Sounds like positioning theory ... Re: [Ailist] Meaning Making Exercise?

[Lionel Boxer]

I agree that the reply changes meaning of the message, but from my
perspective it is more important to acknowledge that the way you reply
also changes your respective positioning (Harre).  That is, consider how
your create both yourself and Ken when you reply is:
- flirtatious
- threatening
- friendly

In each case, Ken has positioned himself (if he does so in the same way)
as someone who has the right to complement you.

However, each different reply repositions him perhaps as follows:
- flirtatious --> someone who has the right and perhaps duty to pursue
something further 
- threatening --> someone who does not have the right to make such
comments or pursue something further
- friendly --> someone who has the right to make such comments, but
likely not the right to pursue something further

Likewise, you position yourself as follows:
- flirtatious --> someone who welcomes the complements and perhaps more
from Ken
- threatening --> someone who does not welcome the complements or
anything else from Ken
- friendly --> someone who appreciates the complements, but is not
interested in further pursuits

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - +1-416-482-3203
Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au
Graduate School of Business
"I like action - moral courage is much less common than intelligence"
Prof Major Charles Boxer, Lincolnshire Regiment
The Sustainable Way: http://intergon.net/tsw
>>> Mary Gergen <gv4 at psu.edu> 06/10/08 3:00 PM >>>
HI Bill.. just got back from a performance conference in New York City
today... and wanted to mention a little exercise that Ken and I use in
our
presentations, and I think could be adopted for a classroom exercise.  I
walk by him and he compliments me on my looks.  Then I respond in some
way,
and then we do it again, and each time I change my answer.   (Sometimes
it
is flirtatious, sometimes threatening, sometimes friendly.. each time my
reply changes the meaning of the message, at least for the moment.  The
meaning of what he has said becomes negotiated between us, and it is not
clear what to understand until actions are supplemented by the other..
which
then becomes the action that is supplemented.  I could imagine students
creating similar scenarios to enact and share with each other.  Just a
thought.  Best, Mary Gergen

On 10/4/08 7:08 PM, "Bill Scott" <wjs.consulting at shaw.ca> wrote:

> Hello all,  
> 
> I¹m teaching a fourth year university level course that is focusing on
the
> use of appreciative process in groups and teams.
> 
> I want to do a segment on ³meaning making² and I was wondering if
anyone had
> developed an exercise that they are really fond of. I have the
students do
> appreciative interviews with one another and do thematic analysis of
the
> data that they have captured - and of course, this includes meaning
making.
> But I¹m wondering if anyone has developed a standalone exercise that
> emphasizes the point of meaning making.
> 
> I¹d appreciate any assistance you can provide.
> 
> Best regards,
> Bill
> WJS Consulting
> Vancouver, B.C., Canada
> wjs.consulting at shaw.ca
> Engaging human potential