Leadership in the process arts
Jet Kiss a sculpture by Mike Ross at the Capital Hill metro station I ve just returned from a week or work in Seattle. As I get older I am noticing how exhausting it is to be socializing a lot, and this week was full on BE VERY PRESENT WITH PEOPLE energy followed by a need to spend time alone in reflection and restoration. I slept deeply every night I was there. Sometimes when I do this work I…
The view from my porch this morning, looking east to the line of storms that obscure the sunrise. It s a very still and quiet morning here on Nexwlelexwm/Bowen Island. A line of thunderstorms passed over the island a couple of hours ago, and as they have slowly made their way east, there are lingering rumbles coming from up the inlet. Lightening is striking the mountain tops of the Brittania…
From volume IV of On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle: The world is not a calm sea, where all you have to do is refrain from rocking the boat… The world is a rocking boat, a ship in a storm, and when you’re capsized, that’s why. Because the world is a place that throws you overboard.
August has arrived and while we seem to be still waiting for truly hot and dry weather to arrive on the south coast of British Columbia, the community calendar moves on. This is the season in which three particular community events happen. This August long weekend is a popular one for visitors to our island and that means traffic snarls in the Cove as people try to figure out our mysterious ferry…
One of the abiding problems in working on strategy is that people like to set goals for complex problems. In my experience the hardest part about accepting complexity as a real thing to be wrestled with, is that one really, truly doesn t get to set goals. What happens instead, is that one can decide on a direction of travel and then look for the different ways one might move in that direction. It…
Chris Mowles reflects on the question of whether the consultant/leader is a healer or revealer and offers his thoughts that the second position is better: To take the second position is to work alongside the client/team in a way which is open to exploring what might be going on in the team, where the consultant/leader also considers themselves to be a part of the inquiry. This is an…
You might have been following along as I have been playing with this triangle over the past few weeks. This is a version that I think I am happier with for now and it s already helping me and others to understand a few things. First, what is the influence of a facilitator into the complex system of a group of people. Second, what is a dialogic container thought about in terms of anthro-complexity.…
I m on a mini quest this year to see if I can hear or see 365 different species of birds. Between trips to France, Costa Rica and Eastern North America I have logged 305 so far. I m going to have to do some serious birding during the fall migrations to meet the target. But it s not about the numbers. I love being in the world with birdsong everywhere. I ve become a good bird-listener in recent…
During the Men s World Cup I managed to watch 50 matches whole or in part. I found it a fantastic tournament and changed my mind about the 48 team format after seeing how many of the smaller nations showed up with such tactical sophistication. There were many highlights in this tournament for me, including Canada s amazing advance to the round of 16 including our dismantling of Qatar, the late…
A former student of Canadian history George Grant has written a very interesting review of a new book by Byron Williston called Ecological Nation: Toward Peace, Order and Good Government. The subtitle of that book echoes the constitutional purpose of Canada, often quoted in contrast to the United States life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The reviewer, Bruce K. Ward, contrasts Williston s…