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<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Not over-converging (a scientific basis?)</TITLE>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From Chris Weaver:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>>The person who continues to pursue her passion
in an area that is not a mainstream priority may one day in the future >hold
the key to the organization's evolution. Whether she continues her work
privately, quietly, or openly with some >degree of dissonance around her,
<I>she belongs in that work, </I>for the sake of the whole. And, perhaps,
the more open the >organization is to the active presence of diversity
viewpoints or endeavors, the better.<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yes! Yes! Yes! </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think this is one of the keys to the
future. In The Living Company, Arie de Geus tells a wonderful story about
Andes potato farmers and the US agricultural people who came to teach them about
monoculturing crops. More efficient, more cost-effective. But, as
generations of Andes farmers know, if a disease comes through that wipes out the
dominant strain, having all those other options to dig up and grow is
vital. What becomes central to our future starts at the margins.
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My response to that is the "wild card" idea I
mentioned in an earlier message. The point is to welcome ideas at the
margin.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From Dave Koehler:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>>Perhaps the real challenge is to allow chaos to
flourish at the end, causing us to really see things differently.
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Part of me really wishes to do away with any sort
of structured convergence activity. I have now had several experiences in
which the pattern of:</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>* start with a question</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>* let it flourish through divergence
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>* notice people noticing the resonant themes that
emerge (I think of this as collective consciousness bubbling up; quite
magical)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>* convergence naturally follows as people
flow to the work they feel called to do (passion and responsibility at work; not
consensus but indivuals seeing and acting on their own sense of connection to
the whole)</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think this sort of convergence is a leap of faith
that we span by coming up with all sorts of convergence processes. In
truth, the most magical convergences I've experienced are the ones in which the
time has been adequate to the subject matter. And I know its the right
amount of time because no formal convergence process is necessary, it just
happens.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peggy Holman</FONT></DIV>
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