I’ve been wanting to write The Cell as a book for a very long time. One of the reasons for this blog was that I needed a place to refer people when they asked about the system. I’m taking the first significant step now with a series of posts explaining the basics.
For my bachelor’s degree in 2011, I completed a case study on an application of my Cell System to organizations; specifically the Marine Corps. There’s a link to the PDF document, along with a summary pocket guide and a quick reference guide, on this page.
I would appreciate whatever helpful criticism, arguments, or feedback you can offer. And if you have trouble with it, I’d like to know that, too. After all, although I wrote it for all of you, I also wrote it in my language so that I would understand what I was writing. I’m also the guy that came up with it, so my understanding of what is written and how it is written is biased, much of the material residing in my head or in notes instead of in the piece. So don’t be shy about speaking up.
Sound fair? Good, then let’s begin.
The Three Tenets of The Cell
I. The One Principle
Around any and all things can be placed a boundary, segregating and making distinct a single form.
This principle states that, regardless of how complex a thing is, it can be expressed by simple limits, drawing a circle around it, for example. This boundary and what it contains is called an entity. The implicit inverse of this principle is that however simple a thing is, it can be broken down into more complex components (additional entities). There is only one, even when it appears that there are many. And there are many, even when it appears that there is only one.
In The Marine Cell case study, I draw a boundary around one person, and then around four (with some variability) and later sixteen (again, with some variability).
II. The Middle Principle
Within and between all things, pursuit of equilibrium is dominant.
There is only one force, that which seeks to equalize things that are out of equilibrium. For all components within a boundary or a boundary system (within an entity or between entities), the sum of their influence is zero. If it is not, then the boundary has not been drawn correctly.
In The Marine Cell, balance is maintained in different ways. One way is by distributing experience throughout a unit evenly such that, when looking closely at a few or broadly at many, there is no place where the benefits of experience are not paired with the benefits of fresh eyes.
III. The Relative Principle
All things contain components that are either lentic or lotic with respect to another component that is the inverse.
Lentic and lotic are words borrowed from ecology. Lentic describes standing water. Lotic describes moving water. Many word pairs would fit here (objective and subjective, order and chaos, plus and minus, etc) but lentic and lotic are most suitable as they refer to the same material existing in different states; one with energy and one without. One that is predictable and one that is not. This principle can be understood as, “Within a given boundary, there are parts that are inherently stable and predictable and also parts that are not. This stability:instability has an inverse, complementary instability:stability elsewhere.”
In The Marine Cell, units are divided along two le/lo dimensions; task roles and force roles. Task roles are divided by the size and the posture of the target. Force roles are similarly divided by degree of task and force focus.
Toss this around in your head for a while.
-CG