World Citizen-Centered Syntegrity
Team Syntegrity is a fast, effective way to reach system-wide agreements and follow-through actions in high uncertainty, high risk situations. The method arises from a socio-cybernetics analysis of interpersonal/inter-systemic complexity management as outlined in Beyond Dispute: The Invention of Team Syntegrity, by Stafford Beer, John Wiley & Sons, 1994. Team Syntegrity has been in the field now for 20+ years -- used in hundreds of applications by Team Syntegrity licensees and Malik Management, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
The icosahedrons model connects 30 unique positions (strut = person ) in 12 topic groups (node). Each person (strut) is champion in 2 topics and commentator/coach in 2 other topics. For more detail, visit www.syntegration.com
The architecture is most effective with groups of 30-36 participants, and can be combined in formations from 30-150-750-900 while retaining its features (see below)
Use of the World Syntegrity Project (WSP) is made publically available to declared World Citizens.[1] WSP provides quality assurance and delivery support to groups of world citizens to answer an Attractor Question that they are committed to answering together. An Attractor Question is:
- relevant to the situation they live in (e.g., a city . . . a watershed . . . a profession . . . etc.)
- is a variation of the 1993 WSP question: How can we as sovereign world citizens govern our world?(Return to World Syntegrity Project page)
- Is hosted by at least 6 world citizens who take responsibility for follow-through of the outcomes.
- Outcomes are shared with other world citizens.
The use of the protocol by world citizens enables the decision-outcomes to be legitimate, and legitimized, citizen-governance decisions.
WSP 4.0
WSP 4.0 is a continuous improvement learning system seeking to integrate and enhance collective intelligence and trust among humans on behalf of humanity and the planet.
The original protocol was invented in the early 1990's. The world we live in now is in real-time, omni-dimensional digital connection. Face-to-face is now supplemented by massive communication and knowledge-management tools. WSP, like all relevant 20th century organizations, is in the process of re-vitalization. We invite you to join as participant, as facilitator, or as organization development partner. (See Resource and Structure Document)
What are the special features that make WSP architecture so valuable for co-creation of viable solutions to world citizens issues?
Syntegrity design operationalizes the following system features.
- 1) Purpose-Centered: The Attractor Question expresses the focus of the syntegration event. Around this question, participants co-create and express the Shared Purpose and the aligned actions that follow In the WSP4.0, the focus is on Viable Crossover: How do we as world citizens living in __________ self-organize and govern ourselves in our Crossover to a viable human future? We are all facing a situation of high uncertainty with big consequences. Time is running-out. We have to find the principles on which we can agree to align and complete action. Self-organization for world citizens also entails self-governance.[2]
- 2) Equal opportunity: Every person has an equal opportunity to influence and be influenced . . . No edge has the edge . . . all have equal information access and exchange opportunities.
- 3) High Internal and External Connectivity: Every topic has access to 11 of the 12 topics as they are developing. Each person has a unique 4 topic connectivity to integrate. Icosahedral configurations can connect up to 750 people while maintaining the other qualities of the shape.
- 4) High Participation: say what you have to say; take responsibility for your communication; everyone's input is welcome.
- 5) Synergistics of Diversity: the variety of the participants should match the scope of the results that are intended. It has not yet been established what the how is of coherent the self-governance.
- 6) High Self-Governance: no gurus, bureaucrats, nor senior managers set the boundaries of what can be explored and decided by the group. The requisite variety design[3] is non-hierarchical. The reverberation of the structure streams the group energy to where it needs to be in a transparent, high-access communication medium.
- 7) High Speed. In 3.5 days 30-40 people can reach aligned forward-action agreements together. Sequential decision-making infra-structures are dead in the real-time environments of the 21st century.
- 8) Transparency: All conversations and decision are made in a public space with a 1/3 of the participants present, and representing 10 of the other 11 topics. Digital tagging.
- 9) Open Source/Open Access: Any group of world citizens who wishes to self-organize can use the protocol, report their results and lessons learned, and have the option to join a continuous improvement learning community.
- 10) Reciprocal: Each person, each topic, and each syntegration make agreements with others where the value exchange is considered just, and the rewards from achievement are deemed fairly shared.
- 11) Non-hierarchical. It is possible to self-organize in decision-co-ordinating Waves of 30, 150, 750 people. That is a lot of network power. We have to weave collaborative processes into the way we Crossover together. Coherence is an extremely valuable quality. It emerges from our encounter with our challenges, our selves, and the systems we live in.
- 12) Robust Redundancy: can handle missing people; quick inclusion of new members.
- 13) Sacred Space: Resonant universal architecture. The Field. Unity Consciousness. Now.[4]
These features, built-in to the protocol, are independent of facilitator influence. The use of the protocol will be on an Open Source basis for world citizens. However, access to the method, experienced syntegrators, etc. will be designed to ensure syntegrity quality (legitimization of outcomes) and to diffuse delivery competency in many languages, cultures, and problem-centered applications.
For those seeking further in-depth knowledge of the syntegrity protocol, please see Stafford Beer, Beyond Dispute, The Invention of Team Syntegrity, John Wiley & Sons, 1994.
Current digital developments include pre- and post custom-design web-sites; Twitter and apps for during-session use, etc.
INDIVIDUAL INVOLVEMENT
If you are interested in the syntegrity possibility, at this point in time, there are 3 ways forward.
- 1) Explore what world citizenship means to you (see Garry Davis' description of World Syntegrity).
- 2) Declare yourself a world citizen. (see web-site registration form for world citizen registration World Citizen registration page)
- 3) Find 5 others who care about the same issue as you do and want to host a syntegration. Complete the Orthogonal 6 form and return it to this office.
For further information and conversation, please contact the World Syntegrity Project Coordinator at david(at)reflection-action.nl
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[1] Commercial use of the protocol for non WSP issues is licensed by Team Syntegrity International. World Syntegrity Projects may be revenue-generating events, as long as the revenue is directly related to the follow-through of the results of the syntegration. This can include income for qualified world syntegrity project facilitators, and resources for pre and post event communication and implementation.
[2] One of the most lively tensions that the World Service Authority exposes is the relationship between governance and government. A declaration of world citizenship entails a commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. How this translates into effective co-operation, responsibility, and ownership according to these principles is implicit in every WSP event.
[3] The variety of a sytem is the number of states relevant to a specified set of purposes. Thirty people, especially chosen for their diversity, generate a rich mix of creativity, tensions, unpredictability. The structure enables these 30 people to maximize their potential together.
[4] There is no point in fighting over words and concepts of divinity. Humanity does share a capacity for inner harmony and wholeness. That capacity says something about the more comprehensive whole that we are embedded in. Stafford Beer expresses his appreciation of this dimension in his comment on the 'sacred space' in an icosahedron on p. 192 of Beyond Dispute. We are not only engaged in a collective intelligence movement, but in the deepest expression of what it means to be born human and take our part in humanity's stewardship of the planet. Governing our own behavior involves exploring our inner world and its shared construction with other human beings.