**Pattern Name:**
**Introduction:**
One of Stafford Beer's 
gifts was a social method of problem solving that he named, syntegration . The term comes from the words "synergistic " and "tensegrity ". Integration based upon tensions and synergies among the participants.
**Illustration:**
The cover of the one book written on Syntegration
.
**CONTEXT:** Social complexity leads to differences of opinion, making agreement and coordinated action difficult. Often leading to division and conflict.
**Initial Situation:** A group of people wish to cooperate but are unsure how to proceed from their diverse experiences and opposing opinions toward a unified plan and coordinated action.
**PROBLEM:**
Conflict too often trumps trust.
**Forces:**
**THEREFORE (SOLUTION):**
Use a version of Syntegration to organize and coordinate intersecting conversations. Continue this conversational process as long as needed--perhaps permanently for evolving complex social situations such as neighborhood life.
**Actions:** Learn about the method of syntegration. Adapt it to you needs. Visualize the conversational interconnections. Record summaries of conversations. Come together to consider integration insights and make plans for the whole.
**Consequences:**
Trust increases as understanding increases from human conversation rather than argumentation.
With more trust, more possibilities arise.
**Known Uses:**
**Examples:**
**Important Know-How:**
**CONNECTED PATTERNS:** **Supported Patterns:** **Supporting Patterns:**
**Notes:**
The College of Exploration's webpage on Syntegration .
Persistent syntegration can provide an answer to Mary Parker Follett's call for neighborhood scale associative conversations, which she claims are the only basis for democracy. See The New State