​​Group Works Card of the Evening! DandDTrans Inquiry
​​A "community of inquiry and action" regarding the role that dialogue and deliberation can play in addressing the mega-crises of our time.
​​Image courtesy of www.NewStories.org
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​You are invited to host one or more Card of the Evening conversations on behalf of the DandDTrans inquiry!  
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​​+We're using this Scheduling Pad​ to indicate the times, and mode of convening for each session.
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​​Note: this entire page is editable! Please be careful to only make new entries and not delete what is here. To edit, you must sign into hackpad, using either Facebook, Google, or an email and password you set up. ​+More on how to use hackpad here.​
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​​This "Card of the Evening Conversation" emerged organically from an impulse on 12/12. Everyone who has posted something to these hackpads was been invited to participate in a short (typically 30 minute) conversation inspired by a card pulled at random. We currently gather at varying times, mostly using the Zoom platform ​+(call-in details here)​. 
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​​Our basic process is to select a card at random, after the group has reflected in silence and each member has landed on a thought, wish, blessing, or question they wish to offer on behalf of the gathering for the evening, this inquiry as a whole, and/or all those who are engaged in work related to systemic transformation. If we are using ​+video conferencing such as our "open room on the Zoom platform​, we pull the card at the moment when all participants have opened their eyes. 
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​​If you don't own a Group Works Deck, we invite you to buy one now! Meanwhile, you can download the App, and/or use your mouse to randomly move around the web page that lists all the cards and click when it's time to make your selection.
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​​Please take some notes below. Give each evening its own section, by typing the "#"  sign followed by the date and the name of the card you pulled.
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​2/6: Reflection-Action Cycle

​​Ben and Heather had an impromptu Skype call that, in the end, they decided could pass as another edition of the "you know what" even though this thing is officially over...
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​​Heart: 
​​Consider. Enact. Debrief. Experiment further. Effective processes that move groups forward often involve cycles of reflection, followed by action, leading to additional reflection, and so on. Alternating in this manner fosters engagement and integration, deepens experiential learning, and promotes adaptive problem-solving.
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​Notes from the discussion...
​​Well, that was a perfect card! Connects to our shared yearning for a willingnesss to act (including convening groups in dialogue) in an agile, experimental way. And our frustration with the fear that often shows up in the field (including in ourselves too, of course) and throws a spanner in the works by unleashing mischief.
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​​We also talked about white privilege, attitudes of entitlement, compassion for our collective brokenness, Naomi Klein, holacracy as a form of ju jitsu, and a few more things. 
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​​In the end, Heather said it was "like running into a friend at a bar!"  Cheers!
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​1/27: Yes, and...

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​Heart: 
​​Build  on what someone just said to offer encouragement and carry it further.  Affirm their ideas, then extend them to a deeper understanding or add a  new twist. Create momentum by saying "Yes, and . . ."
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​Live Discussion
​​The whole DandDTrans is a "Yes, and..." conversation. We did this and......, what if we did it and that's all, people waiting to see what's coming out of this... this has an endpoint. (Ben R)
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​​It's a "center for emergence"... an attractor in a chaotic space of emergence. Prototyping the new kinds of conversations. Like Theory U suggests. If it's had an impact with a topic such as Tom's original call, it can also work with lots of other calls. 
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​​Holding lightly to the idea that one or more specific initiatives might come out of this....
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​​Heather: Satish Kumar - to be an activist, you need to be an optimist. Listening to him talk about being ayoung man in his twenties, out for coffee in the morning with a friend, reading the newspaper about Bertrand Russell getting arrested at 90.... the desire to make a difference. The most transformative thing we can do is to love each other. Tom's question: what do we need to do or be to bring transformation? Try to be a better lover.  All day long every day. I don't know what else to do; all my adult life, some kind of activist work. We are where we are right now: climate change, oppression, capitalism running amok. 
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​​______
​​It's useful to hold a chaotic systems perspective on this process... there are reinforcing feedback loops, like this DandDTrans series of focal points... and there are balancing feedback loops, like the status quo. And in the middle of all of that are delays. Our system is full of delays... so there may very well be some involved after this process. There's the issue of dissipation of energy (a reinforcing feedback loop in itself), which is why the continued energy input is useful. And yet in a chaotic system like a sandpile, one grain of sand might trigger another, and with delays could subsequently trigger a "field" experience, like Steph was talking about happens in a group sometimes.
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​​Yes, and... "Let's be lovers." There are different kinds. Tough love... the idea that love actually IS the energy of life. Gravity and love are connected (as in the film Interstellar). Like the story (told at the start of the call, not scribed) of Heather picking up on the presence of blind lady justice without any physical way to know she was there. Presence is the ______ 
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​​Heather: there's a particular politician who I love to hate; what would it mean to show up regularly and try to experience love for that person. "What is that "Love Thy Neighbor' instruction?"
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​​What about using climate change as a wedge issue, as Naomi Klein wants the Democrats to do....what are the odds.... end of ideology, but can we afford not to try? 
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​​If I had to try and save his life because of an imminent threat, I'd do that as a no-brainer. But good governance? I haven't figured this out yet....
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​​Ben L: Level U - different levels of conversation, want to try to replicate that energy, that spirit....
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​​Theory U and the dift levels of convo. This has been an experiment in that. Even the level 1 and 2 convos have been better than others we've been in. And we 
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​​Heather: I want to play with the levels Otto Scharmer lays down. Not interested in debate, I'm out of here. I can't do it. 
​​1) Download
​​2) Debate
​​3) Deep listening
​​4) Generative dialogue
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​​ Heather: I guess deep listening is one of the doing things, for transformation.
​​ Ben L: they're mental muscles, we're not used to doing them. We get stronger with them here and then transport them to the world.
​​ Ben R: It's hard within the context of the global hairball, and we bump up against wanting to "do something"...
​​ Ben L: the third level is deep listening: what are the barriers of change, remember the iceberg? That where the media focuses.... go deeper, to the systemic issues and life conditions
​​ Ben R: need to understand the barriers to changes, but still not enough, what's the action I can take now, given the 
​​ Ben L: what acupuncture points can we put pressure on, this is beyond deep listening...
​​ Ben R: the new story, the superordinate goal, how do you shift the paradigm (Donella Meadows), where do we go with that?
​​ Ben L; the system is in far from equilibrium, a butterfly/new story enters at an inflection point....  and gets into the Common Knowledge story of "what the crowd knows the crowd knows"... and it starts to impact the feedback loops. With the internet, we can overcome much of what constitutes "news" on TV... 99% of it is about the top level of the iceberg, thus not paying any attention at all to what's deeper, below the waterline. So that's how the meme will best be propagated. And the focus needs to be on the younger generation... give them something to vote for.
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​​ Heather: I'm a little depressed today. Watched the movie as part of Theory U assignment, how major pharma controls price of medications, causing millions of people to die unnecessarily. A few courageous acts of a few people.....new treaty, cut deal forcing countries to honor patents via United Trade Organization  .... original superordinate goal..... Medicine for everyone not just those who can pay for it.
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​​ Profit is the S-OG.
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​​ Read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.  Won Turner Fellowship for Tomorrow Award, there are two stories, the Taker Story, and the Leaver Story. We need a new story, we have to populate the new meme. The old one is still there.... 
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​​ Check out This great set of videos on systems thinking and climate change: http://www.climateinteractive.org/the-climate-leader/ . It talks about reinforcing and balancing feedback loops. We need to strengthen the loops related to a new superordinate goal, like Living Human Living Earth, and use that goal/vision/guiding star as a compass direction to relate various decisions to (e.g. building Keystone XL pipeline... or any other pipelines, for that matter). Simply acknowledging this fact, that the pipeline(s) do not contribute to a Living Human Living Earth, is useful feedback, even if it still goes through. We're becoming aware that our choices (including who we elect to make these rules) need to change. And at a grassroots level, e.g. state and national legislatures, "we" (everyone enrolled in a Living Human Living Earth new story... which is certainly a majority of people in the US anyway) can design a platform that we "run" candidates on... and in a relatively short amount of time (10 years?) we can start to turn this puppy in a different direction. That's an evolutionary trajectory. If that doesn't fly, then it will likely be a much rougher, revolutionary trajectory... certainly the way we're heading at the moment. 
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​Additional Comments?
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​1/24: Self-Awareness

