A Party Invitation – Food for Thought

We started this Group to expand upon ideas presented in The Front Porch Revolution and explore applications in our lives, work and government. With every post, I am learning more about my own work and ways to bring it to life. In my last post I introduced ‘The Party of Bob’ as a way of using the current political polarization to illustrate how political parties might block our view from the front porch. Since that posting, there has been interest in learning where my party stands on the critical issues facing our nation. At first I resisted opening this can of worms, but now I can see some value in the learning opportunities it might open. I insist on one change , however, before proceeding into this uncharted territory. Let’s talk about the ‘Front Porch Party’ and not the ‘Party of Bob’. What if the ‘Front Porch Party’ emerged as a major third political party in competition with the Republican and Democrat parties. What would this new party stand for?

Let’s imagine that the American dream for our country supporting the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for all existed inside a box with opaque sides. Each of us can only see inside that box through a pin-hole that represents our limited perspective. We need to understand and be humbled by what ‘limited’ really means. Cognitive scientists tell us that what we see is not only constrained by the size of that pin-hole, but also by our pre existing mental models and the assumptions that define them. Over eighty percent of what we see is a projection of what we already believe, not fresh insight. If we all see through separate pin-holes, then how can we access our common dream?

I think we can get to the core point here by looking at a simple case where there are only two different perspectives at play. One perspective sees inside the box through a pin-hole in the side of the box and it reveals a triangle. The other perspective sees through a pin-hole in the top of the box and reveals a circle. There are a number of strategies that we have employed to determine the reality in the box. First we could exercise power if we have it. If the boss sees a circle, then maybe everyone accepts the circle reality as part of a work contract that identifies us in terms of a role we play, not as a whole human being. In this scenario, if we see a triangle, we accept money, power and/or status to deny our own reality. This is the situation in many organizations, where the idea of getting buy-in to the circle idea is literally about buying support through various forms of compensation. The danger here is that people just stop caring and only do what is minimally required to be perceived as a good team member. Other strategies might involve debate, voting or a combination reflected in processes like Robert’s Rules of Order. The problem in all these strategies is that they result in accepting reality as being a circle or triangle, denying the legitimacy of the losing perspective. They hide the reality in the box that would unite all perspectives in a way that invites true commitment and inspires collective action to achieve the dream that reality represents.

The Front Porch Revolution offered an alternative strategy that invites dialogue among differing perspectives that reveal the reality in the box as a cone. Looking down on the cone we see a circle and looking from the side we see a triangle. Both perspectives are fully represented in the cone. The circle and the triangle are separate perspectives born in our busyness through a desire to simplify reality to act together in the face of complexity. That simplification, however, amplifies our differences. The cone is only visible in the emergence between the two busyness perspectives in dialogue conversations on the front porch. Traditional meeting settings do not support this kind of dialogue – we need front porch settings and this is the grounding premise for the Front Porch Party.

Now if we assume that the Republican Party believes the reality in the box is a triangle and the Democrat party in contrast believes it is a circle, it seems reasonable to question the efficacy of strategies that employ the power of the majority, debate or voting in accessing our common dream of a cone – a more perfect union. It is in this light, I propose a third party – the ‘Front Porch’ party. It is inspired by the view for the front porch. When I think about this, I am reminded of a childhood experience where I stuck my nose right up against the TV and tried to imagine the picture on the screen. The existing parties have their noses right up against the TV screen where life is viewed in pixels – polls, surveys, debates and voting tallies. Our new party is not about third person data and divisive discourse that treat us as individual pixels detached from each other and our first person existence and from our collective presence in the picture on the screen. That picture is only visible if we step back from our busyness screen and engage each other in dialogue on the front porch where a more full picture of our relationships (our cone) comes into focus and defines our vision. Our new party is the party of front porch meetings. Its platform is emerging, but at this starting point would include a number of initiating propositions as founding assumptions necessary to support the kind of conversations that really matter to us –

– There are no right answers to any of our complex problems -we should not take ‘know’ as an answer

– Chaos is a natural state and the only pathway to order

– Desires to control, facilitate and be efficient in meetings are destructive to learning and creativity

– Change is a natural by-product of learning and cannot be managed or directed.

