Boundaries and Control

I've been half-heartedly following a desultory conversation on ACTKM on defining IM and KM (yet again). What struck me was the absolute need some of us have for boundaries and clarity. This contracts greatly with my client conversations which inevitably it seems focus on agility and responsiveness. Boundaries and definitions are of limited use in our organisation world when others refuse to play by the accepted rules. Not long after, I was trawling my science new feeds when I came across an item from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab a marine science education and research laboratory located in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Alabama. They highlighted the appearance of an invasive species of Australian jellyfish (Phyllorhiza punctata) which had mysteriously appeared in record numbers along Mid-Atlantic coastal waters. In typical Australian fashion, (Phyllorhiza punctata) are prolific feeders, out-competing commercially important fish species (no mention of how commercially unimportant species were faring!). While they tend to be fist size in Australian waters, once off the U.S. coastline they are quickly super-sized, commonly growing to the size of dinner plates. No one knows why they are where they are, or how they got there, just that they apparently lack decent respect for international boundaries. Once again, nature has thrown up an eerie parallel to our organisational lives!  http://press.disl.org/8_17_07dockwatch.html   Image:  Dan Martin/Dauphin Island Sea Lab