Inspiration - and story to boot

If the truth be known, I use this blog to capture all those things I find inspirational and that I know I’ll want to use some day. Maybe there’s an easier way but I figure any readers out there might be interested too. I’ve been catching up on a few TED podcasts and this one is a ripper.

More work to do in the world for women

At an International Women’s Day event I heard an Aboriginal woman talk of her family’s struggle to remain together; of the ignorance of others in declaring, when, as a teenager she took her siblings to the local swimming pool and was told she wasn’t allowed to swim there ‘because they would turn the water black’; of her joy in being reunited with her brother; and of her pride in herself, her family and her culture - simply for surviving.

I grew into feminism in the 1970s - nurtured by my mother’s indomitable spirit. I argued for women’s rights, fought for equality and today enjoy many of the results. Yet I see many, many women throughout the world who continue to struggle for basic human rights.

This TED video says it much better than I can, through the power of story. And epitomises the open space ethos in the world of passion and responsibility.

A few (language) gems

Here’s a few links that are worth a look - all around the theme of language:

Johnnie Moore has blogged about language - static versus fluid - with some links to interesting language articles.

More on language - this time from the writer’s perspective - Victoria Ward writes

I’ve been entirely inspired by Doris Lessing’s Nobel Prize speech, her views on the fragmentation of the world today, the loss of books, the role of storytellers and the need for tellers to find themselves the empty space in which to find their stories:

Nancy White is also on a language theme - exploring the use of a translation widget for on-line facilitation.

And last night I watched the movie Babel - worth a look if you enjoy visual literacy, allegorical communication and complexity theory.

The Web’s Secrets

This TED talk by Jonathan Harris brings together technology, story, social science, evaluation, art and is entertaining to boot.

Connecting with people + story = winner

The Rudd Labor Government was sworn in today with Kevin Rudd aka Kevin 07 as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister. Not only was the incumbent Liberal Party vanquished but its leader John Howard lost the seat he had held for 33 years. Polls had shown the Labor Party ahead all year leading up to the election - yet many people freely acknowledged the economic management of the Liberals (I’m not one of them, but this post is not really about politics).

Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald on the Monday following the election, Arthur Sinodinos, writes:

(Stephen Denning’s) thesis is that the art of successful leadership requires the ability to tell a story. The story is the vehicle for establishing a personal and emotional connection between the speaker and his audience. Rational arguement will not win people over.

It’s compulsory to vote (or, in reality, turn up to vote) in Australia and elections are always held on a Saturday. This means that campaigning funds can be used to influence voters on how to vote rather than on encouraging them to even turn up to vote.

Putting emphasis on connecting with people was an inspired part of the Labor Party’s campaign - obviously Kevin 07 had the main running, along with many of his relatively unknown colleagues. Making a connection is ALWAYS the first step in building rapport and building some sort of ongoing relationship. We know this from facilitating. And we also know that storytelling is a way of maintaining and strengthening the connection. There’s an implicit criticism of story in Sinodinos’s article - it’s either rational argument or story. I believe that both can live side by side. There’s no rule that I know of that says rational arguement can’t be a part of story or vice versa. And wouldn’t it be fascinating to see a Government using all its resources - left and right brain?

The interesting bit now will be to see how the story unfolds.

Werewolf

At last I got to play Werewolf! Also known as Mafia, you can read about its history and rules here. Basically it’s a game of information (some people have some, others don’t), trust - and mistrust - and reveals all sorts of interesting stuff around assumptions and behaviour. And it’s fun!

A few random thoughts from Banff

The AIN (improv) conference in Banff was a source of many ideas and connections. Here’s just a few.

• Ecoductions - introducing yourself using place as the focus; a way to avoid the trap of defining yourself based on what you do and to revisit the way the environment shapes who we are.

• The Medici Effect - intersectional innovation: bringing together diverse perspectives to the centre. This is one of the ways the Banff Centre helps people discover their leadership potential. Practically, it means bringing art to the centre - sculpting clay, singing, movement, improv, being in the environment - as ways to discover personal truths about leadership.

• From ‘de-storyation’ to ‘re-storyation’: “Just as clear cutting of forests leads to deforrestation, our culture has also been devastated by the loss of storytelling.” (Richard Stone). Story seems to have lost some credibility over the years. Re-storyation is about rediscovering the power of story in our personal and professional lives.

• Alistair McIntyre: “I can’t answer the question what am I to do till I answer the prior question of what am I a part.” via Nick Nissley, Executive Director, Banff Centre.

• Strategic ambiguity - allows space for…anything really.

• Notice your first thought and act on your second. (Patti Digh & David Robinson) In other words, be pro-active rather than re-active. Slow down.

• Also from Patti & David: Wicked problems and tame solutions… When wicked problems are unearthed, deal with them, rather than impose a tame solution. Tame solutions provide immediate gratification but don’t effectively deal with the wicked problem which will re-emerge.

• Do one less thing - thanks to Johnnie Moore for again reminding me how powerful this can be.

Volunteering & Complexity & Story

Over the last couple of years I’ve been working with Victorian local and State Governments on the future of volunteering - so this project on the Future of Volunteering looks interesting. Not the least because it’s using narrative research processes, tools and proprietary software Sensemaker TM developed by Cognitive Edge to explore an issue of critical public policy.

What are they exploring?
Is volunteering a doomed activity? Where will the volunteers of the future come from? What will motivate them? What might volunteering look like in the future? What forms might volunteering take (eg corporate volunteering, time-limited or project-based etc)?

The key objectives of the project are to develop an understanding of policy issues and implications given the changes in demographics and patterns of volunteering, as well as guidance for those organisations funding and managing volunteers. The initial focus is New South Wales; however there is already interest from other states and countries to replicate the project.

Any organisation or individual with experience in volunteering or managing volunteers is encouraged to participate in this programme. The more stories we are able to collect, the greater the pool of stories that can be used to identify themes and patterns around volunteering.

Visit the survey website for more info or to take part.

Project scope
This is the first government funded project using Cognitive Edge approaches to address a social issue, where the information collected will be available in the public arena. While there is significant interest from other states, countries and sectors, the initial focus will be

• The community care sector – volunteers, their managing organisations, funders and policy makers
• In NSW

The project will capture thousands of stories about volunteering from volunteers, managers of volunteers and policy makers. The new SenseMaker software will enable researchers and policy makers to access these stories directly in large numbers and examine themes and patterns.

Jumpstart Stories

I’ve used Jumpstart Stories twice now with great and surprising results.

This activity is done standing up in a tight circle - up to 10 people per group for large groups. Each person has 90 seconds to tell a story about the topic. After the first round people find a new group and retell the same story. Star sociometry (putting your hand on the shoulder of the person’s whose story was most moving / effective / inspirational / relevant (use your own criteria)) is used to quickly identify the ‘top’ stories which are told in plenary.

I used this first with a group of about 20 and then this week with a group of 160+. On both occassions the process shifted the mood of the group in a positive way. With the smaller group it helped bond a individuals telling quite disparate stories, while with the larger group (who all worked for the same organisation) it overcame some initial ambivalence to the event (and the facilitation!), and after hearing the nine selected stories revealed a level of pride, innovation, celebration and cohesion that would not have been evident with any number of powerpoint presentations.