Wed 20 Feb 2002 14:15
problem with diahrreah- loss of water- drink water- electrolytes out of body- heart dies/ is damaged.
plan for pages:
look at page 1 of doc1
then page(last) of doc2
then page 2 of doc1
then page last-1 of doc2, until finished.
put page tags in text doc to keep track of position.
page 10 doc1
then
page 8 doc 2
page 11 doc1
page 7 doc2
page 12 doc1
p 6 d2
p 13 d1
p 5 d2
p 14 d1
p 4 d2
d1p15
d2p3
d1p16
d2p2
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Tue 19 Feb 2002 19:06
2002-02-13-1746
from Dee Hock,
Birth of the Chaordic age
p 113.
To be free is precisely the same thing as to be pious, wise, just and temperate, careful of one's own, abstinent from what is another's and thence, magnanimous and brave.... To be an opposite of these is the same thing as to be a slave.... So it comes to pass that the nation which has been incapable of governing and ordering itself and has delivered itself up to the slavery of its own lusts is itself delivered against its will to other masters, and whether it will or not, is compelled to serve.
p 120
Healthy organizations are a mental concept of relationship to which people are drawn by hope, vision, values, and meaning, and liberty to cooperatively pursue them. Healthy organizations induce behavior. Induced behavior is inherently constructive.
p119
All institutions are no more than a mental construct to which people are drawn in pursuit of common purpose. All organizations.. the moving force of the mind, heart, and spirit of people, without which all assets are just so much inert ...
"let's start an organization!"
p120
businesses, as well as nations, races, tribes, die out when they become despairing and lose excitement and hope about the future.
Without a deeply held, commonly shared purpose that gives meaning to their lives; without deeply held, commonly shared, ethical values and beliefs about conduct in pursuit of purpose that all may trust and rely upon, communities steadily disintegrate, and organizations progressively become instruments of tyranny.
The alternative to shared belief in purpose and principles is tyranny.
p130
And asks the question with which he closes all meetings. "Did the meeting serve your purpose?"
huge capacity for friendship had wrapped me in his arms
he had the purpose:
p: 132
If anything imaginable was possible, if there were no constraints whatever, what would be the nature of an ideal organization to create the world's premier system for the exchange of value?
value (including non monetary?)
asked hock to join them
2002-02-13-2206
p152
the future is not about logic and reason. It's about imagination, hope, and belief.
organization is agreement
p195
Look carefully around you and recognize the luminosity of souls.
Sit beside those who draw you to that. Jalal Uddin Rumi
2002-02-15-0012
p 285
I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather; that which purifies us is trial, and trial is by what is contrary. --john milton
atherton, not 10 mi from your place
p 295
if anything imaginable was possible, if there were no constraints whatever, what would be the nature of an ideal organization to create the world's premier system for the exchange of value?
p 298:
we have lost our local, communal stories and destroyed the places for their telling.
When organizations lose shared purpose and principles--their sense of community--they are already in process of decay and dissolution.
p 299:
If the story of a truly different and better society could be told, no matter how remote, no matter how difficult to realize, or even the story of a path to that end, it would capture the imagination of the world. It would submerge the urge to isolation and destructive behavior in excitement and new hope for the future. People would then see the wisdom of preserving the substance of the past, while enhancing and ....
for the first time .. we might engage in global evolutionary social and institutional change without an appalling cycle of destruction and reconstruction.
p 301
lynx is an inseparable, interacting relationship between earth, grass, light, air, gravity, rodent, heat, man, and countless other things.
p303 the odyssey
This is the true joy of life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being throughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.... The only real tragedy in life is being used by personally minded men for purposes that you recognize to be base. --George Bernard Shaw
God will not ask me why I was not Moses. He will ask me why I was not Susya. --Rabbi Susya
In April 1994, I set out on an odyssey more improbable than VISA, and
incomparably more important, searching out people concerned about pervasive social and ecological problems and committed to doing something about them. I asked the same questions over and over again of everyone I met. "Is there some pervasive cause we're not getting at underlying so many intractable societal problems? Is there an epidemic of institutional failure? What is the connection between the two? Are the dominant organizational metaphors and concepts any longer relevant? ...
How does asking the question (interviewing) affect?
If an effort..., would you help?
Who do you think I should talk to?
What should I read?
Invitations to speak.
where is this way of thinking taught?
p305
Most women seemed to understand the concepts quickly, deeply, intuitively. People raised in Eastern cultures and religions were also swift to understand. Native peoples had no trouble at all. .. Those who had the most difficulty with the concepts were often Caucasian men from Western societies in positions of power.
Within a year and a half after the odyssey began, it was devouring my life. money is not the measure
what are a few billion grandchildren worth?
realization of what I must do came in the form of questions to which there can be no answers, only insatiable desire to find out. Is this what my life is all about?