​​Steph Jo Kent, Heather Tischbein, Ben Roberts, Ben Levi
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​​Heart: The more you know who you and your group really are, the more effectively you can engage, make choices that are the right fit, and achieve your goals. Discover your values, feelings, dreams, needs, biases, and more.
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​Live Conversation: 
​​Who are we as a group? That's a question we haven't asked enough... nor answered, maybe. Is that why it feels like engagement has been somewhat elusive?
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​​My sense is that we were not a group, until we came together. And even then. it's been challenging. The convergent things that drew many of us here was Tom's question, as well as us all being practitioners of D&D of some kind. That's pretty diffuse energy.
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​​Reflecting on  "who am I," "where am I," there's quite a few belief systems about what it is to be a human being on Earth. There's not a shared meaning amongst all humans on Earth about what it is to be a human being. Are we animals living a spiritual life, or spirit living an animal life? The human I get to be is the human I expect myself to be, based on a set of belliefs and expectations. Mindfulness retreat I'm doing now has created a lot of spaciousness around not knowing. Heather highly recommends this video from Nic Askew. 
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​​The knowledge that rests in that which we don't understand is superior to the knowledge that relies on what we do understand. Why are we, as the particular humans we are (mainly white), reflects my self-awareness as often being a person in groups who names things that seem to be supressed or not being spoken. I don't get what I've been able to achieve in my life... I can explain the pattern (white privilege, etc.) but can't explain the details, like how I got into this conversation. I happened to open Tom A's email today, went to a hackpad, and here I am. I don't get how that happened. I think it has something to do with being human now... to show up, and recognize we're being called to show up, and not shy away from what we learn when we do show up. 
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​​"Showing up..." we use that phrase as if we know what we're talking about. I have at least two different personas that can show up. Dominant one is "the good little girl, good enough to be loved." Then there's the shadow side that's served me well, and not so well. Recently I've noticed another persona, the intolerant bitch, showing up... and the good little girl doesn't like that other persona. 
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​​Maybe there's an overlapping going on.
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​​Also a 'canary in the coalmine' persona, in a group and at some moment talking aobut what's going on in your body, and the whole group drops into something very real, from a heady-kind of conversation.
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​​Is that really me doing that? Or something that's using me, so to speak. 
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​​To me, it's not me, it's an energy that utilizes me. My body is a container for something not separate. Cann I let myself be what it wants me to be? Sometimes I don't want to; there's risk, and I want people to like me. I'm very vulnerable to feeling that I don't belong, so why would I do that thing that makes it likely that I won't belong?
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​​What does it mean to show up on hackpad, or in general in these online spaces? The level of showing up that's a quality of criticalness, argumentation, that can show up, and drop stuff into the hackpad that 'pees on everything,' then leaves. Sensitive to the complaints, okay with it for the most part. It's inevitable, really, that that will happen. 
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​​Like the behavior of mammals... do females pee on other mammals' territory? The notion of someone using their intellect to 'pee' onto somebody else's pee-spot... that's going to stick with me for awhile. Is it a male behavior, like male dogs peeing on each other's spot. It's about how we can be in conversation, that that happens sometimes. 
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​​Joining is especially hard for white folks... every message we get is that we should lead, and others should listen. 
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​​Ben L - what are you thinking? I'm afraid you're gonna announce your departure.
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​​Yes, I'm trying to reflect it back to the card....peeing on each other's whatever is a way of putting out who I am, and maybe there's a common odor of what the group smells like, and that's an aspect of who we are. We're not that skillful about putting our information into the center.
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​​How do we learn who each other is without information, so we put out information, and we're not that skillful. The meme I carried with me all of my liife was "if I'm not right I'll die."  The masculine has that intrinsic in there.
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​​I grew up with, was "if I say what's true for me, I'll die." Because the truth is not going to be approved by the authorities.  In terms of self-awareness to get to that.... self-awareness, giving expression to yourself is coupled with the fear of death. What happened early in life that has the fear of death associated with it.
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​​It's usually pretty direct feedback, in some way or another, if I say my truth, I'm going to get hammered. And if I'm not right, then I won't belong and no one will respect me and therefore I'm dead. It's how we all create our identites, white and others.
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​​The notion that children are to be seen and not heard.
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​​There are value systems where those values are important and therefore they're expressed. Our parent... that's how we do it. That's evolutionary, what's happening now, white privilege, being shown to us right in our faces, we're going to make mistakes because it's new, give us a little bit of leeway.
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​​I"m aware of little people running around the backyard. One of them is Magnus, a very Scandinavian name.
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​​I'm watching deer romping around our yard for the last 15 minutes. We're usually not happy when that's happening.
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​​At my son's house, there's a lot of children running around. 
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​​They're just being deer, if I'm going to protect something it's up to me, they're just being deer.
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​​They came right up to my door!
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​​That's why we fence our trees.
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​​So, about this odor.... thankfully we're not in the same room.  Maybe co-peeing is the height of co-creation? :-)
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​​Happened with Nancy G.... she got frustrated and called me out via email and I called her up, we made a connection. Similarly, I got on the phone with Bob, prompted in part by what he wrote. So the disruptions are opportunities for "showing up" as full humans. 
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​​Bob said something interesting about how, when we try to work together,  we've got to be explicit about what we're doing. He offered a three-level framework: 
  1. ​​Collaboration: you're doing something and I'm going to help you, 
  1. ​​Then there's co-creation, where we bring things to the table and work with them to create something new,
  1. ​​and then there's conspiring, when we bring nothing but see what shows up and that's the highest level..... we learn stuff underneath, to see what we can do together.
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​​I like that, about agreements.... giving each other permission to ask this question: "Are we peeing one each other right now?"
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​​Steph gives Heather permission to say it in the Open  Space call tomorrow.
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​​Saying it on Hackpad is even trickier, perhaps, to do it in a way that doesn't shut thing down, or turn more into a pissing match?
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​​Genuine asking.... using this conversation, having fun with it, actually.
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​​I could reference the U-Lab stuff, that Otto's been talking about: the first level is knowing, and the next level is debate, so I'd call it a level 2 conversation and leave it at that.
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​​I also like that it brings attention to our mammal behavior. 
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​Additional Comments?
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​​All this chatter about deer at the end, and I forget to mention the venison chili I have simmering away downstairs at this very moment! My step-son is a bow hunter, doing his best to help control our the severe overpopulation around here of these guys. Pretty much the ultimate in local, sustainable meat!
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​1/18: Story

