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The way that we look at ourselves, the way that we perceive
ourselves, is defined by our attitudes. The attitudes that we adopt in any
situation partially determine how that situation will unfold. Our attitudes hold
the key to the kinds, and the extent, of relationships that we can enjoy, and
hence to the kinds of communities that we build. Consider how your attitudes
might affect your inputs to a meeting.
the don’t listen attitude
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the don’t speak attitude
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If you go into a meeting with a proposal that you want the group to
approve, you are adopting an attitude that you want to use the meeting for
your own ends. You will be less open to the suggestions of others, more
alienated from any group dynamic that evolves during the meeting. |
If, at the other extreme, you go to the meeting with no ideas to put
forward, if you adopt an attitude that you will allow yourself to be
carried along by the will of the group, then you will make no creative
contribution as an individual. |
Neither of these attitudes helps with the emergence of a
community spirit within the group. This can only emerge when the members trust
each other and, while they each have a point of view to put forward, they are
willing to change it in the light of free and open interaction with the points
of view of others. Some of the characteristics of this middle way are indicated
in the following table:
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Rigid attitudes leading to alienation from the group |
Poised stance compatible with creative freedom |
Rigid attitudes leading to alienation from your self |
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obsession |
love |
promiscuity |
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fanaticism |
loyalty |
following |
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role playing |
character |
anomie |
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habit |
style |
trendiness |
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ideological |
open-minded |
totally receptive |
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parochial |
imaginative |
adrift |
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single-minded |
sense of value |
anything goes |
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observation |
participation |
being taken over |
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separate |
involved |
overwhelmed |
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independent |
dialogue |
conformity |
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my way |
our way |
your way |
So what are your attitudes when you go to meetings? Are you content with
them? Are you willing to change them?
Are you ready to contribute to the creative evolution of whatever it is that
you go to meetings for?
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