Hi John, I shall have to follow-up "Different Drum" ... but strangely as I read the first half of your mail I was thinking ... Hey this looks just like formin', stormin', normin', performin', .... and now transformin'
A group has to come out the other side of something together to become a community. Thanks Ian On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 8:35 PM, John Carl<[email protected]> wrote: > On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 10:35 AM, Ian Glendinning <[email protected] >> wrote: > > [IG] Intrigued to hear your "theory" > > > Not so much a theory as a methodology, but what methodology doesn't have a > theory? and of course, it ain't mine, most of it is what M. Scott Peck > laid in A Different Drum and herein freely copied from wiki to satisfy your > intrigue. With this I now reading Royce's Philosophy of Community and > seeing how that blends, but I appreciate a lot of Peck's practical insights > from his years as an army psychologist and experiences in group formation. > I heard some sort of passing reference to Lt. Calley and it reminded me > that Peck was the officer in charge of the Army's investigation into the My > Lai massacre and talks about that in People of the Lie. > > > There is one snippet from below I want to especially point to: > > It is in this third stage that Peck's community-building methods differ in > principle from team development. While teams in business organizations need > to develop explicit rules, guidelines and protocols during the *norming* > stage, > the *emptiness' stage of community building is characterized, not by laying > down the rules explicitly, but by shedding the resistance within the minds > of the individuals.* > > > Here is the theory: > > Community building > > In his book *The Different Drum: Community Making and > Peace[7]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck#cite_note-Drummult-6> > *, Peck says that community <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community> has > three essential ingredients: > > - Inclusivity <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusive> > - Commitment <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commitment> > - Consensus <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus> > > Based on his experience with community building workshops, Peck says that > community building typically goes through four stages: > > - *Pseudocommunity*: This is a stage where the members > pretend<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretend> to > have a *bon homie* with one another, and cover up their differences, by > acting as if the differences do not exist. Pseudocommunity can never > directly lead to community, and it is the job of the person guiding the > community building process to shorten this period as much as possible. > > > - *Chaos*: When pseudocommunity fails to work, the members start falling > upon each other, giving vent to their mutual disagreements and differences. > This is a period of chaos <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos>. It is a > time when the people in the community realize that differences cannot simply > be ignored. Chaos looks counterproductive but it is the first > genuine<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genuine> step > towards community building. > > > - *Emptiness*: After chaos comes emptiness. At this stage, the people > learn to empty themselves of those ego > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego> related > factors that are preventing their entry into community. Emptiness is a tough > step because it involves the death of a part of the > individual<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual>. > But, Scott Peck argues, this death paves the way for the birth of a new > creature, the *Community*. > > > - *True > community<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck#The_meaning_of_true_community> > *: Having worked through emptiness, the people in community are in > complete empathy with one another. There is a great level of tacit > understanding. People are able to relate to each other's feelings. > Discussions, even when heated, never get sour, and motives are not > questioned. > > The four stages of community formation are somewhat related to a > model<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_(abstract)> > in organization theory <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_theory> for > the five stages that a team goes through during development. These five > stages are: > > - *Forming* where the team members have some initial discomfort with each > other but nothing comes out in the open. They are > insecure<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecure> about > their role and position with respect to the team. This corresponds to the > initial stage of pseudocommunity. > > > - *Storming* where the team members start arguing heatedly and > differences and insecurities come out in the open. This corresponds to the > second stage given by Scott Peck, namely chaos. > > > - *Norming* where the team members lay out rules and guidelines for > interaction that help define the roles and responsibilities of each person. > This corresponds to emptiness, where the community members think within and > empty themselves of their obsessions to be able to accept and listen to > others. > > > - *Performing* where the team finally starts working as a cohesive whole, > and effectively achieve the tasks set of themselves. In this stage > individuals are aided by the group as a whole where necessary, in order to > move further collectively than they could achieve as a group of separated > individuals. > > > - *Transforming* This corresponds to the stage of true community. This > represents the stage of celebration, and when individuals leave, as they > must, there is a genuine feeling of > grief<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grief>, > and a desire to meet again. Traditionally this stage was often called > "Mourning". > > It is in this third stage that Peck's community-building methods differ in > principle from team development. While teams in business organizations need > to develop explicit rules, guidelines and protocols during the *norming* > stage, > the *emptiness' stage of community building is characterized, not by laying > down the rules explicitly, but by shedding the resistance within the minds > of the individuals.* > > Peck started the Foundation for Community Encouragement (FCE) to promote the > formation of communities, which, he argues, are a first step towards uniting > humanity and saving us from self destruction. > > The Blue Heron Farm [2] <http://www.bhfarm.org/history.htm> is an intentional > community <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_community> in central > North > Carolina <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina> whose founders stated > that they were inspired by Peck's writings on community, although Peck > himself had no involvement with this project. > > [edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M._Scott_Peck&action=edit§ion=11> > ]The meaning of true community > > Peck describes what he considers to be the most salient characteristics of a > true > community[7]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck#cite_note-Drummult-6> > : > > - *Inclusivity, commitment and consensus*: Members accept and embrace > each other, celebrating their individuality and transcending their > differences. They commit themselves to the effort and the people involved. > They make decisions and reconcile their differences through consensus. > - *Realism*: Members bring together multiple perspectives to better > understand the whole context of the situation. Decisions are more > well-rounded and humble, rather than one-sided and arrogant. > - *Contemplation*: Members examine themselves. They are individually and > collectively self-aware of the world outside themselves, the world inside > themselves, and the relationship between the two. > - *A safe place*: Members allow others to share their vulnerability, heal > themselves, and express who they truly are. > - *A laboratory for personal disarmament*: Members experientially > discover the rules for peacemaking and embrace its virtues. They feel and > express compassion <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion> and respect > for each other as fellow human beings. > - *A group that can fight gracefully*: Members resolve conflicts with > wisdom and grace. They listen and understand, respect each others' gifts, > accept each others' limitations, celebrate their differences, bind each > others’ wounds, and commit to a struggle together rather than against each > other. > - *A group of all leaders*: Members harness the “flow of leadership” to > make decisions and set a course of action. It is the spirit of community > itself that leads and not any single individual. > - *A spirit*: The true spirit of community is the spirit of > peace<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace>, > love, wisdom <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom> and power. Members may > view the source of this spirit as an outgrowth of the collective self or as > the manifestation of a Higher Will. > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
