Photo by Feng Jiang A propos of the interview I did with Dave Pollard last week, there was an interesting comment at Johnnie Moore’s weblog: I can’t help but wonder if, “if we need to discover that we don’t need leaders”, is just wishful thinking on Corrigan’s part. Admittedly, many of those who call themselves leaders are just over-promoted managers at best, or administartors at worst, but we all know great leadership when we see it. And we need it to motivate, cajole and direct those who don’t see the bigger picture and their role in delivering it. Whether we …
Diamond graphic by Darrell Freeman at Colour Within the constellation of design tools I find especially helpful in creating spaces for conversation, Sam Kaner’s Diamond of Participation has been very influential. About three years ago my friend Myriam Laberge pointed out to me the possibility that all learning conversations take place along this flow of thinking and since then the model has been an important part of my life and work. The diamond is a map that points to three phases that groups pass through as they move from questions to insights. Groups begin with divergent thinking, sit for a …
It’s kind of an old debate, but the question of “socialization” seems to come up a fair amount when I talk about homeschooling with people who aren’t familiar with that way of life. Usually I give the half-facetious remark that we don’t send our kids to school precisely because school seeks to socialize them. That starts a nice conversation about the role of institutions in shaping the behaviours of young people. In general people expect schools to do these things but then there is very little deep conversation about the role of school when folks talk about youth …
Johnnie Moore and I have been trading links about podcasts…today I’ll point you to one he did with Annette Clancy and Matt Moore on shadows in organizations. It’s really, really good, and what got my attention is when Annette asked “what job was your sense of shame doing for the organisation for which you worked?” I first met Annette in 2005 when she responded to an invitation I issued about looking for help designing an Aboriginal youth conference on suicide. She has a great knack for asking these questions and has terrific ideas floating around in her blog. …
I’m back home after a long seven days of travelling to Alert Bay, Courtenay, Victoria, Seattle, Quinault and home again. I have been doing some fun work with great people, but I’m pretty tired now, and resting here in the warm heart space of home and reflecting on how lucky I am to get to do what I do. It brought to mind a quote from Aristotle that my mate Tim Merry has put into a recent Art of Hosting journal: Where the needs of the world meet our passion and gifts, there lies our vocation. I’m lucky …