Search and Sense-making Search and Sense-making Strategies ofStrategies of

The Walking PeopleThe Walking People

Human Computer Interaction ConsortiumHuman Computer Interaction ConsortiumWinter Park, ColoradoWinter Park, Colorado

February 3, 2007February 3, 2007John C. ThomasJohn C. Thomas

OutlineOutline

• Widespread Disappearance of Cultures

• Possibility of Learning from them

• Example: The Walking People

• What is a Pattern Language?

• Pattern Language examples from The Walking People

Widespread Cultural ExtinctionWidespread Cultural Extinction

• Hard to measure culture, per se• One reasonable ersatz measure: disappearance of

languages• 6000 languages currently• Possibly only a few hundred in a couple hundred years• Should the only metric of cultural “contribution” be the

lethality of its weapons?• The Forgotten Founders by Bruce Johnson recounts

incorporation of Iroquois ideas into US Constitution via Ben Franklin to Thomas Jefferson including “inalienable rights”, separation of powers, federated system, etc.

• AND WE SAW HOW IT WASHOW THE LEARNINGWAS NOT MUTUAL…“You see how it is” -- some one suggested.“How these ones think

it is only the wearingof shining discs about the neck

that enables thought.”And we laughed,

remembering disparate others who held a similar view.

FOR IT IS OFTEN SO,AMONG THIS PEOPLE AND THAT,

WE FIND A FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE ANY WISDOM

DISSIMILAR FROM THEIR OWN.

LET US BE A WISER PEOPLE….

(Essential attitude of contextual enquiry)

The Walking PeopleThe Walking People

• One branch of the Iroquois• “Oral History” transcribed into English

by Paula Underwood• Paula Underwood was “designated

storyteller” for her family• Decided six generations earlier that

this was time to share with wider circle• The Walking People also has

associated notes about the process of knowledge transmission

• Other books on learning by Paula Underwood also used

The Walking PeopleThe Walking People

• One branch of the Iroquois• “Oral History” transcribed into English

by Paula Underwood• Paula Underwood was “designated

storyteller” for her family• Decided six generations earlier that

this was time to share with wider circle• The Walking People also has

associated notes about the process of knowledge transmission

• Other books on learning by Paula Underwood also used

~Paula Underwood

Major Story LineMajor Story Line• Begins in Asia with “natural disaster”

• At that time, living in tripartite culture with “first among us” given responsibility of transmitting stories and learning; they have primo beach front property

• After many killed by “rocks like rain” tidal wave comes and sweeps away the “first among us”

• Main story recounts travels across water-swept land bridge, down west coast of North America, across great plains to Atlantic Ocean and back to Great Lakes

• During this time, The Walking People must learn to live with various and changing physical and social environments

• Always concerned with “learning to learn” better

• “Flashback” stories to much earlier times describe, e.g., invention of clothing, experiment to determine cause of pregnancy.

PatternsPatterns

• Named essence of solutions to recurring problems

• Based on experiences with what worked

• Each Pattern includes Problem, Analysis, Solution, Summary Statement

• A Pattern is similar to, but different from, a template, a script, a concept, etc.

Pattern LanguagePattern Language

• Consists of a lattice of inter-related patterns which attempt to cover a coherent field

• Christopher Alexander: A Pattern Language

• Examples:

– Eccentric Town Center allows commuter traffic to stop at Town Center

– European Pub

– Gradient of Privacy in homes: porch, entry, LR, DR, kitchen, bedroom

• Object-oriented programming (e.g.,Coplien, Vlissides, Gamma)

• HCI (e.g., Borchers, Tidwell, Van Weile)

• Socio-technical (e.g., Schummer, Schuler)

• Pedagogical (http://www.pedagogicalpatterns.org/)

• Management (e.g., Coplien & Harrison)

OneOne useful way to view useful way to view The Walking The Walking People: People: A Pattern LanguageA Pattern Language

• Most “stories” state a problem facing a person, group, or, more commonly, the whole Walking People

• Often, a previously learned Pattern is applied in a transformed and transformative way

• The story recounts the outcome• There is a summary restatement of the

“new learning”

The Walking People The Walking People as Pattern as Pattern LanguageLanguage

• Sole criterion for inclusion seems to be whether the incidents recounted show new learning

• NOT included to:

– Demonstrate “superiority” of The Walking People over others

– Demonstrate “success”

– Increase dramatic effect (cf. McKee; Frey)

• Each story includes context, detailed description, summary of solution pattern and an “analysis of forces” illustrated by a recounting of the arguments pro and con

• Taken together, the stories form a lattice of inter-related solutions to a domain of problems

Some Socio-Technical PatternsSome Socio-Technical Patterns• Circle and Epicircle Search• Elicit from Diversity• Rule of Six• Small Successes Early• Reality Check• Who Speaks for Wolf?• Support Conversation at Boundaries• Social Proxy• Context-setting Entry• Answer Garden• Registered Anonymity• Anonymized Stories for Organizational Learning• Mentoring Circle• Radical Co-location• Levels of Authority• Rites of Passage

Elicit from DiversityElicit from Diversity• Pp. 7-8: “AND HOW MANY MIGHT DO WHAT FEW-

ALONE COULD NOT EVEN THOUGH EACH OF THE MANY HAS LESS STRENGTH.” (Bears)

• Pp. 11-12: “WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE MAY BE POSSIBLE FOR MANY” (Multi-colored paintings)

• P 44. “IF THERE IS NOT ONE AMONG US WHO CONTAINS SUFFICIENT WISDOM MANY PEOPLE TOGETHER MAY FIND A CLEAR PATH.” (Council)

• P. 65: “WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE MAY BE POSSIBLE FOR MANY” (Ropes)

““WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE MAY BE POSSIBLE FOR MANY” MAY BE POSSIBLE FOR MANY”

• THINKING OF THIS,• They wove ropes• which were long as well as thick• and with which those who were struck by Ocean• and washed from their footing• might be restrained by others• who were more secure.

