Chris Corrigan Chris Corrigan Menu
  • Blog
  • Chaordic design
  • Resources for Facilitators
    • Facilitation Resources
    • Books, Papers, Interviews, and Videos
    • Books in my library
    • Open Space Resources
      • Planning an Open Space Technology Meeting
  • Courses
  • About Me
    • Services
      • What I do
      • How I work with you
    • CV and Client list
    • Music
    • Who I am
  • Contact me
  • Blog
  • Chaordic design
  • Resources for Facilitators
    • Facilitation Resources
    • Books, Papers, Interviews, and Videos
    • Books in my library
    • Open Space Resources
      • Planning an Open Space Technology Meeting
  • Courses
  • About Me
    • Services
      • What I do
      • How I work with you
    • CV and Client list
    • Music
    • Who I am
  • Contact me

Category Archives "Leadership"

Dealing with your slaves and seeing the world

January 25, 2014 By Chris Corrigan Emergence, Leadership, Stories

In a complex and interconnected world it is hard to be an activist against things.  One of the easiest ways that your opponents can neutralize your opposition to things like oil and slavery is to say “we” you depend on oil and slaves, so that makes you a hypocrite.”

So this is tricky – solving global problems of labour, energy, economics and justice are the very definition of complex problems.  There is no simple solution, there is a frustrating degree of progress and even large shifts in public consciousness (think land mines or climate change) are met with initial enthusiasm but later are eroded by commercial or power interests that have a stake in the status quo and way more influence than activists.

So what to do?

Consider the slavery question.  All of us in North America depend on slave labour to support our lifestyles.  As with the issues of oil dependance, our very existence creates an impact that is measurable, real and negative against our social justice agenda.  Affordability usually is usually the result of slave labour.  Real slave labour.

So how does one deal with this?

First it’s important to remember that you are part of the problem.  To quote Adam Kahane:

Bill Torbert of Boston College once said to me that the 1960s slogan “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” actually misses the most important point about effecting change. The slogan should be, “If you’re not part of the problem, you can’t be part of the solution.” If we cannot see how what we are doing or not doing is contributing to things being the way that they are, then logically we have no basis at all, zero leverage, for change the way things are — except from the outside, by persuasion or force.

The good news and bad news is that it is impossible to influence change from outside the problem.  Such self-righteousness is easily dismissed.  In addition, it is very difficult to advocate an end to slavery while at the same time not being prepared to pay a lot more for your food and clothes.   Change must be made from within the problem.  And to do that you have to work with others who are part of the problem.

In general for large scale global neo-liberal problems, there are three players: governments, capital and markets.  All three of these create the conditions for problems and leverage is needed on all three to create the conditions for solutions, especially at the level of transformative change.  Consumers demand cheap products, capital creates the flow of materials to meet the need and governments  regulate to ensure that things happen (usually for those who have the best ability to keep governments in office).  The hardest of these to change is the market because market behaviour is completely emergent.  Think of the last time you saw a damaging industry collapse because the market changed overnight.  IN general shifts in demand are prompted by better products in the market – things that will help people do things in a better way, at a competitive price.  There is no question that there is a demand to end slavery, but the demand for cheap clothes outweighs it.

Markets can be influenced by capital and government.  Capital influences markets by controlling what is offered out there.  If you have billions of dollars, you can do things like buy up your cometeitors patents for clean energy for example, or in the case of companies like Wal-Mart, use you economy of scale to provide loss leader products that bring people into your store to buy cheap things at the expense of local manufacturing.  And if you are in government you can regulate to eliminate bad things in the market, such as slavery as a labour practice.  But if you also sign international agreements that allow the free flow of capital, you box yourself in to accepting slavery as a practice because capital will always seek the lowest expense climate.

So to affect change requires an engagement of all three.  It begins with a personal practice and commitment to a trajectory of social and economic justice.  It requires that personally I commit to “better.”  Will we ever have a world where slavery is abolished?  No.  Can I live my life without any dependance on slaves?  Doubtful, and certainly if I was to live that life I would be far from the ability to influence power in anyway.

So it is commitment to a trajectory rather than a finish line.   Complex problems are not “solvable.”  You have to get good with living with this uncertainty and get good at accepting the gift and the curse of emergence.

Second, people have to affect change with powerful narratives.  Governments have coercive power and large corporations have the power of manipulation using capital.  All people have are narrative power – the power of a better story.  Almost always this story “fails” against the coercive power of force and capital – think Occupy, Arab Spring, Idle No More and so on.  But while they failed to achieve their specific goals, these kinds of movement are very important.  It is important that citizens try and try again to advance the narrative of justice.  Because from time to time these narrative movements succeed.  Think gains like gay marriage and civil rights in North America.  Think about what happened in places like Estonia, Czechoslovakia and India and South Africa. When the narrative wins, that one time in 1000, things transform.

And it would be nice to know that any intervention we choose will have the system changing effect that we want, but we can’t have that certainty.  We need to work towards change from inside the place of the problem.

So, what is your experience in affecting change from inside the problem?  How do you work towards justice while recognizing your complicity in the very problems you are addressing?  How does a complexity-based world view and skill set enable good work to happen?

