[Dialogue] Question about the social process triangles . . .

[Gene Marshall]

Dear Wayne, et. all.,

I wonder if the social process triangles are more important for our own thinking as teachers than they are as explicit content for most of our various courses.

What interested me most right now about these triangles is how they can help revolutionary leadership be more comprehensive in their thinking.  The whole progressive movement needs more unity and inclusivity.  I have recently been brainstorming whistle points over against my latest version of the social process triangles.  I will attach it to show what I mean,

Gene





On Nov 4, 2012, at 8:59 PM, Wayne Nelson wrote:

> I ask similar questions. I think we could make a lot more use of it in our consulting work. There are a couple of very simple reasons for low level use. They may not be universally valid, but they are operating images.  
> 
> 
> One is that wrapping people's heads around yet another mental model in a 2 day event is a bit much if you are not going to use it throughout the event. The other reason is, I think, simply time.  To use them in any real depth takes time - more than most clients will commit. 
> 
> 
> A more substantial reason we aren't using them, I suppose, is what people ask us to do with their groups. We are not often asked for results that really require a social process analysis. Requests tend to lead us to use the Workshop Method; so we are more inclined to gestalt without interposing a screen. A very well targeted focus question provides a screen of its own and helps people find meaningful patterns.  
> 
> 
> We do teach the Social Processes in our Organizational Transformation course.  In the same course, we also use the version developed by Priscilla Wilson, Joel Wright et.al. They are expressed in clear, non-academic terminology that people in organizations grasp immediately. I think they are brilliant.  We teach the course 2- 3 times a year. 
> 
> 
> Perhaps our most dramatic use of the social processes was in a major consultation about Distance Education in Alberta.  We used the triangles to cluster concerns, trends and directions related to distance education. That work identified areas of major attention. Those areas were used as the foundation for a large scale strategic scenario building process. I think that could be one it's most powerful uses.
> 
> 
> One of the random thoughts that has passed my mind recently is that there is more activity to be seen in the dynamical interactions than in the processes themselves.  It is, I believe, the dynamical relations that show the nature of the imbalances most clearly.  We can easily see the major imbalances as we described them. It is in the way these processes relate to each other that twists them out of shape.  I think an analysis of the relationships would reveal the depth and texture of our social function and dysfunction in ways we may not be seeing it.  It's brilliance is in it's ability to take us out of our familiar social narratives - the tapes we play in our heads.
> 
> 
> \\/
> 
> - - - - - - - - - - Wayne Nelson
> wnelson at ica-associates.ca
> O - 416-691-2316
> M - 647-229-6910
> 
> 
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> 
> 

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