It was April 2012, when Perspectivity first got to me. Unsuspectingly, I went on a corporate get-away with my FMO (the Dutch development bank) colleagues to Texel. Just for fun – which was called ‘team-building’ by then. We had a nice day of exploring the little island, full with adventurous games and challenging assignments – all teams with the ambition to win. Nobody had expected that at the moment we all dozed off a bit, the next day, the real adventure and actual mud throwing hadn’t even happened yet. That was when we started to play the game: the Perspectivity game.
I was stunned, forceless, frustrated, manipulated, furious, happy and releaved all in only one hour. I was thunderstruck by the fact that me and my fellow colleagues, all in the environmental & social analysis departement of the bank, were simply unable – and unwilling – to bring the game to a good end. Which is quite surprising, since we all by now know – after playing the game only once – that ‘a positive result’ is a feasible option. Which underlying mechanisms of human behaviour make it so hard to reach this coveted positive result? Unfortunately, for too many reasons, I presume.
Anyway. I switched jobs from FMO to Intermin. Without knowing Eelke and his background in Perspectivity yet. What are the odds? I met Eelke, Joep and Maarten, and the latter invited me to come to one of the Perspectivity weekends. As soon as I crossed the doorstep of the dining room in De Hoorneboeg, I felt extremely welcome. Surrounded by people who really care for a cause or two, and who care for each other. People who all like abstract, conceptual and intellectual talk 🙂 People who remember where their last conversation ended, so where to continue.
Everything you just read may sound simple. But it is not. Being such a nice group of people, finding each other – digitally & personally, intellectually & emotionally – is quite complex.