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Monthly Archives "November 2008"

From the feed

November 28, 2008 By Uncategorized

This week in the feedreader:

Helping along the narrative aesthetic

November 27, 2008 By Stories

Jack Ricchiuto was writing about narrative the other day:

We need to start reviving the narrative aesthetic where stories are more fields of countless possibilities than linear in nature, where the possibilities of meaning are more infinite than finite. We need to stop calling sound bites stories, which they’re not. We need to call stories the narratives that evoke a sense of wonderment more than conclusion.

Stories are dear to my heart and storytelling is a practice that seems more and more about who I am.   I think one way to help people become story tellers is to practice inquisitive listening with them.   When I run AI interviews for example, I often invite people to practice being Elders.   I invite them to tell a story the way an Elder tells it, with a lesson buried in it.   And start from the beginning and give over the sense of what it was like to be there.   For listeners, I invite them to practice being students and learners, listening to the storyteller as if that person was telling you something of great wisdom and importance.

When we enter into this kind of relationship, we create a storyfield that deepens our inquiry, our learning and our relationships.

Tenneson Woolf: How Are You Navigating in the Time of Dramatic Change?

November 27, 2008 By Flow, Invitation, Practice

Tenneson Woolf from a harvest poem called How Are You Navigating in the Time of Dramatic Change?:

I sound like I don’t know what I am doing, but I do know.

I find my way in the immediately infront, the next simple elegant step.

The next simple elegant step describes my approach to action.   Recently, in our little consulting firm we have adopted a project status process that involves writing down only the next step for each of our projects.   When you take the to do list and write it as one thing to do only, one elegant next step, it invites consciousness and beauty and elegance and simplicity to the work.   So I am becoming more conscious about filling in the little box that says “Next step” and taking a moment each time to find the clarity that is needed for that next step to invite more.

Navigating this drama with intention, consciousnes and invitation.   Creating more of all three.


Galveston needs help

November 26, 2008 By Uncategorized

Received an email through the NCDD list asking for help in Texas…

Galveston is in trouble.   That is almost as much as I can say about the community here.   My name is Jimmy Mai and I’m a Member with Americorps’ National Civilian Community Corps. We’re stationed in Galveston, TX doing needs assessment post- Hurricane Ike.
In doing this, we are walking door to door and stopping people on the streets to see what they may need. From  that    we are  making notes  on whatever support they  require and enter it into a nation-wide database called the Coordinated Assistance Network (or CAN).   CAN is a system that allows hundreds of Non- Profit organizations to come together and  look at these individual needs and send out help respectfully.
The problem is we- Americorps NCCC members- have no idea how this network is being managed.   Case managers are supposed to overlook the people we are putting into this database, but that’s not supposed to be for another three weeks,  and we have no idea why there is a postponement.   We are told that organizations like Metro United Way, Salvation Army, and The Red Cross are apart of this, but we haven’t been told any information on what they are doing to use CAN  to it’s potential.
There is a hinder in the recovery process because of this and  FEMA response.   Although FEMA has helped a few, the number of untouched cases and unheard people are overwhelming.   We go to the community and listen to their stories;  unfortunately,  there’s an agreement on camp that the amount of people being helped, compared to those not, is unacceptable.
…
These people need help. These people need a voice, and they need resources to help them through this. This community has many strong points; they are accustomed to bad weather, and have an amazing resilience and sense of hope.   But Hurricane Ike is really testing them; lets help them fan the flames once again.
If anyone knows anything that might help this area, please let me know.   If anyone would like to call or meet for further discussion, don’t hesitate to contact me, because many corps members and I are in need of information and networking that might help these people.   Americorps members are at an advantage in that we experience first hand what this community is going through.   We’ve heard the stories, but now we need to get something done.   Thanks so much for your time, and please contact me if you think you can help in the slightest bit. An alternate email address of mine is ncccgreen6pol@gmail.com
Jimmy Mai
Americorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC)
Project Outreach Liaison- Green 6
502-417-0524
Remember Hurricane Ike?   That was before Sarah Palin, before the election, before the collapse of the market?   All of twelve weeks ago.   If anyone is in south Texas and can lend some facilitation and organization skills to Jimmy and the NCCC, that might be a nice Thanksgiving present.

Helping groups to self-facilitate

November 25, 2008 By Facilitation

In many large group processes I use, small groups are asked to facilitate some of the process.   Recently, on the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation mailing list, there was a call for easy guides to help people facilitate these kinds of groups.   Turns out that there is lots out there, including:

And a few more that I use:

The idea here is resources that help conversations become deeper, more focused and more engaging.