Spannungsfeld Workshops

A spannungsfeld is a German engineering term, literally “field of tensions”, that has found its place as a term of art in protocol studies. It builds on the prior idea of a tension, which Tim Beiko had defined as a trade-off plus a conflict. Currently, a set of templates and tools is in development – with the goal of improving how protocol whisperers manage tensions in their field, get a feel for the underlying trade-off space that permeates their domain, and consider the second order effects of action in a spannungsfeld.

The prototypes for this particular workshop concept are called tensions games. Some documentation for how to set up and run those games, is available in the Field Guide (jump directly to the subsection here). There are also a couple of articles, One Tension to Rule Them All and Tension Landscapes in Protocolized that serve as good onboarding points.

For a deeper dive, join the spannungsfeld SIG or request an in-person workshop (pro bono).

Stay tuned for open-source workshop tools, templates, and guides.