A weblog with random thoughts and reflections on society and ecology.
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Sunday, March 09, 2003
Control and Partnership
I helped organize a panel held at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference today. It's topic was "Community, Networking and Complexity", and included Alder Fuller from ProtoTista (complexity theories), Mark Williams from OPN/EFN (Open Source), Diane Brausse from Lost Valley (intentional communities), and Nick Routledge from Eugene Permaculture Guild (ecological design). Jair from Imaginify was the main organizer, and Wynn Swafford from Sunrise Facilitation Collective facilitated. It was a great experience, and I think we all had our minds tweaked, even those of us who have previously explored the connections, parallels, and possible cross pollinating among the different areas. They all have strong commonalities in terms of paralell patterns and processes, and a shared partnership and solution focused approach.
What came up for me the strongest was the difference between the control and the partnership views. The control view is embodied in the institutions and structure of modern society, including the corporations, proprietary software, mainstream media and genetic engineering. This is a power-over and a win-loose approach. The partnership view is embodied in systems theories, Open Source, intentional communities, and ecological design. This is a power-with and a win-win approach.
The difference is vital. The control paradigm operate from an intrinsically arrogant (and naive) assumption: we can control social and ecological systems. It brings a sense of alienation from ourselves, each other, and the Earth. The partnership approach is humble at its heart, and is from a realization that we are a small part of a vastly larger and complex system. Our only choice is to use a collaborative approach. It allows for connections and for feeling at home with ourselves, the larger society and the Earth.
The control vs. partnership views are also reflected in communication. When we operate from a control and win-loose view, our communication tends to be towards talking more than listening, and be tinged with fear, hostility, threat of punishment and much more that alienates us from each other and ourselves. If we instead learn to operate from a partnership and win-win view, our communication tends to be characterized by genuine listening, compassion and a more flexible and solution oriented approach. We can more easily untangle our needs and the strategies we have for meeting those needs, let go of our attachment to specific strategies (often habitual), and seek creative and maybe unexpected strategies that meet the needs of all involved. It is more effective, and more fun.
15:00
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