This the third in our series from Chaordic Commons describing a their process for creating synergic organizations. I recommend using their process with ORTEGRITY for maximum leverage.
Also see: 1) Purpose 2) Principles

The Chaordic Design Process

Participants

Definition: Participants encompass the range of individuals and institutions likely to see the Purpose and Principles as their own, and empowered to create the organization and guide its evolution.

Participants – In Context: With clarity about Purpose and Principles, the next step is to identify all relevant and affected parties – the Participants whose needs, interests and perspectives must be considered in conceiving (or reconceiving) the organization.

As design team members pursue their work, their perceptions of who constitutes a stakeholder will typically expand. They now have an opportunity to ensure that all concerned individuals and groups are considered when a new Organizational Concept is sought.

Work on Participants typically results in a list of the types (or classes) of individuals or institutions presently or potentially participating in the organization or community. These classes may be further divided into sub-classes, or categories, if necessary to distinguish key groups whose interests and perspectives should be represented in the organization.

Understanding the diversity of individuals and institutions who might participate in the organization is essential for development of an appropriate Organizational Concept. Classes and categories of participation are also listed in the Constitution and enable the specification of distinct rights and responsibilities if necessary or desirable, such as participation on decision-making bodies, voting rights, record keeping and other functions.

Work on Participants provides an opportunity to review the Principles by asking, “Do these Principles represent the values of these parties?” Exploration of all relevant and affected parties is also likely to stimulate creative thinking about Practices that the organization might pursue – especially activities that are not possible now because of constraints on participation.

Processes and Approaches

The fundamental question being explored in this phase of the process is: Given the Purpose, who are all of the relevant and affected parties?

Those initiating the chaordic design process will have considered this question at the outset of the initiative. They will have made an effort to involve a diverse group in the design process, ideally representing key types of participants from the usually larger universe of all relevant and affected parties.

At this point, members of the design team take a more disciplined and systematic look at the question. Work on Purpose and Principles will likely have broadened the group’s sense of who constitutes a relevant and affected party.

We will typically undertake identification and analysis of Participants as follows:

• Identify the individuals, institutions and interest groups already involved in the organization, industry or field. This sounds straightforward, but it can evoke breakthroughs as participants relax their conceptions about relevant parties based on current relationships within existing structures of organization.
  
  
• Expand the vision of potential Participants by identifying those who may contribute to, be served by or benefit from the new organization in some way.
  
  
• Imagine different ways of conceiving and describing all relevant and affected parties. Groups will usually consider differentiating on the basis of institutional affiliation, function, sector, interests represented and other bases.
  
  
• Develop an initial conception of Participants based on the group’s sense of which approach most meaningfully distinguishes relevant and affected parties with respect to how they will contribute to realizing the Purpose – and with respect to what interests need to be balanced to develop an organization trusted by all Participants.

This phase of the chaordic design process, like the prior development of Principles, first involves creating an expansive set of possibilities and then constraining it as necessary.

Process Notes

After development of Principles, the nature of the work involved in the chaordic design process begins to change. More detailed analytical attention is paid to the specific organization or industry. Members of the design team will benefit from having a clear understanding of why a schema for Participants is being developed.

• Classes and categories of participation provide a “doorway” into the organization for potential participants. Using categories that are recognizable to participants allows them to self-identify their category of participation and eases entry into an organization that will be different from anything they have experienced.
  
  
• Distinguishing different classes and categories also allows assignment of different rights and responsibilities for each, if necessary or desirable.
  
  
• Classes and categories serve in designing balanced governance councils and, if necessary, in articulating guidelines for the formation of sub-units of the organization.

The challenge for members of the design team who are trying to think creatively about Participants again involves breaking out of pre-existing mindsets and expanding their conceptions about who constitute the “relevant and affected parties” for the organization, field or community of concern.

At some point, members of the design team usually recognize that the range of relevant and affected parties, and thus of potential participants, is much broader than originally contemplated. The task at that point is to begin “closing the circle” to identify potential participants essential to realizing the Purpose in accord with the Principles. The particular approach chosen for categorizing Participants will reflect the team’s sense of what interests most need to be balanced when designing governance relationships during the next phase of the process.

Members of the design team should be prepared to modify their initial conception of Participants as they work on developing an Organizational Concept. For example, the way they initially thought most appropriate for categorizing Participants may need revision as they think about how best to comprise a balanced and representative governance council for the whole.

The insights that occur in this work can be refreshing, even exhilarating, as participants perceive new connections and become more inclusive in their definitions of community. The work can also be challenging, even frightening, as participants consider the allowing what some project participants have called the “devil in their midst”.

What You Need For Work on Participants

• Members on the design team who know the “players” in the industry, field or community well – both as it has been, as it is now, and as it might evolve.
  
  
• An understanding of the key dimensions of the industry, organization or community that need to be integrated or balanced more effectively.
  
  
• A capacity for creative analytical thinking, to enable development of several different schemas for characterizing the same group of Participants.
  
  
• A strategic mindset. Think about who constitutes a “critical mass” to launch the new organization – or who is needed in support of an innovative organizational design.

Illustrative Approaches to Conceiving Participants
(By Function and Importance)

Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance

Principal Categories

Commercial Fishing
Aquaculture
Processors and Distributors
Consumer
Commercial Recreational
Recreational
Maritime Industry

Related Categories

Marine Support and Supply
Conservation and Environmental
Research and Education
Government
Community Service

Community Alliances for Interdependent AgriCulture

Principal Groups

Grower
Minority Grower
Processor/Distributor
Labor
Consumer

Support Groups

Government
Research/Education
Supplier
Farm Organization

Related Groups

Environmental
Community Service
Social/Economic Justice
Health and Wellness

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Illustrative Approaches to Conceiving Participants
(By Sector and Domain)

GeoData Alliance

Sectors	Domains
Alliances	Community Multi-Community Network
Academic/Research	Academic Research
For Profit	Natural Resources/Environment Utilities/Telecommunications/Transportation Real Estate/ Financial GIS Vendors/Suppliers/Consultants Manufacturing/Wholesale/Retail Social/Human Services Other For Profit
General Interest	Individuals / Citizen Groups Library Media
Government	Tribal Municipal County State Federal Regional/Multi-Jurisdictional Quasi-Governmental/Special Districts
Nonprofit	Professional/Trade/Labor Association Advocacy/Community/Public Interest/Other
Affiliate (Non-Voting)

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