​​Ben L, Ben R and ​@Heather Tischbein​
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​Heart: 
​​Stories,  metaphors, and myths convey complex ideas, context, meaning and nuance  that simple data cannot. By telling personal stories we build trust and  connection, encourage imagination, and express the essence of who we  are. By telling cultural stories we connect ourselves to others'  experience and interact with whole systems.
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​Live Conversation
​​Lacks life, to me. Sounds mental. 
​​Happy to have it align with my intention. Thinking about arc of this gathering, moving into the second half, toward the end of this iteration. Anticipate my own energy going into a strong need for things to happen in a certain way, or I'd feel disappointed or whatever. Perhaps drive certain outcomes, so the question was: What can I do to get to a place of acceptance of whatever happens is what happens, and not to try to control an outcome, or view an outcome as unsatisfactory. Whatever happens will be in a story of what I can do to support the story being told. 
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​​I get the concept of holding the story, whatever that happens, with gratitude. 
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​​"A pax on both your houses..." -- reframe on 'Romeo and Juliet' from the place of gratitude.
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​​Personal vs cultural stories -- don't know what the cultural story is that we might tell from this experience. In what way is this a fractal for the larger narrative we want to have in the world. 
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​​Theory of change being a cultural story? There is a cultural aspect of change that is about a belief, e.g. violence leads to revolution; non-violent revolution leads to change... a cultural story. Including the story that there's no alternative, that we can't change... so just look out for me and mine... red-in-tooth-and-claw. 
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​​Twelve-step gang has a core aspect of gratitude... make a list of what we're grateful for. It's transformational just to do that.  
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​​10% drinking and 90% thinking... changing your story, not seeing yourself as a victim, or as a grandiose hero. 
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​​Gratitude is expressing appreciation for someone or something, not just being grateful for what I can do myself. It's about relationship.
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​​Gratitude is a reinforcing feedback loop. The more you do it, the better you feel overall. We need a story about that.
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​​Even the stuff that isn't good about this moment makes it a thrilling moment to be alive, a meaning-making that calls forth our highest selves. 
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​​A deep appreciation of the mystery. 
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​​Telling your own story can be a form of indulgence... not always... but this idea of the larger narrative, or the collective story of our DandDTrans journey could be different than the individual stories we all have about it.
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​​How we're a fractal of the larger phenomenon of people caring, and not knowing what to do with that, to make enough of a difference to make a difference. We're all doing what we can, for the most part, and there's cognitive dissonance, but it's a difficult place to be... to be aware of the dangerous trajectory we're on and contributing to it, and doing what we do (driving, etc.) while being aware of that. 
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​​We have provided a ton of tools for people here... hackpad, conversations, etc. 
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​​Re: climate change conversation... It's not that People don't want to hear about climate... What they need to hear is, what they can do other than change lightbulbs, which we know isn't enough. People want the opportunity to be efficacious. It's a core need.
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​​"By telling cultural stories we connect ourselves to others'  experience and interact with whole systems." This koha idea is a cultural story, from Maori, about generosity, support, gifting. It's a deep cultural belief that has been part of their culture for a long time. A story is a fractal of a system. Can connect meaning from a story to anything and everything. There's deep truth in a universal story. 
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​​Hologram - the whole is in every "part." We are a hologram of the universe... and our values are the 'filter' by which we experience the whole universe.
​​Fractal - self-similarity at every scale. Like the solar system and universe.
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​​"Transmute" - different than transformation. How does transmutation happen? We have to get hot. Are we being too cerebral? Unwilling to talk about the undiscussables...  A safe place to talk about the undiscussables. 
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​​Is trust a necessary system condition for collaboration? If I have to trust everybody I'm with before I act, I'll never do anything. 
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​​Undiscussable: We don't know what to do, and we don't think there's anything we can do. So we can relax into it, thinking there's nothing we can do anyway.
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​​Undiscussable: Desire to make a difference -- some big ego thing going on. Unless it's in alignment with a superordinate goal... who decides?
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​​That matters in the context of possiblity. Tom's framing is that we can, but we're not going to. My frame is that it's really slim odds... 
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​​Yes and in the midst of breakdown, would it not behoove us to have a superordinate goal to help us move out of the breakdown? And wouldn't it be useful to practice that goal now?
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​​What shifts is an experience... of the transformation in the work we do, even in the context of being nowhere near the world we want. 
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​​We need a dissent conversation... or "descent" conversation (into shadow, bringing it into the light... like the undiscussables group process.)
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​​If you're feeling the urge to fix it, get curious instead.
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​​Learning about the undiscussables and about why they're undiscussable. 
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​​"Forking" -- everybody owns the code, so you don't all have to agree, as you continue to develop the software, you can go in different directions... it's all OK... sometimes they reconverge again. There's no pressure to do the same thing. If 1,000 of us love a superordinate goal, it doesn't have to be the same goal as another 1,000 have. Useful to have a meta-level SoG, with subgoals. Concern about getting into arguments about the goal. Metalevel almost has to be implicit; if we have to agree on the metalevel that aligns the subgoals, we're back to where we started. I want that we're all free to frame it as we want, to align with whatever goal we want to. 
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​​As long as we're moving in the direction of the SoG, it's not going to look the same at every level. Is the right direction enough? Or do we have to do something transformational? 
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​​It has to get to the political level eventually... and it starts here. With a new story. Living Human Living Earth.
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​1/11: Listening

