There’s a tradition of small group circles that go back throughout human history. In them the tribe (the people who are in the situation together) comes together face to face and try to make sense of where we are now. The tribe, like individuals in it, faces complex and many-layered challenges.
The challenges can’t possibly be dealt with by the individual. They involve others; they’re relational and need relational space to be worked with. Sometimes the challenges individuals and groups face are profound and existential. I believe we’re in one of those times now. I was writing writing recently, trying to point to where we are now. It wasn’t going well. One reason is that I imagine you’re aware of that as well though in your own way and your own language. Another is that
Mere analysis is not enough to help in this situation. We’re used to analysis and imagine that the more refined analysis will help us personally. It does help a little, and it’s certainly interesting - but it’s not transformative. Engagement is transformative. Participation is transformative.
By myself and with other I’ve led or co-led hundreds of hours of small groups based around engagement. Others have been conversation and sharing. For the most part the participative groups have been more powerful and useful. If a group experience doesn’t grab and challenge you, if it’s not about the stuff of your life why bother? At a time like this, nothing else will be enough. Groups based on ordinary or casual conversation are about the status quo. They reinforce it. We don’t need that so much. We need to find out where we really are with what’s going on. We want to know that.
Here’s what the difference looks like. (I’m following distinctions from my mentor Peter Block in sharing them.) These distinctions form the useful bones of small group work, though it is not limited to them.
The questions are answered in small groups of about three.
Rather than problem solve look toward what is possible now. “What crossroads are you at in your life and what’s possible for your now?
Rather than look at who to blame, look toward ownership, e.g., “How do you contribute to the difficulty you have.”
Rather than go along, look toward what authentic dissent looks like, e.g., “What do you pay lip service to that you no longer believe?”
“What talents are you holding in exile?” And more.
And more. After a short time in a small group the different small groups come together and the question is, “What struck you about that conversation?”
The challenge here is to consider these questions and others in light of a larger awakening and our contribution to it. We will have to be practical but without the safety that comes from personal and participative conversation, we’ll get lost in the weeds. Getting lost and confused in personal ego-battles has been the downfall of intentional communities far and wide.
This is a time for risk-taking and rising to serious challenges. The greater the capacity of the individuals to serve the whole, the more the group consciousness is clarified and available to all.
Social fabric is created one room at a time, the one we are in at the moment. (Peter Block)
I see an emerging network of small groups of many kinds working and informing each other. As more and more individuals participate, and more micro-cultures form and grow, the consciousness of the whole starts to shift. I believe that this is needed now and possible. Everything we do is a phenomenon in consciousness and consciousness has qualities and capacities we scarcely understand. Our individual consciousness is seamlessly connected to the vast consciousness of all though we’re typically so blinkered we only see our limited expression. A collective consciousness is possible.
All this challenge we have around social control, vaccines and the Great Reset, for example - name your poison - is also a problem in consciousness, or takes place in the theatre of consciousness. New elements are undoubtedly destined to come in and be seen. What seems hopeless changes. We don’t live in a limited universe though the illusion is compelling.
I’ll be offering groups in 2023, and expanded coaching for those who want to supplement with individual work.
more on this very soon . . . including opportunities to join small groups. (I’m working to overcome technical problems resulting from stepping away from Paypal and, at least partially, Google.
Thanks Andrew MacDonald for your substack. Leo: "This is a time for risk-taking and rising to serious challenges. The greater the capacity of the individuals to serve the whole, the more the group consciousness is clarified and available to all." I have also had the opportunity and pleasure to participate in and lead Improvement Teams and Quality Circles at the University aimed primarily at achieving excellence. In fact staff involvement in quality improvement stemmed primarily from W. Z Ouchi Theory, an attempt to bring "management" to the Japanese American model.
Oriented organization model according to motivation theories, which conceived the organized system as a team in the spirit of cooperation, mutual trust and personal skills is essential. Some conditions that must be met to form an improvement team or quality circle are: ----1) The objectives and tasks must be explained so that they are understood by all. ----2) Commitment to the team members with the objectives. ----3) Communication between team members must be open, accurate and efficient, the exchange of ideas and feelings. ----4) trust, acceptance and support among team members must be achieved.
----5) The team must use the skills, knowledge, experience and abilities of each of its members. ----6) Participation in work must be equitable. ----7) Faced with possible confrontations, they have to know the situation and promote constructive behavioral solutions. --8) They must know and apply appropriate decision making and problem solving. Teamwork brings richness in approaches, encourages innovation, represents groups and legitimizes decisions. This training also allowed me to be a member of teacher evaluation teams, allowing for greater support and advice to my colleagues.
Yes..what youve written really resonates..although i cant help wondering that this particular time..is kind of demanding a dissolution of this ..'mind..manufactured man we have been living and dying through..When one is at the bedside of a dying elder..as we are within ourselves and this systemic society..well....its little in the words and much in the hands..and heart..and the necessary grieving..that ...over time washes us of our identification...and rest us unto the pool of our interconnected nature ..humm..so many will benefit from..real and inviting encounters and the magically transformative consciousness that arises between our words...and broken open hearts..where we are children in the sandbox of life oce again..blessings to u old friend for your wise sharing..