Buddhist mandala's

The word mandala is Sanskrit for circle, polygon, community and connection. A buddhistic mandala expresses the concept of Buddhism as a "system" drawing. At the center of the Mandala is the "Dainichi Nyorai” (Great Sun), which stands for the highest state. Around the Sun we find lesser "Nyorais" which indicate various teachings of Buddhism. The further we go from the center, the closer we are to the real world.

• The inner circle of the outer circle is named the lotus circle and expresses the open state of devotion (congruence), necessary to enter the system. Requirement icons are typically dealt with here.
• The diamond vajra circle expresses strength and fearlessness related to a “lifecycle” of the system.
• The Fire of wisdom circle consists of the purifying fire. For example, in this circle icons can appear to invoke memories of external pressures like a previously discarded feature.

And as with metaphors, and systems thinking, the greatest value of mandalas lies in their use, and making and perceiving, not in the resulting mandala.

Making effective mandalas

The experiential patterns we have gathered so far for working with mandala architectures (for a more buddhistic perspective please read “Metaphor, Architecture and XP” by David West)

• A mandala is to enhance for the project helpful communication.Its purpose is to make applicable words, phrases, stories and images pop up in your mind while building the system and solving problems to make it happen.
• The mandala is to support creating feedback loops and trust between stakeholders – real change comes from within.
• To effectively encapsulate the Unknown and allow fast recovery from failures, a mandala must be simple to create, without special skills or extensive knowledge of modelling syntax, so all stakeholders can easily modify it.
• The mandala is to be visible and available as artefact with shared ownership by all stakeholders involved to make emotional attachment to the process possible.
• As a result, if the mandala is not a joy to make and maintain, you can perceive such as a sure sign you need to investigate what is actually happening.
• A mandala can capture state or time in order to provide the project and business management process with feedback in support of explicit and actual trade off of pressures working on the system.
• To enhance the carrying capacity of the system a mandala is to invoke feelings of courageousness for the stakeholders. Such feelings of courageousness are only likely to occur if icons and their placing on the mandala effectively facilitate problem solving.
• Mandalas must be perceived as a tool, not a means. An effective mandala can only be built and maintained within the context it serves, and by its involved stakeholders.

Organisational mandala

System domain

The system domain relates to the one and only mysterious central element in the Satir Mandala, the "I am" part. Its purpose is to Eternally Become.

Put in a only slightly more earthly form, "A system is a configuration of interrelated subsystems that, as a whole, depends on its environment for survival". The system is open to influences and transactions during its existence. The system domain therefore holds interdependent symbols forming an entity from which we can attempt to understand the nature of their collective interactions. The results can help trade off pressures on the involved systems more effectively. And may the Satir Five Freedoms guide our path ...

Product domain

The product domain can be derived from the spiritual part of the Satir Mandala. It connects the system to the life energy of all stakeholders involved through envisioning "desired state of the system" as best as we can. This tomb provides a container for "wishful thinking" and uniting stakeholder perspectives on what the purpose of the system actually is in crystal ball gazing ...

Resource domain

The resource domain originates in the nutritional part of the Satir Mandala. Its symbols are to help manage for development required inputs. In this domain we can keep track of hard inputs that the system needs and what we require for the development of the system. In a business setting typically technology and tools, money, equipment, and people to do development must be imported from the environment: marketing and sales are required ...

Cultural domain

Emotional parts can be considered the "core" of facilitating and more fully human human architecting. Any effect on any living system, collective or individual can be noticed in the cultural domain first. This domain can drive us beyond what we already made meaning of.

From an evolving perspective, issues appearing in this domain are the problems people directly exposed to change are experiencing. Symbols can be used to help make implicit requirements and assumptions explicit and to create spaces in which people can specialize and excel in a chosen field: Ten intelligences. In other words, dealing with things in this domain can help us cope with human and cultural pressures that we need or want to take into account while creating systems.

Networking domain

The networking domain relates to the sensory/sensual part of the Satir Mandala. Its symbols help manage information complexity by categorization and modeling, giving a basis for continued effective interactions. Its symbols represent the (soft) inputs the system needs. In a business setting typically data, requirements and feedback information must be exchanged with others, like peers, customers, clients, users, etc.

In technical systems this domain is the (in)famous components and interfaces architecture. In organizational settings we tend to use orgcharts and role and responsibility or task distribution and coordination systems.

Physical domain

The physical domain inherited its name from the physical part of the Satir Mandala. Its symbols are to help us build explicitly on what is already there. In a business setting it is often (a part of) an organisation or company involving changes to processes that once may have served a purpose and that are now blocking effectiveness. In both cases we wish to keep what works and is reuseful: meet true leadership!

Communication domain

The communication domain can be projected from the interactional part. The purpose of a communication architecture is to provide a conduit system for inputs from and outputs to the environment and between subsystems. Its symbols are to give grounding information for where communication improvements between subsystems are needed and to give clues on how these changes can be implemented effectively.

Domain domain

A domain domain can be derived from the contextual part of the Satir Mandala. From this perspective an (executive) management process can monitor the external and internal environment of a system and track dangerous pressures and problems for serving its purpose. A domain to meditate and contemplate what effects what changes might have ...

Systems thinking: Gestalt

Systems thinking has its foundation in the field of system dynamics, founded in 1956 by MIT professor Jay Forrester. Professor Forrester recognized the need for a better way of exploring and testing new ideas about social systems in the mind and studying its possible (side) effects before action.

Systems thinking allows people to make their understanding of a particular social system explicit in order to improve their understanding and to perceive having choices.

A test driven design for manifestation of a more fully human gestalt actually creating for example mystery space ship mockingbird does not necessarily require building and construction metaphors. If the systems we wish to create are to be more fully human, we need to self-organize in more fully humane systems to co-create those systems. Our metaphor could also be something like (links in below bullet items point to Stone Circles):

• Spinal column, bones, teeth, nails, anus, rectum, colon, prostate gland, blood, skills, abilities and space (together being capability) for building cells: integrity skeleton
• Pelvic girdle, kidneys, bladder, all liquids (blood, lymph, gastric juice, sperm), regulation (female) cycles: awakening
• Lower back, abdomen, digestive system, stomach, liver, spleen, gallbladder, autonomic nervous system: richness
• Heart, upper back, thorax and thoracic cavity, lower lungs, blood, circulatory system, skin: appreciations
• Neck, throat, jaw, ears, voice, trachea, bronchial system, upper lungs, esophagus, arms: expressing our selves
• Face, eyes, ears, nose, sinuses, cerebellum, central nervous system: balancing act
• Cerebrum: (w)holeness