​​Ben L and Ben R gathered...
​​Heart: 
​​Listen from genuine curiosity, welcoming the expression of thoughts, opinions,  and especially feelings. When we listen with our whole selves to more than the words, people feel heard and their energy moves into new channels, naturally weaving connection.
​​Category: Modelling
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​Live Conversation
​​It's difficult to "listen" to email and other asynch conversations, to listen to what's 'between' the words... part of why using just words can be hard to feel energies. 
​​Intensities in conversations can accelerate, especially when advocacies build up... it can be exhausting. Peter Block talks about "dissent" (re: communities dedicated to the future more than the past), and the ones you don't want are: denial, rebellion and resignation (to a future that's like the past). "Resignation is the ultimate act of powerlessness..." 
​​Self-reflection can occur when we think about how we show up. 
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​​Curiosity is the same as "inquiry." Like Eckhardt Tolle's metaphor of "pain bodies," and how they look for others to get into it with. The discomfort is less important than the relationship between the pain bodies, and then an acceleration of dissonance.
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​​Sometimes bouncing back and forth of ideas isn't about pain bodies, but as Block says, "it's interesting but not powerful."
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​​The super-ordinate goal meme is all about what might happen if we all agreed on the same goals/solutions. And it sounds like you're interested in how we might implement those solutions.
​​This change model is from Meg Wheatley and the Berkana Inst:
​​The movement of movements... "movement without a name"... thousands of things going on, each can feel like they're siloed, pulling energy and money away from others. It's ONE movement. Valuable to get better language for calling all this one thing, rather than thinking about them separate. It needs to resonate through all the value systems. "The more beautiful world we all think is possible." Serving life, life is sacred. But it still doesn't tell people who think they're siloed and think others aren't working toward the same thing, to see they're actually working toward the same thing. What does Living Human Living Earth mean?  Not feeling energized by "this is what we need that we don't have."
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​​A synchronicity was happening yesterday as you we doing this, I was doing deep listening in a difficult conversation, fraught with pain body engagement moving from unconsciousness to consciousness.  And, it was indeed exhausting and worth the trust that came thru in the end.
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​1/8: Embrace Dissonance and Difference

​​Heather, Ben L, Ben R, and Grady gathered...
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​​Heart: 
​​Encourage your group to honour contradictory viewpoints, sitting with the uncertainty and ambiguity this brings. Acknowledge all perspectives as equally valid and explore them as fully as needed, especially when tensions are high and agreement seems far away.
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​​Category:  Perspective
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​Live Discussion
​​Bohm dialogue is brought to mind by this card. And it's a process that seems so well suited to our work here in DandDTrans. Looking forward to starting that tomorrow.
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​​Thinking about extremism in the context of this card, in the wake of the shootings in Paris...
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​​What if we imagine, provisionally, that all perspective are equally valid, even though most of us actually don't?
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​​The challenge of dealing with religious fundamentalists who are intolerant of "non-believers." It's a challenge in the US too, e.g. Clark County where Heather lives.
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​​Spiral dynamics and integral... Wilbur points out that green meme level folks are vulnerable to the dangerous side of "all perspectives are equal."  Yes, it's valuable to see that "everyone's got a piece of the truth." Everyone has a reason for feeling what they feel, and we can honor that even if we think it's unhealthy, especially in its expression. So amend this to "all perspectives are equally valid for the individual." And also all thinking is "wrong," i.e. a mental construct and not reality (or "true").
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​​Heather tells the incredible story of her near-death experience in 2010.
​​There's more going on here than meets the "I"!   Exactly...that "I".
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​​"The cause of suffering is not thinking, it’s identification with thinking." -- Adyashanti
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​Post-Call Comments
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​1/7: Holding Space

​​Ben L, Ben R, and Heather gathered... And Bruce wandered in too...
​​Heart: 
​​Be fully present, aware of what's happening in the whole gathering right now--physically, energetically, emotionally, and intellectually. Open and hold the psychological and spiritual space to provide a steady centre and container. Calmly maintain trust, safety, and focus.
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​​Category: Modelling
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​Live Discussion
​​"A safe place to be unsafe." 
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​​Discussing the Theory U course starting today (that three of us are taking), going from Ego to Eco. And memes, super-ordiante goals, and theories of change.
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​​Heather points out that a shift in basic beliefs/world view is a kind of death. It doesn't feel good! People shut down. 
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​​Transpartisanship is also a theme. The future of the left and right. People on the right who think a minimum salary is a good idea, not just a minimum wage. 
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​​If human beings were welcomed and well loved from the very beginning, we would have a different world.
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​​"I'm carrying this big co-efficient of hocus pocus around with me."
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​Additional Post-Call Comments?
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​1/6: Opening and Welcoming

​​Ben R and Heather picked this card...
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​​Heart: 
​​The beginning sets the tone. Start intentionally, in a manner that invites group members to connect with one another, enter their voice into the circle, and participate as their authentic selves. Attend to building enthusiasm, focus, and commitment for the work to come.
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​​Category: Flow
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion
​​ 
​​Reflecting on the World Cafe earlier today...
​​ 
​​An affirmation from the invisible realsm that Opening and Welcome happened on today's World Cafe call. And the closing card might be an acknowledgement that the first call on 12/15 was its own thing, and we're really starting anew now. 
​​ 
​​Also, we're really trying showing up up in the moment--Courageous Modeling-- speaking about what's true for us now. The first question prompted something so intimate it felt too risky to share, and I told the group that... So of course they wanted to know what it was, and it opened up a wide, beautiful space. 
​​ 
​​Noting Mark Spain's participation on the call, even though we couldn't hear him except through hackpad--an example of the power of constraints.
​​ 
​​Four women in the second round. We noticed the difference. The first round was focused on doing something very specific. Then in the next group, it was the vibrational energy of love, and universal consciousness. A perfect example of Yin versus Yang. And the feminine receiving of masculine energy is a gift back to that energy. That dynamic offers a sense of unified beingness and co-creativity that was really fun! We went over some edges!
​​ 
​​What came to me in hearing that just now: One Billion Rising.  One billion, if things continue along the current trend line, one billion women alive today will be raped or beaten...subject and subjected to some form of (often sexual) violence.  We have made it supremely dangerous for women to offer the gift of being receptive w/o hesitation or fear. 
​​ 
  • ​​"In the conversation today he was treading water in his fear of overpowering with his masculine energy, so it was a shifting moment for him to be invited to give all his energy into this receptive/receiving space without having to worry or guard against "push back" from me that his energy was too much. So we just started playing with what it would be like to converse, being freely in the joy of the true penetrating energy of the masculine. and boy, we thought, this is different and fantastic!
​​ 
  • ​​I have never really appreciated until the last 48 hours the masculine conundrum about giving forth the energy that is the male's to give. There are all these myths and cultural conditioning around this big energy. And the feminine receptive energy, we discovered, is just as big. And I practiced making the "receptive" big enough to receive the energy being offered to me. Instead of both of us being afraid of the giving and receiving.  How do we do this in a way that creates happiness and joy and a sense of genuine oneness? There's territory here that we never knew existed. A huge discovery!"
​​ 
​​It's PATRIARCHY, stupid!!!! 
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​1/4: Purpose

