Following the Lonehill Residents Association (LRA) July 2006 AGM financials debacle, the clear showing of a majority of dissatisfied hands, and the apparently disturbing consequent clamp-down of access-to-information as requested by concerned residents, I experience this uncomfortable ringing in my ears of Marcellus words' in Shakespeare's Hamlet: "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
Of latest concern is the staggering and unprecedented announcement from the LRA office, effectively stripping all Lonehill Community Initiative contributors of their LRA Membership status.
Lonehill residents responsible for contributing to the success of the Lonehill community security initiative and previously having been recognised by the LRA, by stated intention, invitation and process, as being eligible to vote at previous meetings, are now required to 'apply' to the LRA to become registered as voting members. By my reading, only then may they record their dissatisfaction or otherwise at the second-attempt repeat of the LRA AGM - set to take place at 19:00h on Tuesday 17th October at Crawford Preparatory School in Sceales Road, Lonehill.
This writer implores Lonehill residents to take note of and question events unfolding in the current affairs of Lonehill's critically-needed LRA community initiative and, if deemed necessary, return it to the the principles of common sense, open transparency, integrity of purpose, and mass community involvement that were the hallmarks of our 2001 security initiative's multi-million rand success.
In my personal opinion, we must ensure that we avoid the bumbling bureaucracy of a ‘command and control’ hierarchy and keep Lonehill residents fully in control of our own Association.
by Trevor Nel - Lonehill resident and initiator of the Lonehill community security project
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Saturday, September 30, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Do WE Demonstrate The Characteristics of TRUE Community..?
Following the lack of delivery of financials at the the Lonehill AGM 2006, the Lonehill grapevine is now rife with all manner of concerns related to the management of our community initiative.
Given that everybody has the responsibility and right to raise issues of serious concern in their community, and that we should all be deeply concerned at the evidential reactions to such questions being raised at the AGM (and by many since), then the NEUTRAL information below is submitted to stimulate further thought on the issue.
Lets raise the simple question as to whether WE - as residents, stakeholders, leaders et al - can look at the 'salient characteristics of true community' identified by author Dr. M. Scott Peck below and honestly assess with rightful pride that WE are successfully on track with demonstrating these characteristics... or whether WE should be ashamed and embarrassed at being so far off track.
How do YOU believe WE compare..? And based on your answer, what do you believe is the way forward for OUR community initiative..? Please feel free to interact by adding your comment to this article.
Extract from Answers.com:
Community building
In his book The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace', Scott Peck says that community has three essential ingredients:
- Inclusivity
- Commitment
- Consensus
Based on his experience with community building workshops, Scott Peck says that community building typically goes through four stages:
Pseudocommunity: This is a stage where the members pretend to have a bon homie with one another, and cover up their differences, by acting as if the differences do not exist. Pseudocommunity can never directly lead to community, and it is the job of the person guiding the community building process to shorten this period as much as possible.
Chaos: When pseudocommunity fails to work, the members start falling upon each other, giving vent to their mutual disagreements and differences. This is a period of chaos. It is a time when the people in the community realize that differences cannot simply be ignored. Chaos looks counterproductive but it is the first genuine step towards community building.
Emptiness: After chaos comes emptiness. At this stage, the people learn to empty themselves of those ego related factors that are preventing their entry into community. Emptiness is a tough step because it involves the death of a part of the individual. But, Scott Peck argues, this death paves the way for the birth of a new creature, the Community.
True community: Having worked through emptiness, the people in community are in complete empathy with one another. There is a great level of tacit understanding. People are able to relate to each other's feelings. Discussions, even when heated, never get sour, and motives are not questioned.
The four stages of community formation are somewhat related to a model in organisation theory for the five stages that a team goes through during development.
These five stages are:
Forming where the team members have some initial discomfort with each other but nothing comes out in the open. They are insecure about their role and position with respect to the team. This corresponds to the initial stage of pseudocommunity.
Storming where the team members start arguing heatedly and differences and insecurities come out in the open. This corresponds to the second stage given by Scott Peck, namely chaos.
Norming where the team members lay out rules and guidelines for interaction that help define the roles and responsibilities of each person. This corresponds to emptiness, where the community members think within and empty themselves of their obsessions to be able to accept and listen to others.
Performing where the team finally starts working as a cohesive whole, and effectively achieve the tasks setof themselves. In this stage individuals are aided by the group as a whole where necessary, in order to move further collectively than they could achieve as a group of separated individuals.
Transforming This corresponds to the stage of true community. This represents the stage of celebration, and when individuals leave, as they must, there is a genuine feeling of grief, and a desire to meet again. Traditionally this stage was often called "Mourning".
It is in this third stage that Scott Peck's community building methods differ in principle from team development. While teams in business organizations need to develop explicit rules, guidelines and protocols during the norming stage, the emptiness' stage of community building is characterized, not by laying down the rules explicitly, but by shedding the resistance within the minds of the individuals.
Scott Peck has started the Foundation for Community Encouragement to promote the formation of communities, which, he argues, are a first step towards uniting humanity and saving us from self destruction.
The Meaning of True Community
Peck describes what he considers to be the most salient characteristics of a true community.
- Inclusivity, commitment and consensus: Members accept and embrace each other, celebrating their individuality and transcending their differences. They commit themselves to the effort and the people involved. They make decisions and reconcile their differences through consensus.
- Realism: Members bring together multiple perspectives to better understand the whole context of the situation. Decisions are more well-rounded and humble, rather than one-sided and arrogant.
- Contemplation: Members examine themselves. They are individually and collectively self-aware of the world outside themselves, the world inside themselves, and the relationship between the two.
