Is there a we?

Society. Collectivity. Group. Gathering. Team. Unit. Band. Party. Troop. System. Contingent. Aggregation. Set. Faction. Bunch. Club. Corps. Detachment. Gang.

And then there is me. A group of one. A single unit, a link in the chain, an individual, unique, important, paramount, with ideas, aspirations, ambitions, drives, fears, limitations, incentives, talents, and so, so much more! So, where do I fit in the aboves? How can I relate to so much complexity?

One of the things I personally find most rewarding is the results of teamwork. Being the extrovert that I am, an experience is never fully complete unless I can share it with another being. And the closer the other is to me, the better the overall experience becomes once shared.

In life, unless one chooses to live a life of total seclusion, interactions are inevitable. Beyond being mere crossings, these interactions are in fact interdependencies. For example, food that is purchased was produced in a way we trust to be safe.The vehicles we drive were manufactured by others, the bus we ride is driven by someone else, and the bridges we cross were designed and built by men and women we do not even know. So we constantly trust and rely on others.

Yet, when we dive closer into a system's work units, there is often distrust and dislike (which usually go hand-in-hand!). "The meaning behind "socio-" is that the organization is governed by those who "associate together."" (Sharon Villines, from an email on sociocracy@yahoogroups.com posted on Monday, April 20, 2009) As such, Dynamic Governance wires the organization in such a way that it allows (in fact, it actually leads towards) employees working together in structuring the system within which they work.

One of the challenges I face while helping with the implementation is the distrust some employees have with anything that is brought forward. As a long-standing reaction to (sometimes perceived as illogical or ill-reasoned) changes, many employees, including managers, have withdrawn from the "socio" aspect of the organization. The result is that it takes time to build trust and to bring everyone on board.

Patience is of the essence, or so I thought until very recently.... until it dawned on me that patience is irrelevant. Perhaps what is truly needed for this "socio" to emerge is empathy. Patience is but a small aspect of empathy...