Share:

  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

Time for hobbits

November 11, 2013 By Chris Corrigan Art of Hosting, Leadership One Comment

We have opened our Art of Hosting at Rivendell, on Bowen Island.  These words are in my ear, words spoken by Elrond at his Council at the mythical Rivendell in The Fellowship of the Ring.  The council was deliberating on who should carry out the quest to destroy the One Ring, and so end the world and nrid it of the domination of the evil Sauron.  The question of the humble hobbits ndoing the work came up and this was Elrond’s response:

“The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere”

Come, hobbits.  The time for work is here.

 

Share:

  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

Staying on the road

November 6, 2013 By Chris Corrigan Art of Hosting, Being, Leadership, Learning, Poetry, Practice

Halfway through our five day residency with leaders from the community sector and the Ministry for Children and Families here in BC.  Times like this, at middle of a five day retreat, we turn our thoughts to what comes next and we forget to be present.  This is our day of practicing presence however, and later today we will be going out on the land and allow ourselves to be hosted by the forest, the rain and our island.  This is the time for a fierce recommitment to the here and now.

My colleague and friend Annemarie Travers, who is on our hosting team and who leads learning in the Ministry shared a beautiful framing for our day together.  She and her husband Geoff recently completed the Camino pilgrimage and she wrote dozens of poems during her journey.  This morning she shared one that speaks powerfully to what it is like to be distracted by the near end:

Staying “Here”

The closer we get to the end of our walk, the harder it is to stay present
We think ahead to achieving our goal, beginning to be proud of our accomplishment

We have also started to think about home, and all that waits for us there
But we need to focus on enjoying these last few days as much as we dare

While we feel the Camino has given us both what we need
We know it’s not done with us yet, their is still more to come, indeed!

These last few days are characterized by more traffic on the paths
And as we weave our way through,   some draw our wrath

Then we remind ourselves of the Camino spirit, and breathe deeply, just let it go
(Hopefully not while passing a farm – we are regularly assaulted by manure smells you know)

We forget to be grateful for the simple pleasures of the day
It was supposed to rain today, but the rain stayed away!

This all has the effect of limiting our opportunities for meditative walking
Our minds go to the usual worries, and we begin talking

About the end of the trip, and what we will do when we return
So we made a pact with ourselves with the intent to turn

The train of our thoughts, to focus on the here and now
Enjoy what this day brings, not the manure, but the   beauty of the cow…

Such a beautiful reminder to remain present, to enjoy the source of everything that continues to work with us!

Share:

  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

The advice you have for others…

November 5, 2013 By Chris Corrigan Leadership

…is the best wisdom for yourself:

The advice you’ve been giving your family and friends turns out to be advice for you to live, not us. You become the wise teacher as you become a student of yourself. It stops mattering if anyone else hears you, because you’re listening. You are the wisdom you offer us, breathing and walking and effortlessly moving on, as you make your business deal, buy your groceries, or do the dishes.

— Byron Katie

Loving being with my partner Caitlin Frost as she teaches this powerful stuff to a group of leaders whose freedom and resourcefulness makes a huge difference in the lives of vulnerable humans in this world.

Share:

  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

Soliciting questions from inside and out

November 4, 2013 By Chris Corrigan Facilitation, Leadership

Working with a group of leaders this week all of whom are engaged in bringing their full selves to complex problems largely in the community, family and social services sector.  Tonight we are co-initiating our work together and I led them through this exercise which was inspired by my friend and colleague Roq Garreau of Centrespoke Consulting:.

  1. Take a piece of paper and fold it in half so that you have a little book with four pages.
  2. On the front of the little book write your leadership challenge, something that you are called into doing, something that occupies much of your attention and that seems unresolvable, something you feel you have to DO.
  3. Write 12 questions down relating to this challenge.  Make them open ended questions and spread out the Who, What, Why, When, Where and How.  These are questions you cannot easily answer.
  4. Turn to a fresh page in your litle book and rewrite your challenge
  5. Now mill in the room and pair up with another person.  Simply read your leadership challenge and listen as they offer you three questions.  Don’t explain, don’t justify, just listen.  Those offering questions can just offer the first three things that come to mind.
  6. Once you have collected nine questions, rest and rewrite your challenge one more time.

We then went around the circle and had people read these challenges out. It is a very vulnerable exercise as people shared what they don’t know how to do.  And they become equipped with questions that are deeply embedded in the centre of their work and curveball questions that come from the margins.  These marginal questions have a powerful effect on people and it is a useful reminder that change and challenge often comes from outside of what we think we know.

In the debrief a participant suggested a further step: she offered that embedded in every challenge is a vision of how we want things to be and that in rushing to DOING, we forget PURPOSE.  This is a useful antidote to the more common complaint that “we are spending too much time thinking about PURPOSE and not enough attention on ACTION.”  Purpose and Action are therefore held in a creative tension.

These challenges and questions will travel with people this week, and we have invited our participants to see these as friends.

Share:

  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

1 … 19 20 21 22 23 … 57

Find Interesting Things
Events
  • Art of Hosting November 12-14, 2025, with Caitlin Frost, Kelly Poirier and Kris Archie Vancouver, Canada
  • The Art of Hosting and Reimagining Education, October 16-19, Elgin Ontario Canada, with Jenn Williams, Cédric Jamet and Troy Maracle
Resources
  • A list of books in my library
  • Facilitation Resources
  • Open Space Resources
  • Planning an Open Space Technology meeting
SIGN UP

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
  

Find Interesting Things

© 2015 Chris Corrigan. All rights reserved. | Site by Square Wave Studio

%d