I have a deep interest in permaculture in the agricultural
sense, found “A Pattern Language” (an architecture and town planning book from
1970 that pointed out the living patterns that people use) fascinating, and am
very interested in how to change the world into a better place, so the description
of this book sounded like it would be something I would love. Instead, I found
large parts of the book rather tedious.
Not that I think they would be tedious to everyone. The main
focus of the book is on working with people: getting the best from people,
getting groups to work together efficiently (which changes depending on the
size of the group and what it’s trying to do), getting people to express
themselves but also to listen, etc. I’ve met a lot of that in presentations I’ve
been sucked into in various volunteer groups I’ve been part of, and if I’m
lucky I’ll never have to go to another one. I’m a loner; tell me what to do and
let me go do it. But if you need to start a group to get something done, the
author presents ways of making it more efficient- and at the same time, more
people oriented. And some of the things are as simple as rearranging the
chairs.
The book is easy to read in some ways; the chapters are
very, very short- sometimes only two pages- so you have natural places to stop
and think about what you just read. The author uses some vocabulary that most
people won’t have, but he gives the definitions (like, what is ‘sankofa’? I
didn’t know). The rest is everyday language.
So, if you need to get people working together, invest in
this book along with your Robert’s Rules of Order. Just don’t get it thinking
it’ll help you create sustainability in your yard!
The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents.
I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for an unbiased review.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
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