Transition Culture going nowhere(so I'm told)

Nicko · Post by **Nicko** » 14 May 2008, 10:03

I think one of the main goals of a transition initiative is awareness raising about the twin problems of climate change and peak oil.
Then the idea is to let the local community decide where it wants to go with these issues.
There is no prescriptive plan which a transition initiative needs to follow. Though there are suggested actions and tools that can be used to help the community decide what it wants to do to make itself more resilient.
Visioning is one such tool which is used to create an energy decent plan for that settlement,Macg, maybe that is where you got the 5 year plan idea.
It is very easy to caught up with wondering if it will or will not work, I see that the success is in the intent rather than the outcome.

Nicko

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 14 May 2008, 10:18

"The existence of a mistake is a sign that somebody, somewhere is trying to do something" - my dad

MacG · Post by **MacG** » 14 May 2008, 10:27

Andy Hunt wrote:"The existence of a mistake is a sign that somebody, somewhere is trying to do something" - my dad

Indeed, but what about scalability?

Is there always the same relation between initiatives and mistakes? Is the existence of ten mistakes thus better than the existence of one mistake? Since it indicates the existence of ten times as many initiatives..?

Is it reasonable to use the number of mistakes as proxy and benchmark for "vitality" or "success" or such? The more mistakes the better?

Zimbabwe should be some kind of role model to strive for in that case...

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 14 May 2008, 10:37

Is it reasonable to use the number of mistakes as proxy and benchmark for "vitality" or "success" or such? The more mistakes the better?

The "fail fast" philosophy relies on this.

You get off your backside and DO SOMETHING .... anything!

However if that doesn't work, you change direction and DO SOMETHING ELSE.

After several mistakes & course corrections you end up at your destination.

You could of course follow New Labour, and 'produce' TARGETS, INITIATIVES and GOALS ... without even finishing - or starting - any REAL work.

MacG · Post by **MacG** » 14 May 2008, 10:56

Vortex wrote:
Is it reasonable to use the number of mistakes as proxy and benchmark for "vitality" or "success" or such? The more mistakes the better?
The "fail fast" philosophy relies on this.

You get off your backside and DO SOMETHING .... anything!

However if that doesn't work, you change direction and DO SOMETHING ELSE.

After several mistakes & course corrections you end up at your destination.

You could of course follow New Labour, and 'produce' TARGETS, INITIATIVES and GOALS ... without even finishing - or starting - any REAL work.

Mmm... That's close to the old theory that a million monkeys hammering on typewriters will sooner or later create the collective works of Shakespeare. Unfortunately the Internet has proved that it's wrong...

21st_century_caveman · Post by **21st_century_caveman** » 14 May 2008, 13:40

MacG" wrote: Mmm... That's close to the old theory that a million monkeys hammering on typewriters will sooner or later create the collective works of Shakespeare. Unfortunately the Internet has proved that it's wrong...

Well, millions of monkeys eventually evolved into Shakespeare so maybe there is some truth to it.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 14 May 2008, 14:04

21st_century_caveman wrote: Well, millions of monkeys eventually evolved into Shakespeare so maybe there is some truth to it.

Shakespeare was a great ape, not a monkey...

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 14 May 2008, 15:52

MacG wrote:
Andy Hunt wrote:"The existence of a mistake is a sign that somebody, somewhere is trying to do something" - my dad
Indeed, but what about scalability?

Is there always the same relation between initiatives and mistakes? Is the existence of ten mistakes thus better than the existence of one mistake? Since it indicates the existence of ten times as many initiatives..?

Is it reasonable to use the number of mistakes as proxy and benchmark for "vitality" or "success" or such? The more mistakes the better?

Zimbabwe should be some kind of role model to strive for in that case...

I take your point. I think the sentiment in my quotation was that fear of making a mistake shouldn't stop one from acting in a crisis.

Sometimes you just have to go for it.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 14 May 2008, 16:57

Transition is based on applying permaculture principles, so anything that is done should be based on a constant cycle of observation, design, implementation, monitoring and adapting. And it's all about doing what's appropriate in a particular situation.