First of all, as it says on the Home page, in order to understand where we're coming from please read the following pages before writing or editing patterns:
Reminder: What we mean by "pattern"
For the purposes of this project, a pattern is a feature we believe shows up repeatedly in group processes that result in deepening, connection, and a fulfillment of purpose. Rather than listing methods, tools, or techniques, we look for behaviors and qualities that repeat across methods and approaches. What is it that happens over and over again in group processes that work? And then we try to give some guidance for how to do that behavior or evoke that quality. Preferably in straightforward language, using as little jargon as possible.
If you think about everything that goes into making a group conversation fulfilling, there is a vast range of things to pay attention to, from the most general to the most specific. In crafting this language, we ask people to focus on a particular middle section within this range, and hold your thinking at that level. We want to avoid being too general: For example, while every group session takes place within a specific cultural context, our assumption is that we will adapt to that context in order to interface with it. And we want to avoid being too specific: There is a level of detail, such as the listing of different methods, that is already well-represented in the existing literature (e.g. The Change Handbook). Of course within our brainstorm list of potential patterns, some of them are more general and some are more specific, just as Alexander's architectural pattern language includes patterns ranging from "Independent Regions" to "Different Chairs."
Essentially, we are aiming at the core wisdom of what makes group work successful.
Steps to compose and enter patterns into the pattern language site
- Review the existing brainstorm list of potential patterns to get some sense of possibilities.
- Take a look at some of the Patterns that have already been written.
- Choose an area of group process in which you have experienced a sense of something really working, and where you have some ideas or inspiration about how and why this has occurred.
- Click Add a pattern to go to a blank pattern template. (This link also available in sidebar.)
- Enter a name for your pattern. This could be a name from the existing list or something new.
- Read the explanation by each section to see what's wanted for it. For your convenience, that template text is also available here, below. At a minimum, write up a draft-quality Heart section and enough of a Description that would allow others to get a sense of where you are going. (If you’re more comfortable working offline or in your own personal word processor, you can copy the section headings: Heart, Description, etc.) If you refer to another pattern, then put that pattern name in double brackets [[like this]] to create a link.
- When you're done filling out the form, scroll all the way to the bottom and click on the "Save" button.
Template for pattern writing
NAME
Add Patterns+*new
VISUAL
An evocative visual, either symbolic or representational.
HEART
What is the essential core of this pattern? Why is it important: what calling, purpose, or higher values are expressed through it? What possibilities does it open up? What needs does it satisfy? Two to four sentences in length; an abstract.
DESCRIPTION
Context: What is outside of this pattern that is relevant to it? Under what recurring circumstances might we apply it — the “if” for which this pattern is the “then.” What forces and constraints are worked in this pattern to produce the desired outcome?
Instructions: How does one use this pattern? Guidance designing or practicing this element in a group conversation. What users should know about it.
Variations (optional): Different ways the pattern might be implemented. May include specific, named techniques or formats that embody or apply this pattern.
Cautions & Caveats (optional): Potential misinterpretations, misuses, exceptions, over-applications and/or limitations of the pattern.
RELATED PATTERNS
Patterns that are closely linked to this one, for example because they mutually support each other, or because one of them depends on the other or is a subset of it.
EXAMPLES
What best illustrates this pattern at work in group process? Offer one to three examples that bring the pattern to life, providing a sense of the range of possible solutions using the pattern. Could include songs, poems, videos, and other forms as well as written stories.
RESOURCES
How to learn more about this pattern, including: people who have experienced it in use and can say what it is like; organizations, networks or individuals who can provide information or expertise about this pattern; other references – books, websites, articles, videos, bibliographies.
OTHER
Anything else you want to say about the pattern. Could include:
Levels/Fractal: How does this pattern play out at various individual and collective/holonic levels (micro and macro)? In the hierarchy of patterns (from general to specific), what level is this pattern at? What category does it occupy with other patterns at its level?
Learning Edges: Reflective commentary at the borders of what is known about a pattern, its application, and its relationship to other patterns. May include instances where the pattern appears to break down, pose questions that arise in application, offer insight into unusual applications, etc.
Quote: Short, expressive statement that embodies or articulates this pattern (explicitly or implicitly), from a recognized authority, or an especially astute observer or advocate of the pattern.
STAGES
See more about stages.
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