Archive for July, 2010

Jul/30/10//Curtis Ogden//What We Are Reading

3 Books and a Blog . . .

. . . or three blogs and a book.  That’s what I asked my fellow weekly IISC bloggers to recommend.  What are they finding particular value in reading or re-reading for our work supporting collaboration for social change?  Here’s what I got (not the complete list from everyone, as there was some overlap and vacations in there):
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Jul/29/10//Curtis Ogden//Featured, Inspiration

Creativist Tensions

canvascanvas 1If there is anyone out there not aware of the Creativist movement, I encourage you to take a look and consider enlisting.  The Creativist Society has made a space for people to articulate their visions for society at its best with creativity as the core organizing principle.  The Creativist Manifesto is an invitation for people to think about what it would mean to be creators before being consumers, which catalyst Olivia Sprinkel presents as being one of the most important choices we can make. Read the rest of this entry »

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Jul/27/10//Gibrán Rivera//Social Innovation

Web of Change 10:10 – The Intersection

Web of Change - Innovation and Collaboration to Transform our World

The recent Shirley Sherrod debacle unfolds with a thousand lessons, among these are the very fact that whether we have a black President or not, the issue of race is alive and well in the United States.  The incident also points to the potentially explosive concoction of new media technology and a 24hr “news” cycle, of the politics of spectacle and a culture of fear among our “leaders.”  Even as technology is changing everything – our deepest wounds are yet to heal, and our suppressed demons continue to show their many heads.

This being said – I am an optimist!  I trust the directionality of our current paradigm shift.   Read the rest of this entry »

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Jul/26/10//Gibrán Rivera//Learning Edge

Time for Some Action

good intentions

We have Clary Shirky talking about Cognitive Surplus and the distinction between communal benefit and civic benefit when it comes to collaborative action.  We have Daniel Pink talking about Drive and the search for meaning which inspired me to write about the Purpose Bubble.  And just last week here on the IISC Blog, my friend and colleague Curtis Ogden was talking about the need “to recognize the change capacity of the marketplace” and creating mechanisms to reclaim markets.

It is with this context in mind that I finally get to the Lloyd Nimetz opinion piece in the Stanford Social Inntovation Review – “Information Overload, Action Deficit.”   Read the rest of this entry »

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Jul/23/10//Curtis Ogden//Your Experiences

Keeping the Spark

“The problems we face now, and in the future, simply demand that we do more than just hope for inspiration to strike.”

“The Creativity Crisis” by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman

Blogging on a weekly basis and trying to stay on my social change game generally speaking, requires a steady flow of inspiration and creativity.  Of course, there are times when both can feel in short supply, and so I’ve been interested in how to keep this vital stream clear and moving.  Bronson and Merryman’s recent Newsweek article highlights both the importance and possibility of ratcheting up generative capacity.  Turning to a few sources, including my artistic brother, creativity guru Michael Michalko, Venessa Miemis, and The Innovator’s Toolkit, here are a few of my favorite ways for keeping the old noodle limber: Read the rest of this entry »

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