Is Theory Ethereal?



I started my first week of study in OMDE 610 with a rather skeptical view of the value of theory to become an e-learning practitioner.  I must admit, I still harbor some of those feelings.  But then I started reviewing the posts as a part of our conference discussions and reading the chapters by Ally and Anderson and began to question my stance.  Could theory actually have value to a practioner, especially in today's society when the expectations for immediate product development are so pressing?  And then I remembered an old story about leadership, and what it actually means when compared to that of a manager.  No, I don't remember the source; but I do remember the story.  It goes something like this:

There once was a manager of men whose job it was to build a road through a deep and inpenitrable jungle.  He worked his men hard, organized all his resources to ensure rapid progress, and within a month had made tremendous mileage through the forest.  One day one of his men came to him and said, but sir, look ahead, what do you see?  What they saw was a mountain range that was in the wrong direction compared to their target for the road project.  They had been productive; but had gone in the totally wrong direction.

While this story illustrates that you can be very productive as a manager, that doesn't necessarily mean that you will be successful.  It takes leadership, the ability to create an accurate vision as well as the fortitude to get others to carry it out that really measures success.

I share this story because of the value theory can bring to the leader as well as the practioner.  Doesn't the study of theory, and especially the understanding of theory and its appropriate application to a particular situation, offer the individual an incredibly important tool?  I think it does.  As my mother used to sometimes say to me when I was a child, "Chris, sometimes you've got to see the forest for the trees."

So have our conference postings helped me better understand the value of theory?  Yes.  The readings have certainly added to my appreciation of theory.  Perhaps as a capstone to this post I'll add this quote from Albert Einstein from our readings, "It is the theory that decides what we can observe." 

OK, OK, I think I'm beginning to get this.  :)