A colleague emailed today and asked me this question: “which tool do you use when you have to analyse the content of your harvest with groups?” My answer was that it depends on so much. Which means there is no one rule or tool but rather a principle. The principle would be this: “Participatory process, participatory harvest, simple process, simple harvest” The primary tool I use in complex decision making domains is diversity. A story. Once, working with the harvest of a a series of 4 world cafes that had about 100 people in each, I …
Researchers working on communication with dolphins came up with this list of 20 questions to ask our ceteacean cousins should we every be able to conduct a conversation with them: What name does your species call itself? What is the social structure of your pod? Of your general species? What species of Cetaceans are able to communicate with each other? Why do entire pods strand themselves? Are there environmental changes are that concerning to cetaceans? What are the most important things that we can do to help you? Do you have some way of preserving your knowledge, such as an …
Such a nice treat to come across this chronicle of friends: From Hero to Host: A story of Citizenship in Columbus OH. This an excerpt from Meg Wheatley and Debbie Frieze’s new book “Walk Out, Walk On“, due out soon. The excerpt tells the story of how a small group of people – many of them dear friends of mine – awakened a new form of citizen leadership in Columbus Ohio using the Art of Hosting as an operating system. You will hear stories of Phil Cass, Tuesday Ryan-Hart, Matt Habash and others in that city who have been changing …
Reading and interesting speech from the UK-Canada Colloquium by Okalik Eegeesiak who is the head of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. The QIA recently obtained a court injunction against the federal government in Lancaster Sound, preventing scientists from conducting siesmic research on the composition of the seabed. Eegeesiak talks about what this means for Inuit: Unfortunately, Inuit in Nunavut have taken more frequently to the courts. This move is in protest at not being included or consulted properly. For example, we have a major case before the courts right now to address the federal government’s reluctance to live up to its …
1. Practice noticing who’s in the room at meetings – how many men, how many women, how many white people, how many people of color, is it majority heterosexual, are there out queers, what are people’s class backgrounds. Don’t assume to know people, but also work at being more aware. 2a. Count how many times you speak and keep track of how long you speak. 2b. Count how many times other people speak and keep track of how long they speak. 3. Be conscious of how often you are actively listening to what other people are saying as opposed to …