Figure
1: Dynamic Judgement Making
Here
is a critical question that occupies me at
the moment: How can we expect to resolve the
current crisis with the same means with
which we have created it? Is there a better
way?
This
question makes me feel restless and as an
adviser I try to transform restlessness into
constructive thinking and action. In this
regard I have been lucky in that I am
familiar with a conceptual mental model (see
Figure 1) that has proven itself over a
number of years in very many different
fields. For me it relates like no other
model to the critical questions and
challenges of today and so I would like to
highlight some relevant aspects of it here.
This model of dynamic judgment making
(after Lex Bos, former NPI consultant)
produces a connection between scientific and
humanistic thinking by guiding a person or
group through an alternating process of
cognition and action. It begins with the
question(s) (A) that a person or group
proposes. The posing of questions may and
should be understood here as a social art
such that there originate questions of range
and importance.
The
fields of facts(B) and definitions(C) are
considered first. This involves a kind of
pendulum movement that provides the
necessary questionning, reflection and
insight for the questioner(s) - this is
called the knowledge way. For example:
How much knowledge lies in the structure of
the current economic programmes and how with
lasting effect does the finance market react
to the knowledge from the constant crisis?
In the
right side of the model, on the so-called
electoral way, we start to consider and
question the values and visions in the field
of targets (D), and also through a
slide-logical comparison with the ressources
(E), to define possible action plans. Means
are to be understood in the sense of
ethical-morally concerns.
What I
describe here in a few lines is in practice
a process of several hours or even days (in
groups). At this point the individual or
group has arrived again at the source
question, and at this time the process
should be reviewed to decide whether the
question has been answered, whether during
the process other questions have formed, or
whether one begins a new loop through the
fields.
For many
years this model has been a citical tool of
a number of European management schools, and
in addition finds wide use in conflict
resolution, self-management and
organisational development.
Here
against the background of the current
challenges I wanted to give a short overview
of a potentially helpful model that may
contribute to lasting thinking and action as
well as to the development of more social
responsibility. Please contact me at
The Leadership
Alliance Inc. for further discussions or
questions; I am interested in sharing
thoughts and practical exploration.
