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Book Nook
 Society’s
Breakthrough! Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue
in All the People
by Jim Rough
1stBooks Library, 2002
ISBN: 0-7596-9168-1
Paperback, 268 pages.
List price $14.50
Overall Rating: ***** Pick it up
today!
What is it about our society that perpetuates
problems, and how can these enormous
“unsolvable” problems be eliminated? This
month’s book discusses an exciting potential
solution in the “Citizen’s Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution.” But it is not just
about society and politics—it is about
harnessing the wisdom of everyday people to create
lasting, beneficial change.
Consider the old story of the three blind men and
their separate perceptions of an elephant. One thinks
that it is like a tree (its leg), the second like a
rope (tail), and the third like a snake (trunk). When
the elephant causes trouble, each man comes up with a
different “solution”—one that fails
to solve the problem because he has learned about
only part of the elephant. By using Jim Rough’s
process, a breakthrough solution could be found that
benefits both the men and the elephant: “We
might place some food nearby to motivate the elephant
to move to a more advantageous location for all
concerned.” (Full story on p. 4.) Creating such
unanticipated but functional solutions is what
Society’s Breakthrough is all
about.
The key is the use of “dynamic
facilitation” with “wisdom
councils” brought together to discuss issues
important to the council members. This method of
group facilitation is designed to draw out
breakthrough ideas and generate solutions that can be
given unanimous support by the group. Rough provides
the principles of dynamic facilitation (p. 85+) and
follows them up with the features of a wisdom council
(p. 96+). These are mixed liberally with case studies
about their actual use and results.
Woven through the book are a variety of models
useful to understanding organizational behavior and
society at large. These models expose “the
game” and how it supports “the tragedy of
the commons” (p. 58+), which in turn is a
complicating factor to many of society’s
deepest problems.
Because these problems tend to be gut-wrenching,
emotionally-laden issues, solutions are politicized,
and true resolution is not reached as feelings
polarize around traditional (unworkable) options.
Rough proposes wisdom councils as a way to use these
strongly held feelings as a springboard to
discovering new perspectives and new
choices.
“Choice-creating is a nonjudgmental,
heartfelt, energy-driven, creative thinking process
in which people seek to invent new options that work
for everyone. Instead of negotiating agreement on
particular points or discussing ideas back and forth,
people seek breakthroughs that everyone can fully
support. These breakthroughs come in two
forms—changes of mind and changes of
heart.” (p. 233)
Whether or not you believe that this approach
could be beneficial for the United States as a
nation, the case studies show how useful it can be
for teams and organizations. The result is a book
that will interest all who serve as team
facilitators, change agents, and those tasked with
finding solutions to difficult problems. It provides
a new way of thinking about and attacking problems
and issues. There is enough detail included to allow
the reader to try dynamic facilitation and wisdom
councils in his or her own organization. Those who
wish to serve as a dynamic facilitator, however, will
also want to review the accompanying interview with
Rough in this issue of News for a Change. In
that interview, he provides insight on many of the
key concepts in his book and also identifies several
Internet sites that have additional
resources.
The only major weakness of the book lies in its
lack of an index. This makes it a challenge to use
the book for reference after the initial reading. I
ended up taking more than my usual quantity of notes
as I read and used them to create my own index of
special topics.
All in all, this is a book well worth getting,
reading, and rereading.
CHRISTINE ROBINSON has more than 25 years of
leadership experience in quality systems for the
process industries. She has a master’s degree
in quality, values, and leadership from Marian
College. An avid reader, she spends a significant
amount of her time with her nose in books and her
body at the library.
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