Affliction=Tensegrity

Affliction = Tensegrity

Every day at SAFFRON Group is just another science experiment.

We’re all brainaics in our own right and can easily turn a few minutes of conversation into months or years of research with our various ponderings.

The other morning Edy and I were discussing geometry, particularly triangles.  

We were delving into the various “laws” and spent a lot of time discussing the sum of the angles. We then side-bared into a discussion of Tensegrity  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensegrity which brought us back to group dynamics and another side-side bar about relational triads.

We’re finding that relationships of threes occur in many if not most of the organizations/groups we are involved with and also within our own family. ….ie…Design works with Sales and Construction in a different way than Construction works with AP and HR as one example. When the principle of Tensegrity is introduced into the mix, it becomes pretty apparent (pilfered graphic above) that Construction,Sales,Design (lower triangle) can easily communicate freely with AR,HR,AP (upper triangle) via the semi-rigid elements (green) within their own groups.    The connecting red flexible fibers in this case represent “exchanges” between groups. This could be manpower, money, communication…….anything that is not a constant or rigid. So, we quickly see that the green Elements are in Compression while the Red Elements are in Tension.  Therefore if pressure is placed on one part of this particular structure the corresponding Green Element becomes more compressed while the Tension on the adjoining Red Element becomes even more tense………………Are you with me so far ?

Remember we're discussing Corporations and Groups and believe me I realize that a certain GOP Candidate feels differently, but indulge my stretch here in saying that they are made up of people but are NOT people. So, for the sake of this example we break it down to just the people (green). The lower triangle could represent communication and the upper triangle could represent funding or anything else. (if you insert your family here you could have a field day)  Pressure on one member causes tension and compression which impacts but does not break the structure because it is distributed across the other members with various degrees of energy. The point is that the STRUCTURE does not collapse because of single points of pressure. In fact multiple points of pressure only make the whole thing stronger as long as the unit remains intact. It’s the basis of Geodesic Domes.

Now let’s cut the red fiber and try and stand the three Green things up to build something, anything.  Go on build something !!!……………Perhaps with ONE green thing…OK add another…or all three……hum, thought so.  Sure you could roll them or tie them into a fence but you have lost the “energy” to ever create a thing that could withstand the slightest pressure.

Hermann Hesse once wrote of “those afflicted with an extra dimension”.

At SAFFRON we’ve got it bad....... and I don’t think it’s going to clear up anytime soon.