WhatThisIsAbout

---

What you need to know: What you are being asked

to think about

Overview

The “Framing the Big Picture” on-line process using Synanim is intended to invite the NVC community to collectively say how it would like to organize, especially at a global level.

This process is designed to bring together the voices of those who share a purpose of:

living NVC consciousness and having NVC consciousness be made available to others to benefit from.

As a participant in the process, you will be invited to ground yourself in the needs underlying our shared purpose, as it lives in you, and then explore successive aspects of strategy until you arrive at issues related to organizing at a global level.

The on-line process will involve multiple “stages.” Everyone is invited to participate in Stage One, which involves two on-line sessions. These two sessions will cover a range of topics – from needs to organizing globally.

Stage One / Session One

In the first on-line session, the focus will be on looking at why we want to share NVC and its underlying consciousness, what is getting in the way of that happening as quickly and fully as we might like, and what we could do that might make us dramatically more effective in achieving our goals.

Discussing these topics lays the foundation for what comes in session two, by addressing the fundamental question, “What would we, as members of the NVC community, like to be collectively doing in general?”

Stage One / Session Two

In the second on-line session that each person participates in, the focus narrows down by moving from what we would like to be doing in general, to how we can support this happening through how we organize – and how organizing at a global level in particular plays into this picture.

This session introduces some new ideas beyond what was under consideration in the first session. What role does coming together in an organized fashion play in supporting our goals? To what extent does it make sense to do things locally versus doing them on a more widespread basis? What sort of organizations or network of organizations might serve our shared purpose, and what would it make sense for such organizations to be doing?

Later stages of the on-line process

As discussed in the document on how to work with Synanim, some people will be invited by the software to participate in sessions associated with additional stages of the on-line process.

These additional sessions will involve considering variations on the questions asked in the first two sessions. These questions will also be considered with different mixes of people, to integrate what was learned in earlier sessions.

In the final stage, a summary statement will be produced concerning what sort of global organizing is likely to be of service to our shared purpose.

Imagining we are starting from a “blank slate”

In thinking about the issues raised in this on-line process, we suggest imagining:

“If CNVC did not exist, what sort of organization or organizations would we want to create and place at the heart of the NVC community?”

name="_GoBack"In practice, CNVC does of course exist, and engages in a variety of activities. Yet, we want to root this process in asking, “What it is that would serve life if we could create what we would most like?” Then, after this on-line process completes, in the follow-up phase of the larger “Process for a New Future”, we will collectively look at how to get to something like what we most want, given where we are now.

Where we have been

The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) was founded in 1984. CNVC supported Marshall Rosenberg in sharing NVC around the world, through the end of 2011 when Marshall retired.

Since then, CNVC has continued to certify NVC trainers; offer 9-day International Intensive Trainings (IITs) around the world; host a website (cnvc.org) where people can find out about trainers, trainings, and NVC in general; respond to inquiries from the public; and run an on-line bookstore selling NVC materials. At times, CNVC has also played an active role in funding and publicizing NVC-related projects around the world.

Many additional NVC organizations now exist. Most of these NVC organizations are primarily focused on a particular geographic region.

In this time of transition, with Marshall no longer at the heart of the organization he founded, we perceive a wonderful opportunity to take a fresh look at what sort of activities and organization or organizations would best contribute to making life more wonderful for the NVC community and for those that NVC might benefit.

This opportunity to look at things afresh and contribute to life is what motivated the leadership of CNVC to develop and commit to implementing this process.

What will happen after the on-line process

The on-line “Framing the Big Picture” process with Synanim is being offered in multiple languages. The process will begin later in some languages than in others. Consequently, from the time some people begin the on-line process until the time when everyone is finished might span six weeks or more.

When everyone is finished with the on-line process, the summary statements produced in each language will be translated into the other languages. The results will be shared with all those who participated in the on-line process, and with the cnvc-futur Google Group (which you are encouraged to join). People will be invited to share their reactions to the summary statements, and those reactions will be gathered together and summarized and shared as well.

Following that, Working Groups will be organized to make concrete decisions aligned with the “big picture” provided by the on-line process. And, in a subsequent phase, those decisions will be implemented. To learn more about all this, read about the “Process for a New Future.”