– Inclusion of and respect for diverse perspectives are imperatives ( the more variety of pin-holes in the box, the better)

– Questions are more important than answers – they set vision

– Detailed plans, specific policy positions and certainties about answers to critical questions are destructive starting points for honest front porch dialogues

– A spiritual context (a sense of identity or beauty) and inclusive processes of engagement (relationships and emotion/feelings) are necessary prerequisites for conversations about content (information) – ends do not justify the means, means justify the ends

– Life is not a zero sum game – we live in a state of abundance, not scarcity that defines people as complex human beings, not as simple economic robots (social reality is context for economic reality, not the other way around – economic theory is meant to be descriptive, not prescriptive)

– Legacy, future generations and moral values have a present value or stake in current cost–benefit analysis and must be given a voice

– Inquiry into beauty, goodness and truth should be appropriately complimentary – we understand the limits of our reason and logic and are tolerant of diverse intellectual perspectives

– Trust, respect and civility are the threads we need to weave the fabric of our best possibility and take care of ourselves, each other and our country

– Revaluing service and being willing to sacrifice at a personal level is in our country’s best interests – “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

– Underlying all these propositions is the need to question how we are educating future generations to be responsible citizens leading productive, happy and purposeful lives and mindful voters – what does it mean to be educated in the emerging world?– what if we are providing a third person education for a first person life?

The Front Porch Party is the party of ‘not knowing’. It strives to avoid the tyranny of our unquestioned answers and inspire through an engagement in unanswered or unanswerable questions. All issue positions and actions are the product of emergence , not pre-conception. Reality is about bringing everyone present with the cone and supporting the learning and innovation that the cone naturally inspires. The ‘Front Porch Party’ is big enough to include both the Republican and Democratic parties as two notes in the music of a more perfect union. Because that music is emergent (not initially visible) and requires a mutual investment in time that cannot be rationalized from our current busyness perspective, becoming a member of the ‘Front Porch’ party requires a leap of faith. That faith must be based on a belief that what we share in common as human beings is a foundation for growing the future we want that works for all. That foundation is built on a shared awareness of our limited time on this earth, an existential fear of not knowing and of our insignificance in a universe that is beyond our comprehension, a desire to be safe, trusted and respected, concern about our health and the health of others we care about and a natural affinity for front porches that invite us to hold hands in community as we ponder the beauty around us. The Front Porch party is a call to a spiritual revolution that re- grounds us in our humanity. It is the Party of reunion or re- membering – bringing its members back together.

I doubt the ‘Front Porch’ party will attract many votes in the current election, given current evaluation criteria and expectations. Our platform is a large blank page in contrast to the other parties that offer pages filled with promises and negative attacks on opponents, leaving no room for ‘we the voters’ to become co-authors of our future story. My fear is that both Republicans and Democrats are so absorbed in polls and news cycles that they are not offering visions of where we fit as human beings in an emerging world were:

– population continues to increase,

– artificial intelligence might rapidly redefine what work means in our lives, – – democratic processes and free markets might not be compatable,

– social justice and moral values are endangered species,

– debt is becoming a tsunami that will eventually return with a vengeance, – – happiness is lost in a competition for wealth,

– we might or might not be destroying our nest that supports life on this earth and where

– we seem to be choosing intellectual warfare over spiritual and emotional connection.

Our new party offers a mirror to reflect on what we need to be, know and do to be the change we desire. We believe our fellow citizens are hungry and seek nourishment in their party affiliation, and have been lured into a belief that their parties will offer balanced meals and serve them. But in reality they only get promises of sugary desserts with no expectation of a main course and no call to be responsible to prepare their own meals. The Front Porch Party proposes a vision of a full and nourishing meal that we have to prepare together.

So Republicans’ bumper stickers say “Make America Great Again’. Democrats’ stickers say “ Build Back Better’. Clearly we need a bumper sticker that captures the spirit of the Front Porch Party. Any ideas what the Front Party bumper sticker should say?

Please do not send contributions in support of the Front Porch party – I would have no idea what to do with them.

I am Bob Lengel, self appointed leader of the Front Porch Party, and I think I approve this message.