Archive for Networks

Jan/25/12//Curtis Ogden//Featured, Networks

Growing Leadership

bridge

Photo from xinem

Picking up from Gibran’s post yesterday and continuing in the vein of follow-up to our LLC webinar on collective leadership, I want to respond to some of the questions we did not have a chance to answer or answer fully from participants, including requests for examples of collective leadership in action and inquiries about blocks and how to work through or overcome them. Read the rest of this entry »

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Jan/13/12//Curtis Ogden//IISC:Outside, Networks

If You Till It, They Will Come

On the cusp of the Martin Luther King Jr. day of remembrance and celebration, IISC is gearing up to lead a webinar on the day after the Monday holiday focused on a very relevant topic – collective leadership. Much is being made of the Occupy Movement and its potential for showing us a new way to lead (we would call it leader-full, not leader-less). Prior to this important civic groundswell, many have been looking at how to create the conditions for emergent and collaborative leadership to move us in more just and life-affirming directions.  Given the complexity of the issues we face and the diversity of perspectives in our various systems, it has been recognized that we cannot rely on individual, expert, or command-and-control leadership to move us forward. We must unleash more robust and adaptive collective intelligence. If this conversation interests you, come join Gibran Rivera and me as we explore stories of and practices for creating the conditions to unleash leader-full momentum that embodies and leads to the social change we seek. More information about this free opportunity can be found here.

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Dec/14/11//Curtis Ogden//Featured, Networks

Network Thinking

Last week, I had the opportunity to work with a cross-sectoral group of emerging and established leaders from around southern Maine through the Institute for Civic Leadership, an initiative IISC had a hand in establishing some 18 years ago.  For the past six years I’ve offered three days of collaborative capacity building entitled “Facilitative Leadership and Teams” to each successive cohort, and it’s been interesting to see how the offering has evolved over time.  Throughout there has been an interest in looking at how to leverage what is now an incredible base of 500 + individuals who have been through this leadership program.  And so this year we dived formally into network building strategies. Read the rest of this entry »

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Dec/09/11//Gibrán Rivera//Networks

Murmuration

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

If you read this blog regularly, you’ve heard me talk about the Networks and Decentralized Organizing Community of Practice that I’m a part of.  I’m continually buzzing with inspiration from this very special node in the network.

Part of our process includes a “daily practice” that is offered each day by a different member of the community.  Jenny Lee, of the Allied Media Projects, recently offered this practice – she titled it “Murmuration.”  I invite you to share your reflections.

Even if you’ve seen it before, watch it again and think about the questions:

  • If another species was observing and analyzing the shape, rhythm, contours of our movements what would they look like?
  • What is the most breathtaking structure and form of movement that you can imagine our networks taking? What would be the most inner-working mechanics that structure?

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Nov/14/11//Gibrán Rivera//Networks

Many is Better than One

“While conventional views of power and authority seem to indicate that you should co-opt and capture other tribes, you can often achieve more by freeing your own people to maximize their vision alongside yours.”

- Seth Godin

In today’s world of mergers and acquisitions and nonprofit consolidations, I was struck by the conclusion of Seth Godin’s recent blog post.  I read it as yet another argument for the power of networks and decentralization.  There is so much good work to be done in this messy world of ours – why do we wish we could consolidate it under a single leader or strategy?

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