[P2P-F] Fwd: Community Building - Scott Peck

Sat Oct 15 22:08:02 CEST 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 10:54 PM
Subject: Community Building - Scott Peck
To: econowmix at googlegroups.com, hc_ecology at yahoogroups.com,
sustainable_solidarity at yahoogroups.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck#Community_Building Community
Building

In his book *The Different Drum: Community Making and
Peace[7]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck#cite_note-Drummult-6>
*, Peck says that community <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community> has
three essential ingredients:

   - Inclusivity<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusion_%28value_and_practice%29>
   - Commitment <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promise>
   - Consensus <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus>

Based on his experience with community building workshops, Peck says that
community building typically goes through four stages:

   - *Pseudocommunity*: This is a stage where the members
pretend<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing> to
   have a *bonhomie* with one another, and cover up their differences, by
   acting as if the differences do not exist. Pseudocommunity can never
   directly lead to community, and it is the job of the person guiding the
   community building process to shorten this period as much as possible.

   - *Chaos <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disorder>*: When
   pseudocommunity fails to work, the members start falling upon each other,
   giving vent to their mutual disagreements and differences. This is a period
   of chaos. It is a time when the people in the community realize that
   differences cannot simply be ignored. Chaos looks counterproductive but it
   is the first genuine <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/genuine> step towards
   community building.

   - *Emptiness*: After chaos comes emptiness. At this stage, the people
   learn to empty themselves of those
ego<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_%28spirituality%29> related
   factors that are preventing their entry into community. Emptiness is a tough
   step because it involves the death of a part of the
individual<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual>.
   But, Scott Peck argues, this death paves the way for the birth of a new
   creature, the *Community*.

   - *True community<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck#The_meaning_of_true_community>
   *: Having worked through emptiness, the people in community are in
   complete empathy with one another. There is a great level of tacit
   understanding. People are able to relate to each other's feelings.
   Discussions, even when heated, never get sour, and motives are not
   questioned.

The four stages of community formation are somewhat related to a
model<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_%28abstract%29>
 in organization theory <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_theory> for
the five stages that a team goes through during development. These five
stages are:

   - *Forming* where the team members have some initial discomfort with each
   other but nothing comes out in the open. They are
insecure<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_insecurity> about
   their role and position with respect to the team. This corresponds to the
   initial stage of pseudocommunity.

   - *Storming* where the team members start arguing heatedly and
   differences and insecurities come out in the open. This corresponds to the
   second stage given by Scott Peck, namely chaos.

   - *Norming* where the team members lay out rules and guidelines for
   interaction that help define the roles and responsibilities of each person.
   This corresponds to emptiness, where the community members think within and
   empty themselves of their obsessions to be able to accept and listen to
   others.

   - *Performing* where the team finally starts working as a cohesive whole,
   and effectively achieve the tasks set of themselves. In this stage
   individuals are aided by the group as a whole where necessary, in order to
   move further collectively than they could achieve as a group of separated
   individuals.

   - *Transforming* This corresponds to the stage of true community. This
   represents the stage of celebration, and when individuals leave, as they
   must, there is a genuine feeling of
grief<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grief>,
   and a desire to meet again. Traditionally this stage was often called
   "Mourning".

It is in this third stage that Peck's community-building methods differ in
principle from team development. While teams in business organizations need
to develop explicit rules, guidelines and protocols during the *norming* stage,
the *emptiness' stage of community building is characterized, not by laying
down the rules explicitly, but by shedding the resistance within the minds
of the individuals.*

Peck started the Foundation for Community Encouragement (FCE) to promote the
formation of communities, which, he argues, are a first step towards uniting
humanity and saving us from self destruction.

The Blue Heron Farm [1] <http://www.bhfarm.org/history.htm> is an intentional
community <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_community> in central North
Carolina <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina> whose founders stated
that they were inspired by Peck's writings on community, although Peck
himself had no involvement with this project.
 [edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M._Scott_Peck&action=edit&section=11>
]Characteristics of True Community

Peck describes what he considers to be the most salient characteristics of a
true community[7]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck#cite_note-Drummult-6>
:

   - *Inclusivity, commitment and consensus*: Members accept and embrace
   each other, celebrating their individuality and transcending their
   differences. They commit themselves to the effort and the people involved.
   They make decisions and reconcile their differences through consensus.
   - *Realism*: Members bring together multiple perspectives to better
   understand the whole context of the situation. Decisions are more
   well-rounded and humble, rather than one-sided and arrogant.
   - *Contemplation*: Members examine themselves. They are individually and
   collectively self-aware of the world outside themselves, the world inside
   themselves, and the relationship between the two.
   - *A safe place*: Members allow others to share their vulnerability, heal
   themselves, and express who they truly are.
   - *A laboratory for personal disarmament*: Members experientially
   discover the rules for peacemaking and embrace its virtues. They feel and
   express compassion <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion> and respect
   for each other as fellow human beings.
   - *A group that can fight gracefully*: Members resolve conflicts with
   wisdom and grace. They listen and understand, respect each others' gifts,
   accept each others' limitations, celebrate their differences, bind each
   others’ wounds, and commit to a struggle together rather than against each
   other.
   - *A group of all leaders*: Members harness the “flow of leadership” to
   make decisions and set a course of action. It is the spirit of community
   itself that leads and not any single individual.
   - *A spirit*: The true spirit of community is the spirit of
peace<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace>,
   love, wisdom <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom> and power. Members may
   view the source of this spirit as an outgrowth of the collective self or as
   the manifestation of a Higher Will.

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