Raffi Aftendelian unearthed a beautiful gem today. Writing on the OSLIST, he quoted something Harrison Owen had written 40 years ago when he was unknowingly being inspired to create Open Space Technology. As a text to a photo essay on life in a Liberian village, Harrison wrote: A very special part of any village celebration is the appearance of the various “devils.” The word devil is very misleading, and was undoubtedly the unwanted gift of an early missionary The devils are not evil, but rather represent a respected (albeit feared) part of the village. Nothing of importance happens unless they …
From our recent trip to San Francisco…light streaming through through one of the uprights on the Golden Gate Bridge.
I awoke this morning and read two scary articles courtesy of the terror of my RSS feeder. First, Dave Pollard counted down the order in which his domino theory of outright planetary collapse may unfold. Then, I read Andrew Simms article on why we only have 100 months left before reaching the tipping point for runaway climate change. Neither of these scenarios are unfamiliar me, but something about waking up this morning and reading them straight off got my attention. I started thinking about what to do and started reflecting on some of the things that I …
Jon Husband: I’ve suggested that in networks we come together around a purpose and objectives, and then begin to discover appropriate skills sets and motivations amongst members of a given network .. after which we begin to negotiate what we are going to do and why, who’s going to do what,how and by when, and then make this strategic information available, in full view, to all who are participating in the conversations, exchanges of information and the actual work (which often consists of pointing each other to pertinent just-in-time information that will make achieving the negotiated objectives easier or more …
Jean Sebastien Bouchard writes about the birth of Grisvert his new company. He uses the five breaths design model that we teach within the Art of Hosting to tell the story of his journey from idea to launch over two years. ALong the way, he uses Otto Scharmer’s work on Presencing and U Theory and Dave Pollard’s Natural Enterprise thinking to find clarity. To me this is a great story about what is possible with maps, intention, friends and openness. It’s a brilliantly told case study, a great story and Grisvert is a great offering to the world. Congrats …