I learned of Bill Torbert’s death today through a nice collection of links and tributes at Benjamin Taylor’s blog. I met Bill several times at the Shambhala Institute on Authentic Leadership where we were both on faculty in the late ‘aughts. Being on the faculty at that Institute was a mixed blessing. While one got to hang out with some true lions in the field, and make some unique memories, we never got to take each other’s sessions. Bill taught with Mary Stacey at those sessions and I was constantly intruiged by their module. He was also a friend and loving champion of Peter Frost’s, Caitlin’s father. After Peter died in 2004 and we made that connection he shared some very sweet memories of their times together at Academy of Management conferences over the years. Most of Bill’s research is freely available at ResearchGate.
Bill had an erring eye for the kinds of intangible resources that built capacity, like reflection, inquiry and relationality. In that vein thinking about systems change from the perspective of weaving relations and resilience inside a system is important. Here are some resources about the work of the Collective Change Lab who focus on just that work.
I was out at a play Friday night, a terrific local production of Tom Stoppard’s clever and funny Rough Crossing, and so I didn’t see the final score in the first game of the World Series. I knew the game was tied 2-2 for a while, but when the break came in the play I was told that the Jays had won 11-4. Later, watching the highlights, it was amazing to see the atmosphere in Toronto. Sport culture is such an abiding interest, and there is nothing more elevating as a communal experience than witnessing your underdog team beat the Champions in the most important game of the past 32 years.
Last night I was performing in a coffee house fundraiser on our island while the Blue Jays suffered a loss in Game 2. The chemistry and camaraderie and feedback loops across time and space are plainly visible with this team. They aren’t as talented as the Dodgers but they are exhibiting the power of those intangibles.
Auroras seen last month above the Hecate Strait from Tllaal, Haida Gwaii.
There is so much going on in the darkening northern night sky these days. The chances to see auroras in unusual places are still very high as we come off the peak of the sun’s 11 year cycle of activity. And there are all kinds of other phenomena above and around us including comets, and SARs. This is when having the Spaceweather App is so great, and why a regular check of the Spaceweather.com website will do you good.
Also up there are the feverish dreams of the hyper inflated egos of tech and finance bros who care only about implementing their one big idea and damn the consequences. Reflecting sunlight back to earth at night to power solar panels without any consideration for how life on earth depends on darkness is just one more example of why this might might be the darkest of ages wrapped in a naive, pollyanish techno optimism aimed at just making money.
So let’s slow down and take Tochi Onyebuchi’s advice: move slow and make things. Enjoy the darkness. Create beautiful things using time and effort. Disconnect from the tools that substitute for mentorship and genuine support. Enjoy everything space offers.
Different types of conflict responses from Dan Oestreich. He charts the dysfunctional behaviours of Withdrawl, Passive Resistance, Passive Aggression and Open Combat and counters these with the better Third Party Tactics and Human Contact. Go for Human Contact whenever you can. The relational approaches are the strongest peacemaking you can do.
Ensconced in the little settlement of Shearwater in the Central Coast of BC, also known as The Great Bear Rainforest. Tomorrow we head out for a nine day supported kayak tour of these waters.
Today Dave Snowden has published a significant post outlining his team’s work and thinking about safety: “we must stop trying to write better rules and start building better processes for rapid decision-making in each unique context.” Taking a complexity view on safety is essential. Organizational life, when it separates accountability from decision making by downloading simplistic accountabilities to front line workers while constricting their ability to respond appropriately, is full of structurally dangerous situations. Dave’s encouragement to look at the substrate for action is exactly right.
Last month Ted Gioia published a post wondering if we hadn’t reached the top of a stock bubble. Just leaving this here in case I want to come back to it.
At Game of the People, one of my favourite football blogs, guest writer Laura Joseph gives us a run down of the current bubble in football and why football economics is a little different from the bubble Gioia writes about.
A couple of films to look out for from Dana Solomon. The first Blood Lines deals with themes of belonging and family in a Metis setting and stars Solomon in the lead role. I love that the film includes Michif dialogue. The second is Solomon’s full directorial debut, Niimi (She Dances) is about an Indigenous ballerina who recovers her sense of self and love of her art after a traumatic episode. Both seem resonant with the themes Michelle Porter explores in the book I’m currently reading, A Grandmother Begins the Story.