Tom Munnecke rote: (01)
> Re: a new word. The fact that you had to name 4 words to describe
> similar things indicates that we are dealing with an abstract class...
> perhaps moving the discourse to a pattern language would be easier. (02)
We clearly lack a word or words, and the terms we use are often overloaded
to our detriment. (03)
We tend to use "group" as a collection of those in one (perhaps virtual)
place rather than as a self-defining set of individuals who mutually agree
that they are the "group". (04)
In industry, a "team" is that collection of individuals assign to work
together on some set of tasks. We then have to distinguish a "jelled team"
(from Peopleware) as a team that actually functions as a team (try to make
sense out of that and you can see the problem). (05)
There is a concept I encountered years ago that works well for me, called a
"covenanting group". This term has been co-opted by various religious
organizations recently, but it is an observable, general phenomenon. (06)
A "covenanting group" is a group that comes together with some common
(though often not explicit) vision of what they want to accomplish with this
group, and the willingness to "do what is needed" to make that happen. (07)
A covenanting groups exhibits behavioral characteristics that are
identifiable (they are also identifiable in "jelled teams, showing that
covenanting groups can be developed or evolved as well as forming
spontaneously). (08)
* Individuals "turn on" (get inspired, have something to contribute) at
different times as the discussions move forward.
* When an individual turns on, the group shifts their focus to that person,
and listens, providing questions and ideas as needed to help that person
express their ideas fully.
* Individuals are recognized and respected for their expertise and
understanding in certain areas, and the group makes use of each person in
the areas of their expertise.
* There are discussions and as many disagreements as in any other groups,
but the covenant is usually strong enough to keep the group together and
allow the mutual respect to resurface once the issue has been resolved.
* Such groups often have a feeling of being the only possible group that
could do what they are doing.
* Experiencing such a group can give one the feeling that "these peoples
know some mystical secret that I don't -- they are all so happy". (09)
It may be possible to have a covenanting group that doesn't *do* anything,
but I have trouble with the concept. All the examples I know of have some
sort of project(s) that they work toward, even if it is only social
interaction (though that seems to be a bit weak, it is possible). (010)
Years ago my (now) wife and I ran and experiment with a discussion group at
an evening meeting. This group was one my wife had formed with nothing more
than "if people will agree to meet, we will discuss interesting things and
have interesting experiences", so they were set up for this meeting which
had no disclosed topic. (011)
* We had people count off and then join groups based on their number. This
was to split up those who were sitting together to try to get as close as we
could to a mixed group of strangers.
* We had each group go through a series of steps, announced just before they
were to do them, so they had no notice of what was coming next.
* 1) Each individual in the group introduced him/herself and gave a short
statement on their interests and background.
* 2) Each group was to determine some product or service that the group
could conceive of developing. The were restricted to real products and
services, but not restricted to projects that were possible with current
technology.
* 3) Each group was to write an advertisement for the product or service.
* 4) Each group picked a spokesperson to present the idea for this project
and their advertisement to the group. (012)
There were some other steps in balancing the groups, but the results were
extremely interesting. The statement that we heard from *every* group was
"it amazed us that this group with the *exact talents* necessary to this
project should show up by accident like this". (013)
We didn't follow up on this with actual attempts at implementing the ideas,
but I have since experienced this reactions in impromptu settings. (014)
We have discussed since then what it takes to generate or discover a
covenanting group, and how such a group can transform itself into a
functioning organization that functions well in the real world. We don't
have definitive answers, but here are some of our ideas: (015)
* Make the covenant real. Call it a vision statement, group goals, whatever,
but get the covenant expressed in such a way that all of the people in the
group not only accept it but recognized that it matches their purpose for
being in the group.
* When adding to the group, make as certain as you can that the new
individual understand the covenant and agrees that it matches with their
personal reasons for becoming part of the group.
* Make it easy for individuals to express discontent with the degree or
manner in which the group is adhering to the covenant.
* Make it easy for individuals to leave, and possible to ask individuals who
are destructive of the covenant to be asked to leave.
* Understand as much as possible of covenanting groups, whet they are, how
they come to be, and how they operate so as to maximize the possibility of
keeping the organization as a covenanting group. (016)
Given that, I think that among the first "people steps" is asking for the
personal stories: (017)
* Who are you?
* What are your interests?
* Why are you interested in this group?
* What do you hope to gain from the group?
* What would you like to contribute to the group? (018)
If there is enough commonality in the "why are you interested" (and there
should be) then we may have discovered a possible basis for the group. (019)
Then there may be some value in a discussion of "what is this group about,
really". Without the individual perspectives, the discussion comes from too
many directions to be effective as a starting point. I think that discussion
should *start* with Eugene's explanation of the vision he held when he
formed the group. After all, most of us are here because Eugene said "come
along and we will do something interesting with collaboration", and hardly
anything beyond that. (020)
Thanks, (021)
Garold (Gary) L. Johnson (022)
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