We are facing "MONSTER issues" that threaten the viability of our civilization, like the ecological crisis that is unfolding and the mal-distribution of wealth undermining the idea of democracy. How are we to address these issues? Can we solve them? Currently, our public conversation is dysfunctional and is not helpful for dealing with such issues. Elected representatives argue to the point of partisan gridlock. And the media generally promotes fear, division and ever-increasing consumption. Our current conversation exacerbates the situation, driving most citizens into a state of denial, where these monsters don't get addressed.
There are different qualities of public conversation
Consider these five different possible forms of public conversation, from lowest to highest:
Obviously, the public conversation by which we seek to solve these impossible-seeming Monster issues is inadequate, especially what we currently have ... power struggle. What's needed is where we all get involved, are respectful of others, listen to different ideas, value each person and each culture, and creatively invent solutions that work for everyone. Then we can all get behind the answers and work collboratively to implement them. This kind of conversation builds trust, the spirit of community and individual awareness, understanding and empowerment.
We need a way to reliably evoke choice-creating at large scale, throughout society. We just need to add this type of "We the People" conversation to what we already have. Then we can co-create shared truth, shared vision and a shared strategy going forward. With this "ongoing whole-system choice-creating conversation" we raise the collective intelligence for society, and begin achieving breakthrough progress on all problems. By using the Wisdom Council Process we can facilitate this "We the People" into existence as the new ultimate authority for society. Heck, what's more powerful that all of us providing direction in a unified, responsible way?
Does this sound impossible? It's not. Part of the reason you might think it is impossible, though, is because so many efforts to shift the quality of public conversation haven't worked. For example, most people seek to shift the conversation within the existing system, from power struggle to reasoned debate, for example. But Congress is structured to fight. It's comprised of people paid to represent set positions in a majority-rule voting contest. So naturally it's a power struggle. And the same is true for the media. Incentives assure a power struggle, because profits are the bottom line. If thoughtful talking were to surface in many of these settings, profits would tumble … so they make the "smart" choice and enhance the fighting.
The people and organizations dedicated to deliberation structure events where ordinary citizens learn from experts, understand the problems more deeply and discuss options with civility. They seek to create an island of rational conversation which can influence citizens, legislators and policy. For example, in Oregon there is the Citizens Initiative Review. Twenty-four random citizens come together for a week to understand proposed citizens initiatives and make a recommendations to voters. In moderated sessions they deliberate the options and then vote. They share the results in the voters pamphlet for all to see. And the vote of this small group can influence voters … and even policy. But this positive impact isn't guaranteed because the deliberative body is a one-time event that can easily go ignored.
Dialogue is another common approach, offering a conversation that can be transformational. Here the idea is to organize many small groups to consider difficult topics like racism or poverty. People talk with one another in a heartfelt way and grow personally. They are moved and changed by the deep conversation. The process requires open-mindedness that can make a great difference in one person's life. But for a dialogue to work there is no advocating of positions and no group conclusions.
Plus, closed-minded people generally avoid any form of dialogue. When convened it's often only one side of the political spectrum talking to itself rather than to those with different views. So structuring dialogue, deliberation, and rational debate are not enough. What's needed is a shift to choice-creating.
Our current system holds “Rational Debate” as the ideal. Institutions like Parliamentary Procedure, voting, representatives, and the “rule of law” aim for this. Unfortunately, the usual quality of our public conversation is more like “Power Struggle.” Money is used to influence the results.
Other people seek to reduce the level of corruption and acrimony in the power struggle through legislation, like campaign finance reform, term limits, or denying legal “personhood” to corporations. While these steps can help diminish the power struggle, they do not facilitate the quality of thinking we really need.
Choice-creating is key
Most people have little experience with choice-creating and don't know how to facilitate it, other than to notice that it can happen naturally in a crisis. Yes, in moments of crisis people often will drop their roles and pretenses, pull together with others, and creatively develop some new solution that works for everyone. But, do we need to wait for things to get worse until we all acknowledge the crisis? Maybe then it'll be too late.
Two social inventions make it possible for all of us to engage in choice-creating, for “We the People” to come into being. They are: 1) “Dynamic Facilitation,” through which a skilled facilitator reliably evokes choice-creating in small groups. (See www.DynamicFacilitation.com and 2) the “Wisdom Council Process,” which uses Dynamic Facilitation to generate choice-creating throughout large systems of people. (See www.WiseDemocracy.org)
A meeting facilitator is like a “light switch” for a small group of people. He or she assures a shift in the quality of conversation to one level or another. The traditional facilitator usually aims to help people shift to polite “power struggle” or “reasoned debate,” or “deliberation” or “dialogue,” or “problem-solving.” Often they seek to help people focus on issues that are solvable, stay on the topic, break big problems into smaller ones, mute their passionate advocacy, and proceed step by step down a logical path.