A life can't be made of denial, must be made of affirmation.
p307
I knew that saying yes meant night-and-day labor, stress, criticism, deception, and frequent failure. But how else can one know growth, joy, and happiness? Everything is its opposite. Life is a gift, bearing a gift, which is the art of giving.
I would restrict speaking engagements to no more than 10% of my waking hours. I would reserve another 15% for family and self-indulgent pursuits. The remainder, at least 70 hours a week and a portion of my income, I would devote to an effort to realize the four objectives.
Finally, at 66, in 1996, I understood what my life was about.
His book should be copylefted... it can be made more concise, hard-hitting, better. - the prologue should be later?
This was the unknown I must explore. Wherever it led. Whoever my companions.
p308
The moment one commits oneself, then providence moves too. - w.n. murray
"whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it."
p310 Whatever mankind's success in intermediate organization, he has failed to make an organization of the whole."-n cousins
great ideas come into the world as quietly as doves. Perhaps then, if we listen attentively we shall hear, among the uproar of empires and nations, the faint fluttering of wings, the gentle stirrings of life and hope.... it is awakened, revived, nourished by millions of solitary individuals whose deeds and works every day negate frontiers and the crudest implications of history. Each and every one, on the foundations of their own suffering and joy, builds for all." --Camus
so many people...
ahead lies the possibility of regeneration of individuality, liberty, community, and ethics such as the world has never....
chaordic
we are
corporate dictatorship.
p311
institutions that have inherent capacity for their own continual learning, order, and adaptation
institutions with capacity to coevolve harmoniously with one another, with all people, with all other living things and with the earth itself to the highest potential of each and all.
appleseed foundation - nader.
p 316
centralization of power is centralization of power. It will inevitably corrupt and be corrupted.
he got nader to see his value.
perhaps we should all reflect on our discussions and decide later what might come of them. they agree.
the meeting with nader was not unique.
p317
I would need a not-for-profit corporation to handle funds and employ a small staff.
Joel Getzendanner
Joyce inst.
Chaordic alliance.
peter senge.
to reconceive organizational learning center at mit
cowell, geraldine dodge, kellog, woodcock, phalarope, jessie smith noyes etc.
odwalla, steltenpohl
p318
A young man, Geoffrey strawbridge appeared, explaining that the work was in harmony with what he felt called to do. He offered to work for nothing until the Chaordic Alliance could afford a modest salary.
We did not have to seek out help. it simply appeared, from people and places we could not have imagined.
(then providence moved too)
a blind trust
what would we do if we received a major gift?
hope with a plan.
hope that has a path; hope that feels linked to the reality of our wildly changing, technological world.
I am impressed by your ideas that stress the importance of meeting core human needs in an organizational context.
Needs for dignity, for relationship, for shared meaning and purpose behind endeavor. Need that are rarely addressed at the organizational base of our society, and needs, as you explain, that relate to the manageability, workability, and ultimate success of any organization.
I have faith in you and in your developing organization, and in the dream that we now share. My gift will come to you with a great deal of pleasure.
Sincerely, anonymous donor
$4.87
p320
and it is emerging everywhere, not just at the chaordic alliance. (what an ugly name)
a story too green for adequate telling.
all it asks is your commitment.
his way with people. - inducing
p322
leading themselves, their superiors, their peers,
what if every reader shared this book with 6 friends?
Congratulations! we found another dreamer, another incredible, wonderful beautiful vision, idea, experience.
Monterey, walking through the presidio, early (1:00) in the morning- how sublime, I wish to be there, somehow.
focus on experience, not on grandchildren...
not being, but becoming
a chaordic org
p323
The chaordic alliance is an org
created to develop, disseminate, and implement new concepts of organization that more equitably distribute power and wealth, and are more compatible with the human spirit and the biosphere.
To achieve its purpose, the CA has four primary objectives:
(1) To assist in the evolution of new, successful chaordic organizations. Ideally, these organizations will span such diverse areas as education, government, social services, commerce, and the environment, to demonstrate that chaordic concepts have universal applicability. The CA will develop methods and resources to help both existing and new institutions through the process of reconceiving themselves as chaordic institutions.
(2) To create multidimensional models of chaordic organizations so that people have something to examine, experiment with, and compare to existing organizations. The models must contain the ethical and spiritual dimension generally lacking in current models. In addition, computer simulations will be created to allow people to quickly see how clarity of purpose and principles allow institutions to self-organize, evolve over decades, and link in new patterns for an enduring constructive society.
--the different thought density behind different communications--
(3) To further develop and disseminate an intellectual foundation for chaordic organizations. The intellectual foundation must integrate the economic, scientific, political, historical, technical, social, and philosophical rationale for such organizations and establish the common language and metaphors necessary for widespread understanding of chaordic concepts.
