Was reading an article about the US’s options for discussing peace in Afghanistan, and was struck by this quote:
Endless war reinforces the political power of leaders who make war. Negotiations reinforce the power of political actors. Negotiations surface issues: you have to say what you want, and what you are willing to accept. Right now, no-one, not even a U.S. government official, can clearly articulate what the U.S. really wants in Afghanistan, and what the U.S. is willing to accept. What exactly the Taliban want, or are willing to accept, besides driving out foreign forces, has also been the subject of fierce debate. Negotiations smoke people out. You have to say what you want, and what you are willing to accept
Conversation, especially in the context of complex situations, helps us to introduce nuance. It takes us beyond yes/no options and invites multifaceted positions to be revealed. When we are faced with intractable problems, complex scenarios or mysterious situations, conversations open us to edges that would otherwise remain invisible, and therefore increase the possibility of finding a new and usefaul way through. Talk IS action.
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I recently wrote a white paper for a First Nations organization on participatory community engagement. The paper outlines several models, principles and processes that I am mcurrently working with as I help groups design and implement longer term community engagement processes.
Here is the most recent version of the paper for your reading, in .pdf format. The paper talks about mental models and comes from a perspective of decolonization. I’d love to have your thoughts in the comments so I can refine it further.
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What it’s like to fly with Peregrine Falcons & Gos Hawks:
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Lovely report here on the use of the Art of Hosting apaproach, Theory U and others of our social technologies in health care renewal in Nova Scotia.
Within the report is a lovely little quote from My dear friend Toke Moeller: “Purpose is the invisible leader.”
Given some of the work I’m doing in the next couple of weeks, that is a very good motto for me.
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- Good steady rain fills our creeks with whispers that will bring our salmon home. #
- RT @JustASpur: The most bizarre penalty ever? And it resulted in the keeper's team being knocked out of the Cup! http://youtu.be/0MaLGdC3als #
- Arrived in Kuujjuaq…very warm here in this dusty northern Quebec town. Busy place and lots of blackflies around too. #
- Eating hummus and rice crackers at the Kuujjuaq Inn while designing a meeting with polar bear hunters. Incongruous is how the North does it. #
- Stunning morning in Kuujjuaq. No wind and a bright blue sky with a hard sun to warm the inukshuks around town. #
- Facilitating a meeting in Kuujjuaq which is happening mostly in Inuktitut is an interesting thing to be doing on a Tuesday morning. #
- Strained my neck staring up at the northern lights tonight in Kuujjuaq. Stunning bright curtains of silent light twisting around Jupiter. #
- Just back from a morning picking berries on the tundra, eating bowhead muktuk and listening to hunters talk about polar bears. Good meeting. #
- Another clear and sunny morning in Kuujjuaq. Heading to Montreal this evening, 900 miles south and a world away. #
- Back in cold and rainy Montreal for the night before heading home tomorrow with a bunch of crowberries and a song about picking them. #
- Back to Vancouver but missed the ferry cutoff by 4 minutes so stuck in Horseshoe Bay for 2.5 hours. Grrr. #
- Back home on Bowen. Is it raining? Yes it is! Dripping from a flat grey sky. #