A DECISION CASE

(FOR WHITE EAGLES ONLY)

We don’t need no stinking badges

John M. Gerber

April 23, 2004

“Ah, the hell with it. I’m just not gonna do it. I’m through.” John was pretty sure this time. He had a vague uneasiness about the decision, which he had wavered on several times over the past month or so. This time he was sure. He was not going to formally complete the course he had begun to become a Certified Educator of the Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management. The final requirement was to attend a graduation week that conflicted with his teaching schedule. Teaching had become his love and first priority. Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be “certified.” It felt like just another credential (he had enough credentials). After all, he had gone through the course and got the learning he needed to get started teaching holistic decision-making to his students. He was practicing in his personal and family life. What good is the “official” certificate?

“Certification” was a word he struggled with all his professional life. He thought of that great line from the movie Blazing Saddles when the Mexicans “banditos” were being given official deputy badges before they attack Rock Ridge. One of the banditos says, “Badges, we don’t need no stinking badges.” The banditos would attack Rock Ridge out of personal passion with or without official approval. John would do the same. He didn’t need the formal credentials. He would complete as many of the obligations for certification as he could, but would not “take the final test” and become a Certified Educator. He was sure this time. Or was he?

Here is the story…

1. John learned about Holistic Resource Management some time ago. He was attracted to it intuitively, but had not done much more than read a few articles by the founder Allan Savory. It seemed to be a lot about cattle, so he didn’t pursue it further. He liked the fact that the mainstream agricultural establishment seemed to ridicule Savory’s ideas. This was a sure sign there was something here of value. John had always liked “troublemakers.”

2. John was approached by an energetic and creative woman named Mary about 3 years ago. Mary wanted his advice on a proposal she was writing to a granting agency to fund a novel Holistic Management program in the Northeast. If funded it would cover most of the costs for a 2-year training for about 20 professionals. John knew several of the decision-makers on the grant review panel. As a university administrator, he had developed a reputation as someone who was willing to try new ideas. John was familiar with Holistic Management and had participated in a 2-day introduction a year or two earlier. He thought he might be able to help Mary and agreed to try.

3. Mary was successful in making it through the first round of funding decisions and was invited to an interview with the grant review committee. She asked John to join her, Phil and Kelly for the meeting. John didn’t have to do much more than just show up. The proposal itself was strong and the committee wanted to provide the funding for something creative. Having a representative of a university on-board probably didn’t hurt. Mary and Phil were awarded the funding and John thought his relationship with the effort was done.

4. During the period of time it took to acquire the funds for the program, John had decided it was time to retire from academic administration and return to teaching students and doing extension work. He was asked to create several new courses for undergraduate students in his area of interest and to “do something creative” for Cooperative Extension. Mary’s call around that time to ask John to apply for one of the slots in the newly funded training program seemed perfect. Having little idea of what he was getting in to, John agreed to apply. He was interested, to be sure, and he had learned that it was easier to say “yes” than “no” to Mary. He had grown fond of her energy and commitment. In truth, she helped talk him into doing something that he wanted to do all along.

5. The training program turned out to be “just what he needed.” He worked hard to do all of the reading and homework assignments. He learned a lot and was able to apply holistic decision making in his life. He tried to introduce the teachings to two colleagues who originally had agreed to work with him, but they proved uninterested. He practiced using the financial tools of the program at home with his spouse. But the big surprise (and delight) was the interest expressed by students at the university where he worked. John turned to training students in making decisions using this framework and was rewarded with engaged and challenging learners. With a few modifications, the framework developed for use on farms and ranches was amazingly useful for personal decision-making. John taught the process to individual students and introduced the concepts in several of his classes. This was really rewarding!

6. At the same time, John was having difficulty working with the farming community in his state. As an administrator, John’s relationship with the farming community was always tense. The university had gone through many years of difficult budgets, and the farming community was not getting the attention it wanted. Administrators often were blamed for this failure and John had often been the target of their anger. John looked to find members of the farming community who might be open to a new idea and open to working with him personally. He had meetings with several farmers and non-profit organizations that expressed initial interest. None of these developed. At the same time, the university was going through another budget crisis. Faculty were leaving and not being replaced. John had developed a reputation as a good teacher and was asked to take more teaching responsibility. He developed several new courses that quickly became popular. Two of his courses allowed him to introduce Holistic Management for personal decision-making. As the likelihood of working with farmers declined, the opportunity to work with students grew.