(4) To assist in the creation of a global chaordic institution for the sole purpose of developing, disseminating, and implementing chaordic concepts of organization, linking individuals, institutions, and groups of all kinds committed to institutional and societal reconception in a vast web of shared learning. It must be organized on the principles it espouses and, itself, be a successful example of chaordic organization, enabling people to pursue chaordic concepts in unique ways, on any scale, at any time, for their own reasons.
love
The CA is committed to creating the conditions for the formation of practical, innovative organizations that blend competition and cooperation to address critical societal and environmental issues. It grew out of the work of Dee W. Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus, VISA International. VISA, which was based upon concepts of chaordic organizing, grew in two decades from a few hundred members to the largest enterprise in the world, fulfilling his vision of an enterprise that transcended nations, language, currency, custom, and culture, seamlessly blending competition and cooperation--chaos and order.(?) In 1999, VISA linked 20,000 financial institutions, 14 million merchants, and 600 million consumers in 220 countries and territories, producing $1.25 trillion in volume. Mar. Hock is now Founder and Coordinating Director of the Chaordic Appliance:
The Chaordic Appliance
PO BOX 907
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019-0907
650-712-5830
www.chaordic.org
chaordic@chaord.org
self-governing organism
chaordic-
characteristic of the fundamental organizing principles of evolution and nature
visa- owned by 22000 member banks which both compete with each other for 750 million customers and must cooperate by honoring one another's $1.25 trillion in transactions annually across borders and currencies.
Iconoclast.
case studies of chaordic orgs
chaordic interactions/ leadership decisions/ agreements/organization
2002-02-19-1900
From the prologue:
On the nature and creation of chaordic organizations
p.7
Forming a chaordic organization begins with an intensive search for Purpose, then proceeds to Principles, People, and Concept, and only then to Structure and Practice.
"If anything imaginable is possible, if there are no constraints whatever, what would be the nature of an ideal organization to...?" Finishing that question is all-important. It is essential to determine with absolute clarity, shared understanding, and deep conviction the Purpose of the community. From that, all else must flow. It is what will bind the group together as worthy of pursuit.
Purpose is an unambiguous expression of that which people jointly wish to become. It should speak to them so powerfully that all can say with conviction, "If we could achieve that, my life would have meaning."
It is not necessary to perfect the purpose, or any other part of the process before proceeding to the next. It is only necessary to obtain agreement that the present expression of purpose is good enough to permit exploration of principles, and that each expression of a principle is good enough to go on to the next. Every principle will call into question and refine every other principle. In looking through each "lens," that is, each perspective of the process, both that which precedes it and that which lies ahead, will be illuminated and improved.
By principle I mean a behavioral aspiration of the community, a clear, unambiguous statement of a fundamental belief about how the whole and all the parts intend to conduct themselves in pursuit of the purpose. A principle is a precept against which all structures, decisions, actions, and results will be judged. A principle always has high ethical and moral content. It never prescribes structure or behavior; it only describes them. Principles often fall quite naturally into two categories: principles of structure and principles of practice.
Why are Thoreau's quotes memorable/influential?
Purpose and principle that can lead to a chaordic organization cannot be devised by leaders and imposed on a community as a condition of participation. They must be evoked from the minds and hearts of members of the community. They are not frozen mandates to be obeyed under penalty of banishment from the community. They are a living set of beliefs capable of evolving with the participation and consent of the community. Properly done, they will never be capable of full realization. "Honor thy father and mother" is a true principle, for we all understand what it means, yet it gives us no instruction as to method. There are infinite ways to honor a father and mother.
The whole of the purpose and principles should constitute a coherent, cohesive body of belief, although it is inevitable that one principle may be in conflict with another. Where conflict exists, decisions should be balanced so that no principle is sacrificed to another. Paradox and conflict are inherent characteristics of chaordic organizations.
It is not uncommon for even the most perceptive group to meet bimonthly for three days of intense discussion, for more than a year, before arriving at clarity and agreement on such a body of belief. Long before they are through, they will discover that it is not a somber process, but full of laughter and joy. There will be a growing respect and trust. There will be growing commitment. There will be realization that what they are doing is as much about personal transformation as it is about organizational reconception. If there is not, the effort will never achieve its full potential.
When sound body of belief is reasonably complete and agreed upon, the group can then begin to explore the People and Organizations that would need to be participants in the enterprise in order to realize the purpose in accordance with the principles. It sounds simple, but rarely is. When people set aside all consideration of existing conditions, free themselves to think in accordance with their deepest beliefs, and do not bind their thinking with structure and practices before considering meaning and values, they usually discover that they number and variety of people and entities to participate in governance, ownership, rewards, rights, and obligations are much greater than anticipated. They usually find their deepest beliefs require transcendence of existing institutional boundaries and practices. Determining the people and institutions required to realize the purpose in accordance with the principles brings realization of just how narrow and restrictive existing institutions are in relation to the exploding diversity and complexity of society and the systemic nature of seemingly intractable social and environmental problems.
