Planning

This is the path from the collective theory toward full engagement, encounter and dialogue with the environment.

It is often a stage where beautiful chaos will erupt, possibly leading to the blockage of “analysis paralysis”. It is the stage by which the group moves from “Forming” to “Storming”.

It is the stage in which the hero sets off on the quest, becoming a “Wanderer”, seeking, and gaining assistance from unpredictable places. Neurologically this involves the prefrontal cortex, the left parietal lobe, particularly Broca and Wernicke’s areas effecting speech, and Bodman’s area 6 where strategies are planned.

In this Planning stage: we consider alternatives, develop strategies and test the project in various ways. Dragon Dreaming especially aims to facilitate the emergence of collective intelligence, through joint setting of the the project Goal and Objectives. It requires participants to “say what they think”.

The objectives, based upon a “limited achievable future conditions that are action oriented”  are set through the Generative Question:

“What things need to happen to enable 100% of our collective Dream to come true”

The ideas generated are then grouped and sorted through a normative group process that finishes with the writing of between 6-8 objectives for the project.  A straw poll is then conducted in answer to the Generative Question

“Which objective, if given attention to first, will facilitate the achievement of the other objectives and make 100% of our Dream come true”

The central tool for the Planning stage (and later the Doing stage) is the strategy of the Karabirrdt. The word comes from the Noongar Aborigines of Western Australia and means spiderweb.

A Karabirrdt is a literally a “board game”, a project plan, a guide, and a map of the territory all at once. It helps to playfully and intuitively take care of all tasks and to budget them. The Karabirrdt is also the gateway from theory to practice.