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<br />* COLLECTIVE STATEMENTS <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Collective statements are based on the belief that each of us sees the world from a different <br />viewpoint. Our individual views are like pieces of a puzzle -- when we fit them all together we <br />get the full picture. <br /> <br />In most meetings our views tend to be seen as competitive. When someone speaks, another <br />person responds with a counter-statement, and the meeting progresses with each trying to <br />convince the other of his or her rightness. This behavior is based on a belief in the "one right <br />answer" to all questions. Only one of us can be right, so our intelligence is used to establish that <br />rightness firmly. It becomes a competition in which each person's ego and intelligence are at <br />stake. <br /> <br />This is either/or thinking -- either you are right or I am! Often, two or three people will capture <br />all the time in a meeting with this either/or conflict, while others listen, get bored, and drop out. <br />It is a time-consuming, ineffective process. The meeting ends with some vaguely worded <br />compromise that relieves the participants. They leave with little commitment to it. <br /> <br />Collective thinking assumes we can all learn something from each other. We have different <br />views of a situation, and all views are right. <br /> <br />This is done with many of the workshop tasks. The collective statements are the result of adding <br />individual statements together, keeping each person's words to the best extent possible, creating a <br />statement of the total group. <br /> <br /> <br />* DEVELOPING A COLLECTIVE STATEMENT <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />A collective statement process is based on the notion that we all have different views of a <br />situation, and all views are right. Each of us perceives the world through our experiences, our <br />values and beliefs and our desires. <br /> <br />In some tasks, statements made by each individual participant are recorded as accurately as <br />possible. These statements are first segregated into common groups. The individual statements <br />are then added together, keeping each person's words to the best extent possible, creating a <br />statement of the total group. <br /> <br />At times it is necessary to add words to the brief recorded statements to clarify the intent. Or, a <br />word might be added to bridge two or more statements together. This is kept to a minimum in <br />order to retain the original recorded thought. <br /> <br />While some grammatical improvements may be made, the original statement and the original <br />words are kept as close as possible. <br /> 28 <br />