The moon is most happy, When it is full.
Photo by: Aonir
The moon is most happy
When it is full.
And the sun always looks
Like a perfectly minted gold coin.
Leave a commentAuthor Archives for IISC
“The book doesn’t matter. The conversation matters.”
“Everybody needs an EVIL PLAN. Everybody needs that crazy, out-there idea that allows them to ACTUALLY start doing something they love, doing something that matters. Everybody needs an EVIL PLAN that gets them the hell out of the Rat Race, away from lousy bosses, away from boring, dead-end jobs that they hate. Life is short.”
My second book, EVIL PLANS launched today. Here are some notes:
Leave a commentHavel on Hope
HOPE
Either we have hope within us or we do not.
It is a dimension of the soul and is not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world.
2 CommentsRubberband Connection
Thomas Rice, founding Board Chair of IISC, draws the rubber band connecting vision and mission.
Leave a commentWhy Our Children Will Be Better Off Than We Are – In Ways That Matter
Photo by: Trizzie2006
We at IISC are big fans of the work of John McKnight and Peter Block, some of us even have some bones to pick with them – but that’s the best sign of admiration! In this blog post, originally appearing in the Huffington Post they bring a very different and appreciated perspective.
2 CommentsTwo Mapping Approaches for Change Networks
Photo by: Carija
The following is a post by Steve Waddell in NetDev….
Last week I presented maps for a Renew Boston (RB) group. Although the maps are preliminary, they provide a good illustration of how the two methodologies used can be complementary. They present a nice case study about use of maps.
Why map? Here’re the reasons I give:
- To “see” the whole “change field”…rather than limited individual perspectives
- To create collective visions and theories of change
- To understand current relationships and how work is currently done
- To understand how relationships/work flows should change
- Define implications of changes to identify key leverage points for optimal influence and conflicts, synergies and gaps
Breaking Out of Binaries
Photo by: Dionyziz
Akaya Windwood, President of the Rockwood Leadership Institute is among the newest members of the IISC Board of Directors, the following are her reflections:
I’ve just about had it with the vitriol and saber-rattling lately. Our world cannot sustain much more bellowing from those on one end of a spectrum at those on the other, with no room for nuance, ambiguity or the unknown. Enough!
So much of our current day “discourse” is framed (at least in the mainstream media) by discussions of who is right/wrong, right/left, bad/good, holy/evil. As long as we are limited to these extremes, we will be doomed to the tyranny of righteousness and posturing. This will not, and cannot, sustain us.
4 CommentsState of Union
Following is a repost by angel Kyodo williams, originally published in Transform, from the Center for Transformative Change.
Each January, whether formal or informal, uttered or silent, many of us resolve to do something different for the coming new year. We commit to starting some things and finishing others. We put plans into motion, we reassess, reevaluate and take stock of the life that we have and where we want it to be.
In two weeks, as President of the United States, Barack Obama will issue the State of the Union, as is constitutionally required “from time to time,” reporting on the condition of the country and setting forth his legislative agenda — resolutions for the nation — for 2011. Likewise, as a Movement of Peoples United in striving for a just and equitable world, we should require of ourselves a reflection upon the state of our union as we reconsider and reset our course for change in this new year. Read More
Leave a commentHospitality
|Photo by Original Nomad|http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonmonk/5371124284|
HOSPITALITY is not to change people, but to offer them a space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.
It is not to lead our neighbor into a corner where there are no alternatives left, but to open a wide spectrum of options for choice and commitment. It is not an educated intimidation of good books, good stories, and good works, but the liberation of fearful hearts so that the words can find roots and bear ample fruit.
It is not a method of making our God and our way into the criteria of happiness, but the opening of an opportunity for others to find their God and their way. The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness – not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and discover themselves as created free; free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, dance their own dances; free also to leave and follow their own vocations
-Henri Nouwen
Leave a commentTestimonial for Facilitative Leadership
Leave a commentAt the heart
Another inspirational quote; our latest postcard designed by Hamilton Hughes Design. Join our mailing list to receive news and periodic thoughtful postcards from us.
Leave a commentOur Bodies Carry Our Histories With Us
(A re-posting from June 2009)
One of the blessings I’ve experienced in our social change work as process experts and professional facilitators is the exposure we get to have to various fields of social change work. Since last October, my colleague Andrea and I have had the pleasure of consulting with an amazing collaborative of stakeholders, the Springfield Health Equity Initiative, who have determined to build a plan to reduce the incidence of diabetes in the black and brown neighborhoods in the city of Springfield, MA. Even more boldly, these dedicated and thoughtful leaders have also chosen to take up an analysis for their work that incorporates how systemic, government sanctioned, racial discrimination has played a direct role in creating the egregious disparities in health outcomes we see today among black and brown folk in the U.S., and regardless of class. Read More
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