> For example, how do you run a good consensus meeting? Start from scratch and probably make elementary blunders, leading to sullen participants? Or grab say Starhawk's book and arm oneself with common patterns?
I completely agree.
Where I diverge from the path I see a lot of people take is when you start believing in those books with a fervency, without going through the process on your own. Use them to inform, not instruct.
A great example is the Toyota Production System book. People who go for 'kanban' and 'mura muda muri' and ape the terminology and methods have it all wrong - the whole point is that it's a system they built for themselves. It's great advice on how to build such systems, but if you just take it off the shelf and try to use it as is, again, it'll feel like someone else's underwear since it wasn't built to fit you.
I completely agree.
Where I diverge from the path I see a lot of people take is when you start believing in those books with a fervency, without going through the process on your own. Use them to inform, not instruct.
A great example is the Toyota Production System book. People who go for 'kanban' and 'mura muda muri' and ape the terminology and methods have it all wrong - the whole point is that it's a system they built for themselves. It's great advice on how to build such systems, but if you just take it off the shelf and try to use it as is, again, it'll feel like someone else's underwear since it wasn't built to fit you.