The organization as commmunity is often mentioned. The following post I
received through another list. I requested the author permission, John E.
Glass, to present it here and to my Regional Community folk. He agreed.
John is also a coach. Check out http://www.coachu.com/ if you'd like to
explore the personal success coach approach to learning. There are many
topical resources available on learning issues. Here's John's list:
>The Top 10 Emotional Requirements of a Flourishing Community
>
>Many of us want a sense of community, but are unsure how to do it. By
>organizing a group of people (family, friends, work, etc.) and growing the
>following emotional/cognitive elements, community will emerge and flourish.
>
>1. Commitment
> Anything involving directed group interaction necessitates a
>primary commitment from all members to consciously participate in the
>process. A secondary commitment is to actively enact the remaining items:
>
>2. Honor/Respect of Others
> Honor/Respect for: all members, their respective human-ness,
>their doing the best that they can at all times, their preciousness, their
>vulnerability, their truth(s), etc.
>
>3. A Sense of Safety
> All members strive to cultivate a sense of safety for all other
>members to just be who they are. Of course there is a physical component to
>this, but what I mean is emotional safety. This excludes judging,
>criticising, etc. and includes supporting, nurturing, etc.
>
>4. Breathing room
> Part of the "communification" process is granting permission for
>all members to learn and grow; most of us, when given the emotional space
>to make mistakes and learn from them do just that. Permitting oneself
>and others to do that is vital to the life of the community.
>
>5. Trust
> Ultimately this means trust in oneself and one's own sense of
>knowing, but on a more day-to-day level, this means just what you think it
>means, i.e., feeling that members can trust each other in all areas.
>
>6. Nourishment
> A community needs to be fed just like any other living thing.
>Feed it daily by practicing life-affirming habits like meditation,
>exercise, laughing, playing, reading, etc. and sharing oneself with other
>members.
>
>7. Love for and of the community
> Love is a verb in this case -- Love for the community manifests
>in rigorous acceptance of all other members, love of the community
>manifests as rigorous gratitude for being a member
>
>8. Willingness to risk
> No risk, no growth, no nourishment, no community; openness,
>vulnerability, intimacy, self-expression are examples of risking -- the act of
>taking emotional risks is the embodiment of trust and growth.
>
>9. Acknowledgement/Expectation/Anticipation of conflict
> Please don't think that this is paradise! Expect the obvious --
>disagreements, conflict, emotional distress, etc. The key is to embrace it by
>acknowledging it and developing effective ways of moving through it.
>
>10. Fun
> No fun is no fun for anyone. Play, enjoy, relish in oneself and
>other members. Honor creativity, spontaneity, joy by making these a
>priority for oneself and the entire community.
>
>This piece was originally submitted by John E. Glass,
>Coach/Consultant, who can be reached at john@spti.org. John E. Glass wants
>you to know: I am a sociologist in Dallas and I coach, consult, and train
>others on how to create more community in their lives.. The orginal source: My
>brain, my experience, my education..
After reading these, I responded to John saying: "I would like to
distribute it with attribution to lists relating to learning - the
Learning Organization List and people in regional cooperation/community.
The word emotional can be a barrier. I wonder if you could come up with,
or there exists, Top 10 Logical Requirements of a Flourishing Community?
Here's my first cut -
1. Common interest
2. Proximity - geographic or telegraphic
3. Problem solving peers
4. Significance of the work
5. Sustainability and growth
6. Mutual aid
7. Economies of scale
8. Environmental scanning and management
9. Credibility
10. Language/communication
John responded that he wasn't aware of such a list of "logical reasons."
but that mine looked reasonable and I should define the terms.
Now I'm looking for feedback from the LO list on this and also wonder if
there are other top ten lists required to give a more complete picture? Is
the emotional list the only one that really counts?
-- Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel * e-mail: tjcdsgns@shentel.net My mission: "Regions_Work!" Why? "All markets are regional and the economy is global. Two or more crossing boundaries to solve a problem is regional cooperation." *TJCdesigns * Box 1444 * Front Royal, Virginia (VA) 22630-1444 * "True peace is dynamic. For sustainability, design with re-use in mind."Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>