It seems almost intuitive that there should be a connection between seeing and vision. Certainly in the physiological processes, seeing is what you do and vision is what you have. You can still see if you have bad vision, but you can’t see well.

I have been reading Presence by Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworsky and Betty Sue Flowers very slowly now for a few months and it’s time to start posting from it. The book is really about the evolution of Otto Scharmer’s Theory U, which is a map for looking at how people reach down into their deep sense of intention and purpose and bring that out to bear on the world around them, creating the futures for their communities and organizations that they want to see. It is beautifully in line with stuff I have been doing intuitively for years. This is one of those books that comes along to confirm one’s work and to give it language.

At any rate, not knowing where to start in posting from this great work, I am choosing this great quote on vision. It comes after the part of the book that talks about developing the capacity to see from within a system:

There is a nice review of the book here.

I’m an Open Space Technology guy, but that doesn’t cloud my eyes to other forms of self-organizing tools.

From the ever interesting Designing for Civil Society comes a report from David Wilcox on a speed dating process to form communities of practice. In 35 minutes.

Have a look at what Sarah McLaughlin is doing.

Small change makes news too.

Thanks to Jordon.

Lately I’ve been using this saying a lot:

How many times have we seen that, eh? People get control of something, find “liberation” only to lock themselves back into the very cells from which they freed themselves. It happens in organizations, families, communities, and even in the relatively geological timescales of countries that begin in revolution against despotism only to end up back there again as much as, say, 200 odd years later.

Just flying between facilitation gigs. Vancouver Island one day, Ottawa the next with just a breath to catch at home. While I’m here I caught some changes to Michael Herman’s project at the Giving Market. He has created sCNN – The small Change News Network:

Go visit there and help him build it.