If you get the Purpose right, you may get the Principles right. If you get the Principles right, you may be able to identify all relevant and affected parties. If you get the Participants right, you may get the Concept and structure right. If you get the Purpose, Principles, Participants and Concept right, you will inevitably get the Practice right and realize your Purpose far beyond your original expectations. Properly done, the inevitable result is a self organizing and self governing complex capable of constant learning and evolution.

The typical command and control organization usually works backwards, beginning with what we want to do (Practice) who should do it (Participants) and how it should be organized (Concept). Lacking  a clear sense of shared Purpose and deeply held beliefs that bind the community together and guide the conduct of individuals, liberty is not possible and we are forced to resort to rules and regulations, paper and procedures, command and control to hold the organization together and enforce conformity. While we may reach short term objectives, it is almost always with substantial destructive unforeseen consequences. The intended consequences may or may not happen, the unintended consequences always do.

If anything imaginable were possible, if there were no constraints whatever, what would the organization look like?

What are the principles by which those involved will be guided in pursuit of the purpose. Each principle will illuminate the purpose and call it into question. Each principle will also illuminate and call into question every other principle.

This is the most difficult part of the process and engages the whole person, not just the intellect. In the beginning, the discussion will nearly always result in platitudes rather than Principles. In the end there will be about a dozen principles, which taken together with the Purpose constitute the body of belief that will bind the community together and against which all subsequent decisions and actions will be judged.

The next step is to identify all relevant and affected parties whose needs, interests and perspectives must be considered in conceiving the organization.

It is now possible to explore what general Organizational Concept and Structure for the organization can be embrace the Purpose and Principles. It may well be that a new structure must be conceived. The process of developing the new concept will call into question the Purpose and Principles. These may then be further refined. Every step in the process illuminates the subsequent and preceding steps allowing each to be constantly refined.

Once the Organizational Concept and structures are clear, then and only then should the details of the organization be articulated in the form of an actual Constitution charter and bylaws incorporating with precision the substance of the previous steps.

Practices can now evolve in highly focused and effective ways. The cycle can then continue. Success calls into question the original Purpose and Principles in an ever increasing spiral of creativity.