Now that you have considered questions like: "Who is the elected person in charge?"; Who is really in charge?"; "Who has the real power?" and so on, we will give you a structure on which to hang your findings. We will give you a description of what an institution looks like and how, in the best of circumstances, it should work.

The Institution

This is only one model for the way an institution works. There are many models, but most will describe the same type of dynamics of which we speak in different terms and processes. To see if this model is actual, look at your institution, or the one that you have adopted in order to do this work.

Thinking about any institution can be facilitated by thinking of it like a cell, or a series of cells. In this instance we will refer to the whole institution, or community, like a cell. First of all we start out with a cell membrane. A cell membrane is semi-porous. It is permeable, sometimes, but only for certain elements, chemicals and nutrients. The cell membrane protects the inside of the cell and helps it remain strong and intact.

When one comes to an institution the first thing that he or she approaches is the membrane. If they like the institution and they think they will fit well in it, they enter in through the membrane. As they are making their way through the membrane there is a slight education process going on where the person is preparing to become part of this new group. As soon as they are through the membrane they graduate into a member of the institution. We can compare this new position to the cytoplasm of the cell.

They are still near the edge of the cell, but inside. One becomes a member, or one of the constituency of the institution, if it is democratic. As they learn more and more about the system they are slowly moving toward the center of the cell, the part where governance takes place. There is another membrane near the center that separates the nucleus of the cell from the rest of the cytoplasm. In the nucleus we find the treasure of the cell, the DNA.

The DNA is necessary to keep the cell healthy and to allow it to grow and to multiply itself in a healthy way. Once the DNA is damaged the cell can become sick and can possibly become a cancerous cell and end up threatening the whole body. There are two strands of DNA hooked together in a double spiral called a helix. If we look at this structure we can compare it to what we talked about in the two previous lessons.

Think of one side being the overt mission and the other being the covert mission. If the overt mission of an institution and the covert mission of the institution are in sink, the institution will be healthy. As it grows and spreads it will produce several more healthy institutions. If it is a small institution that is growing the same is true. As more cells within that institution are necessary and come into being they will be healthy because they will inherit the same DNA of the overarching institution. If they are unhealthy it is because the mother cell, or mother institution is unhealthy.

This nucleus, in an institution is at the center of the elected governance, who is the cytoplasm within the nucleus. The membrane surround the nucleus are the power people of the institution. In democratic institutions all of the constituency are said to have equal power. In reality, however, there is usually a membrane of people who have most of the power. They have been given it by others, or they have cultivated it, or they maintain it through purposeful covert activity.

If the governance represents the people there is always a struggle between the over elected governance and the covert power people near the center. If that healthy struggle isn't taking place, one can question how democratic the institution is.

According to Richard Bondi this is the way an institution is supposed to work. There are those who remain at the edge of the institution all of the time. They are the people who like change. They have connections with people outside of the institution. They are always hearing about new ways of doing things and finding techniques that work very well that are not included in the institution. They are the ones who keep the institution from becoming stagnant and out of touch with reality. They furnish the new ideas that come into the system and keep it healthy and strong.

Next you have the large group in the middle. They are stable most of the time, but change as they are supplied with information that moves them from one direction to the next. Lastly there is the governance and the people at the center of power. They work together to maintain the system and keep it in stasis. Without a strong governance the people at the edge create too much change. The day to day activities that need to be carried out and the quality of the experience in the institution is diminished, because it is too outwardly focused.

All three of these elements must be strong within a democratic system and there must be healthy, but respectful tension between the middle and the edge. If the middle gets too strong they begin to silence the people at the edges, or force them out. When this happens the institution become stagnant and starts to die, because it is only a reflection of the government and the power people at the center. Only people like them continue to join the institution and it no longer grows. If it freezes at a place where it is not true to its overt mission statement, many of the people in the middle even begin to leave. Without the cutting edge it is frozen, so it will never move toward bringing the overt and cover missions together.

If the group on the edge doesn't have respect for authority and doesn't look for the best interest of the institution, it can become so strong that it destroys the institution. Change begins to happen too fast. Only the interests of the people at the edge are being fulfilled. The resources and energy necessary for the health of the institution are being sent out of the institution. The institution eventually dies by falling apart.

If the large group in the middle of a democratic institution is unaware, or they will do anything to quell conflict, they will hasten the death of an institution. As I speak of death I am not necessarily speaking of it no longer existing. I am speaking of the vibrancy being gone. I am speaking of it being meaningless and in no way carrying out its overt mission in the world.

I am reminded of a biblical test where the Apostle Paul went to the church of Galatia who was talking about all the good things they were doing. They were very wealthy and comfortable. He said that they should use some of their money to buy salve for their eyes because they were blind. He said that at communion, one of the most sacred feasts, some people had so much money that they were having banquets, while others barely had crumbs and no one saw a problem with that. This is what I mean by dying or dead. If a person off the street can come into an institution system and see the hypocrisy, or hear it so loudly they can't hear a word that the institution is saying, and the institution can't see it, the institution is dead. It is dead to it's vision of what it wants to be and what it may have been one time or the other.

In order to prevent this from happening, therefor, the system must remain healthy. The system remains healthy when everyone buys into the overt mission statement. When an institution presents itself as something that it is not and then doesn't work to become what it says it is the system is being dishonest and falsely representing itself to the outside world. Whether this happens or not depends mostly on the leadership.

There has to be leadership that moves from the center to the edges and who gathers up information. The leadership has to be a conduit of this information. They need to take the overt mission, what is happening undercover, and allow it to be known at the center of power. The center of power then disseminates the information throughout the whole institution so that the whole body can vote on this behavior and decide if it is something they want as part of their identity.

If the leadership gets too close to the center of power and the people of covert power in the center this won't happen and the institution will freeze and become more hypocritical. If the leadership gets too enamored with the people on the edge, the system will begin to fall apart. The person in the center, therefor, has to act as a bridge, not becoming too involved, or not identifying too much with the center or the edges. If this happens things run smoothly. There are, however, other dynamics that will not permit this, even if the governance begins to do this. We will discuss this in a later article.

Assignment III

Using the information that you have gathered previously, draw a picture of a cell, as described in this article. Look at each circle and fill in the people who are in each position in the cell. For example if you have found the people who are really in charge and not elected, put them as the membrane surrounding the nucleus. Put the elected leaders in the nucleus and the overt and covert missions as DNA in the nucleus and so on. Take a good look at it and consider the power dynamics that take place. In the next lesson we will discuss things that affect the abilities of the elected leadership to bring about change.

Answer the following questions:

Is your institution outwardly focused or inwardly focused? What are the signs that lead you to your conclusion? Do your institution have more problems supporting a strong internal governance, or a strong element of change at the edge of the institution? This may help you with the previous two questions.