For the upcoming group gathering at IM we will to do a small experiment which I am excited about and would like to share. What I have in mind is to use a spin off on family constellation technique but for a problem that was formulated by a group of people and for a global issue.
First a few thoughts about the technique. Family constellations is a pseudo-therapeutic method that draws on elements of family system theory. The technique attempts to reveal an unrecognised dynamic within multiple generations in a family and to resolve a burning question or a source of unsettlement. Strangers are assigned roles to represent a particular family member followed by an emergent dialogue. The person whose problem is discussed gets an insight into her situation by observing the dynamics between representatives. It can be quite fun, I do think that those engaging into such an activity have to be vary about own suggestibility. If in the family constellation lets say your Father says something, it docent meat that it has any actual relevance to what your father would say. It is very easy to confuse reality with the roleplaying. So I would definitely discourage using it for serious matters. But what I like most is the role playing and also the notion of being part a whole, a constellation. I am intrigued by the feeling of togetherness, bonding, coming out of nothingness. And once the session is over, the individual is back to her sense of self.
During the group gatherings at IM we explored various practices and tapped into the power which emerges from the group dynamic. Naturally, in the flow of conversations a few themes seem to be coming back. One of these themes is trust. A few times a shared concern about the changing nature of trust was pointed out. It keeps coming back in different forms and shapes. I became curios to design a conversation where we can discuss this topic, but in more unconventional way and see if we can push the conversation out of the usual discourse. I ask all participants, anonymously to contribute one sentence that in their opinion is alive when thinking about trust. From those sentences I extracted key concepts which we will use to do a role play. Each person will take on one of the concepts and stay in the conversation from that perspective. The following key points came up (all extracted form this collective analysis of trust):
Myself
Responsibility
Fear
Trust
Conditions
Needs
Other
Control
Change
Mind
Emotion
Time
Paradox
Future
I had to think of deconstructive meta move. At the core is taking a complex issue and break it down in small parts that allow to expand the entry points to access the issue. I will write about it in detail another time, it is a fun one to have in place when going meta. In the context of the upcoming conversation, the idea is to generate collective insight and possibly bring shared awareness into the changing nature of trust. Plus sharing of individual concerns and ideas is always a truly magical act of connecting.
I feel there is a lot of potential to use practices that are normally used to find individual, personal solutions and use them to boost collective intelligence. Most of all I am excited about the possibility to collectively diagnose culture based on individual insights and together undergo the process of healing, through understanding, connecting and sharing. Let’s see how the first experiment in that direction will go today, but I am optimistic about it.