7. As the time for graduation from the training program approached, John found himself in a difficult position. He was unable to attend the graduation ceremony because of teaching responsibilities. He also had not completed all of the requirements of the course. The staff at the Center for Holistic Management were very understanding and encouraged John to complete the requirements at his own pace. They offered to work with him to complete the remaining work and promised that another opportunity would be offered to graduate if he was willing to do the work. John was so busy working on his new courses that he rarely thought about completing the Holistic Management training however. He followed most of the conversation among his classmates on the email listserve, but felt increasingly distant from the class as they approached their graduation.

8. By the time of graduation, John wasn’t convinced that he needed or even wanted to become a Certified Educator any more. Much had changed. Mary was no longer his mentor in the program. She had been the catalyst for his joining and some of his loyalty and interest in the program left with her. Also, his job had shifted dramatically away from Extension work, while several members of his class in nearby states were becoming quite proficient working with farmers. Working with farmers was no longer John’s primary interest. He wondered if he did become certified, would he be expected to spend time and energy working with farmers that more appropriately should be channeled to his students.

9. His other concern was the obligation he had made to the Center for Holistic Management, the granting agency and his classmates. This bothered him and he found it difficult to talk about. He felt uncomfortable (guilty) about not completing the course. Would this make Phil “look bad” with the granting agency? Didn’t he have a commitment to the Center? After all he had signed a Learning Contract (see Exhibit A). He had kept up with the documentation of the learning, but all that stuff would need to be put in order. Who had the time? And he knew he didn’t want to go through the final examination process. It would require more preparation than he was willing to commit if he wanted to show the folks from the Center that he really understood this stuff. And he didn’t want to look bad by admitting his lack of knowledge. But, there was more.

10. John had become aware of his growing level of discomfort with how the Certified Educator program was being managed. It felt much too much like all of the other hierarchical organizations that he had worked with over the years. He had spent a lot of time thinking about issues of power and even did some writing on it (Exhibit B). He had hoped that the Center for Holistic Management might be different, but it wasn’t. Just real people trying to do good work in a world in which power and control was the norm. John had learned a lot from the people who worked for the Center. He was very grateful to them and wondered if it was fair to ask them to meet his hopes and expectations about how an organization should be managed. After all he was not terribly successful himself in bringing a different model of organization to the university while he served in a position of leadership. Nevertheless, he knew that he had limited energy and wanted to work toward something truly holistic in both what it produced, but in how it worked. At other times in his life he had taken actions that were inconsistent with his core values and recognized this as a source of “insanity.” This was not a path he wanted to follow again. He wondered if becoming a member of the network of Certified Educators was a healthy choice for him.

11. As the date of the graduation approached, John committed himself to completing the requirements for the course as best he could. He enjoyed the collegiality of the network of educators and practitioners of Holistic Management, and truly valued the friendship of his classmates. He wanted to contribute to the success of the entire class and both honor and celebrate their accomplishments. At the same time, he was not sure that he wanted to become a part of the network of Holistic Management Certified Educators. He needed to make a decision. He tried to discuss his dilemma with people he respected that were affiliated with the Center, but felt a lot of discomfort. He didn’t understand his own feelings.

12. Then John was asked to work with his classmates once again. He had used Decision Cases in his classroom teaching and believed this teaching tool would be useful working with farmers. He was asked to meet with his classmates, who by this time had graduated from the Holistic Management Certified Educators program, and help them learn to write and use Decision Cases. This seemed to be an ideal opportunity to get their input on his dilemma. He would share his Holisticgoal (Exhibit C) with people he respected and then ask what would they do in this situation? Should he finish the program and become a Certified Educator?

Well, what would you do if you were John?

Exhibit A

Holistic Management ä Learning Contract

John M. Gerber

Re-submitted December 10, 2001

Learning Objectives

Learning Objective One; I will understand the content and underlying principles upon which the Holistic Managementä framework is based.

Learning Objective Two; I will learn to use the decision-making framework and planning procedures in my personal life.

Learning Objective Three: I will learn to use the decision-making framework and planning procedures in my professional life.

Learning Objective Four; I will learn to teach undergraduate students the Holistic Managementä process and the planning procedures that support it, and to facilitate their ability to begin to practice.

