Dec 25, 1997 Christmas Day, the beginning of the end of the old year, the glimmer of a start for a New Year. A New Year deserves a new project and one has been brewing in my fertile imagination. I have spent about 5 months on this list and it has been my primary source of learning about lists and their participants. About two months ago, I got involved with the [isg] list about information and governance that was initiated from Europe. There were common members on both lists and new individuals (for me) on the [isg] list. On both lists, I have tried my own experiments and watched the efforts of others to determine their effectiveness. It has been fascinating but somewhat unfulfilling in that there are a bunch of very knowledgeable individuals, each describing their part of the elephant, accepting kudos, defending against attacks, but eventually, my feeling is, that we remain ships passing in the night. Reassured that there are others like us but each carrying our own cargo to our own destination. I have asked myself, how do individuals function as group? I have had two experiences in which this has happened to me. The first was the Canadian Army and that was accomplished in basic training where we were all subjected to a certain state of miserableness so that we banded together as brothers. The second was on construction sites where many come together for a common purpose, each bringing their separate skills and the task at hand blended us together. One was subjective, the other objective. My perception of my experiences on these lists, is that we do not have a common experience nor do we have a common goal, ergo we do not have a group and we get nothing done. So what can be done? Leadership, requires someone to act. If the action can attract others then the participants become greater than the sum of any individual's actions - it can then become a group. I am choosing to act. I have long admired the roundtable discussion led by a participant moderator. The moderators task is to assemble a number of individuals, present a topic or question and then allow everyone to discuss it. In the course of discussion a common experience grows and from that common experience a group may evolve - or not. Here is my project. I have invited three authors to participate by using their written work in a particular book. I will not identify these authors by name - or their book - in fact I may even conceal their identity when they refer to an identifying quote such as a previously published work. I intend to take a paragraph from each author and post it as one message. I will, as the fourth member of this fledgling group post my message which will contain what I found most interesting, controversial, or relevant. The subject line will be the identifying thread, for example FW Author 1 will refer to the first paragraph from all three books and so, when and if you choose to respond, it will help if you stay with the thread by retaining the subject line. These individual books where chosen by serendipity. I went to my library and browsed and ended up taking home three books. As I started reading them, I saw the possibility of this idea. There are no rules and I will control the amount of posting from the original three unidentified members based on my time and energy. Your role, should you choose, is to participate and contribute. I would caution you that this project may go on for a number of months as we try and blend our collective knowledge using the three author's ideas as stimulus - or not. If I have any criteria for trying this experience, it is self-interest - not in the capitalist sense of monetary gain, but in the human sense of trying to understand myself and others. I will continue this as long as it interests me and assume no obligation to make it interesting for you. I will assume that you participate because it is of interest to you, as there is no reward to be had from others. Let the adventure begin! Respectfully, Thomas Lunde