- A safe place: Members allow others to share their vulnerability, heal themselves, and express who they truly are.
- A laboratory for personal disarmament: Members experientially discover the rules for peacemaking and embrace its virtues. They feel and express compassion and respect for each other as fellow human beings.
- A group that can fight gracefully: Members resolve conflicts with wisdom and grace. They listen and understand, respect each others’ gifts, accept each others’ limitations, celebrate their differences, bind each others’ wounds, and commit to a struggle together rather than against each other.
- A group of all leaders: Members harness the “flow of leadership” to make decisions and set a course of action. It is the spirit of community itself that leads and not any single individual.
- A spirit: The true spirit of community is the spirit of peace, love, wisdom and power. Members may view the source of this spirit as an outgrowth of the collective self or as the manifestation of a Higher Will.
Trevor Nel - Lonehill Resident - 705-2790
Given that everybody has the responsibility and right to raise issues of serious concern in their community, and that we should all be deeply concerned at the evidential reactions to such questions being raised at the AGM (and by many since), then the NEUTRAL information below is submitted to stimulate further thought on the issue.
Lets raise the simple question as to whether WE - as residents, stakeholders, leaders et al - can look at the 'salient characteristics of true community' identified by author Dr. M. Scott Peck below and honestly assess with rightful pride that WE are successfully on track with demonstrating these characteristics... or whether WE should be ashamed and embarrassed at being so far off track.
How do YOU believe WE compare..? And based on your answer, what do you believe is the way forward for OUR community initiative..? Please feel free to interact by adding your comment to this article.
Extract from Answers.com:
Community building
In his book The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace', Scott Peck says that community has three essential ingredients:
- Inclusivity
- Commitment
- Consensus
Based on his experience with community building workshops, Scott Peck says that community building typically goes through four stages:
Pseudocommunity: This is a stage where the members pretend to have a bon homie with one another, and cover up their differences, by acting as if the differences do not exist. Pseudocommunity can never directly lead to community, and it is the job of the person guiding the community building process to shorten this period as much as possible.
Chaos: When pseudocommunity fails to work, the members start falling upon each other, giving vent to their mutual disagreements and differences. This is a period of chaos. It is a time when the people in the community realize that differences cannot simply be ignored. Chaos looks counterproductive but it is the first genuine step towards community building.
Emptiness: After chaos comes emptiness. At this stage, the people learn to empty themselves of those ego related factors that are preventing their entry into community. Emptiness is a tough step because it involves the death of a part of the individual. But, Scott Peck argues, this death paves the way for the birth of a new creature, the Community.
True community: Having worked through emptiness, the people in community are in complete empathy with one another. There is a great level of tacit understanding. People are able to relate to each other's feelings. Discussions, even when heated, never get sour, and motives are not questioned.
The four stages of community formation are somewhat related to a model in organisation theory for the five stages that a team goes through during development.
These five stages are:
Forming where the team members have some initial discomfort with each other but nothing comes out in the open. They are insecure about their role and position with respect to the team. This corresponds to the initial stage of pseudocommunity.
Storming where the team members start arguing heatedly and differences and insecurities come out in the open. This corresponds to the second stage given by Scott Peck, namely chaos.
Norming where the team members lay out rules and guidelines for interaction that help define the roles and responsibilities of each person. This corresponds to emptiness, where the community members think within and empty themselves of their obsessions to be able to accept and listen to others.
Performing where the team finally starts working as a cohesive whole, and effectively achieve the tasks setof themselves. In this stage individuals are aided by the group as a whole where necessary, in order to move further collectively than they could achieve as a group of separated individuals.
Transforming This corresponds to the stage of true community. This represents the stage of celebration, and when individuals leave, as they must, there is a genuine feeling of grief, and a desire to meet again. Traditionally this stage was often called "Mourning".
It is in this third stage that Scott Peck's community building methods differ in principle from team development. While teams in business organizations need to develop explicit rules, guidelines and protocols during the norming stage, the emptiness' stage of community building is characterized, not by laying down the rules explicitly, but by shedding the resistance within the minds of the individuals.
Scott Peck has started the Foundation for Community Encouragement to promote the formation of communities, which, he argues, are a first step towards uniting humanity and saving us from self destruction.
The Meaning of True Community
Peck describes what he considers to be the most salient characteristics of a true community.
- Inclusivity, commitment and consensus: Members accept and embrace each other, celebrating their individuality and transcending their differences. They commit themselves to the effort and the people involved. They make decisions and reconcile their differences through consensus.
- Realism: Members bring together multiple perspectives to better understand the whole context of the situation. Decisions are more well-rounded and humble, rather than one-sided and arrogant.
- Contemplation: Members examine themselves. They are individually and collectively self-aware of the world outside themselves, the world inside themselves, and the relationship between the two.
- A safe place: Members allow others to share their vulnerability, heal themselves, and express who they truly are.
- A laboratory for personal disarmament: Members experientially discover the rules for peacemaking and embrace its virtues. They feel and express compassion and respect for each other as fellow human beings.
- A group that can fight gracefully: Members resolve conflicts with wisdom and grace. They listen and understand, respect each others’ gifts, accept each others’ limitations, celebrate their differences, bind each others’ wounds, and commit to a struggle together rather than against each other.
- A group of all leaders: Members harness the “flow of leadership” to make decisions and set a course of action. It is the spirit of community itself that leads and not any single individual.
- A spirit: The true spirit of community is the spirit of peace, love, wisdom and power. Members may view the source of this spirit as an outgrowth of the collective self or as the manifestation of a Higher Will.
Trevor Nel - Lonehill Resident - 705-2790
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