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Collaborate to Create Community
One section in the Adaptive Action book looks at the development of a model Royce and I created to help us make sense of and how to work well with diversity in groups, organizations and society in general. Why is diversity important? Well, diversity is at the core of how nature finds solutions.
Inquiry is a key adaptive capacity. When answers are few, questions are your wisest path forward. But, not all questions are created equal. We
have found six questions that help you see, understand, and prepare to influence patterns in chaos.
The “attractor” is not the thing that “attracts”. It is the pattern of relationships that emerge over time in a complex system.
When I first encountered attractors—strange and other kinds—I thought they were cool. Even more than that, I thought they were the key to the next generation of change paradigms. I still think that may be true, but I seldom talk about them anymore. I almost never teach them because it is so hard to understand them well and very easy to understand them badly. The only reason I am talking about them now is that I cannot think of a better way to explain what I see in this emerging present. So, here goes.
Plan in Uncertainty
The Architectural Model is designed to help you visualize coherence and alignment across scales in your system. It ensures that the organizational and operational structures you establish provide the greatest fit between what you do, how you work, and what you hold to be true.
At times, it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates too quickly into dehumanization.
Build Adaptive Capacity
In mathematics there is a group of patterns referred to as “attractors”. In complex systems, recognizable patterns of behavior can evolve over time, based on the system’s initial conditions. Mathematicians studied those patterns and identified unique sets of conditions that shape the different types of patterns. We use the insights of these mathematicians to inform our basic decisions and actions.