Email address brian (at) faithvoices (dot) org
User Guide to Synanim
efficient consensus, leadership development
AboutSynanim
Faith Voices
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Synanim is an online SocialSoftware system that inspires CreativeSynthesis by engaging participants in DialogicCommunication over a number of steps. Synanim embraces any number of participants -- from the very few to the very, very many -- within small, synchronized workgroups. Participants AccessSynanim with any standard web browser. It is available through FaithVoices to its MemberOrganizations.
Social software is a new term used to describe systems that enable groups to collaborate in ways that build upon shared values. These characteristics often produce the NetworkEffect. The evolution of the term from the early days of computing may be found here:
http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/10/tracing_the_evo.html
Faith Voices for the Common Good cultivates a community of interfaith and progressive organizations that cooperate to educate the public about our values and about issues of social concern. Our main site is here:
http://www.faithvoices.org
Any person authorized by MemberOrganizations leadership may assume the project administrator role, which is to set the parameters that guide
Synanim projects. Administrators do this by creating a ProjectDefinition with their administrator interface. Administrators AccessSynanim with any standard web browser.
Synanim is simple to use, because its web-based interface guides users with a series of steps, each leading naturally to the next (like buying a book
at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com ). Project participants work synchronously with their group members through the step tasks defined by their ProjectAdministrator. Projects may be simple or complex, depending on group goals and GroupSize as set in the ProjectDefinition.
FaithVoices offers Synanim to its member organizations. We help unify the efforts of organizations which seek to serve the common good and that espouse these values:
- Appreciation for diversity
- The inviolable dignity of every human being
- Peaceful, multilateral resolution of conflict
- Responsible stewardship of the earth's resources
- Justice for all, including the underprivileged and disenfranchised
- Hospitality toward immigrants and other strangers
- Care for the most vulnerable among us
The term "progressive" is often used to describe these values. A definition of progressivism is found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism#Beliefs
Participants work in small groups of five to twelve. However, Synanim supports an unlimited number of participants by automatically forming these groups and by structuring the project into TieredStages based on parameters set by the ProjectAdministrator and given the number of people who actually register. Such as with LiftEveryVoice, Synanim identifies GroupLeaders and regroups them into the subsequent stage where they may carry forward their prior group efforts. In this way, Synanim enables CreativeSynthesis from even the largest group.
In September, 2004, the first major Synanim event took place with a project called Lift Every Voice! (http://www.everyvoice.org/lev ). It utilized this straightforward project design:
STAGE ONE
1,000 participants
100 groups
10 per group
STAGE TWO
100 participants (one leader from each group in Stage One)
10 groups
10 per group
STAGE THREE
10 participants (one leader from each group in Stage Two)
1 group
10 per group
GroupSize need not be so uniform. More than one participant from each group (GroupLeaders) may advance to later stages, it need not be just one as in this case.
A TiddlyWiki is a blog-like wiki created by Jeremy Ruston. His site is here: http://www.tiddlywiki.com/
The Synanim process synthesizes consensus by encouraging DialogicCommunication among participants. At each step of the Synanim process, participants learn from the entries within their group. This learning shapes the construction of each individual’s next statement. Done repeatedly, this results in an iterative climb up a ladder of increased insight and creativity by all members of the group, converging toward one conceptualization built from the many ideas the group brought to the encounter.
As a result, Synanim does not discover unity by mapping a consensus of existing positions, it builds a new position shared by all and to which all have grown. Participants are motivated by their desire to understand and to contribute, and guided by the qualifications for GroupLeaders.
Synanim identifies group leaders using LeaderTraits. By recording the actions of group participants at all steps of every session, Synanim computes a LeadershipScore for each stage. Selected Group Leaders may then participate in a subsequent stage where they represent their originating group.
Dialogic communication derives from interpersonal connections. It requires active, engaged minds, and participants can expect to LearnMore quickly from each other and to develop into GroupLeaders. Richard L. Johannesen has identified these characteristics:
Authenticity -- direct, honest, and straightforward
Inclusion -- see things from each others' perspective
Confirmation -- acknowledge, accept, and value each other
Presentness -- full attention to each other and to topics of dialog
Equality -- consider others as equals
Support -- avoid judgments, ad hominem statements, arguments
More here: a href=http://www3.niu.edu/comm/faculty/johann.html
The key findings reported by the National Research Council in "How People Learn" (2000) included these:
1. We all have pre-existing conceptual frameworks and learning may only take place when our PreConceptions are engaged.
2. To develop, we must understand facts and ideas within the context of effective onceptualFrameworks.
3. MetaCognition, mental self-assessment skills, speed learning. They may be strengthened with use.
More here: http://books.nap.edu/books/0309070368/html/index.html
All of us make sense of the world using our own ConceptualFrameworks, and we build new understanding using our existing conceptions. Cognitive scientists such as Lakoff believe that we construct our concepts using metaphors that derive from our experience in the world. Their research suggests that the most basic metaphors, "primary" metaphors, are widely shared across cultures. More here: http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/people/lakoff
Our pre-existing conceptual frameworks are the tools with which we build new understanding and develop expertise. For example, to learn calculus one must first understand algebra. Our conceptual frameworks together represent our worldview, they guide the decisions we make and the opinions we hold. Understanding another's relevant conceptual frameworks is the key to DialogicCommunication.
