Another good post by Chris Rodgers, about talking instead of systems. In his usual precise if dense style he unpicks how we often talk about organisations in ways that effectively disconnect us from reality.
And so, instead of thinking in terms of imaginary systems and seeking to act on imaginary wholes, we might choose instead to focus on the complex reality of the conversations and interactions in which we are actually engaged. These are both products of and contributors to the contingent circumstances in which we find ourselves in the present.
One version of this I encounter a lot is “meetings about meetings”. People gather to talk about what they want to happen at some future event, often using big abstractions about engagement, action, authenticity etc. And yet this planning meeting itself often lacks those very qualities. We’re, in effect, indulging in a fantasy about the future and lose connection to the present. Which is where all the action really is.