Awareness arises in all members of the working group that they cannot represent only their own views and beliefs, for a good many members of the community they hope to form are not at the table. They must, to the best of their ability, act on behalf of the larger potential community and not bind its hands by trying to perfect the work they have begun. They are really trustees attempting to bring into being a chaordic organization capable of attracting a diversity of others and enabling them to continue its evolution. It is at this point that most groups more fully realize the magnitude of the task in which they are engaged.
With Purpose, Principles, and People well established comes realization that it is unlikely that any existing form of organization can enable those people to achieve the purpose in accordance with their principles. Something new must be imagined; a new concept of organizing relationship. Again, definition helps. By Concept I mean a visualization of the relationships between all of the people that would best enable them to pursue the purpose in accordance with their principles. An organizational concept is perception of a structure that all may trust to be equitable, just, and effective. It is a pictorial representation of eligibility, rights, and obligations of all prospective participants in the community. The feedback part of the process never ends. Developing a new concept calls into question purpose, principles, and people.
It is difficult to imagine all the permutations and possibilities of human relationships that arise when one truly accepts that organizations exist only in the mind; that they are no more than conceptual embodiments of the ancient idea of community.
Once a group makes its way through Purpose, Principles, People, and Concept and can see the harmony that can be achieved between them, The questions shift from "Are we going to do this?" to "How quickly can we achieve it?" The group may fail to communicate it properly to others. They may fail to obtain the resources. They may fail to achieve enough understanding and support from others to bring it into being. If they are an existing organization, they may fail to develop a successful process of transformation.
They must shift from conceptual thinking to the pragmatic, meticulous, grinding work of Structure. By structure I mean the embodiment of purpose, principles, people, and concept in a written document capable of creating legal reality in an appropriate jurisdiction, usually in the form of a charter and constitution or a certificate of incorporation and bylaws. It is the written, structural details of the conceptual relationships--details of eligibility, ownership, voting, bodies, and methods of governance. It is the contract of rights and obligations between all participants in the community.
How to embed purpose and principles into the constitutional documents? How to create new concepts of ownership not dominated by monetary markets? How to involve all affected parties in deliberations and decisions free of domination by any? How to preserve purpose and principle from capricious change, yet provide adequate means for their evolution? How to embody in the constitution an immune system to the recentralization of power and wealth? How to ensure and protect rights of self-organization? How to equitably balance competition and cooperation? Then answers are emerging and are improving with every attempt.
Long before the structural work is finished, everyone realizes that they need not worry about the practices of the community. By Practice I mean the deliberations, decisions, and acts of all participants in the community functioning within the structure in pursuit of purpose in accordance with principles. They realize they should not bind participants in the new community to any practice, no matter how desirable it may appear in advance. Their responsibility is to bring into being an organization in which all participants can have an active, creative, equitable role in deciding what practices will best achieve the purpose in accordance with the principles, and effectively undertake them. The organizers have long since realized that they are engaged in the process not to command and control, but to act as trustees to bring into being an organization more in harmony with the human spirit and the natural world--an enabling organizations aligned with the higher aspirations of humanity.
When the structure is complete, the entirety of the work results in a charter package, which is temporarily frozen. It is usually in the form of a massive civil contract between an unlimited number of people and institutions which meet eligibility requirements for participation. The contract of participation is often no more than a single page acknowledging receipt of the structural documents and agreeing to abide by them as they then exist or are thereafter modified, which is relatively risk-free. Modifications are determined by the participants, of which they are one. No participant has inferior or superior rights and obligations. The contract creates irrevocable rights, but allows withdrawal at any time should the participant judge benefit no longer outweighs obligation. If sufficient participants accept the new concept and structure, it comes into being, its governance structures are formed, its momentary state of arrested development ends, and it resumes evolutionary self-organization.
When such an organization is brought into being, it will inevitably attract the people required for its success, since they will be drawn to the clarity of shared purpose, principles, concept, and structure. With clarity of shared purpose and principles, the right people, and effective concept, and proper structure, practice will be highly focused and effective since human spirit, commitment, and ingenuity will be released. Purpose will then be realized far beyond original expectation. People will come to see that the process is not a closed circle. Achieving purpose beyond expectation enlarges confidence and calls into question the original purpose and principles. And an enlarged and enriched purpose will enlarge and enrich in concept an ever widening and ascending spiral of complexity, diversity, creativity, and harmony--well, let's call it what it is--evolution.
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