All Shook Up
From the IISC Training Room
Author Archives for Gibrán Rivera
Reading Village
As you read this post I find myself in Guatemala, honored to be working with Reading Village, a truly inspired reading promotion organization. I’ve been impressed by the principled stance of its founders, the serious attention they are paying to respecting local culture and being of authentic service. Having run a successful pilot, they have asked me to come a facilitate a set of conversations towards the development of a field guide – a text that will serve replication of the success of Reading Village while remaining flexible enough for local adaptation. Wish us luck! We are doing something good here!
Leave a commentCultivate Happiness
I’ve been making the argument that happiness matters. I think it specially matters among those of us who are working towards social transformation. I believe there is a way to be happy and still face down the horrors that abate our world. I am convinced that when movement builders find and cultivate this sort of clear eyed happiness we will actually become a powerful attractor for those who yearn to build a better world but have not yet found a way to do it. Read More
Leave a commentAnd Justice for All
This past weekend Samantha and I went to what I would call a “movement wedding.” Our friends Justin Francese and Doyle Canning, who co-founded smartMeme, decided it was time to tie the knot. It was a beautiful event and there are many highlights to share, but there is something in particular that has stuck with me since. Towards the end of the ceremony they invited us to join them in praying “the liberation theology version of the Lord’s Prayer,” and I feel like I’ve been contemplating this line since – Read More
Leave a commentIs Social Media a Responsibility?
Are you amazing? Are you one of those people who are working to define the next phase of movement? Are you connected to a crew of local organizers, activists, innovators, dreamers? If you are an amazing movement builder then I want to be able to follow you on Twitter and I want to be your Facebook friend.
I find myself travelling from place to place and meeting some truly amazing people, I keep getting hip to really interesting projects and innovative approaches to the work of social change. I’m connecting to my tribe; I’m getting to know the people who are actively redefining the way we do social change. Here is the problem though – I can’t keep up with all of them! And here is where I notice an important distinction. When these people are using social media tools I can at least have a sense of what they are up to, I can get a glimpse of how their work evolves – but if they are not, then I’m left with hearsay. Read More
3 CommentsFacilitative Leadership
Over the next three days I will have the privilege of training the Interaction Institute’s Facilitative Leadership® workshop. Just yesterday I was talking to my colleague Curtis Ogden and asking him for his latest tips on offering this workshop. As often happens with us, our conversation evolved into a very interesting inquiry. Read More
1 CommentUSSF!
It’s happening! Tens of thousands of people are just arriving in Detroit for what is an incredibly important and incredibly hopeful gathering – The United States Social Forum. It feels like all my friends are there and while conflicting responsibilities will keep me in Boston this week, I do want to send a blessing to all the courageous souls that are busy dreaming up new ways of being with each other. Read More
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Sometime ago I caught this heart warming short film on @NurtureGirl‘s blog – Nurture.biz – and since it has come up in conversation a couple of times lately, I thought it would be a good time to share it forward. It is so important to contemplate our own individual power to make things beautiful.
Leave a commentSystems Thinking & Leverage Points
|theory.isthereason.com|http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=1764|
One of our consultants just wrote the following e-mail to our team here at IISC. I thought it would be a good idea to put the question out to our readers – any thoughts?
Hello Colleagues,
I am wondering if you might have ideas about two things:
1. How to introduce systems thinking to a group – simply…
2. What questions you might ask when trying to identify leverage points in a planning process?
Context: The group has gathered a lot of anecdotal information, the intention is to gather additional information on best practices and research, however, we are not there yet. So how to begin to identify levers when we don’t have the benefit of having all data?
Thanks for any thoughts you might have on this!
3 CommentsSystems Thinking & Leverage Points
|theory.isthereason.com|http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=1764|
One of our consultants just wrote the following e-mail to our team here at IISC. I thought it would be a good idea to put the question out to our readers – any thoughts?
Hello Colleagues,
I am wondering if you might have ideas about two things:
1. How to introduce systems thinking to a group – simply…
2. What questions you might ask when trying to identify leverage points in a planning process?
Context: The group has gathered a lot of anecdotal information, the intention is to gather additional information on best practices and research, however, we are not there yet. So how to begin to identify levers when we don’t have the benefit of having all data?
Thanks for any thoughts you might have on this!
Leave a commentThe New Way
Last week I wrote a raving review of the Movement Strategy Center’s report on organizers transforming the practice of social justice: “Out of the Spiritual Closet.” I really think it’s amazing. Here are nine themes that the report outlines as part of the emergent “new way:” Read More
The Networked Nonprofit
I was glad to follow a few of my Tweeter peers as they commented on the recent “Personal Democracy Forum” (#PDF10). Allison Fine and Beth Kanter offered a conversational keynote based on their new book “The Networked Nonprofit.” So much of what they say is directly connected to the work that we do here at the Interaction Institute for Social Change, that I think it’s best to let Beth speak for herself. Read More
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