​​Gathered to pick the card and discuss it are: Heather, Ben R., Linda, Otis, Cynthia, Tom
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Purpose is the destination we choose from a sea of possibilities. Shared purpose calls us together and focuses us, evolving as understanding deepens. It gives impetus and energy to our work--when we're connected with genuine purpose, energy flows and things happen.
​​ 
​​Category: Intention
​​ 
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion:
​​We need to be mindful of the mojo, given the full moon!
​​ 
​​A time of harvesting and reflecting. 
​​ 
​​Purpose and super-ordinate goals. A goal everyone wants, but no one entity can do themselves. Shared purpose. 
  • ​​Relationship between a declared purpose people rally around and an emergent purpose where people come up with it from conversation/inquiry (that might have a purpose buried in it).
  • ​​Contrasts with the world we have that is full of things "nobody wants" (s Otto Scharmer and others have articulated so well)
  • ​​And it's harder to agree on what we DO want than what we don't.
  • ​​That may require us to be conscious in a different way. E.g. we're stuck doing things to survive that are creating that world.
  • ​​And there's this constant cognitive dissonance in knowing,. at some level, that we are making tat world we don't want, e.g. driving cars, flying in planes, etc.
​​ 
​​Celebrating  the community that emerged in 2014, and anticipating what's next for that group.
​​ 
​​To be is to do
​​To do is to be
​​Do Be Do Be Do
​​ 
​​A Statement we are working on, but fully aligned around, for this DandDTrans inquiry:
​​Purpose: To explore the calling question of what we, as members of the dialogue and deliberation community of practice, have to be and do to enable our most positive transformational impact in the face of climate change, peak oil and water, profound wealth inequity, and other emerging crises which fundamentally challenge our business-as-usual habits and systems. (framed by Ben R in his original draft invitation)
​​ 
​​The group likes the "...have to BE..." part of this question.
​​ 
​​How to move from inquiry into action?
​​ 
​​What would represent the superordinate goal we're living under? The one we're moving towards.. it's easier to look at what we don't want... where is the new world's memes?
​​ 
​​What's the super-ordinate goal of the current system? Does it have one? 
  • ​​"Wealth creation and distribution in a hierarchical power structure."
  • ​​But we're not really (or just) creating wealth. Much of that is mortgaging or outright selling off our collective future.
  • ​​GDP vs. Gross National Happiness 
​​ 
​​ 
​​"Reverse engineering" the current story/belief systems: A lot of our beliefs about who we are has been given to us by others--cultural myth-makers, etc. How do we take this back, refuse those stories, and become myth-makers ourselves? "Adaptive story-telling."
​​ 
​​Need a common thread and weaving. The disruption of tech will hit us to our absolute core--it's only just begun. So we need to hold onto who we are as humans.
​​ 
​​http://storyfieldconference.net/ Meant to be an annual gathering, but it didn't happen. Maybe another version could happen...
​​ 
​​Moving from the indiv. hero myth to collective stories. It's rare that we study collective cultures. That's happening in the broader field. Compathos as an example: http://compathos.com/landing/
​​ 
​​A collective hero's journey... 
​​ 
​​Synthesize and come up with a meta-narrative from collecting the micro-narratives. Can be overwhelming with all the toxic stories out there. 
​​ 
​​How does desire relate to one's purpose? Beingness=desire, Doingness=purpose
​​ 
​​Implicitness and Explicitness -- stories have implicit aspects, and explicit as in stating a purpose, making a meta-story. The dance is between the two... where life really is.
​​ 
​​Life energy behind the story -- magnetic -- when it resonates, that's where people come into that place of shared purpose. It's a combination of both that makes it more powerful because the story puts forth the intent, combined with the life energy brings us together in shared purpose. 
​​ 
​​Collective hero myth has as its core our deep relational connection with others. It's not measured, but it's there.
​​ 
​​David Abram's "Becoming Animal" ... oral-based languages speak in story. Once writing came along, abstract thinking, we separated ourself from story. We've become disconnected with the fundamental truth of myths and stories... people don't get that there's an old story they're living in. "Just being metaphorical" is alien to our animal-based way of thinking. The question whether something is true or not isn't what it's about. So we've adopted and lived into a story that's creating a world we don't want. 
​​ 
​​Reality is a story. (a collective story). Muriel Rukeyser: "The universe is made of stories, not atoms."
​​ 
​​We have these "true" judgements... but it's only our identity telling ourselves stories.

​
​ 

​​Ben L. likes Living Human Living Earth (Living Heart, Living Universe)
​​ 
​​Here's one version of the New Story that Ben R loves:
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​ 
​​Here's the rest of Ben R's framing in the draft of that invite, that paired with the Purpose statement:
  • ​​The following are among the intended results for this inquiry:
  • ​​1. Engage in deep dialogue around our calling question.
  • ​​2. Connect to build community and share resources, information, and strategies.
  • ​​3. Elicit inspiring, actionable possibilities and support the emergence of collaborative teams to work together on bringing them forth in the coming year.
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​1/2: Go Deeper

​​Present: Ben R., Ben L., Tom, ​@Michaela Sieh​
​​ 
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Recognize and attend to what calls out for more intensive exploration. Take the time to unpack comments, drill down into issues, peel back the layers, delve further into underlying dynamics or feelings--in search of the crux of what matters most.
​​ 
​​Category: Inquiry & Synthesis
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion Notes
​​Good Bohm Dialogue card... one aspect of which is Inquiry, which is designed to enable the group collective to go deeper together. 
​​ 
​​Pairing Bohm Dialogue with World Cafe and Open Space is a good fit for us wanting to go deeper. Especially with the need to find what is transformational. Ben R. is excited about doing this!
​​ 
​​Sensing into the middle of a circle. What's traditionally in the middle in cultures that gave us a circle process was a fire. Attention was toward the fire, going deeper into the sacred fire, center of the community, your own center. And allowing silence to be a space that consciousness can shift into. Curious as to how that will work online. 
​​ 
​​Could invite people to be in silence before they joined the online Dialogue circle... try to recreate the potency, or leave the zoom space open for silence before the Dialogue starts. 
​​ 
​​A kind of trust that doesn't need to be questioned, and also silence, and slowing down intentionally (esp with transitions like BO gps), are things that support going deeper in any gathering, and especially virtual ones. The energy of the hosting team is also key.
​​ 
​​Holding space for conversation lightly and gently--not forcing what we think needs to come out of it. Paradox between urgency and the need to drop in and take the time to go deeper. The "scarcity mentality" that is so often identified as the root of our problems usually focuses on things like money and other resources, but perhaps time is the thing we assume to be most scarce, and that assumption is often very damaging.
​​ 
​​The "mega crises" are all so complex, and they require time to deepen into them. Perhaps in doing so, we can find common roots that actually simplify what we see as ours to do.
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments:
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​1/1: Courageous Modeling (yet again!)

