For designing ourselves into being as a thriving and anti-fragile community/movement, I suggest we develop a source document, a next-stage, not-ossified, living “constitution,” defined as follows. It was developed by a friend of mine and used in my community-building work, over the last 30 years in many settings.
What Is a Source Document?
SOURCE: “that from which something arises; a wellspring.” Source refers to the basic elements from which something emerges. It applies to those things that are continually emergent, that have lives of their own, that generate their own shape and identity. To see the source of something, we need to understand the basic elements and their interplay, their dynamic relationships, which are key to its current identity and to what it might become.
DOCUMENT: “any text that can be referred to by a community independent of its originators in time and space.” It is therefore available as a record of origin and, at the same time, as the source of dialogue and interpretation that are continually evolving. It enables us to relate current circumstances and current development to original intentions. This provides us with a connection to the history and identity of our institutions while not locking us into rigid rules of fixed interpretations of earlier times.
A well-formed source document provides a structure of interpretation that demands continued engagement, intelligence and independent interpretation in the face of the varying circumstances of life.
Source: Mike McMaster’s talk on “EMERGENCE, SELF-ORGANISATION AND FREEDOM: the sources of innovation” at the Complexity & Innovation conference, London 1997
This topic also relates to @bhnelson’s Draft Vision Document.
