Uncommon
SECTION 2: EQUILIBRIUM
introduction
Purpose: Learn how to set effective goals and how to shift relationships to shift a system.
How to use this section: Read this before you analyze stakeholders or set an aim or objectives.
We understand our current position and the system we are in. Now, where do we go from here?
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For thousands of years, humans have looked to the stars to understand their place in the world and navigate from one place to another. They give us meaning, understanding and equilibrium. Similarly, we use a star chart to map which relationships power the system and how to consider these in setting long-term and short-term goals.
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Systems do not die: A Guiding Star and Near Star act like an aim and objective for a system, serving as its compass. A system can afford to lose sight of its Near Star for a while, but when a system loses sight of its Guiding Star, it can lose its equilibrium and crash.
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Relationships are power: We know more stories about star constellations than individual stars because power and meaning lie in relationships, not individuals. In this Chapter, we learn how to identify and focus on the most influential relationships in a system through Relationship Constellations.
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Solidarity is a verb: It is said that history is written by the victors. Those who win are proactive, collaborative, and determined. Here, we learn how to apply our own force to ensure justice, particularly for those whose exclusions are compounded by multiple, overlapping, oppressions at once.
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Force begets resistance: It is easy to overlook the emergent people and groups within a system that could help us make change happen. Shooting stars can be destructive in space but are a sign of good luck in some cultures. Working with shooting stars by collaborating across movements and beyond can significantly help shift systems.
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Loops can be unlocked: The loops of stars and planets power the relationships among them. Among those loops is one deep loop that drives the whole system. Only by collaborating to alter this deep loop can we shift a system.
section summary
Key Takeaway
Identify what keeps the system in balance, and how you can work with other resistance across the
system to give it better health.
Key Questions
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Why does the system stay balanced? What are its Guiding Star and North Star does the system have to be aligned with? What alternative stars could you establish for the system?
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Who are the key relationships that keep the system aligned with its Guiding Star and North Star?
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Where are others of different and intersecting identities impacted by the system?
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How could you work with others impacted and resisting the system already?
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What is the deep loop at the core of the system that keeps it functioning? How could you replace that deep loop with something that benefits people and planet?
Key Tool(s)
Relationship Constellations chart.
