Meeting #2 July 9, 2020

Seeding agenda:

1. "Japanese Teahouse" exercise - introducing and discussing generative processes, unfolding wholeness.

2. Using some kind of chat tool (see item #3 in this article: https://medium.com/the-tuning-fork/minimum-viable-structure-92e91048ff66)

What is a generative process

Visual memory, creating with imagination

spacial relationships, literally walking trhough the process

Coherent

always beautiful

"no technical debt"

inside-out, not bringing outside things

"simplicity oriented design"

beta mode production, each iteration ads functionality

it has to be in the right sequence

sequence, selectin, iteration, invokation

Here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZQKzcw9Ulk

https://www.amazon.com/Seduction-Curves-Beauty-Connect-Mathematics/dp/0691175330

no binary relation culture-nature

In the invitation to this group - japanese tea house

tea house is a powerful communication tool

I am in a space ... and I don't know what I don't know

I know things I do not want the space to be

how can I create boundaries in the space so that I can inhabit it ...

process orientation between the meetings

productive constrains / boundaries as a next step

protecting a space that is not as demanding as Loomio

formality/informality

synchronous/asynchronous

demand for involvement

planning / unfolding

thinking / feeling

empathy maps different profiles we want to attract to the space

design different entrance pathways for different interests

orient myself ...

Get oriented in the space

have options

sensemaking where I am

filters and rules by design

different entrance/paths to enter the space

Meeting 2: the tea house

• To me this excersise mainly brought up notions of directed emergence. Frame and decorations. Sheet music and creative ornamentations. Discipline and indicipline. All of which being two sides of the same coin of course but theres a balance to be managed and we all have inherent heuristic skew/bias towards one way or another. Some people will be more structure oriented, others will be more network oriented - both are valuable and I'd like to see depth and maturity in both.

• Iteration and refactoring was another elucidated notion. While mentally building the tea house picture in our heads, restructuring the picture became a theme in that the unknown unknowns forced refactoring. In a mental image this is easy but in real life it's not so easy; sequence is important or you may have to undo everything and start again.

• Whole/part relationships was also brought up; emergence is never in parts that join onto each other, it's always whole. If you create something with the intention of going back, untied ends etc, then you are incurring debt (technical/social).

Those were my main three takeaways from the meeting.

Warmest,

J

I have run up against the friction between "visioning" and the "reality of building" quite a bit in my actual structure building efforts.

I have found that actual construction requires different processes than those used for "imagining". But there too I find that a generative process serves me better than planning/design strategies I used to employ in the past. Having a "generative process" roadmap helps me navigate unknowns. Trust(established through practice) in the step by step "unfolding wholeness" gives me a sense of confidence and freedom in responding to the unknows WITHIN the generative process.

An example I like to cite is encountering a woodworking task that requires a chisel. That spawned a process: "what makes a good chisel". That spawned a process (I was completely unaware of!) of "sharpening a chisel" which spawned a process of "what kind of sharpening system to use". When "digging in" to such spirals it is possible to lose sight of "what I'm actually doing" ... and having the framing of a "generative process" within a "generative process" ... keeps me oriented.

I have also found that the "visioning" generative process is so valuable when dealing with the frictions of "construction". When I have a direct felt experience of "My Tea House" ... I can recall and reconnect with that feeling and check to see if the actual detailed work I am doing is actually bringing me closer to that felt experience. Without this feeling, which acts as a kind of "lighthouse in my heart" ... I can easily get lost and bogged down in all the consuming details of actual construction.