Lessons in Vinamese Decisionmaking Process

SITUATION: how to make a vinamese plan of action for a decision involving more than one person.

WHO: anyone who is impacted, anyone with experience, guests, neighbors, third parties, anyone with an opinion (does not have to be present to participate).

WHAT/HOW:

1. engage in lengthy crosscutting discussions with all parties. weigh out all the options and variations conceivable with unstated assumptions based on self's reality and way of thinking. multiple onsite/offsite side conversations as well, sometimes via telephone or third parties. decisionmaking process is influenced by who is most experienced, most vocal, and/or high status/elder.*

2. come to understanding and consensus on plan of action with all parties.

3. all parties must them come to consensus about which party implements decision or which person(s) will delegate implementation of decision and who is ultimate implementor(s). implementor(s) does not have to be affiliated with decisionmaking process. additionally, other parties will take action on auxiliary actions needed to satisfactorily accomplish decision, usually involves significant quantities of food.

4. because of culturally-based cosmological flexibility (i.e. the epistemological lack of Platonic diametric binaries, absolutist Cartesian logic common in simplistic Western way of thinking and capitalist cultural understanding of time whereas multiple truths and realities co-exist simultaenously layered with animist, ancestral, Daoist, Confucian, Buddhist beliefs in complex Vinamese way of thinking**), each individual walks away with entirely different interpretation of what consensus entailed based on own reality, preference & assumptions and who was the most vocal and influential vis-a-vis self.

IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS:
implementor can then take any or all of the following options:
a) implement own understanding of the decision based on own reality, interpretation, assumptions & preferences. if they were not affiliated with consensus process, they will implement own interpretation of delegator's own interpretation which will vary from original interpretative decision consensus.
b) be influenced into implementing variation of own interpretation of decision consensus--possibly, but not always, one previously discussed in the descionmaking process--by entirely unaffiliated opinionated people or circumstantial shifts or vagaries of Life, Supply, and Bureaucracy in Viet Nam.

RESULT:
once decision is implemented, regardless of outcome, have conversation rehashing, processing and sometimes arguing about decisionmaking process, any and all deviations from one's own interpretation of consensus decision until mutual understanding and satisfaction is reached. conversation can take place over extended spans of time and can involve any parties named above and occasionally, wholly irrelevant parties who will insert their opinions as to an alternative course of action.

CONCLUSIONS (or my trademark Choose-Your-Own-Moral™)

• it takes an extended family of at least 3 generations, plus kin (based on marriage alliances 3-4 generations removed), and give or take some community members, totalling approximately 42 people to get 15 people (4 Viet Kieu and 11 uncles, aunties & cousins) on a combi to go on a mini-vacation road trip 20 km away. the absolute number and who attends is subject to change given (un)affiliated opinionated people, circumstantial shifts or vagaries of Life, Supply, and Bureaucracy in Viet Nam.
• there is no absolute Truth or Reality. Reality and Truth are context based.
  
• linguistics & anthropology dual bachelor's degree and doctorate-track anthropology grad school are put to amusing if inconsequential use thereby justifying the incurred debt from student loans. use-per-wear theory of finance would indicate that this blog is worth $1 every time it is read.
  
• and that my friends, is how we won the wars...
  

anthropological notes
* an elder/high status person can exercise decisive authority and make an autocratic decision at any point in the process which nevertheless will be subject to vagaries of Life, Supply and Bureaucracy.
**a linguistic or grammatical analogy is the lack of universal definitive articles 'a' or 'the' in vinamese language. articles are context-based on the being of the noun and fluctuate ('con' animate, 'cai' inanimate, 'qua'/'o' form, 'cap'/'chiec' set) or be entirely omitted. pronouns are also based on kinship context and flux according to the reality/status of the person speaking and that of the indicated person and under certain contexts can be entirely omitted or personal names used in its stead.