The dynamic facilitator helps people shift instead to “choice-creating,” where they find or address some key issue no matter how big and impossible-seeming, address it creatively and collaboratively, and “co-sense” unanimous conclusions. He or she assures that each comment is heard and appreciated by the group, framing it as a solution, concern, item of data, or new statement of the problem. This way, no matter what comment is made or how it is said, the group benefits.
The dynamic facilitator goes with the flow of energy in the group. Rather than keeping people on track, he or she encourages authenticity by helping participants voice their deep concerns or half-ideas, and protects them from feeling any judgment. Group conclusions emerge through shifts and breakthroughs in the form of solutions, a new sense of what the real problem is, or a change of heart. Unanimous conclusions result.
The Wisdom Council Process
The Wisdom Council Process uses the power of Dynamic Facilitation to spark choice-creating throughout a large system of people. It promises to spark heartfelt creative thinking for a city, corporation, or nation allowing all people to address the most pressing issues creatively and collaboratively and reach near-unanimous positions. If this can really be done, it is the Holy Grail of democracy. This provides for the people to responsibly take charge in a way that accentuates and supports individual differences and results in wise collective answers.
Here’s how the process works: Every four months twelve people are randomly selected from the community, city or nation. They meet for three days or so, are dynamically facilitated to choose issues to address, develop unanimous positions, and then present their conclusions back to the community. The whole community is invited to hear and consider the Wisdom Council's statements in face-to-face dialogues, informal conversations, or over the Internet. Over time, an ongoing choice-creating conversation evolves throughout the system where near-unanimous views emerge.
Experiments with this concept in cities, counties, government agencies, corporations, schools and cooperatives indicate that it works. When you randomly select people, when they choose the issue, and when they reach unanimity then they are a legitimate symbol of “We the People.” When they report their conclusions and their stories of how they determined them, people resonate with the group and their conclusions. All are excited about the conclusions and the process. Many report that the experience in the group and in the audience is life-changing.
At this point, of course, we seek to involve the whole system. Many must hear the report of the Wisdom Council, talk with others, and help spark support for the positions and the process. The lottery, media, the internet, and neighborhood gatherings are some of the ways to reach this larger community. To the extent that the conversation reverberates and all people feel involved a new entity emerges, “We the People”.
When people first hear about the concept of the Wisdom Council Process, they often notice that the it has no official authority and wonder how it would influence policy. They might see how it would inform and involve more people, help build the political will for general-interest positions, and inform legislators about people’s views. But even more important is its affect beyond legislation. It establishes a new whole-system public conversation with a new way of thinking, talking and reaching unified conclusions. This offers the prospect of solving seemingly intractable issues.
If all of us can participate in one creative conversation and reach shared conclusions, then we have transcended our current adversarial, coercive political system. We have created for ourselves a new system of governance that is a “true democracy,” where the people, thinking wisely, are truly in charge.
Going forward
First, we must continue to demonstrate that the Wisdom Council Process works in organizations and communities. Especially in Europe governments are convening the Wisdom Council Process. But just ordinary people can start the process as well. Since each Wisdom Council generally self-reflects with words similar to this, "This is a great process. Of course, it should continue”, each successive Wisdom Council is thereby chartered by a previous one. It's a voice of “We the People” chartering the next voice, with building interest throughout the community.
Also, the Wisdom Council Process needs to happen at the national level in the U.S. and other countries. Many seemingly intractable issues can be "solved" through this process. And at the global level too; Wars, migration, the loss of planetary commons, the rise of authoritarianism and climate change are just some of the issues that cannot be addressed from within the current system of competing special interests. At some point all of us must come together in collaboration to address issues these issues.
As this process demonstrates its ability to confront impossible-seeming issues and achieve breakthrough progress, elected officials and courts will find it difficult to ignore this voice of “the People.” Legislators will realize that this new process is an asset to them, freeing them from the domination of special interests, and enhances their ability to serve the public. The Wisdom Council Process offers a new prospect for the world’s people to transcend their differences and come together.
Call to action
Our nonprofit organization, the Center for Wise Democracy, needs your support in furthering this work. (See www.WiseDemocracy.org) And we are ready to help you if you want to learn more about the process. Or to start a Wisdom Council Process in your area.
There are different qualities of public conversation
Consider these five different possible forms of public conversation, from lowest to highest:
- “Power struggle” where people seek control over others and influence over the collective decisions by using status, vitriolic language, and money to push their agenda.
