Some observations from recently harvesting for a group. The harvest artifact above is a sketch I did on a flipchart in the middle of a group last week who were debriefing conversations they were having about power. In the course of a 40 minute conversation, the group raised a number of types of power they perceived, based on stories they were telling and insights that were coming up. I was reflecting afterwards with my colleague Ginny Belden-Charles on types of typologies. There are two kinds of categorization we were exploring and it is important not to confuse them, but to …
Four inches of slushsnow melting in a light sleetrain. This is the land of hybrid weather, especially this springwinter. # great article on the democratic revolutions sweeping the world and implications for China http://bit.ly/hZudLy # The dawn chorus has resumed its din, back from a hiatus of being frozen solid. # Cold air, bright sun and call of a blue jay on a Minnesota winter morning. http://yfrog.com/hsrhhuj # Another phenomenal lunch @thekaboombox. Heading home to check the dictionary for more superlatives. I'm all out of the ones I know. # 7222 http://t.co/uC1OChb really important piece on social tech as tools …
This past week I have been in Minnesota working with colleagues Jerry Nagel, Ginny Belden-Charles and Mandy Ellerton. We were conducting a second residential training in collaborative leadership with a number of planning grantees working in communities to make impacts on the social and economic determinants of health. In this residential we spent a fair bit of time working on tactical community organizing, exploring how to teach this from the perspective of the Art of Hosting. The traditional tactics of Alinsky-style community organizing operate by creating strategic targets for action and mobilizing community power against those targets. It’s a zero-sum …
Awoke to the glorious sound of eagles calling on the wing. # Excited to be meeting with mates and picking my #WhitecapsFC seats for this season! #werebluewerewhite #scarvesup # Curious about some good books to read? http://t.co/imafqse # Chickadee duets in a sunrise the colour and texture of sweetness. # Just had a divine wild smoked salmon sandwich at @thekaboombox on Granville St. Omg ever good fis! # Decision making wrt the national park http://bowenislandjournal.blogspot.com/2011/02/thoughts-on-good-decision-making.HTML #bowegov #npcac # It's just a fact of life these days: I am awakened every dawn by garrulous young bald eagles chattering over the bay. …
A lovely description of what happens when the magic of conversation flows. This past weekend I had the opportunity to be part of a Quaker-style “clearness committee” with a few twists thrown in. I have done a few similar sessions in the past, though it has been a while, and once again it proved to be a remarkable experience. The impetus for the session was a friend who, acknowledging that she is at a crossroads in her life and career, reached out for help with discernment. My wife, Emily, and I suggested convening a small group of …