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January 5, 2012 (Tree)
The cards are out! Go get 'em over at our new website, www.groupworksdeck.org. Available for free download or send in $25 (only $20 each if you buy 10 or more decks). A beautiful co-creation, after more than 3 years of labor.
Getting Close . . .
November 3, 2011 (by Tree)
Not much news posted here lately, only because we are so busy doing the work. We are incorporating as a nonprofit, getting the final card design finished, obtaining boxes, finalizing details of the fulfillment operation, looking to revamp this website to be more appropriate for public visits, and searching for people to complete the phone app. We also need promotional reviews, aka blurbs. Wanna write us a short note to say why this project is important and how great the deck is? Please get in touch.
The Pattern Language Team at Bowen Island August 28-30, 2011
Great progress on images
June 20, 2011 (by Tree)
At the Eugene work session we completed a substantive pass on images, compiling at least one picture the group rated "good enough" for each of the 91 patterns--amazing. The whole thing (words + "heart" text + pictures) has come so far along, check out the current set here.
Pattern set complete
May 12, 2011 (by Tree)
With the final addition of Yes, and (formerly referred to as Building Upon), the core team now considers the pattern set complete. Not complete for all time, but complete for this round of publication of a card deck. We have 91 patterns. We might still merge a few together, but basically we're thinking this set is good. All have been categorized. We've done a first round of specifying 5-7 "related patterns" for each one and expect to complete our second final pass on that by June 1. Dave is researching publication options, Ted is researching graphic designers, Vine is improving the map and doing other helpful things, Sue is polishing relationship text, and i'm doing a little of this and a little of that. Life is good.
Six new patterns!
April 14, 2011 (by Tree)
We've added half a dozen new patterns to the language. While we expect the pattern language to continue to evolve online and into the future, the door is just about closed now for additions into this round of publication. The new patterns are:
- Balance Process and Content
- Challenge
- Discharging
- Dwell with Emotions
- Self-Awareness
- Time Shift (resurrected after being previously merged into Viewpoint Shift)
All of these need further filling out, so please add descriptions to them if you feel moved.
See Tom's epiphany on NCDD blog
April 7, 2011 (by Tree)
I was excited to read Tom's wonderful post on the NCDD blog. He shares some of the history and background about our project, but most importantly talks about why it matters and how it might have a positive impact in the future. Lovely, and open there for comments.
Eugene work session report
April 6, 2011 (by Tree)
An immense amount of work was accomplished March 29-31 at Tree's house in Eugene by Sue Woehrlin, Tom Atlee, John Abbe, Ted Ernst, Tree Bressen, and for a few hours Marc Tobin. We made great progress on image assessment, entering relationships, and small but important "Wagoneering" (Wagn is the software we use, and this term is used for changes to it). We also thought more about the publication process and what happens afterward. See report and photos here.
New Relationships on the Map
April 5, 2011 (by Tree)
Leading up to and during the recent work session in Eugene, immense work was done on determining which patterns are related to which. We have chosen up to 7 "primary" relationships for each pattern, which will be printed in the card deck. Thanks to Vine, the map has now been revised to display those primary relationships. Wow!
Categorization Scheme is Here
The core group, after lengthy discussion, has converged on a draft Primary Categorization Scheme which consists of nine categories, and assigned each of the 84 patterns to one and only one 'primary' category, with one identified 'keystone' pattern (shown in bold) for each category. The categories each have between 5 and 12 patterns assigned to them. This scheme can be viewed here or downloaded in two formats:
(Note that the colors and symbols on those charts are still being worked out. See here for process notes.)
Bowen Session - January 2011 - Huge Steps Forward
(January 18, 2011 by Dave Pollard)
Eleven of us spent 2+ days at Dave's house Jan. 15-18, 2011: Daniel Lindenberger, Kathy McGrenera, Ted Ernst, John Abbe, Pennie O'Grady, Carol MacKinnon, Tom Atlee, Jeremy Lightsmith, Sue Woehrlin, Dave Pollard, and Tree Bressen.
Enormous progress was made by the group, working mainly in subgroups of 2-5 people, in the following areas:
- Eight new patterns were added, four were merged into other patterns, and eleven were renamed. We now have 82 patterns. Details here.
- Several small-group efforts were made to identify related patterns, using the criterion: What other patterns would be most valuable for someone thinking about this pattern to look at or consider in order to use this pattern well? For each of about a dozen patterns, possible related patterns were brainstormed, then a "top 5" list developed and discussed, which will be posted on the wiki. The team also discussed how these relate to the existing related patterns on the wiki and the tags/categories field.