When we reflect on our mental abilities, we are exercising metacognition. This is like an internal teacher assessing and guiding us. It is a powerful mental skill that we can develop with practice. Synanim encourages metacognition by motivating participants to become GroupLeaders.
In order to measure actual LeaderTraits, Leadership Scores have two components:
Entry Points -- Based on the number who select (vote for) an entry.
Vote Points -- Based on the number who vote for the same entry.
Entry Points are easy to understand, the most popular entry gets the most points. However, Vote Points are a bit less intuitive. It helps to think of votes as virtual poker chips -- the value of the entire pile goes to all who put a chip into the pile. This means that participants who vote for a popular entry each get more points than participants who vote for less favored ones. All points derive from intergroup activity only.
Social psychologist John Turner and others find that groups require their leaders to:
1. Have relevant skill
2. Identify with group values (empathy)
3. Serve interests (duty to group)
More here: http://www.anu.edu.au/psychology/people/turner/index.php
The Synanim LeadershipScore measures writing skill and the value of ideas by tracking group reaction to each entry. It guages empathy and judgement by monitoring voting patterns.
Each step presents participants with a task. Typically, each step builds upon prior steps over the course of a session. A common structure is:
Step 1: Create outline or idea flow.
Step 2: Brainstorm.
Step 3: Write first draft.
Step 4: Polish into second draft.
Step 5: Make final edits.
Synanim Process Overview here: http://www.faithvoices.org/programs/synscreen1.html
A ProjectAdministrator initiates a Synanim event by creating a Project Definition using their administrator interface. The quantitative aspects include the number and timing of all steps and sessions, and the minimum and maximum number for GroupSize. Defining the QualitativeAspects of a project is an art. Quantitative components:
STEP
All steps except the first include two aspects: selecting an entry and editing the selected entry. In a first step, participants submit initial text entries. Each step is guided by a short StepTask.
SESSION
A session is a group of STEPS. Each session is guided by instructions and resources. Most projects require multiple sessions to achieve their goal.
STAGE
A stage is one or more sessions grouped together for purposes of elevating GroupLeaders to subsequent stages.
The qualitative aspects of a ProjectDefinition are primarily in the "content" realm. A ProjectAdministrator includes written resources for the overall project, each session, and every step. Synanim presents these resources to participants at the appropriate points of the project. Written resources should at least include instructions and goals, but may also include web links and background files. StepTask instructions should be short and simple.
Understanding "what" participants should do and "when" is the key to the art of developing a GroupMind among participants.
Synanim guides participants through DialogicCommunication over a number of steps. This builds empathy among group members, but unless they discover shared PreConceptions, they will have difficulty construcing new shared ConceptualFrameworks. Lakoff and the new organizational development discipline called AppreciativeInquiry offer nearly identical guidance.
George Lakoff is a leading cognitive scientist. In his book "Moral Politics" he describes the metaphoric underpinnings of both the progressive and conservative worldviews in the hope of encouraging dialog. He also suggests the process by which conceptual consensus may be developed into agreement on action:
1. Identify shared values.
2. Determine principles rooted in values.
3. Develop policy from principles.
4. Take action.
More here: http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/bookstore/moralpolitics
Appreciative Inquiry springs from the field of organizational development. In their words, "Appreciative Inquiry is about the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them." Its Four-D framework mirrors Lakoff:
1. Discovery -- Discover positive capacity.
2. Dream -- Create a clear, results-oriented vision.
3. Design -- Propose organizational form for the dream.
4. Destiny -- Create processes.
The more people using a product or service with a network effect, the greater its value. Synanim enables its users to LearnMore by engaging in DialogicCommunication with other participants. The greater the participation, the greater the potential for personal growth.
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect
Synanim manages very large groups by forming tiered stages. Each subsequent stage includes only the GroupLeaders from the prior stage. These leaders become democratic representatives of their group by carrying forward their ideas within a new group. They continue on with the other leaders through the steps and sessions of the subsequent stage until complete. Then, if there is need of another tier, GroupLeaders are again promoted forward to repeat the process. Consider this example:
http://www.faithvoices.org/programs/synstage.html
AboutSynanim SocialSoftware
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