Overview

It s easy for us to be reductionists. We ve been raised in the Newtonian version of the scientific method, wherein the universe is considered to be a huge mechanical clock, each part separate, discrete, and measurable. So we ask in nearly all situations, What s the driving force? Many of us work in U.S. businesses and are seemingly compelled to ask, What s the bottom line? We feel rushed, impatient. As you read the following chapter, however, see if you can be antireductionistic. Instead of boiling it all down to a facile, and therefore potentially more futile, formula, keep allowing your understanding to become more complex and therefore potentially more creative.

I think I have seen the western mistake. You are very able to distinguish things, but you are unable to put all things together. Your scientific conceptions, therefore, all have holes in them and numerous incomplete principles are set forth. If you continue in this way, you will never be able to repair this.

Hsia Po-Yan , Chinese Philosopher

Although no one would seriously mistake the map for the territory, very often people confuse assessment models with the person who is being assessed. It seems an obvious point that no assessment model, however sensitive or comprehensive, could ever fully capture or display the full range of a person s actions, feelings, thoughts, potential, and relationships. Nonetheless, whenever we re lazy we start to use models for labeling people.

I ve been in so many corporate meetings where people, when identifying themselves, immediately tell the...