Re: pattern language
From: Tree Bressen (treeic.org)
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:04:23 -0800 (PST)
Hi Dane,

The Group Pattern Language project that i've been
working on for over 3 years is at the printer
now.  It has taken the form of a card deck with
91 recurring patterns in healthy group process,
each idea arising in a tremendous variety of
forms and operating at multiple levels of
scale.  I'm pretty excited about it and will send
a message when it's fully out and available for sale and free download.

I'm especially interested in your GPL project. I think there's value in identifying and, to some extent, codifying forms of human interaction (yeah, that's the computer programmer in me talking). Are you aware of any similar efforts targeted at interactions between individual people rather than groups?

I don't see it as codifying forms of interaction exactly, since every pattern (e.g. Letting Go; Follow the Energy; Common Ground; Listening; etc.) can take an unlimited variety of forms. But it is an attempt to synthesize some core wisdom that is less specific than techniques or methods yet more specific than general principles or values, and it's true that naming and setting out key concepts that repeat is a form of systematization. As you probably know, there is a subset of computer programmers who have gotten excited by the pattern language approach and have used it to do a bunch of work in their field.

I haven't heard of anyone working on a pattern language for interpersonal communication thus far. I will say that there is significant overlap, that is, a lot of the ideas from the Group Works deck would also apply to one-on-one interaction.

Thanks for your interest, cheers,

--Tree


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Tree Bressen
Eugene, Oregon
(541) 343-3855 (after 11am)
tree [at] ic.org
http://treegroup.info
http://grouppatternlanguage.org

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