Emphasis on creating a very special, perhaps unique work ethic with
these characteristics and utilizing certain social tools routinely to
cultivate an incredible group energy that is committed to
higher-functioning capacities together as a harmonious, unified
group. Emphasis on mutual regard and loving-kindness,
practicing, training, and using Dialogue, Presence, all the options
such as Peter Senge and Otto Scharmer and Betty Sue Flowers and Joseph
Jaworski have distilled into elegance over the years, as well as other
relational practices that allow us to grow and thrive together as a
collective force for Good. We live in our shared lives what AtL
/ wHe are all about, and we make it an exciting adventure in the
process. This could in part be another arena for some
interesting research by Senge, et al, if indeed they are the ones who
undertake this project with me.
We would be unhierarchical as much as we can be. On content
ideas I still hold the ruling vote, but in terms of how we work
together, this will be as totally democratic as possible, except for
one or a few things that are givens right up front, such as the
commitments mentioned above. We would also agree if something
isn't working, we are willing to say so and use Dialogue and Presence
toward the purpose of sorting that out and finding a resolution that
is probably going to be very creative and spontaneous.
=-
Imagine
a typical 'at-the-office' day for the staff of AtL/wHe.
Let's say I'm processing an article I'm writing, but I want feedback
from others to help me gain perspective of if I'm stuck
somewhere. One option any of us could implement is to invite a
group gathering. The person asking for group support designates
the structure of the group. It may be open to everyone, or it
may be limited to a small number. But who shows up is strictly a
personal choice.
So
in this case, I might shoot everyone an email for a group session that
day, and I want not too many cooks in the stew, so I limit it to 8
people. That means the first 8 people who show up are the ones
who would process with me. We agree these are normally short,
maybe 15 or 30 minutes, max.
We
would Dialogue, Presence, process, play and work together in this way
as needed.
This could as easily be used to process something upsetting, such as a
server getting spammed or a rude person on the phone which also brings
up the issue of how better to handle such situations. We could
certainly use this for any type of conflict among us -- at least as
one option for challenges of this nature.
