Governance & Structure Working Group

April 3, 2004 - minutes

Present: Tom Adducci, Jane Arthur, Joe Inskeep, Debbie McCubbin, Arbie Thalacker

Absent: Jan Watson, Alex Halpern, Esther Siebold

An update was provided from the 3/31 meeting of workgroup chairs

1.     Minutes and work products for both the Working groups and the Review groups will be posted on the web.  In such material, the discussion will be documented, but comments will not be attributed in order to maintain anonymity.

2.     We need to have our recommendations ready by November in order to provide time for a thorough review by the Governing Council and the community prior to and in preparation for Shambhala Day 2005. 

3.     The next 8 months may not be enough time to complete all of the work we identify as important.  This is okay.  However, we should still be able to identify some things (recommendations, models, etc) that can be completed by November. We should prioritize our areas of focus. 

4.     Culture:  President Reoch asked each workgroup to make a note whenever issues that are essentially cultural arise in our groups.  We can then report on these at our meeting, look for patterns, insight, and opportunities.

Body of Knowledge

We discussed identifying and building a shared body of knowledge about our focus areas. Discussion included:

1. We should incorporate the work of the Congress.
2. Knowledge resides with people. We can interview a diverse representation of key people in the mandala.
3. Focus group interviews are good. They bring together people who share common responsibilities and who can amplify and enrich their understanding of the issues.
4. There are already position papers on the web page. These have been authored by a number of people, including: Alex Halpern, Chris Tamdjidi and Jim Rosen.
5. Centers vary in terms of the issues they face. Each center may identify issues they share in common with others and some that are unique. We should get a spectrum of representation. Our exploration should focus not on local dynamics but on how local centers relate with international, and with other parts of the mandala.
6. We should draft the interview questions carefully and collaboratively, and review them together.
7. We may want to interview Richard Reoch first, since that may shape our thinking in how to ask questions going forward. We may want to include Alex Halpern, Chris Tamdjidi and Susan Skjei in earlier calls for the same reason.
8. A key element of assessment is how to think in new ways even as we assess the past. Our mandate is to think outside of these boxes, rather than be defined by them.
9. It is important to find organizations outside the mandala that are best practice models and that share in common at least some aspects with Shambhala International. Aspects mentioned: member organization, mission based, education oriented, geographically disperse, volunteer staffed.

Key Interviews

The group brainstormed candidates for interviews. The list can evolve as our process evolves, and we did not have time to fine-tune the list or the format. The first group of names is a list of those that work group members volunteered to contact.

1. Richard Reoch (Joe will contact Richard; Jane will be speaking to him as well)
2. Chris Tamdjidi: as a representative of Europe, an organizational consultant, and the author of the most significant position paper in the mandala on structure and governance. (Joe will contact Chris)
3. Alex Halpern: he knows the most about the binding and non-binding legal relationships (Arbie will contact Alex)
4. Susan Skjei: an organizational consultant; has developed a position paper on the Board. (Joe will contact Susan)
5. Amy Conway: regionalization (Jane Arthur will contact Amy)
6. Judith Zimmer Brown (Arbie will contact Judith) or Bill McKeever
7. Richard John (Joe will contact Richard)
8. Chuck Lief (Arbie will contact Chuck)
9. A group of center directors (Debbie and Jane will develop a group of names)

Other names suggested:

10. Practice center leaders
11. Key members of the Dorje Kasung
12. Agnes Au, Val Sanford and perhaps others on the feminine principle
13. Chuck Lief
14. Larry Mermelstein
15. Sarah Levinson
16. Cheryl Campbell

Interview formats

• Some interviews may involve the whole group; others might be done in sub-group.
• If interviews averaged 45 minutes in length, 2 could be completed per session.
• Joe hopes most interviews can be accomplished in the next 4-6 weeks.

The meeting ended with a discussion of the intention to invite Richard Reoch to a conference call to be held on Saturday the 10^th.

PostScript:

Joe Inskeep talked with Richard Reoch Sunday morning the 4^th. Conversation included:

1. Richard agreed in principle to meet in phone conference with us on Saturday the 10^th. He requested the meeting time be moved to 3pm eastern, 1pm mountain. He also suggested all work group members prepare for the conference by becoming familiar with the papers by Chris Tamdjidi and Alex Halpern. They are posted on the web site.
2. Richard suggested that in the 2^nd governance objective the underlined words below may make the objective feel more restrictive than we intend. Joe agreed to revisit the language in committee. The objective currently reads: (Develop a recommendation that defines what will become the central governing bodies of our mandala following Shambhala Day 2005.) “A recommendation” suggests one, which leaves little room for choice; the word “defines” suggests a narrowness as well.
3. Joe reviewed the names the workgroup came up with for interviews, and asked Richard to suggest other names that come to mind. Richard mentioned:
   1. Jesse Grimes
   2. Mark Thorpe and Mindy Moore
   3. Alice Haspray
   4. Marty Janowitz
   5. Denny Bluin (sp?): topics related to conduct, devotion, acquiescence and the question of what are we prepared to tolerate.

Joe mentioned the importance of having some form of contact and communication link with the Sakyong in order to understand and incorporate his views on governance and structure, Richard said he is the right person to provide that linkage.