CI Project Constitution

Constitution for the Burley House CI Project
Pursuit of an Improved Dietary Experience

1.      Problem Statement and Description.

We would like to tackle the problem of maintaining a healthy, sustainable, affordable, and satisfying diet. As each of us is in or nearing middle-age, we recognize that our old eating habits are no longer good enough. But like most Americans, we find ourselves greatly challenged in doing something about it.

To varying degrees, we succumb to eating what is available and convenient rather than what is right. Breakfast, if we have time for it at all, is whatever we can grab running out the door, and is usually something bland and packaged (not to mention laden with fats, sugars, chemicals, and other stuff we need to cut out). Lunch might be spaced out among coffee breaks -- with each course costing $1.25 at a vending machine. Dinner is whatever we feel like microwaving, or perhaps a short sequence of 'stuff we know the kids will eat'. And whenever we are tired, it's fast food takeout -- and rarely from the healthier parts of the menu.

And we know better. Each time we see a doctor, we are reminded that we know better and can do better.  We might even have watched Food Network competitions (where contestants turn the most mundane foodstuffs into culinary delights) while saying to ourselves, "I could do that," all the while munching on our Swanson salisbury steak dinner (i.e., mystery meat, gelatinous macaroni and cheese, rubber carrots, and apple crisp that contains more goop than apples).  Then, as one of our cohort mates comes to us from afar bringing sweet potato dumplings and cashew cookies, we revel in the difference, ... but ultimately do little to change our habits -- after all, what are our options during cohort weekends. Actually plenty more than we realize, but in between classes its hard to avoid defaulting to pizza or the nearby Chick-fil-A.  So on top of stress over assignments, presentations, and readings, we add guilt. 

According to Dr. Marquardt, language and religion are the primary drivers of culture, but to use Schein's terminology, food is its most obvious artifact. We spend most of our time and our money dealing with food, but our experience with it is dissatisfying, and ultimately neither healthy nor sustainable. 

So, to re-cast this beyond a simple logistics problem, we want to look at the broader picture of our diets and diet options, including cohort weekends. What can we try to improve the quality of what we eat and the satisfaction we gain from it? How can we address and overcome the barriers to change such as time and inconvenience? How do we get our kids to eat better with us? How do we spice up our foods, and t.hereby spice up our lives?

 

2.      Deadlines and Regular Events.  Burley House will adhere to the assignment schedule as provided by the instructor, as follows:

a.      One member, on a monthly rotating basis, will be responsible for communications with the instructor which includes, but is not limited to, information about weekly teleconferences, the required two-paragraph CI progress reports, communication of the “specific question for inquiry” by 12 October, and routine e-mail or other correspondence on behalf of the House.

b.      Burley House will conduct mandatory weekly teleconferences on Mondays at 8PM (2000 hours).  A member on a rotating basis will take and post minutes for the benefit of team members not able to participate.  Materials for discussion should be posted to the group site (TBD) by Sunday evening (6PM or 1800 hours) to allow sufficient time for review.

c.      All Burley House members will exercise suitable authorship for the final “30-minute presentation” in satisfaction of course requirement A2.

3.      Approaches.  These are drawn from or inspired by Chapter 5 of Bray, 75-87.

a.      The general intent will be to restate the problem such that the following can occur:

                                          i.     The six members will have unique but complementary areas for independent research.

                                         ii.     The group will determine the suitable number and method of experiments.  Maximal use of the house meetings during October, November, and December will be encouraged if practicable.

                                        iii.     It is understood that although this is a collaborative project, singular experiments are self directed, and can only be successfully accomplished through meaningful individual action and reflection

b.      Individual members will:

                                          i.     Maintain reflective records.  These can be incorporated into the personal journaling required in the course, but CI project-specific reflections should be posted to the group site, particularly after collective events such as the weekly house meeting.  These records will be drawn from for the development of the final paper, and equal authorship is expected.

c.      Norms of the Group will include:

                                          i.     We will maintain a positive tone at our meetings.

                                         ii.     We will begin and end our meetings on time.

                                        iii.     We will stay fully engaged and participate actively throughout each meeting.

                                        iv.     All inquirers will contribute equally to the workload of this team.

                                         v.     We will converse using active questioning, listen respectfully and consider matters from another’s perspective.

                                        vi.     All inquirers will draw from the collective wisdom of the group, and assist others with elements of their experiments when needed.