​​Ben R. and Ben L got together around 6:30pm ET to pull this card and discuss it...
​​Heart: 
​​Someone needs to risk going first: to speak out, try a new behaviour, raise concerns, welcome feedback. Be honest, open, authentic, bold, and smart about it. You can catalyze forward movement by taking the lead to show others it can be done, and how.
​​ 
​​Category: Modelling
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion Notes
​​For the third time since 12/12!!!
​​"Show" is a key word... people don't have a frame of reference for what we're about to do... our job is to model it. Not that we know what will happen, but we (core group) have a frame that most others haven't been exposed to. We've been living and creating it so we have a sense of what it is, each of us with our specific knowledge.
​​ 

​
​12/31: Yes, and

​​Ben R. and Ben L got together around 6:30pm ET to pull this card and discuss it (VERY! briefly...
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Build on what someone just said to offer encouragement and carry it further. Affirm their ideas, then extend them to a deeper understanding or add a new twist. Create momentum by saying "Yes, and . . ."
​​ 
​​Category: Inquiry & Synthesis
​​ 
​​The "green meme" was mentioned (and Ben R. would like to come back to that at some point!). Also Peter Block's notion that a powerful invitation needs a "hurdle," or "price." Block's favorite example was read:
​​ 
  • ​​The best invitation I have run across, which got a lot of attention for a while, was from Ernest Shackleton, who in the early 1900s was recruiting for an antarctic expedition. Supposedly he ran an ad in the London Times that read: “Wanted: Men for Antarctic Expedition. Low Pay. Lousy Food. Safe Return Doubtful.” Perfect. He reportedly got 5,000 applicants. Community, p.122
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/30: Courageous Modeling

​​Ben R, Ben L, Heather, and Christine gathered... (and Brian and Charlie dropped in)
​​ 
  • ​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Someone needs to risk going first: to speak out, try a new behaviour, raise concerns, welcome feedback. Be honest, open, authentic, bold, and smart about it. You can catalyze forward movement by taking the lead to show others it can be done, and how.
​​ 
​​Category: Modelling
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion Notes
​​Random selection originated with "letting the gods decide". This is the second time in our last dozen or so that the same card has been picked... the odds on that are quite small...
​​[Ben R. also notices that all three cards that have been drawn twice--this one, Naming, and Power Shift-- are from the Modeling category!]
​​ 
​​I always find it incredibly meaningful when I pick a Group Works card, so it doesn't seem "random" to me...
​​ 
​​Poetry is another way of getting information that is not traditional. What's the relationship between poetry and courageous modeling? It's not an easy thing for many of us to do. On the OS List, there's a regular poetry contest, and a recent conversation/game around asking "who are you?" It was harvested into a poem. It was an example of poetry bringing something that was clearly valuable, and hopeful. A way to express complexity. A "sense" of things, and that seems interesting in relation to  transformation.
​​ 
​​Heather remembers a form of poetry that was used at the Whidbey Winter gathering. One poem that was written there captured this phrase of Ben's from the presentation he and Heather did: "pure fucking emergence"
​​ 
​​And​+ here's a poem Ben R. found​ ("randomly!") in an attempt to look up the name of that poetry process.
​​ 
​​Ben L restates (courageously) his desire to launch the meme "Living Human, Living Earth."
​​Heather mentions a new book--Runaway Realization-- that refers to Living Being as something we always manifest in each moment. And humans are conscious of this living beingness (like a mirror reflecting infinitely, Ben R thinks).
​​ 
​​Bohmian Dialogue is like the silence in a Quaker meeting... they touch the same collective space. 
​​Context: expectation of sound, because we're talking. To invite and become comfortable with silence in a conversational context is outside our unconscious expectations of what a conversation is. What does silence mean in a conversation?
​​ 
​​In modeling category are also cards we've pulled twice: all 3 are from the same Modeling category (out of nine categories). So we should collect these memes.
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​ 
​
​Dekaaz!!!
​​ 
  • ​​The amazing Rachel Bagby
​​ 
  • ​​The Silentist
  • ​​ 
  • ​​Silence
  • ​​brings forth pure
  • ​​fucking emergence
​​ 
​​Funny thing too--just before I hit enter to Google Rachel and find the "answer,"  I remembered it on my own.
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/29 Unity and Diversity

​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Hold simultaneous awareness of both what is shared in common and what is unique. Sometimes it is more important to honour the distinctions and hear the differences; other times it is crucial to focus on similarities and common territory. Both are needed.
​​ 
​​Category: Perspective
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion
​​This reflects some of the challenges we've faced in getting our second invitation round. And it will certainly be "up" as we reconvene in a (potentially much) larger group.
​​ 
​​It's a naming of a key distinction from Integral theory of  AQAL... the individual and the Collective. It's a fundamental dimension of the AQAL map. 
​​ 
​​And our "community of inquiry and action" is an effort to play a "virtual dialogic suite" when our skill and experience level at this might be comparable to that of the young girls in the picture! And what they produce collectively emerges out of the dance with the unity/individual.
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​This ties into the nature of what Systemic Transformation is all about. The dance of unity-diversity, or individual-collective, is part of a living system (a global civilization) emerging into a new form, while the old one hangs on as long as it can. That emergence is all about memes... ideas in consciousness that self-replicate across a brain or group of brains. Chaos theory suggests that there are "attractors" and "basins of attraction" for chaos to self-organize around. What kinds of attractors can we emerge from this conversation?
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/28

​​No card for this evening. :-(
​​ 

​
​12/27 Distilling, cont.

