The Point project

1. The Point project Triple Task and the Philosophers Stone: discovering a methodology for systemic and reflective participation Simon Bell and Stephen Morse The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agreement n° 217207 (POINT project, www.point.pb-works.com).

2. Background Many participatory action research methods stop at the point where outputs have been achieved. No attempt to appreciate the dynamics that may have been at play within the group to arrive at those outputs. “Group X has had problems with its internal dynamics – no wonder the outputs were unimaginative.” “Group Y was dominated by ‘A’ but the others in the group seemed to be happy with that and they certainly had no trouble producing expected results.” “Group Z has worked very well together with lots of discussion and animation. Their outputs are imaginative and insightful; they have raised points I have not heard before.”

3. Background Triple Task (TT) provides a more formal basis for analysing how group function can influence group output. Do purposeful groups always produce the most insightful outcomes? Do conflictual groups produce incoherent results? What makes a ‘good’ group?

4. Triple Task: Task 1 (what is) Systems of Challenges Rich Picture: now

5. Triple Task: Task 1 (what could be) BITAOC and Vision o f Change

6. Triple Task: Task 1 (how to get there) Rich Picture: if aspired for change happened

7. Triple Task: Task 2 (BECM)

8. Triple Task: Task 3 (Symlog) "SYstem for the Multiple Level Observation of Groups". Has a history going back to 1979 when it was first introduced by Bales and Cohen. Has since grown to become a popular approach to the analysis of group work and has been applied in a wide variety of contexts. Symlog Consulting Group www.symlog.com

9. Triple Task: Overview Task 1 Scoping Task 2 Task 3 Symlog ‘inside out’ External to facilitators Vision BECM ‘outside in’ Internal to facilitators Aspiration

10. Philosophers Stone Systemic and Reflective Participation? How can we relate the 3 Tasks? Are Tasks 2 and 3 related? Can the outputs of Task 1 be related to Tasks 2 and 3?

11. EU POINT project Triple Task workshops held as part of the POINT (Policy Influence of Indicators) project funded under the European Union Seventh Framework Programme.

12. Relating Task 2 and Task 3 Yes – but not straightforward (best subsets)

13. Relating Task 1 to Tasks 2 & 3 SAGA: Subjective Assessment of Group Analysis

14. Relating Task 1 to Tasks 2 & 3 Good group function Task 3 (Symlog) Poor group function

15. Relating Task 1 to Tasks 2 & 3 R2 = 20% * Task 1 is significantly correlated with Task 2 (BECM) Better group function  better outputs BUT – both Task 1 and Task 2 assessed by facilitators – bias?

16. Relating Task 1 to Tasks 2 & 3 Good group function Task 2 (BECM) Poor group function

17. Relating Task 1 to Tasks 2 & 3 ? BUT – relationship is more complex. Better group function does not necessarily yield better outputs. ?

18. Worlds in Collision “When two independent matrices of perception or reasoning interact with each other the result .. is either a collision ending in laughter, or their fusion in a new intellectual synthesis, or their confrontation in an aesthetic experience. The bisociative patterns found in any domain of creative activity are tri-valent: that is to say, the same pair of matrices can produce comic, tragic or intellectually challenging effects.” (Koestler 1964 page 45, our emphasis.).

19. Acknowledgements Thank you We would like to thank all of our colleagues in POINT but especially Louis Cassar and Liz Conrad (Malta), Zuzana Valkovcova and Daniela Babicova (Slovakia), Jari Lyytimäki and Kautto Petrusand (Finland), Henrik Gudmundsson (Denmark) and Markku Lehtonen (UK). Many thanks also to Pia Frederiksen (POINT Coordinator) and Ian Perry (EC).