Scribes

Scribes are agents of articulation, transforming lived experiences into documented knowledge.

Scribes are stewards, their attentiveness and ability to capture essence being absolutely essential for the action-learning journeys  to be meaningfully expressed through documentation.

Scribes are responsible for ensuring the docs are representative of the work happening on the ground, stewarding the expression of the essence of place, and creating a sense of wholeness in the documentation.

This attentiveness to essence is the prerequisite for effective capturing of the various different capacities present in a cohort  - artists, engineers, community leaders, farmers, cooks, and guests, to name just a few. Each voice has an essential perspective to contribute in making visible the ways in which a system is trying to evolve, and scribes ensure these voices are documented with clarity and intention.

It is crucial that scribes appreciate their relationship with the character and potential of the context in which the ALJ is being hosted. The hubs  play an important role in helping develop those relationships, creating spaces in which local stakeholders can illuminate the locality’s systems and particularities.

Front-end skills are a nice-to-have and can make the role really enjoyable as it’s a hybrid between technical documentation and direct engagement with the work, communities and places. It’s a very active role, and those who scribe will learn a great deal through the process.

Outcomes

Scribes are encouraged to reflect frequently on their experience of the process, noting insights into how their perspective on documentation and communication evolves. Action-learning journeys  are a collaboration intensive, generating many opportunities for experimentation, growth, play and learning. The list of examples below is non-exhaustive.

1. Documentation

   • Capturing the essence of what is being communicated

   • Identifying and articulating value-laden undercurrents of contributions

   • Creating a richer image of the ALJ experience

2. Communication

   • Translating complex concepts into accessible documentation

   • Engaging stakeholders through clear narrative construction

   • Bridging different perspectives and knowledge systems

3. Representation

   • Shaping and representing the cohort as a whole

   • Enabling depth to documentation that honors diverse voices

   • Ensuring the unique flavor of the ALJ story is preserved

4. Integration

   • Developing approaches to docs components integration

   • Creating documentation systems that can evolve and grow

   • Building bridges between technical and non-technical contributors

5. Capacity Building

   • Freeing up others’ productive capacity through documentation support

   • Developing personal scribing and documenting approaches

   • Establishing trust through reliable knowledge capture

Process

TBC

Functional Capabilities

The extensive onboarding process leading up to an ALJ is the window of time in which the functional capabilities needed for effective scribing are developed.

1. Access to dedicated communication space (telegram )

2. Calendar and call scheduling setup (cal.com )

3. Access to ALJ repos: code and docs (github.com )

4. Introductory call with local hub and relevant stakeholders

5. Index  into the onboarding call series and associated learning exercises

6. Scribe self-assessment of context understanding, potential, and their relevant documentation capacities

   • Requires engagement with hub and/or potential users

   • Requires attunement to definitions around community, place, regeneration

   • Requires communication and cultivation of mutual interest among the cohort

7. Confirm attendance, duration, participation requirements and health preferences

8. Initiation into documentation-as-synthesis practice

9. Equipment: laptops/personal computers/recording devices/hub facilities that can be leveraged

10. Identifying documentation needs and knowledge gaps

Invitation and Intention

If this sounds like you, we’d like to enthusiastically invite you to an upcoming event. As part of that, we invite you to observe the following key moments that require careful attention:

1. As you begin this process, ask yourself not just “What am I documenting?” but also “How am I documenting it?” Noticing shifts in your approach to capturing knowledge during the course of the [action-learning journey](action-learning journey) will unlock added learning opportunities.

2. If you notice discussions around abstract concepts like system potential and place, ask yourself “What is the essence being expressed here?” and “How can I capture this in a way that represents its depth while remaining accessible?”

3. Once you feel you’re drawing out meaningful patterns, ask yourself “What is at the heart of what’s being communicated?” and “How can I help give form to this expression in a way that serves the whole?”

Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share