Posted by Yogesh Malhotra on January 31, 1998 at 00:57:29:

In Reply to: Re: What Sustains the Knowledge 'Flow'? posted by Yogesh Malhotra on January 30, 1998 at 14:33:48:

Tom,

Thanks for your persistent 'quest' for meaning... The reason for referencing Bach is that it is currently our shared context within which it _might_ be possible to communicate 'meaning' beyond the pixels that are visible on the screen. One may discuss the same issue in terms of theories of personal construction, principles of organizational control, or in terms of Laurence Peter's (of Peter's Principle fame) 'prescriptions' such as Peter's Polka (If you can't get from A to B, you can find a way to get from A to C to B), or for that matter in some other terms. However, if we move to another context, we would need to spend a lot of discussion in trying to establish the framework within which the 'meaning' hidden in the exchanged 'information' may become explicit.

Getting back to your point:

>I believe I know how to leap from information to knowledge:

I believe that you know... I am just trying to remind you that you know...

>"given the context of potential for action that YOU need to accomplish..." I am losing the >message here!

However, what the relevance of the information is to your specific potential for action... only you can define that... since no one else knows it better than you do... Nevertheless, the gist of the message is that: try to think 'beyond' the limitations... while forgetting the assumptions that currently define the 'limitations' of whatever you are trying to accomplish... try to think how you would go about doing it if you were not bounded by 'what you know'... I am not trying to talk about some magic... what I am trying to do is suggest you to... go back to the fundamentals... and focus on what you are trying to achieve... focus on THE GOAL... and all the possible ways of reaching it, many of which may seem unknown, unproven or just simply different than "the way it has always been done." You have to construct the meaning out of the information in a way that it makes best sense for you given the context about which you are thinking.... I can only supply you the question marks... you will need to fill in the blanks that make sense for you...

[BTW, if you haven't read this business bestseller novel (THE GOAL) by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, it may be a good read to get the essence of what I am saying. However, here are a few lines from the introduction to the 1992 revised edition that may facilitate the process:

...No exceptional brain power is needed to construct a new science or to expand on an existing one. What is needed is just the courage to face inconsistencies and to avoid running away from them just because "that's the way it was always done." ... I sincerely believe that the only way we can learn is through our deductive process. Presenting us with final conclusion is not a way that we learn. At best it is a way that we are trained... We can all be outstanding scientists... The key ingredient is to have the courage to face inconsistencies between what we see and deduce and the way things are done. This challenging of basic assumptions is essential to breakthroughs. For a different path that leads to similar conclusions, there is also the Personal Construction Theory. ]

- Yogesh

• Personal Construction Theory

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