The first time I saw the "Wall," it emerged accidentally. In the
late 1970s, Donella Meadows led a three-hour workshop on Third
World malnutrition with respected international experts, trying to
build a comprehensive model, based on all their knowledge, of the
causes of global hunger. Before long, the chart included everything
from economic factors to politics to cultural values to international
trade. In the audience, an experienced lobbyist on food and peace
issues began moaning and shaking her head. Finally, Donella
stopped the session to ask if she was ill. "My God," said the lobbyist.
"All my life, I assumed that somebody, somewhere, knew the answer
to this problem. I thought politicians knew what had to be done, but
refused to do it out of politics and greed. But now I realize that
nobody knows the answer. Not us, not them, not anybody."
The "Wall" reveals some fascinating insights into the roots of
authoritarianism in our own thinking. Most people have grown up in an
authoritarian environment. As children, their parents had "the
answers." As students, their teachers had the answers. Naturally,
when they enter organizations, they assume that "the boss" must
have the answers. They are convinced deep down that people above
them know what is going on, or at least they ought to know if they are
competent. This mentality weakens them as individuals, and the
organization as a whole. At some level it absolves them of responsibility
in the organization's learning. It also predisposes them to cynicism
when events eventually reveal that the people at the top did not
have all the answers.
Conversely, when people in an organization come collectively to
recognize that nobody has the answers, it liberates the organization in
a remarkable way. I heard the reason articulated soon after we
incorporated the "Wall" exercise into the workshop. One participant
was a vice president of a Boston-based high-tech company. He had
studied Zen Buddhism for ten years and was a very successful and
creative engineer. After the exercise he remarked, "Many people will
say that once you recognize that you can never figure life out, you
have denied rationality. But that's not true. You have simply
recontextualized rationality. To search for understanding, knowing that
there is no ultimate answer, becomes a creative process— one which
involves rationality but also something more."
This, of course, is the state of being open. You realize, as the
"Wall" experience shows, that any "answer" you have is at best an
approximation—always subject to improvement, never final. You may
hone your rational ability to solve problems, and use that ability