Intentional Communities Newsletter: October 15, 2010

Promoting Community Living & Cooperative Lifestyles
Communities magazine, Directory, Video and more

The Zen of Groups: The Handbook for People Meeting with a Purpose
by Dale Hunter, Anne Bailey and Bill Taylor
Softcover; 1995, DeCapo Press; 196 pp; ISBN 978-1-55561-100-2

When I do work as a group process consultant and professional facilitator, I have a hard time stopping my roots from showing: I always long for a personal growth piece, or for a perspective on the group that is forward moving and helps consciousness evolve. For that reason, Dale Hunter's books are like comfort food for me: she fulfills both my high standards for good thinking in group process and my need to feel like humans can evolve in a good way. The Zen of Groups is a great example of this balancing act.

This book dances between three poles: the individual in the group, the group as a whole, and the facilitator of the group. When all three of these are functioning well, the group synergy flows. What this book does that a lot of group dynamics books don't is to bring to light (and make concrete suggestions for improving) this dynamics relationship.

As the title suggests, this books has a Zen overlay. It takes a practical, spiritual approach to the group, leaning in to relationships, personal responsibility and the power of authenticity. It also does a great job of recognizing the inevitable people stuff that comes up in groups and normalizing that thing which most of us avoid: conflict. Through long experience in the Zenergy Global (a group process collective in New Zealand) and the collective's philosophy (which they style "person centered facilitation") the authors have developed a cohesive philosophy on group dynamics that makes their work smooth, practical and, in many cases, light.

As the Zenergy website (www.zenergyglobal.com) says, "If human development to a more conscious, thoughtful, caring and co-operative way of being is even a dim possibility, we want to contribute to it." In that spirit, this is the ideal book for facilitator's and group members who use their group experience as a personal growth opportunity.

This month, we are offering The Zen of Groups for the special price of $16.00, a $3.00 discount.

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