Politics At The Speed Of Thought

I think it was in 1995, Bill Gates came out with a book called Business At The Speed Of Thought. It was before he discovered the internet, so right now I don't know what that book was about, but I think my recent blog entry DFNYC, 100,000 Strong, Scalable Organization can be called Politics At The Speed Of Thought. The proposal quickens the pace of progress. The productivity goes up.

Race: A Volatile Topic

It is a volatile topic, for sure. But is has to be dealt with. It has to be talked about. Avoiding discussions makes it harder, not easier. We can start with the gentle topics in race. Heck, we could start with our hilarious experiences in race. I have quite a few, some of them are predictably to do with Homeland Security. Do I look Arab? Like I was in this office setting in Lexington, Kentucky, a few month after 9/11. And I overheard this guy in this next cubicle relating to someone on the phone in a toned down voice: "There is an Arab in my office!"

Pyramid Of 10

At first look the DFNYC, 100,000 Strong, Scalable Organization idea might look like an invitation to 100,000 people to stare at the computer screen for several hours each week. Screen time is part of it, but I believe the real story is Face Time.

You end up building a social unit.

Meetings I have gone to so far have tended to focus on mostly political talk. And then there is this undercurrent. Over a period of time you get to know a few people a little better. But that is hardly the focus. It is just supposed to happen on the side.

The ground rule is you can not make people do things. You can only suggest. But within that I think there should be a conscious decision to insert ice-breakers, and team building exercises, and get to know each other social exercises as part of the meetings.

I have not had a chance to think about this a whole lot. I hope I will do it more down the line. But let me go do a few Google searches.

Ice Breakers & Energizers
Educational Icebreakers
Ice Breakers - Exercises To Get Things Started!
Leadership - Icebreakers, Warm-up, Review, and Motivators Activities
Icebreakers to Inspire Communication : Eslflow webguide
BREAK THE ICE
Teacher Ice Breakers

If we are political activists, we should think ourselves as a sports team. Those teams do warm up exercises. We do ice breakers, kind of.

Team Building Exercises and Icebreakers
Fun Team Building: Team Building Exercises & Activities | Staff ...
Team Building: A Complete Guide
Team Building Games - Exercises & Activities - Teambonding - A ...

Something along those lines.

There will also have to be developed a mechanism to handle other scenarios. Some are to do with race, some to do with gender, some just plain interpersonal chemistry, some to do with miscommunication. When you bring people into groups, you end up with issues here and there.

There can be guidelines, suggestions, manuals, with the emphasis on creative approaches. Again, I have not thought a whole lot about this.