Wittgenstein ' Words create worlds'
A good friend sent me a very interesting suggestion related to the previous post. She says'the language of ecological system developments is about balance, dynamics, reciprocity, mutuality, symbiosis. But the question of power and authority and responsibility need to be incorporated in to this ecological view some how.'
I have for a while talked about the 'discourse of change' - it seems obvious that the words we use to describe the things we are trying to achieve or create can in themselves reveal a great deal about our mental model of the problem.
For example, if we talk about levering change, optimising performance and enhancing efficiency we are alluding to practices which have strongly industrial connotations. Putting a different lexicon in place begins the process of transforming our thinking, along the lines of Wittgensteins observation. Participatory, nurturing, connecting language can and does shape behaviour. If we attend to how we construct our ideas we self-consciously consider the dynamic of our relationship with the other.
If we look at the current system and think that there is just a temporary economic downturn that has to be fixed, then our operating assumptions remain locked to existing models.
However, if we think that the old system is not viable, then our effort is not focused on fixing the old system but on nurturing a way of being that is better in keeping with the needs of the planet and our place in the ecosystem - this anticipates methods and processes that are drawing their inspiration from different assumptions about how we act.
In the case of my work, I think at the centre of this I will place the importance of nurturing resilience, from which different actions can ebb and flow. Illuminating this - by attending to 'revelatory' language of knowledge as a way of deepening that understanding and exploring the balance, dynamics, reciprocity, mutuality and symbiosis is an important part of the challenge.
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