Mastermind Team
A propos of the article by Dave Thackeray Secrets of Design Superheroes…, in which he calls designers to join or create Mastermind Groups and where he mentions Benjamin Franklin, I decided to look into what Ben called the Junto.
Franklin describes the Junto as “a club of mutual improvement”. The rules stated that each member (Dave Thackery suggests they all be from different backgrounds) should come up with questions on any matter be it Morality, Physics, Social Problems, etc. and they are to be discussed by the group “in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth”. After a given period of time the members should produce a document (essay, poem, video, graphic) as an evidence of any of the subjects proposed by the group.
Being part of such a group is an opportunity to:
a. Gain access to a collective intelligence so to speak.
A means to broaden your horizon since you get to hear what everyone else proposes or thinks about the topic at hand. Of course you have to be very selective about the people in the team and about the subjects you want to get into.
b. Gives you an excuse to look into any subject (of your choice).
I once worked in a weekly newspaper where the illustrator was very well-known and I thought: what ever is he doing illustrating for this very small and very local newspaper? The reason was simple: it was homework. His psychiatrist made him do it as a therapy for his bipolar disorder. I think everyone could benefit from that kind of homework. To be forced into doing something you like with a deadline helps build discipline, confidence over a subject, practice, it´s like jogging for the brain.
The Junto achieved many things in the form of public affairs as Alex Parr, founder of The Brains Trust wrote in her blog: “This society [Ben´s Junto] has played an important role in American cultural and intellectual life, the results of which can still be seen in the present day in the form of the first library, volunteer fire departments, first public hospital and police departments.”
Whether it be in personal or project matters, I think Mastermind Groups are a sure way to gain insight. It just looks like success is in playing it like a boardgame.
Digging into Ben´s Autobiography, here are some rules and regularities:
- A convenient number: twelve
- Meet once every week
- Every member, in his turn, should produce one or more queries on any point… to be discuss’d by the company
- Once in three months produce and read an essay of his own writing, on any subject he pleased
- Debates are to be under the direction of a president
- [Debates] are to be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute, or desire of victory
- To prevent warmth, all expressions of positiveness in opinions, or direct contradiction, are contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties
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- From the Virtue drawer(s)