RECALIBRATING PLURALISM

Admin
22 hours ago
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Updated: 39 minutes ago

MAKING SENSE OF CROSS-COMMUNITY THINK-BLENDING

We touched upon this subject in the RETHINKING HOLISM Chapter but the finding is important enough to bring forward here.

Among the many discoveries, micro and macro, made in researching/writing this complex, moving target book was the realization that there are several forms of so-called pluralism strategies in play among the 4 anchor approaches described earlier in this book; Action Research, Creative Problem Solving (CPS), Design and Soft Systems Thinking. These are among the most prominent anchor approaches inside/underneath Design For Complexity methods.

Whether we all like it or not the term “pluralism" has multiple meanings depending on the anchor approach literature you happened to be reading. It so happens that “pluralism “ in CPS and Design is not the same as “pluralism” in Soft Systems Thinking. The viewing range and emphasis can be quite different.

Some communities presume that “pluralism” means looking at and appreciating variations within its tribal literature and in other communities “pluralism” means looking at and adopting variations outside the tribe.

To aid emerging practice leaders navigation of such materials we coined the term Inter-Tribal Pluralism for the former and Cross-Community Pluralism for the latter.

We already know that it is the latter that best maps to the tone, spirit and complexities of Design for Complexity.

Whether you want to use the term Pluralism, Think-Blending, Joined-Up Thinking, or something else, the emphasis in most communities is based on their self-realization that other communities have much to offer for the contexts of Arena 3, (organizational changemaking) and Arena 4 (societal changemaking). Those offerings might apply to INBOUND or OUTBOUND contexts as descibed in RETHINKING HOLISM.

Some Design for Complexity Approaches have bolted on one central add-on component and others already contain up to 20 external add-ons.

5 PRACTITIONER THINK-BLENDING QUESTIONS:

What is your core approach orientation?
What makes sense to add in the context of organizational and societal complexities?

What makes sense to jettison in the context of organizational and societal complexities?
What is onboard and why?

What is driving the new blended approach train and why?

VISUAL EXAMPLES: TELL DIFFERENT STORIES

Inter-Tribal Pluralism

(Image Source: Public time-line ecology post from Linkedin Group)

Cross-Community Pluralism

(Image Source: Public time-line ecology post from Linkedin Group with cross-community notes added)

Depending on what type of pluralism you are tuning into it is likely that you are receiving wildly different historical and current methods related perspectives. A diagram or visual model can be simple and cross-community in orientation or complex and inter-tribal.

The stories appearing on inter-tribal channels tend to be rather different from those appearing on cross-community channels. Recalibrating pluralism can help make more sense of that picture and enrich the options. Helping emerging practice leaders make sense of this moving target subject is the purpose of this in-progress book.

End.