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  • 1.  What's a VABE?

    Posted 10-23-2008 21:35

    I didn't quite understand Jack's note about VABEs.  They just are.  Everyone has them.  Some have VABEs about objective assessments-but Descartes' Error was in not realizing that no human is purely objective.  Values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations about the way the world is or should be.  Jack seems to believe that we should be more objective in our analysis of the financial crisis.  I have no argument with that.  How people interpret the data, even what data they choose to interpret, will be a function of their VABEs...  They exist-everywhere, the viruses of the mind (Brodie). 

     

       Jim

    James G. S. Clawson

    Johnson & Higgins Professor of Business Administration

    Darden GSB, University of Virginia

    Box 6550, Charlottesville, VA 22906  

    100 Darden Boulevard, Charlottesville, VA 22903  USA

    Tel:  434 924 7488              Fax:  434 243 7680

    Web:  http://faculty.darden.virginia.edu/clawsonj

     

    From: Management Education and Development Discussion [mailto:MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Jack Ring
    Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:56 PM
    To: MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: What's Universally Human?

     

    Many people define sustainability not as 'an alternative to growth' but as 'the path that let's us grow as we please with least negative ramifications.' Until we agree on the meaning of sustainability we should be very careful about promoting it as an objective let alone a goal else we evoke the Law of Unintended Consequences.

     

    I suggest Gary does have an idea about how to persuade change.  Earlier he suggested teaching about paradigms and about "Why" instead of just "How." Both of these strike me as the roots of two great experiments.

     

    Meanwhile let's note that VABE's, while useful, omit a two key ingredients, notably, Objective Assessment of the results of prevaling behaviors and Pragmatic Foresight regarding any possible course of action. For example, to focus on (mis)behavior of managers who were simply striving to maximize stakeholder value within the Ponzi scheme created by U.S. Congress (called Fannie May and Freddie Mac) misses a key factor, the culpability of our elected representatives. Once they no longer represent our VABE's no amount of 'management' can overcome the consequences they set in motion.

     

    One definition of insanity is "continuing a behavior that produces unsatisfactory results." which certainly seems to presage the housing meltdown started by Jimmy Carter, accelerated by W.J. Clinton, and nursed by C. Dodd and B. Frank. Sure, all this put several hundred thousand houses in reach of those who otherwise could not have afforded them. How good was the result?

     

    The lesson to be learned is that we should be teaching how to learn.

    The larger HOW not being taught in management schools, especially in Public Administration, is Systems Thinking, Feeling and Doing. This is urgent. It may not be enough but it is the only remedy I can see to offset the  damage that can be wrought by those who graduated from Law schools.

     

    What other remedies are there?

     

    cheers,

    Jack Ring

     

    ----- Original Message -----

    Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 1:10 PM

    Subject: Re: What's Universally Human?

     

    Colleagues,

     

    Jack Ring asks me:  how to measure the presence (or absence) of this newly discovered God named Sustainability.

     

    1. Not a god... just an alternative to growth as the primary criterion for economic success or failure.

    2. Not yet discovered or at least not enough to be noticed in general media.  We hear about quarterly reports on growth.  Not other criteria.

    3. Not yet defined to my knowledge.  Indeed, I hope economists and others will establish criteria not dependent on ever increasing use of resources.  We can reverse population growth without reversing expansion of resource use.  The key will be productivity that enables shared high quality of life with declining use of natural resources.

    4. I have no idea how to persuade change to alternate criteria of economic health, nor how to measure "quality" of success against those criteria.

    5. I do know that we've over fished, over cultivated, over mined, over built, and over polluted far to much of our only store of natural resources.

     

    As to overpopulation:  We don't get more Einsteins by creating larger generations.  Among the websites on this topic, Ira Plato of NPR chose to talk to Paul Ehrlich.  see http://www.dominantanimal.com/index.php?page_id=285

     

    Overpopulation is the single greatest problem facing humanity today... except perhaps for the general resistance of humanity to perceive overpopulation as a threat.

     

    Best,

     

    Gary

     

    ...........................................

    Gary Lundquist

    Director@InnoSearchColorado.com

    Colorado Resources for Innovation

    303-840-9929 

    ...........................................