Learning Objective Five; I will learn to teach farmers, land managers or other non-student citizens the Holistic Managementä process and the planning procedures that support it, and to facilitate their ability to begin to practice.

Learning Plan

Learning Objective One; I will understand the content and underlying principles upon which the Holistic Management ä framework is based.

Proposed Activities:

1. Spend time preparing and be an active participant in all intensive workshops, and take time to evaluate what I have learned at each session afterwards. DONE

2. Reread the Holistic Managementä book by Savory and Butterfield, as applicable. DONE

3. Read and use the At Home with Holistic Managementä workbook by Ann Adams. DONE

4. Participate in a learning community within my workplace ~~and NESFI.~~ DONE

5. Read ‘In Practice’ and participate in an email conversation on key articles. DONE

6. Practice the principles of Holistic Managementä as described in the learning objectives two, three and four. DONE

Resources:

· Holistic Management ä book

· At Home with Holistic Managementä

· Savory Center web page and links

· In Practice quarterly

· UMass Learning Community ~~(Sonia and Rick)~~ (Students)

· NESFI Learning Community (Dave and colleagues)

· CSARE network

· UMass students

· Cooperative Extension colleagues nationwide

· Colleagues from NE Region class

· Mentor and other Savory Center facilitators

Documentation:

· Email records

· Journal notes

· Written resource materials used and prepared

· Web-based materials used and prepared

Schedule:

· Have read the first 10 chapters of Holistic Management – November 16 DONE

· Have initiated email conversation with Northeast Class – November 30 DONE

· Have read the remainder of Holistic Management – November 30 DONE

· Attend Financial Planning Workshop – January 19 DONE

· Attend Biological Planning Workshop – April 20 DONE

· Attend Policy Workshop – October 19 DONE

· Revise and submit Personal Learning Contract – January 31, 2002 DONE

Learning Objective Two; I will learn to use the decision-making framework and planning procedures in my personal life.

Proposed Activities:

1. Read the At Home with Holistic Management äworkbook. DONE

2. Introduce the model and decision process to my spouse and children. DONE

3. Use the workbook to develop a holistic goal with my family. DONE

4. Develop a holistic financial management plan with my spouse. DONE

5. Test 5 family decisions against the holistic goal for documentation purposes. DONE

6. Implement, monitor and control the holistic financial management plan. DONE

7. Interact with Kelly and ~~Mary~~ Ann each month.

Resources:

· At Home with Holistic Managementä

· Colleagues from NE Region class

· Mentor and other Savory Center facilitators

· General and NE Region Listserves

· Fifth Discipline Fieldbook and similar resources

Documentation:

· Summary reports sent to Kelly and ~~Mary~~ Ann

· Monthly “contract updates” (written record of progress)

· Journal notes

· Workbook notes

· Email records

· Financial planning worksheets

Schedule:

· Have introduced At Home workbook to spouse – November 16 DONE

· Have informal family conversation – November 21 DONE

· Have met with spouse and children to talk about the process – December 15 DONE

· Have read At Home workbook – December 15 DONE

· Have developed a holistic goal with family – January 15 DONE

· Have started to develop a financial management plan with spouse – January 15 DONE

· Finish the holistic financial plan with spouse – February 15 DONE

· Have tested 5 family decisions against holistic goal for documentation

– January 31, 2002 DONE

· Have implemented, monitored and controlled decisions based on the family financial plan – January 31, 2002 DONE

Learning Objective Three: I will learn to use the decision-making framework and planning procedures in my professional life.

Proposed Activities:

1. Read the Holistic Managementä book by Savory and Butterfield. DONE

2. Introduce the model and decision process to two colleagues in the UMass Agroecology Extension Program (Sonia Schloemann) and the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture’s Entrepreneurial Ag Business Program (Rick Chandler). DONE

3. Work with ~~these colleagues~~ (students) to develop their own holistic goals as a coach. DONE

4. Work with ~~colleagues~~ (students) to test personal decisions as appropriate as a coach. DONE

5. Partner with ~~colleagues~~ (students) to introduce the model to ~~3 farmers~~. (more students). DONE

Resources:

