We have just been through a challenging municipal election here on Bowen Island. At issue was a referendum on whether we wanted to see a National Park established on the Crown Lands on our island. Also in the air was a level of distrust and animosity between some citizens and some of the candidates and the incumbent council. In the midst of things I made it a practice to see what it would be like to actively facilitate quality of conversation. This meant a number of things for me. It meant finding kindness for those who not only thought differently …
Unlocking_Leadership Art of Hosting, The Burren Ireland _Jan2012 Start the new year with a deep dive learning journey in moving from Silos to Systems. I’ll be joining Lorraine O’Rahilly and Chris Chapman at The Burren College of Art in Ballyvaugh, Co. Clare, Ireland from January 5-8 2012 for an Art of Hosting gathering. Download to incredible invitation here and join us!
Matt Taibbi gets it: There was a lot of snickering in media circles, even by me, when I heard the protesters talking about how Liberty Square was offering a model for a new society, with free food and health care and so on. Obviously, a bunch of kids taking donations and giving away free food is not a long-term model for a new economic system. But now, I get it. People want to go someplace for at least five minutes where no one is trying to bleed you or sell you something. It may not be a real model for …
I was down at Occupy Vancouver today with my daughter. We stopped by in the morning when things were quiet, chatting with some of the security people. It’s getting cold and stressful down there. People are short with each other, there are dangerous people coming and going and the security people, some of whom are trained body guards and bouncers, and doing their best to restrain themselves while they keep order. They were telling me that they need to but together a proposal for a General Assembly that is about people exercising collective resonsibility for safe and individual responsibility for …
A lot of work I am doing these days centres on supporting activists. Whether it is through the Art of Social Justice, the work of addressing addictions related stigma in the health system, running a pro-action Cafe for the BC Government Employees Union Human Rights and Equity Conference, changing the conversation about immigration in the United States I am surrounded by people both within and outside of systems and corporate structures that are engaged in changing things. Over the course of the fall I’ve been thinking alot about what I have been learning about action from these folks. I think …