I write from vacation in Puerto Rico, my place of origin. I am amazed by the fact that I left when I was 12 but the place still feels like home – in a very deep way. I’m on vacation after facilitating a retreat for the Barr Fellows Class of 2009 in Vieques, PR. It was a phenomenal experience, certainly for me but most importantly for the Fellows.
I have witnessed the significant deepening of relationships among these fellows since they first came together as a cohort during on our learning journey to Brazil in June of 2009. We have had a number of retreats and events since, some as a class, some with the larger network of Barr Fellows. At this mid-way point through their three-year process (though their being part of the network has no formal end), it becomes absolutely moving to witness powerful shifts towards greater possibility. Read More
Words and the way in which we order and convey them can have tremendous power. This has been driven home by a variety of experiences and stories. There was the environmental conservation effort that was having a hard time bringing certain stakeholders under its umbrella until it began offering others the opportunity to join a movement to “preserve quality of place.” Then there was the effort to intervene on the behalf of some of our depleted fisheries that began with a slogan more or less about about “saving fish,” and that only ended up bringing key players into the fold when it shifted to being about “ensuring that we can fish forever.” Engagement is a science and an art form and the importance of our word choices is not to be underestimated.
What experiences have you had with the power of words in the pursuit of social change?
Throughout the past couple of years readers of this blog have seen some discussion about the tensions that exist between those working on individual behavior/spiritual change and those striving for structural transformation. The point has been made that both are necessary. The fact remains that we often find ourselves in rooms with people who are essentially on the same side of the issue, but engaged in “tactical sectarianism” (thank you, Adam Pattantyus), arguing about whose approach is best. Read More
Bureaucrats get a bad rap. Which is not always fair. They do serve an important purpose. If you’ve been to Singapore, you find they can be so efficient it is almost exciting. However, I do think it is important to take a critical look at organizational form. We have to pay attention to the way we structure ourselves when we aim to do things together. Read More
|Photo by Irargerich|http://www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/3029485203|
While designing a board retreat with a client a number of weeks ago, I got some push-back when I suggested that we break into smaller groups at a certain point in the agenda. “That seems a bit contrived,” was the comment. I responded that having a group of more than 15 people discuss matters as a large group for several hours was not going to be an enjoyable or productive experience for everyone. “Plus,” I added, “people will get a chance to know one another better.” My rationale was accepted, but how I wished I had a much more snappy and scientific response at that moment in time. I know intuitively when it makes sense to keep people together or break them up, and of course there are myriad options for organizing people. So what are some practical guidelines for choosing how to segment wholes? Read More
I have devoted most of my life to the quest for justice, the path has been beset by victory and loss, hope and frustration. I often find myself contending with a deep awareness that too many of us – including the radicals and do-gooders that I count among my friends – including my own self! All of us seem to be stuck in a paradigm that has reached a dead end. And yet it is all we know. And so we give our hearts and our passion, our energy and life force to a process that often seems doomed.
