Tom Asacker

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Outside in, not inside out

According to the twentieth-century theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich, a philosopher of religion looks at God and religion from the outside in; pursuing the truth as objectively as possible.  The theologian, however, is already "grasped by faith," and is therefore engaged and committed to an inside out point of view.

I'm presenting this morning at a rare gathering of Procter & Gamble's North American marketing managers and executives.   My job is to challenge their theology of marketing and branding with my brand of insight, common sense and honesty (so I've been told).

It takes wisdom, and a great deal of courage, to provide license to someone like me, someone from outside your organization, to speak freely and dispense frank, outside in observations about the marketplace.  Fully awakened people in great learning organizations - like P&G, G.E., Google, etc. - relish the opportunity to have their worldviews shaken.

According to Peter Senge:

"Real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human. Through learning we re-create ourselves. Through learning we become able to do something we never were able to do. Through learning we reperceive the world and our relationship to it. Through learning we extend our capacity to create, to be part of the generative process of life. There is within each of us a deep hunger for this type of learning."

What are you doing to reperceive your world?

 

Posted October 21, 2008
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