- “Reasoned debate” where there is a thoughtful competition of ideas. This form of conversation is the goal of the current Constitutional system in the U.S. with its representatives, Parliamentary Procedure and elections.
- “Deliberation” where experts, wise elders, informed citizens, or legislators investigate selected problems and carefully weigh options before deciding.
- “Dialogue” where a wide network of people in small groups explores topics open-mindedly and open-heartedly, growing in their understandings, relationships, shared vision, where people develop feelings of connectedness to one another and all life.
- “Choice-creating” where diverse people address the most pressing issues collaboratively and creatively, determining unanimous, win/win conclusions.
Obviously, the public conversation by which we seek to solve these impossible-seeming Monster issues is inadequate, especially what we currently have ... power struggle. What's needed is where we all get involved, are respectful of others, listen to different ideas, value each person and each culture, and creatively invent solutions that work for everyone. Then we can all get behind the answers and work collboratively to implement them. This kind of conversation builds trust, the spirit of community and individual awareness, understanding and empowerment.
We need a way to reliably evoke choice-creating at large scale, throughout society. We just need to add this type of "We the People" conversation to what we already have. Then we can co-create shared truth, shared vision and a shared strategy going forward. With this "ongoing whole-system choice-creating conversation" we raise the collective intelligence for society, and begin achieving breakthrough progress on all problems. By using the Wisdom Council Process we can facilitate this "We the People" into existence as the new ultimate authority for society. Heck, what's more powerful that all of us providing direction in a unified, responsible way?
Does this sound impossible? It's not. Part of the reason you might think it is impossible, though, is because so many efforts to shift the quality of public conversation haven't worked. For example, most people seek to shift the conversation within the existing system, from power struggle to reasoned debate, for example. But Congress is structured to fight. It's comprised of people paid to represent set positions in a majority-rule voting contest. So naturally it's a power struggle. And the same is true for the media. Incentives assure a power struggle, because profits are the bottom line. If thoughtful talking were to surface in many of these settings, profits would tumble … so they make the "smart" choice and enhance the fighting.
The people and organizations dedicated to deliberation structure events where ordinary citizens learn from experts, understand the problems more deeply and discuss options with civility. They seek to create an island of rational conversation which can influence citizens, legislators and policy. For example, in Oregon there is the Citizens Initiative Review. Twenty-four random citizens come together for a week to understand proposed citizens initiatives and make a recommendations to voters. In moderated sessions they deliberate the options and then vote. They share the results in the voters pamphlet for all to see. And the vote of this small group can influence voters … and even policy. But this positive impact isn't guaranteed because the deliberative body is a one-time event that can easily go ignored.
Dialogue is another common approach, offering a conversation that can be transformational. Here the idea is to organize many small groups to consider difficult topics like racism or poverty. People talk with one another in a heartfelt way and grow personally. They are moved and changed by the deep conversation. The process requires open-mindedness that can make a great difference in one person's life. But for a dialogue to work there is no advocating of positions and no group conclusions.
Plus, closed-minded people generally avoid any form of dialogue. When convened it's often only one side of the political spectrum talking to itself rather than to those with different views. So structuring dialogue, deliberation, and rational debate are not enough. What's needed is a shift to choice-creating.
Our current system holds “Rational Debate” as the ideal. Institutions like Parliamentary Procedure, voting, representatives, and the “rule of law” aim for this. Unfortunately, the usual quality of our public conversation is more like “Power Struggle.” Money is used to influence the results.
Other people seek to reduce the level of corruption and acrimony in the power struggle through legislation, like campaign finance reform, term limits, or denying legal “personhood” to corporations. While these steps can help diminish the power struggle, they do not facilitate the quality of thinking we really need.
Choice-creating is key
Most people have little experience with choice-creating and don't know how to facilitate it, other than to notice that it can happen naturally in a crisis. Yes, in moments of crisis people often will drop their roles and pretenses, pull together with others, and creatively develop some new solution that works for everyone. But, do we need to wait for things to get worse until we all acknowledge the crisis? Maybe then it'll be too late.
Two social inventions make it possible for all of us to engage in choice-creating, for “We the People” to come into being. They are: 1) “Dynamic Facilitation,” through which a skilled facilitator reliably evokes choice-creating in small groups. (See www.DynamicFacilitation.com and 2) the “Wisdom Council Process,” which uses Dynamic Facilitation to generate choice-creating throughout large systems of people. (See www.WiseDemocracy.org)
A meeting facilitator is like a “light switch” for a small group of people. He or she assures a shift in the quality of conversation to one level or another. The traditional facilitator usually aims to help people shift to polite “power struggle” or “reasoned debate,” or “deliberation” or “dialogue,” or “problem-solving.” Often they seek to help people focus on issues that are solvable, stay on the topic, break big problems into smaller ones, mute their passionate advocacy, and proceed step by step down a logical path.
