I saw a message on Twitter recently, in the context of innovation in the recycling/zero waste arena, that read “Identify the problem, evaluate the system, ideate options, implement solutions. Lather rinse repeat!” And I thought to myself – No! – with an asterisk. The asterisk is knowing what domain you are operating in: Simple, in […]
When I’m working with groups hosting conversations to create thoughtful change, I often reflect back on these Lessons in Community Change from Howard Mason (Metro United Way, Louisville USA): Change always starts within us—in our hearts—then in our organizations and communities. Vision powers and unites everything. We must be able to vision from a quiet […]
In my last post about the Strategic Reflection Session, I mentioned a context setting piece on the Two Loops, which is a map of how living systems change. Here is how I described it to the group. This is a context-setting piece, not a roadmap of ‘change management’. I’ll touch on some of the core […]
I was preparing for some work with a group of church leaders a few weeks ago and came across this post from Tim Kastelle Are You Solving a Puzzle or a Mystery? Puzzles are attractive because, as Gladwell points out, they come to clean conclusions. Ironically, by these definitions, all of the Agatha Christie books […]
Sometimes, there are gatherings where next steps and action plans are important and necessary and are the reason why we are gathering. But always? No. ~ Chris Corrigan This post shares a compilation of insights from various thought leaders in the participatory process facilitation world to help shed light on when action planning could be […]
I own these amazing cards, 12 Principles for Healthy Community Change, part of Berkana’s Engaging Community Toolkit. But sometimes I go to reach for them and they are not where I am. I find them inspiring reminders for aligning how we go about creating change with the change we’re trying to create. So, I’m nabbing […]
April Mills shared the story of #GCDrive; an event for a Guiding Coalition team start-up (groups who have volunteered to change the organization). In it she talked about demanding some balance between consensus and coherence in any experiment (read April’s post to understand what she means by experiments, or Safe-to-Fail probes). Having just come off the […]
If you’re a change maker, rebel, revolutionary, activist, igniter, entrepreneur, insert-your-own-descriptor-here, you might be putting up with some grief this Monday and looking for validation. Lean into your grittiness. You are doing the hard work of moving the world forward to a better future and we need you. If you are an agent of change, […]
Loving Chris Corrigan’s post on Interior Transformation. These two excerpts in particular (emphasis mine)…. I once had a very good friend and teacher, Bob Wing, point this out to me. We were together in a small Open Space, and we were in different conversations. In my conversation a small group of us cracked a vexing problem […]