· Holistic Managementä book by Savory and Butterfield

· Colleagues from NE Region class

· Mentor and other Savory Center facilitators

· UMass students

· General and Northeast Region listserves

· Learning Community members at UMass, Tufts and NEFSI

· UMass Extension network and contacts with local farmers

Documentation:

· Journal notes

· Email records

· Case study records

· Meeting records

· Web page created

Schedule:

· Contact learning community participants to help identify potential farmer participants and schedule first meeting – November 16 DONE

· Have met with Learning Community at UMass – November 30 DONE

· Have introduced model to UMass Learning Community – December 15 DONE

· Have met with UMass learning community and NESFI Learning Community (~~including Christine Jost)~~ – January 15 DONE

· Colleagues from UMass Learning Community have completed temporary holistic goals – January 15

· Have completed HM web page for UMass Extension – March 15 DONE

1. I will develop an informal network among CSARE colleagues and others who are interested in teaching all or part of the HM model in undergraduate classes. DONE

2. I will explore the possibility of teaching HM in an undergraduate course at UMass beginning in the Spring of 2002. DONE

3. I will accumulate and integrate resources and syllabi from others teaching HM and implement a course at UMass for undergraduates. (COURSE APPROVED BUT NOT TAUGHT YET)

4. I will introduce HM to UMass students and work with them as coach to develop their own holistic goal and test decisions against their goal. DONE

Resources:

· Holistic Management ä book by Savory and Butterfield

· At Home with Holistic Managementä workbook

· CSARE network

· Savory Center staff

· UMass community

Documentation:

· Email records & Journal notes

· Case study records

· Issue of Inquiry in Action (CSARE news magazine)

· Class syllabus

Schedule:

· Introduce HM to Sustainable Agriculture Class – November 28 DONE

· Invite students to participate in a study circle to create their own holistic goals

– December 10 DONE

· Preliminary conversations with UMass Colleagues about teaching a course

– January15 DONE

· Schedule student study circles for winter and spring – January 15 DONE

· Have invited CSARE colleagues to participate in a national conversation with Northeast HM participants on teaching HM in the classroom – January 15 DONE

· Further conversations with Northeast HM participants – January 19, 2002 DONE

· Begin planning a course – June, 2002 DONE

· Course is offered – January, 2003 (COURSE WAS APPROVED BY THE UNIVERSITY BUT NOT TAUGHT)

1. I will create a UMass Extension web page to provide an introduction to HM. DONE

2. I will work with 3 farmers, land managers or other non-student citizens groups to help them learn the HM model and decision process in partnership with my UMass/DFA learning community.

3. I will develop 3 case studies from the farmer/citizen cases.

Resources:

· Holistic Managementä book by Savory and Butterfield

· CSARE network

· Savory Center staff

· Cooperative Extension colleagues

· UMass Extension community

Documentation:

· Email records & Journal notes

· Case study records

· Web page created

Schedule:

· Contact learning community participants to help identify potential farmer participants and schedule first meeting – November 16 DONE

· Have had preliminary conversations with farmer participants – January 15 DONE

· Have identified 3 farmers to learn the model and decision process – February 15 DONE

· Have met with farmer participants for introduction – March 15 DONE

· Have met with farmer participants for intensive work – April 15

· Intensive work with farmers – Winter – Spring, 2002

In addition, a letter from Kelly is included here.

Exhibit B

Thoughts on Sources of Power

John M. Gerber, 1998

Why does it seem there is so much pain in the world? Why are prisons and therapists two of the major growth industries (with participation in one or the other dependent on personal income)? We are all injured by the culture we live in, with its hierarchies of domination resulting in fragmentation of community, family and spirit. We live in a toxic psychic environment, where the misuse of power is the norm. The problem is not power itself, but our limited understanding of power as “power-over” (or that power we can take from other). This is particularly manifested in organizations such as the military, corporations and education, where power is concentrated in the hands of the leaders. This dominant culture of control through the use of power-over needs to be reshaped based on an alternative source of power, that is “power-with”, or that which comes from group understanding, decision-making and action.

Most of the social institutions we know today are built on a model of pathological hierarchy and power-over relationships for purposes of control. Military, university, corporations and even “do-good” non-profit organizations have this flaw. We need to experiment with organizations built as interconnected circles of relationships (holarchies rather than hierarchies) based on power-with relationships. We must stop creating hierarchies of control based on power-over worldviews. Even “good” social organizations b