The dynamic facilitator helps people shift instead to “choice-creating,” where they find or address some key issue no matter how big and impossible-seeming, address it creatively and collaboratively, and “co-sense” unanimous conclusions. He or she assures that each comment is heard and appreciated by the group, framing it as a solution, concern, item of data, or new statement of the problem. This way, no matter what comment is made or how it is said, the group benefits.
The dynamic facilitator goes with the flow of energy in the group. Rather than keeping people on track, he or she encourages authenticity by helping participants voice their deep concerns or half-ideas, and protects them from feeling any judgment. Group conclusions emerge through shifts and breakthroughs in the form of solutions, a new sense of what the real problem is, or a change of heart. Unanimous conclusions result.
The Wisdom Council Process
The Wisdom Council Process uses the power of Dynamic Facilitation to spark choice-creating throughout a large system of people. It promises to spark heartfelt creative thinking for a city, corporation, or nation allowing all people to address the most pressing issues creatively and collaboratively and reach near-unanimous positions. If this can really be done, it is the Holy Grail of democracy. This provides for the people to responsibly take charge in a way that accentuates and supports individual differences and results in wise collective answers.
Here’s how the process works: Every four months twelve people are randomly selected from the community, city or nation. They meet for three days or so, are dynamically facilitated to choose issues to address, develop unanimous positions, and then present their conclusions back to the community. The whole community is invited to hear and consider the Wisdom Council's statements in face-to-face dialogues, informal conversations, or over the Internet. Over time, an ongoing choice-creating conversation evolves throughout the system where near-unanimous views emerge.
Experiments with this concept in cities, counties, government agencies, corporations, schools and cooperatives indicate that it works. When you randomly select people, when they choose the issue, and when they reach unanimity then they are a legitimate symbol of “We the People.” When they report their conclusions and their stories of how they determined them, people resonate with the group and their conclusions. All are excited about the conclusions and the process. Many report that the experience in the group and in the audience is life-changing.
At this point, of course, we seek to involve the whole system. Many must hear the report of the Wisdom Council, talk with others, and help spark support for the positions and the process. The lottery, media, the internet, and neighborhood gatherings are some of the ways to reach this larger community. To the extent that the conversation reverberates and all people feel involved a new entity emerges, “We the People”.
When people first hear about the concept of the Wisdom Council Process, they often notice that the it has no official authority and wonder how it would influence policy. They might see how it would inform and involve more people, help build the political will for general-interest positions, and inform legislators about people’s views. But even more important is its affect beyond legislation. It establishes a new whole-system public conversation with a new way of thinking, talking and reaching unified conclusions. This offers the prospect of solving seemingly intractable issues.
If all of us can participate in one creative conversation and reach shared conclusions, then we have transcended our current adversarial, coercive political system. We have created for ourselves a new system of governance that is a “true democracy,” where the people, thinking wisely, are truly in charge.
Going forward
First, we must continue to demonstrate that the Wisdom Council Process works in organizations and communities. Especially in Europe governments are convening the Wisdom Council Process. But just ordinary people can start the process as well. Since each Wisdom Council generally self-reflects with words similar to this, "This is a great process. Of course, it should continue”, each successive Wisdom Council is thereby chartered by a previous one. It's a voice of “We the People” chartering the next voice, with building interest throughout the community.
Also, the Wisdom Council Process needs to happen at the national level in the U.S. and other countries. Many seemingly intractable issues can be "solved" through this process. And at the global level too; Wars, migration, the loss of planetary commons, the rise of authoritarianism and climate change are just some of the issues that cannot be addressed from within the current system of competing special interests. At some point all of us must come together in collaboration to address issues these issues.
As this process demonstrates its ability to confront impossible-seeming issues and achieve breakthrough progress, elected officials and courts will find it difficult to ignore this voice of “the People.” Legislators will realize that this new process is an asset to them, freeing them from the domination of special interests, and enhances their ability to serve the public. The Wisdom Council Process offers a new prospect for the world’s people to transcend their differences and come together.
Call to action
Our nonprofit organization, the Center for Wise Democracy, needs your support in furthering this work. (See www.WiseDemocracy.org) And we are ready to help you if you want to learn more about the process. Or to start a Wisdom Council Process in your area.
About the author
Jim Rough is a consultant, author, speaker and social innovator and founder for the Center for Wise Democracy. ([email protected])
Jim Rough is a consultant, author, speaker and social innovator and founder for the Center for Wise Democracy. ([email protected])