John Gunkler wrote:
>We described what goes on when people come together for the first time in
>terms of two kinds of "tension":
>
>1. Task tension
>2. Relationship tension
These tensions exist, I would suggest, when people come together for
creative enterprise, which covers about every thing we do. Combined they
are the "creative tensions" among and between sustainable entities - be
they people or organizations. This creative tension is known as
"competition."
>From my view, the overwhelming number of actions on earth and in its
environment are cooperative in order to sustain organisms (each plant,
animal or human's billions of cells cooperating to maintain life,
individually and through specialized organs) and organizations of these
organisms. Perpetuation, beginning with sustainability and including
growth and change in a dynamic environment, requires internal cooperation
and adaptation to the environment.
The focus in our culture is on the points of creative tension
(competition) - yet the underlying mass of discrete events are
overwhelmingly cooperative. Still - the creative tensions exist between
individuals and organizations. Common goals that ensure sustainability
can move us forward, but the cultural value is to win.
The truth is that the scarcity we've been taught exists, and which the
world proves everyday with stories, film clips and real pain, and which
therefore threatens the sustainability of what we've built, can be met
when creative tension (competition) is used to mobilize human resources
for continuous problem solving.
In my work to promote regional cooperation among local governments, I've
concluded that they were designed to be local and are very good at it.
They look inward from their defined boundaries and focus on taking care of
their turf. They compete for new economic development projects and status
among their neighbors and peers - who are cities, towns and counties in
their own league. The most sophisticated are always at the center - or at
least that's what they see themselves as looking out at the world.
In order to do something regionally, they must see themselves as part of a
greater community - just crossing a single boundary to cooperate with a
neighbor or several non-contiguous localities.
Learning must occur within organizations or they will not continue to
exist. It is both internal and external adaptation to the environment.
The greater learning needed, I think, is in the culture, so that the self
governance systems - spiritual, social, religious, political can integrate
the "creative tension" of the many diversities this rich planet supports.
Earth - the learning planet - dealing with all that tension.
Tom Christoffel
-- Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP * e-mail: tjcdsgns@shentel.net Futurist, Facilitator & Regional Planner - My mission: "Regions Work!" Why? The economy is global; production is local; all markets inbetween are regional. For sustainability, design with re-use in mind, i.e. align regional data sets. *TJCdesigns * Box 1444 * Front Royal, Virginia (VA) 22630-1444 * Ph: 540-635-8582* Regions Work Initiative discussion: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/regions_workLearning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>