​​Heather Tischbein offered some additional comments on the Distilling card below, which I've copied up here:
​​ 
  • ​​I can feel the activation in my nervous system...my neurobiology...in the presence of the thought, feeling, desire to make a difference.  Big wave of energy passing through and my inner "WAIT A MINUTE!" voice speaking loudly to "Me".  Since the turn of the century (I couldn't resist this framing...it seems so ludicrous), I've been having a regular conversation/consultation with the I Ching.  It has been brought to my attention in this conversation with the Invisible Realms, that the beliefs in 1)humans as being the center of the Universe or the "crowning glory" in a hierarchy and 2)the imperative to become a "somebody", to be a Self,  are two core beliefs that create all kinds of "fate" for people.  I mention this because, in this moment, it is occurring to me that the source energy of the desire to make a difference (which has driven my life for as long as I can remember, so I fully empathize with this desire)  may pulsate from these two belief systems...at least for me this may be true, as "I" know that these two belief systems remain deeply imprinted on my wholeness in ways that are not helpful to creating and sustaining conditions of happiness.  These two belief systems keep a constant, unconscious striving, tension and anxiety experience alive and well w/i my neurobiology...despite over a decade of  focus on deprogramming them.  Every day is an opportunity to wake up to the persistent, unconscious, belief that I can make a difference...because I'm a human being, a some body,  at the center of the Universe.  Though I acknowledge this in my thinking/head as a belief system and not necessarily as a "truth"...some other "Me"  still  believes these belief systems, as I can feel the dissonance between the belief systems and "the truth" in the contractions of my muscular-skeletal system.  
  • ​​ 
  • ​​Every day now I remind mySelf of what "I" know to be "true": I am one of billions of sentient Beings,  my case in the form of a mammal, on this small, beautiful sphere, rotating and vortexing through space/time so fast that "I" can't feel the speed...so fast that there is an experience of "stillness".  How does this happen?  I also know it to be "true" from direct experience that Vast Protective Goodness exists and in-forms. 
  • ​​ 
  • ​​So, I am all for a conversation on "theories of change"...and a collaborative-shared investigation of the belief systems--assumptions and paradigms--upon which We build our theories of change.  How is A Difference made?  Is "making a difference" a belief system?
  • ​​ 
  • ​​One of my kids got the book How We Got To Now for Christmas.  I'd heard an interview with Steven Johnson, the author, several weeks ago, so was quite excited to see the book and to take a quick look at it.  He has written some fascinating stories about "'change" in this book.  My initial take-away was "relax"...control is a belief system.  Thus it might be helpful to unpack the paradigm of "making a difference"...to investigate the desire to make a difference.
  • ​​ 
  • ​​ 
  • ​​In this moment, my deepest desire is to no longer fear the known and the unknown...to fear living and dying.  I desire to feel the possibility suggested by Julian of Norwich that all shall be well, that all manner of things shall be well...right here, right now....that Love (already) Prevails...despite the appearance of Things.
  • ​​ 
  • ​​I find much comfort in the words and perspectives of Stephen Jenkinson.  After writing the above a little bit ago, I especially appreciated his sharing in the 9-minute interview segment titled: On Grief and Climate Change.  You have to scroll down a bit to see the link to click on.
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​This is lovely, Heather. I didn't actually get around to reading it until now (1/5, at 5am!), but knew it was lurking here, along with some other juicy comments farther down in this pad. I'm reminded of Tom's stance--believing that we won't make it and letting go, thus feeling free to act without attachment to outcome (i.e. a need to CONTROL).00000p <-----typed just now by my cat, Milo, coming up onto the desk, as reminder that I'm not totally in control even of the words emanating from my keyboard!
​​ 
​​I've shared the second link ("On grief...") on ​+the ​​+Resources​​+ pads here.​
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/26 Distilling 

​​Good luck, Ben! Hope you find some playmates via the new scheduling system. I'm with family tonight, but will be thinking about you and will check back in later...
​​Well, my bad... my calendar didn't remind me, and I didn't make it on until 20 min. late. Oh well. Sorry about that. I wonder if anyone showed up and left? In any case, you could have pulled one on your own--that's allowed!
​​ 
​​When I saw that there wasn't anything here, I pulled a card last night with my friend Susan:
​​ 
​​ 
​
​Discussion
​​Susan observed that distilling is something she is drawn to as an action-oriented, and very busy working person. On top of running her own business, she's feeling the classic "sandwich generation" squeeze, with an aging mother, and teenage/young adult step-kids who visit for the holidays. She would love to "do something" to make a difference in the large sense of things, and isn't clear--like the rest of us-- just what that might be.
​​ 
​​Our conversation came down to that phrase I first heard from Bob Stilger at the Art of Hosting training he facilitated on behalf of Transition US and affiliated groups, in Maine last May: "what can we do that will make enough of a difference to make a difference?" That's the distillation I would like to see us focus on in this dialogue. there's no shortage of things to do--ways to be "in action" and stay busy. But, as Tom Atlee is also suggesting, it behooves us to think strategically about this work, as so much of what we might initially think to do is likely to be rooted in the assumptions and forms of the old paradigm.
​​ 
​​So here's my distillation for the day: in order to be strategic, I think one of the first conversations we need to have is about "theories of change." I'd love to see us think together about how we might actually get "from here to there" (and in a fairly short period of time, at that). I'm very curious to hear what y'all imagine such a path might actually look like. I hear lots of discussion about what the "there" might be, and about what's wrong with "here," but nearly so much about the journey, at least in a form that strikes me as actionable. That's a thread I plan to convene shortly, once we "open the space" within this community of inquiry!
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​I can feel the activation in my nervous system...my neurobiology...in the presence of the thought, feeling, desire to make a difference.  Big wave of energy passing through and my inner "WAIT A MINUTE!" voice speaking loudly to "Me".  Since the turn of the century (I couldn't resist this framing...it seems so ludicrous), I've been having a regular conversation/consultation with the I Ching.  It has been brought to my attention in this conversation with the Invisible Realms, that the beliefs in 1)humans as being the center of the Universe or the "crowning glory" in a hierarchy and 2)the imperative to become a "somebody", to be a Self,  are two core beliefs that create all kinds of "fate" for people.  I mention this because, in this moment, it is occurring to me that the source energy of the desire to make a difference (which has driven my life for as long as I can remember, so I fully empathize with this desire)  may pulsate from these two belief systems...at least for me this may be true, as "I" know that these two belief systems remain deeply imprinted on my wholeness in ways that are not helpful to creating and sustaining conditions of happiness.  These two belief systems keep a constant, unconscious striving, tension and anxiety experience alive and well w/i my neurobiology...despite over a decade of  focus on deprogramming them.  Every day is an opportunity to wake up to the persistent, unconscious, belief that I can make a difference...because I'm a human being, a some body,  at the center of the Universe.  Though I acknowledge this in my thinking/head as a belief system and not necessarily as a "truth"...some other "Me"  still  believes these belief systems, as I can feel the dissonance between the belief systems and "the truth" in the contractions of my muscular-skeletal system.  
​​ 
​​Every day now I remind mySelf of what "I" know to be "true": I am one of billions of sentient Beings,  my case in the form of a mammal, on this small, beautiful sphere, rotating and vortexing through space/time so fast that "I" can't feel the speed...so fast that there is an experience of "stillness".  How does this happen?  I also know it to be "true" from direct experience that Vast Protective Goodness exists and in-forms. 
​​ 
​​So, I am all for a conversation on "theories of change"...and a collaborative-shared investigation of the belief systems--assumptions and paradigms--upon which We build our theories of change.  How is A Difference made?  Is "making a difference" a belief system?
​​ 
​​One of my kids got the book How We Got To Now for Christmas.  I'd heard an interview with Steven Johnson, the author, several weeks ago, so was quite excited to see the book and to take a quick look at it.  He has written some fascinating stories about "'change" in this book.  My initial take-away was "relax"...control is a belief system.  Thus it might be helpful to unpack the paradigm of "making a difference"...to investigate the desire to make a difference.
​​ 
​​ 
​​In this moment, my deepest desire is to no longer fear the known and the unknown...to fear living and dying.  I desire to feel the possibility suggested by Julian of Norwich that all shall be well, that all manner of things shall be well...right here, right now....that Love (already) Prevails...despite the appearance of Things.
​​ 
​​I find much comfort in the words and perspectives of Stephen Jenkinson.  After writing the above a little bit ago, I especially appreciated his sharing in the 9-minute interview segment titled: On Grief and Climate Change.  You have to scroll down a bit to see the link to click on.
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/24 & 12/25

​​For these two evenings, I invite you to pick a card on your own, or with one or more people with whom you are gathered. Then take a minute to post your selection below (simply copy and paste the image of the card from the Group Works Deck website) along with a brief reflection if desired.
​​ 
​​For those of you who want to play and do not have a deck, simply go to the Group Works page linked to above, randomly move your mouse around the list of cards, and then click when you are ready. Our process, for those not familiar with it yet, is to close our eyes and set an intention, or offer a question or a blessing or a wish, for this moment together, for this inquiry, and or for humanity and the Earth herself, at this time of urgency and need.
​​ 
​​Let's try to post blog-style, with the most recent on top.