- Another small group worked on (a) identifying new qualifying images that met all our criteria and adding them to the image library, (b) reviewing existing image quality, sizes and permissions and updating the fields for existing images in the library, and (c) requesting permission from copyright-holders for images they identified as the best existing images where this hadn't already been done. About 24 high-quality sufficient-sized permissioned ready-to-publish images were identified, roughly 25% of the task done (though there has not yet been a final 'voting' or team approval of these images).
- Reviewing and getting comments on a few of the latest categorization schemes for the patterns.
- Developing a workplan for what needs to be done to get the card deck and appropriate enclosures for using it (possible ways to use the deck, sample games and stories, a pattern 'map' etc.) published by this Spring. The tasks involved in the workplan are:
- writing explanatory material to accompany the card deck
- completing the adding, permissioning, matching (to patterns) and choosing/voting on images for each pattern
- completing the assessment and documentation of pattern relationships and deciding how to capture them on the cards or accompanying documentation
- deciding on one or more categorization schemes and deciding how to capture them on the cards or accompanying documentation
- deciding on card design
- arrangements and logistics for actually publishing the deck
- licensing, pricing and other business decisions
- preparing the wiki for more participation (structure, content and design changes)
There is now a sense that the patterns we now have are very close to the ideal deck for initial publication. And while we did not get that far along in getting qualified images or finalizing the pattern relationship information, we do have a process for doing these tasks.
An amazing amount of work was done in just over two days! Thanks to all for your participation, collaborative skill, energy, resilience, flexibility and generosity in making all this happen!
Patterns Can Be Tagged Now
December 10, 2010 (by John Abbe)
As of a few days go, you can "tag" patterns with anything you want. Just look near the bottom of any pattern card, after Other but before Stage. You can see a list of all the tags being used so far on the Tags card. There's a handy link to it in the sidebar Menu. If you click on a particular tag you'll see a short description of it--or you can add one if that's not there yet--and a list of the Patterns with that tag. We're also working mostly offline on some more structured categorization schemes, i.e., each pattern will be in exactly one category, whereas each pattern can have as many tags as you like.
Portland Successes--Wow!
November 15, 2010 (by Tree)
We have been working on this project for more than two years now, and it feels like we have reached a milestone. Our goal of producing second-draft card decks in time for NCDD's Portland conference was met, and the results received with great enthusiasm by those present, including attracting more than two dozen people to our open space session. All along people have been asking me how the pattern language will actually be used, and i've said i don't know . . . but that if we create something alive, the question will be answered in good time. People attending the conference had no trouble coming up with ideas for putting the card decks to good use--these cards have really taken on a life of their own and the buzz was palpable. We also had a great time the day before with 11 of us attending a full-day work session. Notes from all these sessions are being collected here.
Pattern Heart Wordle
November 4, 2010: by Daniel
While honing a script to parse all the names, hearts, and images of each pattern to prep them for making Cards, the thought struck me: what would a wordle of our pattern hearts look like? For those new to wordle, the size of each word represents how often it appears throughout the pattern hearts. I'd be curious to know what stands out for folks. Here's the result: I found it quite inspiring. Click on the image below to get a larger version.
Portland Work Session - November 12
Looks like we are shaping up to have a great session of about a dozen people on Friday, Nov. 12 from 10am to 5pm at Daybreak Cohousing (thanks to Ted Ernst for hosting us there). We'll have new card decks in hand and more. See a few more details on the Events page, and if you wanna join us contact Tree.
Image Library needs pictures
October 1, 2010: We've now got a clear list of criteria for the kinds of images we want: color photographs of people, appropriate to the patterns we are illustrating, that we have full permission to use for this project. See more details here, and please contact us if this is something you have energy to help with.
Guidance for Writing "Hearts"
October 1, 2010: At the Bowen session we developed a shared sense of what makes for a good pattern Heart. See our new Heart Criteria here.
Bowen session - fall 2010 - wow
Sept. 28-Oct. 1, 2010: The arrival of card decks; playing games; pruning festival; every pattern receives a shepherd; heart criteria; image criteria; planning for fall NCDD event. See report & pix here.
Hallmarks List - A Pruning Tool
September 13, 2010: This actually happened back at the July Bowen gathering, but it never got posted in the News. There is now a Hallmarks List available, 8 questions to help us discern what is and is not a pattern that can also be used as a "pruning" tool.
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