CMM: honouring and innovation

From Bateson we value the notion that there is no meaning without context. Pearce & Cronen enable us to see there is no context without detail. In this workshop I will articulate the kind of detail that is useful, building on the legacy of Pearce & Cronen who develop a vocabulary for considering the moral dimension of the ways we make meaning and choose action. I will reframe the meaning of the speech act, a primary context in CMM, as the interpretive act - a metaphorical space for exercising systemic reflexivity - a reflexivity where we highlight interpretation, purpose, choice and decision in considering how our action will influence a system of stories and patterns. The workshop will identify, in a consultancy process with a staff team, three key moments of decision of the consultant, linking hypotheses about contexts of influence and their moral dimensions to the interpretive acts of the consultant. A key moment will be defined as one where the choice point in the interpretive act is felt to be crucial in determining future contexts, either by reinforcing an unwanted pattern or by providing opportunities for shaping a desired new pattern. Such moments are often identified by a felt incongruity between verbal and non-verbal communication, linking to Bateson's double-bind theory.