"The genuine will to know calls for the spirit of generosity rather than for that of economy...." (Herbert Spiegelberg, The Phenomenology Movement: A Historical Perspective, 1965)
It's an interesting thought. Generosity is easy to come by, so long as there is no competing, vested interest. What can enable a spirit of generosity when there is a real or perceived competition? What can destroy it?
This is an issue I feel increasingly drawn to explore. At a recent presentation, a colleague used a conceptual slide that is virtually identical to our material (by virtually, I mean that our copyright statement was missing). While no one can really claim ownership of thought, and many people may arrive at similar conclusions in roughly the same time through exposure to ideas, even mutual exchange, it was a relationship shifting shock to see someone feathering his own nest without so much as an acknowledgment--which would have cost nothing--or even slight changes in presentation, which would have cost minimal time.
Is this about the spirit of generosity? or generosity of spirit?
Is this really about differences in cultural values? or is that a convenient excuse?
It takes collusion to make such breaches work. Examples of collusion exist in everything from the supposed value of long hours of work to enabling error by "respecting" rank. In my case, it is merely a shift in relationship. In recent health care incidents, the cost is a life.
It takes a different kind of collaboration to create generosity in the will to know. It is a challenge Hong Kong must face, or accept the already visible loss of place in Asia.
Much resistance to change is about rationalizing preference at the expense of others. In Asia's "world class city", we have a long way to go.
Food for thought.
Records Management Policy for the White House
Records Management Policy Could Have Spared White House Embarrassing Probe According to Data Empowerment Group. That's the title of the article...glad to see I'm not the only one thinking that RIM is the issue in matters of accountability and transparency.
Have a read...thoughts? Tom Utiger neatly links the issue, sensibly, to a potential multi-million dollar USD risk to Fortune 500 companies. But to me, given the last eight years, the big question is, "how on earth does the USA manage NOT to have an RIM policy for the White House?" For that matter, how is it that my counterpart (on a much larger scale with a far more independent and legislatively supported mandate) Allen Weinstein seems to be silent on the matter?
IMnsHO, inability to grasp the import of a domain so often dismissed as warehousing is a key issue of our time.
After all, the foundation of knowing within organisations and societies is surely the record. And from what I have seen in 20+ years in public, non-profit and private sector roles, there is little appreciation of the value of accurate record keeping and virtually no understanding of the implications of the shift to electronic records in the general public.
Sadly, seen in some jurisdictions more than others, there is a sense of "so what", a culture that enables and hides falsifying the record. Corporate examples abound...I have run across a personal example in health care. The implications are significant. History is to be revealed...not crafted...if we are to know.
Have a read...thoughts? Tom Utiger neatly links the issue, sensibly, to a potential multi-million dollar USD risk to Fortune 500 companies. But to me, given the last eight years, the big question is, "how on earth does the USA manage NOT to have an RIM policy for the White House?" For that matter, how is it that my counterpart (on a much larger scale with a far more independent and legislatively supported mandate) Allen Weinstein seems to be silent on the matter?
IMnsHO, inability to grasp the import of a domain so often dismissed as warehousing is a key issue of our time.
After all, the foundation of knowing within organisations and societies is surely the record. And from what I have seen in 20+ years in public, non-profit and private sector roles, there is little appreciation of the value of accurate record keeping and virtually no understanding of the implications of the shift to electronic records in the general public.
Sadly, seen in some jurisdictions more than others, there is a sense of "so what", a culture that enables and hides falsifying the record. Corporate examples abound...I have run across a personal example in health care. The implications are significant. History is to be revealed...not crafted...if we are to know.
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