Everything is framed by language. Change the language and you are changing the game. This is as aspect of culture covered in my book, The Culture Game.
Naming things makes sense of the world, yet it can be bad for teams. Ironically, naming things reduces the flow of We. That is because the names are literally symbolic of things. Names create very real divisions.
Nominalization is one way we make sense of things. Nominalization assigns names to things and reduces them to nouns. Nominalization is a linguistic device that allows you to turn a verb (and other word types) into nouns. It’s a trap that can limit perception and thinking at the level of We. Nominalization creates opportunities for division to occur. For example, this cannot be that if this is not(that). I am describing the divisions: these divisions reduce the flow of We. Nominalization creates linguistic (and therefore very real) division inside the mind of groups.
On the other hand, anything that increases the flow of We is insanely great. Some specific, named socio-technologies that help do this include:
- Kanban
- Scrum
- Core Protocols
- Open Space
- Facilitation
- Coaching
- Triads
There are others like these; I have a name for them as a group.
When I tell you the name, it is sure to reduce the flow of We in the community of readers. Why?
Because as soon as I divulge the name, then the discussions start, describing: how this is not that, how this is inferior to that, how that is crap compared to this, and so on. Eventually, I have to tell you the name, so We can talk about it. There is no other way. I plan to wait until at least a few people comment on this post, to get the ball rolling. That is the signal I am waiting for. If I do not get any comments, that is my signal to wait. See also: semiotics.