Subject: Metaphors - From Ralph Brauer

Posted by Lees Stuntz on 2/1/2006
In Reply To:Metaphors Posted by Richard Turnock on 1/27/2006

Message:

Here is an interesting e-mail from Ralph Brauer:


Saw the posting about metaphors and feedbacks. I don't know if it will help. but this is the one we used in the AASA article. Remember it was written for lay people with no knowledge of SD. It grew out of our belief that one of the main mental models we needed to deal with up front was the notion of linear change. If people could see that change was not linear, we felt we had done our job re the Blandin workshops.


"Among the most important insights was that we came to see the idea of feedback was not a one-way street (I received
feedback from you), but a loop (I received feedback from you and my reaction in turn influenced you). Soon we
began recognizing a variety of school system functions in terms of these loops."


I also remember, but cannot put my hand on it, that Donella Meadows had a great example in Global Citizen.