| A general view of the best possible institutional embodiment of purpose and principles. A perception of structure which could be trusted to be just, effective and equitable with respect to all discussions, decisions and acts in pursuit of purpose in accordance with principles. A perception of eligibility, rights and obligations of participants in the community. A general picture of the desired relationships. |
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- For the community: A way to describe the total system and engage the collective imagination.
- For the individual: A setting that will inspire hope and ease alignment with deeply held goals.
- "If anything imaginable were possible, what would be the nature of an ideal organization to pursue the purpose in accord with principles?"
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- Depicts potential functional relationships among participants and the organization's component parts.
- Specifies the legal shape of the organization, including the nature of ownership.
- Describes governance processes, including the initial decision-making bodies.
- A sense of the whole that is equally true for each of its parts.
- The dynamics of self-organization.· A starting point from which the whole can grow.
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- Clear, complete and coherent.
- Powerful connection to Purpose and Principles.
- Elegant simplicity that gives rise to complexity.
- Balances creative tensions.
- Suggests many possible starting points.
- Easy to see how current challenges and opportunities can be addressed.
- Continually suggests new possibilities.
- Holds many surprises for the uninitiated.
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- Simplistic, imprecise or overly complicated.
- Divorced from people's real experience of field or community - primarily utopian.
- Compromises Purpose or Principles in order to be "pragmatic".
- Suggests only one way to do things, one place to get started or, worse, no place to start at all.
- Attempts to anticipate every contingency and design for them all.
- Is not essentially different from what already exists.
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- Essential dimensions
of inquiry...
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- Nature of ownership.
- Resources, value flows and power.
- Structure and self-organization.
- Governance.
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- Developing a strong concept requires:
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- Refining a new vision of relationships among Participants.
- Identifying and letting go of conventional assumptions about organizations.·
- "Unbundling" concepts of ownership, participation and value.
- Deepening the inquiry into the organization's essential social function.
- Seeking higher level solutions to the creative tensions that will inevitably arise.
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- Requires the greatest amount of unlearning and the greatest leaps of imagination.
- Address issues one at a time - and be prepared to tack back and forth among them continually.
- Use images and metaphors from nature liberally.
- Warning: You always think you're farther out-of-the-box than you are.
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