Transition Towns WIKI

Open Space write up (UK conference May-07)

Proceedings

Editor comments: The process of leadership and of people emerging into leadership roles is in sharp focus throughout the Transitioning communities and the Transition Network. There were two sessions on this subject at the Open Space, and as I went through writing them up, it became clear that it would make sense if the two sessions were combined. Here's what came up...

There is one interesting distinction here: the difference between "leaders" and people stepping into (and out of) leadership roles. The former has notions of permanent hierarchy while the latter has the principle of the right people at the right time, and no longer.

[This was the most difficult session to write up. Any corrections are welcomed - Ed]

Who takes on the leadership roles?

• The people who come along are the right people

How do people "become" leaders?

• At the start of the transition process, there's no formed leadership, so how do we form it?
• In a fast evolving process, how do we handle leadership?
• How do you "invite" leaders to join
• Are we talking about "leaders", "facilitators" or "co-ordinators"? - What's in a name if the function is the same?
• Detachment is important
• Evolving is GOOD
• Change will happen
• Important to be WISE
• It's all about LOVE
• Recommended reading: Erich Fromm, " Fear of Freedom". It deals with the psychological need for leaders

Experience of emergent leadership

In the early stage of TT there was a vacuum of leadership and decision making. Hours were spent on trivial points, it was difficult to build consensus. Adopted a simple majority for making decisions. Leadership emerged with lots of energy as "whoosh!" person took on leadership. That role needs to be sure to delegate. It's a difficult balance ensuring that the structure holds the people together strongly enough without introducing contraints.

There were problems of small groups hijacking the proceedings with their own agenda. It's difficult to avoid this without getting exclusive. It was crucial to identify and make clear the aims and objectives. There's a tension between a loose unstructured steering group and individuals working 3 days a week on Transition business. We needed a structure that everyone understands and this will help achieve consensus.

It's important to recognise that if someone is responsible for events/liaison/mapping, then this is a responsibility that they are accountable for.

Some people want loose structures, other hierarchy. The Steering Group can resolve problems and build a trust together as a group.

Burnout in the chairman role (up to 2 1/2 days per week) has to be watched out for - rotation of positions will help avoid this. A funded position will help this situation too.

The people who start the Transition Initiative are not necessarily the ones who run the process throughout. That can be a difficult transition for some people. It's crucial to make people understand their value as they move through the organisation, and that others are looking out for how these people can fit into new roles. Different groups can have different styles in terms of how the process runs.

As the transition process expands to a wider audience, other people will start to express an interest. The initial impetus was peak oil and climate change, this brought people together and achieved the unleashing, now what? [Do we really need anything else - this is driving the EDAP and that's the purpose of a Transition Initiative - Ed].

There is no place for the "lone hero" management style.

Mission, vision and purpose

• Needs to be agreed by everyone
• When everyone is working towards this core mission, the methods of achieving are going to be good
• There are two Foundations
  • 1. Core Purpose
    • raising awareness
    • positive response
    • inclusive
    • these produce the "how to" and hold all to account
  • 2. clear set of design achievements
  • These need to be reviewed constantly to be inclusive in every activity, running through the entire network and encouraging creativity
  • the foundations story makes sure that the structure and task fit well (ie is the appropriate structure a flat hierarchy or a plumb line.
  • if, when working collectively, things start becoming awry, then go back to the core vision. It helps to have a group able to manage conflict resolution.

Getting design principles in place

This applies to any group.

1. Pay attention to the purpose
2. Listen with compassion, without judgement
3. Pause to gather thoughts. the TT pace can be too fast, needs to slow down, less is more
4. Look after well-being of group, encourage them to ask for what they need, and give what you can

The key principles are:

• Agree up front
• Focus on concrete achievements
• Ensure there is ownership of problems (take an offsite away day to realise this)
• Make sure there are strong ground rules (including spiritual and psychological)
• Indentify tasks
• The chair/leader is almost uninvolved in issues. This role needs to rotate so that everyone has a go.
• Avoiding a leader will usually mean you avoid the issue. We all have models in our heads that shape our views on this.

What is the function of leadership?

• 80% designing, 20% running
• Looking at and marshalling the people/resources/skills/passions
• Setting and managing expectations
  • letting the community know that the core group is on a learning curve - "we're all in it together"
  • showing that everyone counts and that everyone has a value and can contribute - see Stroud's Yellow Leaflet as an example of how to communicate this well
• Defining "what we are", and "what we are not"
• Being aware of the bigger picture

What kind of structure should be in place?

• Typically this has been a Steering Group and then a process from which subgroups (or working groups or Transition Teams) emerge
• The Steering Group suggests that groups form and then steps back to wait for them to emerge
  • Totnes, Stroud, Lewes, Glastonbury and others are following this model
  • Aberystwyth has decided for the moment not to split into groups [possibly just a timing issue - Ed]
  • the structures need to be kept flexible enough for change
• One possible management template could be "Holistic Management" from Africa. [You can download a pdf on the subject here - it's a 4Meg pdf, so it'll take a while to download - Ed]
• Spring theory could help [couldn't find a link to this - Ed]
• The subgroups need to have input from artists and ecologists to get a consensus on: Needs, Concerns, Visions. These people will help create perspectives that are distinctive from community to community.

What is the function of Core Group (or Steering Group)?

• Create the constitution
• Apply for funding
• Motivate the groups
• Just get on with the work
• Recruit and steer the paid co-ordinator
• Ensure that the Management Committee is open to people for exchange and interchange
• Maintaining communications between groups
• Serve, support and action for the subgroups (or Transition Teams)
• Handle uncertainty
• Co-ordinate the visioning and EDAP phases

How do we run the projects?

• John Croft's Dragon Dreaming has 4 elements that repeat throughout the process:
  1. Vision
  2. Planning
  3. Execution
  4. Celebrating
• Need to record the projects
  • Lewes, Totnes and others are doing this through film
  • also important to document so that other people can learn from it

Other resources re structure and leadership

• Chaordic design
• Ken Wilber's Spiral Dynamics - watch a video of him explaining his view of sustainability

Learning from eachother

• Need to gather and disseminate best practice and templates for models of leadership
• This is key information for the steering groups
• Transition Network can play a role in this, showing successful forms of leadership and structure