(2003-12-11) Schuman Shared Purpose

Bruce Schuman on his model of a Coalition vs the Shared Vision model of Chaordic team design. As emphasized in this first step, a primary principle of the "Chaordic Design Process" is that working groups should establish a single common purpose shared by all members of the group... After a number of years being involved with groups that have followed this model, working to create a single purpose to be shared by all members of the group, I became convinced that this approach to group dynamics may be flawed in a number of ways... In the context of holistic and complex group processes, involving many factors, the participants do not become involved for any one single reason... These reasons - the actual reasons people show up, become involved, and continue to be involved - are the actual motivating energy dynamics of the group. These reasons are the juice and the power of the group. As I see it today, depending on the type of group, these particular reasons should be honored, and incorporated into the group purpose in the most explicit way possible... In an online network context, I am experimenting with an approach to coalition development that is based on "motivational factoring", taking a very simple format. I built a network system called http://sharedpurpose.net that is intended to explore this principle as the basis of Civic networking in a highly diverse social context (the one we really live in).