    GaryL@Market-Engineering.com

      Innovation of Business and

    the Business of Innovation™

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Management Education and Development Discussion [mailto:MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Jack Ring
    Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 6:30 PM
    To: MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: What's Universally Human?

    George,

    Please cite a) any "data from psychology" that shows the fallibility of Gary's model and b) the rationale for the likelihood of error in such judgement of fallibility.

     

    Gary,

    Pls tell us how to measure the presence (or absence) of this newly discovered God named Sustainability.

     

    All,

    Perhaps we need only the intent and will to apply two things that are already available.

     

    1) How about a Standard of Care? Professional Engineers and Nurses publish and abide by SoC. Few others do. Educators don't. Most 'professionals' hide behind statements of Ethics which only address behavior (also called process) rather than results. If we had a SoC for every authority then we could 'close the loop' with a) objective assessment of situation and b) effective corrective action.

     

    2) Bayesian Belief Networks which help us apply our 'intution' as well as our 'reason' to a) and b) above.

     

    Caution, War Story: A few years back I was on the Board of Trustees of an enterprise supposedly dedicated to encouraging and facilitating thinking globally and acting locally. We had 15 clear Principles to which everyone agreed as a condition of membership. Whenever a motion was made in a Trustees meeting I noted a lot of 'politicing' going on.  I suggested that we simply compare the motion or alternatives to the Principles to see how the motion scored. The majority of Trustees declared this to be unwieldy and unnecessary. The enterprise lasted only two more years.

     

    Now if you really want to make the world a better place for those yet to come, how about a Standard of Care for those to profess to educe understanding in others?

     

    cheers,

    Jack Ring

     

    ----- Original Message -----

    From: George Graen

    Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 2:58 PM

    Subject: Re: What's Universally Human?

     

    Dear Colleagues,

     

    I typically admire Gary's pragmatic insights, but this time I have questions about them.  The data from psychology do not support his "universal" differences between males and females, although his differences may be clear stereotypes within his subculture.

     

    I agree with Jim that unless we experience dramatic generational changes in VABEs that protect human survival on earth, our great grandchildren may well witness the end of days for humans.  What is needed are global movements to educate our future generation on our collective fate, unless we and they can save our deteriorating planet.  The "greatest generation" created this threat to future generations.  All educators must teach the folly in continuing to deny our destructive actions.  Let us light some candles, before we need to curse the darkness.

     

    Cheers,

     

    George Graen

    /jag



  • 2.  What's a VABE?

    Posted 10-24-2008 11:25
    Quite so. VABE's just are.
    John Dillinger had VABE's, as did Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and many other 'leaders.'
    I strive to highlight examination of whether any given set of VABE's is the best set and whether anyone knows how to gain assessments of their current VABE's. Two ingredients seem to be necessary. First is a willingness to reflect on one's own VABE's. Second is the ability to engage in dialogue that examines the effects of one's VABE's. In short, who teaches double loop learning and who teaches implicit systems and second order cybernetics?
    I simply suggest that educators of impending managers include lecture, lab and practicuum regarding acknowledging and assessing one's VABE's.  
    In my view Peter Drucker told us all of this and a few 'corporate universities' responded accordingly but few academic institutions have responded. Am I underinformed? Who teaches systems thinking, feeling and doing? Who teaches pragmatic foresight? Who teaches decision journals? Who teaches dialogue or other means for avoiding Descarte's Error?
    I do not presume that any of us should be teaching the 'right' values. I do think all of us should be teaching HOW to continuously detect and correct our values and WHY this is fundamental to serving others.
    Apologies for any confusion this may spawn.
    cheers,
    Jack Ring
     
    ----- Original Message -----
    Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 6:35 PM
    Subject: What's a VABE?

    I didn’t quite understand Jack’s note about VABEs.  They just are.  Everyone has them.  Some have VABEs about objective assessments—but Descartes’ Error was in not realizing that no human is purely objective.  Values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations about the way the world is or should be.  Jack seems to believe that we should be more objective in our analysis of the financial crisis.  I have no argument with that.  How people interpret the data, even what data they choose to interpret, will be a function of their VABEs…  They exist—everywhere, the viruses of the mind (Brodie).