Discussion: View Thread

From: John L. Naman <jnaman@rhsmith.umd.edu>

I would like to request ideas and opinions (and facts!) that will help in
trying to understand the trends in management and corporate education and
development. I intend to compile MG-ED-DV List responses into a single
document that will become vital input to the Academy of Management's
strategic planning exercise. The central concern is What environmental
forces/trends are affecting management and corporate educationand
development providers? We are interested in trends and forces that affect
academic professors, practitioners, and professional trainers, that is just
about everybody on the MG-ED-DV list. We are interested in learning about
trends in all countries and educational contexts. Please share your thoughts
and predictions back to the list, preferably using the word "Trends"
somewhere in the subject. Prognosticate, forecast, and predict!

--
John L. Naman, Ph.D.
Management and Organization Department
Robert H. Smith School of Business
University of Maryland, College Park
<jnaman@rhsmith.umd.edu>

Richard Seel <richard@new-paradigm.co.uk> comments:

John Naman asks:

>I would like to request ideas and opinions (and facts!) that will help in
>trying to understand the trends in management and corporate education and
>development.

I find myself increasingly helping managers explore the implications of
treating organisations as living systems rather than mechanical ones.
Sometimes I use concepts from complexity theory explicitly but usually I
spend my time asking 'what if' questions and facilitating discussions of
ways to manage without the almost hard wired assumptions of command and
control which still seem to characterise most of the managers I meet.

I have to say that mostly they are excited and feel liberated by being
able to undertake these explorations but there is still the challenge of
brining these ideas back into the workplace and turning them into daily
realities.

So, one trend I see is an increasing familiarity with the concepts of
emergence, complexity, connectivity, local rules and encouraging
variation.

Best wishes,

Richard.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Richard Seel

New Paradigm Consulting
Organisation Consultancy & Development
richard@new-paradigm.co.uk
http://www.new-paradigm.co.uk

Seabrink, Beach Road, Bacton Green, Norfolk NR12 0EP, UK.
+44 (0)1692 650 706