around the world what may appear to be a non-event when taken into account with a number of non-events may in fact indicate an event or dynamic that is changing that can have little effect or major effect on a group or organization.
A drop in the value of the South African Rand an have an impact on many things and many [places from USA to China and beyond. I new political party in Paraguay may have potential to change politics in South America and change global trade. Is your company or organization tracking these events? Probably not! Most likely your sphere of operations is closed and lacks the interest in tracking events around the world that could present to you opportunity for phenomenal growth or keep you from global disaster.
There is no computer program that I know of that can draw correlations and causal effects without extensive programming. Such an undertaking would be enormous and would have to be customized to each organization. The computing capacity alone would make this task daunting and expensive. The programming would be laborious and monumental and it would be obsolete before it was finished, as parameters would be constantly changing.
Instead a global thinker or group of global thinkers who can combine as a form of a “think tank” to analyze and share data finding similarities and coincidences that may in fact have impact on your group or organization.
These people should not be hired to continue the status quo but in fact to challenge the status quo and to offer suggestions or information that would assist in smoothly transforming the Group and its dynamics based upon inevitable change.
For more information on how your organization or group can find better ways to develop this type of system contact me on this site.
