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An Emerging Profession: An Addendum

By Josh Brown ⋅ November 12, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

If you haven’t had a chance yet, you really need to give the other bloggers a read from the thoughts that they shared today.

The other bloggers are Adam Walker Cleaveland (www.pomomusings.com), Carol Merritt (www.tribalchurch.org), Wess Daniels (www.gatheringinlight.com), Julie Clawson (www.julieclawson.com), and Jonny Baker (www.jonnybaker.blogs.com).

I’d specifically like to mention Jonny Baker’s listing of some general comparisons between starfish and spider models, as they give better backdrop for my thoughts. The starfish column is on the left and the spider on the right.

CEO | catalyst
boss | peer
command and control | trust
rational | emotionally intelligent
powerful | inspirational
directive | collaborative
in the spotlight | behind the scenes
order | ambiguity
organizing | connecting

And you should really give Wess Daniel’s post a read. He creates a very insightful link between the consumption patterns of the more traditional top-down approach. I’m not sure why this idea resonated so much with me, but I don’t think I have ever really made the connection with the role “consumption” plays in the whole process. Below are my rather brief comments that I will hopefully build upon in the coming weeks, teasing out this connection between consumption and practice.

Wess, way to build the argument and situate in the proper context of consumerism. i think this a very necessary distinction to make. that consumption is as much of a framing starting point as anything else. and it is from this starting point that most organizational models flow. as consumerism reinforces and perpetuates the existing narrative, there can be no divergence from it. i think the ones who are starting to “get it” (whatever “it” is) are the ones who are wrestling with their relationship to consumption. those who are comfortable within their consumptive patterns tend to exist well within the current paradigms. this is not to say that i/we don’t consume. it’s just that there is a growing uneasiness with it. and it’s from there that a proper critique is forming and taking shape.