Iroquois “Rule of Six”Iroquois “Rule of Six”

• You are in a meeting room. Your calendar says the meeting is supposed to start at 10 am. The clock on the wall says 10:15. John is not here yet. You think: “John doesn’t really care about this project.”

• According to the “Rule of Six” you need to generate five additional explanations for the current situation.

Iroquois “Rule of Six”Iroquois “Rule of Six”

• Your calendar entry is wrong

• The clock on the wall is wrong

• John comes from a culture where 15 minutes is not “late”

• John was unavoidably delayed in traffic

• John was waylaid by the Vice-President and even now is talking up the project

Seek to Understand the Heart of OthersSeek to Understand the Heart of Others

• The Iroquois reflect on how giant tree sloths became extinct and how even now bear and deer are more difficult to find; they decide to understand more about how their four-footed brothers live and ensure the world is arranged for their prosperity.

• Later, when confronted with a war-like tribe with superior weaponry, they see that this other tribe, unlike the Iroquois, has a strict division of labor between men and women. The Iroquois use this, first to learn the arts of war and then, when battle comes, to “freak out” their opponents by sending five women to fight their braves.

Small Successes EarlySmall Successes EarlyBased on the story of Old Grandfather who invented Clothing

Small Successes EarlySmall Successes Early

• “Take off your skins, Carry them if you must…

Proceed in this unvaried manner

for many days –

until I make a sign to you.

“IN THIS MANNER OVER SOME DAYS

I hope to change the thinking of the People

leading them as I might lead them

over some great mountain

with slow and careful steps.”

Her voice was neither loud nor soft

as she asked her questions.

It was such that those nearby could easily hear,

yet those at some great distance

could easily turn away and hear no more.

Small Successes EarlySmall Successes Early

• Her father never more than answering any specific question, those among the People coming and going, so that curiosity or discomfort with the new were equally accommodated.

Gradually the People learned – each at their own pace – the nature of the path of one who walks North…

and yet returns.

“Old Father,” she began –“I was wondering whether you have any use for that softest skin…”

Reality CheckReality Check

Reality CheckReality Check

Who Speaks for Wolf?Who Speaks for Wolf?Visual by www.PDIimages.comVisual by www.PDIimages.com

Application to “Dynamic Learning Environment”Application to “Dynamic Learning Environment”

• Circle and Epicircle Search– Focus on developing workable system– Peripheral search: joined MERLOT; read about e-learning; participated

in panels; constant inquiry of social network• Elicit from Diversity

– Team make-up and summer students• Small Successes Early

– Three iterations of “PowerPoint Prototypes”– Two successive field deployments

• Reality Check– Ersatz measures: questionnaires gave promising results. People liked

system and found it easy to use – Experiment to determine whether it really worked for learning

• Who Speaks for Wolf?– Early interviews with curriculum developers; course developers; content

providers; potential users; potential “catchers” in IBM; used earlier comparative study for initial requirements

““Systems Thinking” proposal to NYNEX CEOSystems Thinking” proposal to NYNEX CEO

• Understanding the heart of others– Need to understand what would appeal to the

CEO– Also needed to understand nature of my own

management: infinite regress of permission– But also a “rebel at heart”

Further ReadingFurther Reading• Alexander, C. A., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M., Jacobson, M, Fiksdahl-King, I. and Angel, S. A

pattern language. New York: Oxford Press, 1977.• Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R. and Vlissides, J. Design patterns: Elements of reusable

object oriented software. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1995.• Johansen, B. E. Forgotten founders: How the American Indian helped shape democracy.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard Common Press, 1987.• Johansen, B. E. Debating democracy: Native American legacy of freedom. Sante Fe: Clear

Light, 1998.• McKee, R. Story: Substance, structure, style and the principles of screenwriting. New York:

Harper & Row, 1997.• Thomas, J. Narrative technology and the new millennium, Knowledge Management Journal

(2), 14-17, 1999.• Thomas, J. Kellogg, W. A., & Erickson, T. A. The knowledge management puzzle: human and

social factors in knowledge management, IBM Systems Journal, 40(4), 863-884, 2001.• Underwood, P. Who speaks for Wolf: A Native American learning story. San Anselmo, CA:

Tribe of Two Press, 1983. • Underwood, P. Three strands in the braid: A guide for learning enablers. San Anselmo, CA:

Tribe of Two Press, 1994.• Underwood, P. The walking people. San Anselmo, Ca: Tribe of Two Press, 1993.

Irrelevant Public Service Irrelevant Public Service AnnouncementAnnouncement

• GROUP 2007• November 4th - 7th, Sanibel

Island, Florida, USA = WARM• Important Dates• May 21, 2007

All submissions due.• Early July, 2007

Notification of acceptance.• http://www.acm.org/

conferences/group/conferences/group07/index.html