​
​ 

​
​​@Heather Tischbein​ 
​​ 
​​Holding Space is the card I picked this Christmas morning.   I've failed at all attempts to cut and paste it here.  Perhaps Ben R. (or some other more skilled person than I) will make that happen...or walk me through the process someday.
​​ 
​​Gladly! On a PC, you mouse over the image, right click, select "copy image," come over here to hackpad, and paste it in (right click again, or Ctrl V).
​​ 
​​ 
​​So "Holding Space": 
​​Be fully present, aware of what's happening in the whole gathering right now-physically, energetically,  and intellectually.  Open and hold the psychological and spiritual space to provide a steady centre and container. Calmly maintain trust, safety, and focus.
​​ 
​​Category is Modelling.
​​ 
​​So, your language is a Holding Space for a card you could not cut and paste; which said "Holding Space"?  Yup, Gerald.  Rather the perfect manifestation of Reality, don't you think.  All is always, sometimes, never what it appears to be?  What is real?  What is reality?  Shortly before Thanksgiving I accepted a friend's invitation to join the 90-days "in home" mindfulness retreat being offered in simultaneity with the monks and nuns at Plum Village and other Buddhist monastaries affiliated with teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.  Thirty+ days in, I am still working with what he describes as "Right View" on pages 18-21 of the little book The Mindfulness Survival Kit.  (Published by Parallax Press, 2014.)  These days I find mySelf a bit wary of "mindfulness"...as I sense there may be some co-opting, and perhaps even corrupting, happening w/i the "mindfulness movement" which paid consultants are taking into places like Intel and the Gates Foundation and ...?  And having said that, I am finding "nourishment" in this little book...so I stick with It, so to speak.  In some way, this retreat is a practice of Holding Space for mySelf...a deep inquiry into Who Am I?  Who is Real?  And what do these queries have to do with transformation and the turning of A Great Turning?  
​​ 
​​Excellent word of caution on "mindfulness" commodification--which may be some kind of oxymoron. Buddhist teachers, including Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama, sometimes use "mindfulness" as shorthand for praxis of "compassionate mind". Compassion and Mindfulness are sometimes used as at least near-synonyms, but they always imply each other in Eastern philosophy of being and becoming.  
​​I think of the Shambhala Warrior prediction, including a caution to understand these as two symbiotic tools. Compassion without mindfulness can grow too hot with impulsive and righteous passion--burn out danger. Mindfulness of our interconnectedness with all beings, species, and all generations past and future of all beings, species, in and of itself, can be too aloof, cool, autistic, internalized, cognitive, Left-brained dominant.  No ego, truly aware of "intergenerational and regenerative  systems of natural being" would be so foolish as to attempt to commodify what only grows more abundantly nutritious as a cooperatively ecological Commons Holding Spacetime, emerging toward diastatically rich harvesting season.
​​G Dillenbeck

​
​ 

​​ 
​
​Gerald Dillenbeck
​​Moving toward Alignment
​​ 
​​ 
​​Details
​​Martin Bailey
​​Heart: 
​​To act jointly, we journey from disparate places to a coherent, collective sense of what is real, what we desire, and what we will do to accomplish it. Group alignment emerges through conversations that generate shared stories, understandings, and decisions.
​​Category: 
​​On Christmas, merging toward a "collective sense of what is real, and what we will do." I have been reflecting on the messianic themes within Laotse's description of what distinguishes a fully enlightened "Sage" from your ordinary Taoist.  While an inept prophet of iconoclastic values is clearly not a well-disciplined Taoist, the Sage embraces the One, Prime Synergetic Principle of Tao, that perfectly mindful and compassionate regenerative values always follow a (0)-sum cooperative ecological economy of balanced YangProgenitivePower and Yin Regeneratively-Harmonious-FlowPower.
​​ 
​​This post-millennial messianic Taoist role calls for mentoring facilitators with a permacultured value prime principle to cooperatively explore abundant slow-growth ecosystems and economies by recognizing within ourselves how our own language and praxis is more truly prophetic when incarnated with grace-filled nutrient Life. Tao, like the Judeo-Christian messianic tradition, is defined three ways: +Regenerative Manna-Polycultured Nutrient Life, 
​​()Balanced EcoTruth,
​​ -(-)/+(0)-EcoCentric Orthopraxised Cooperative Ecological Way of design, discussion, dialogue, development. 
​​ These three together are both Physical Universe Bicamerally Encoded Synergy and Metaphysically Religioned Peacefilled Love.
​​ 
​​A messianic Universal Co-Intelligence emerges, at least for me, from this post-millennial view of Eastern proto-historical poetic wisdom blending Western deductive historic-cultural Positive Teleological teaching, learning, walking, breathing, beating, growing, learning, hoping, loving, regenerating inclusive systems of cooperative ecological design.

​
​ 

​​ 
​
​Ben Roberts
​​ 
​​This card, drawn by my brother-in-law's partner (they just flew in from Austin to be with the family here in CT) led to a discussion about how hard it is a) to understand the viewpoints of people who deny climate change, or have other reactionary opinions, and b) to imagine even mainstream thinking changing at the speed and scale it needs to for the Great Turning to be possible (before tipping points are crossed). We ended with the sense that many, many of us are having these same thoughts, in isolation. And that we yearn for something we could do that might actually matter, but feel utterly stumped as to what that might be right now. Even more challenging, we know that in living our lives as we do, taking planes and driving cars, and eating industrially produced food, we are part of the very system we wish to transform. 
​​ 
​​And... the girls in the picture on this card look awfully happy. And our grandson was totally adorable as a shepherd in the pageant at our UU congregation. And even though I'm an atheist Jew, I felt my heart stir as we all sang Joy to the World, Silent Night, and We Wish You Merry Christmas. Here's to life, wherever we can serve and celebrate it, in these most challenging of times!Ben LeviAesthetics of Space
​​I pulled this card with my partner Aria on this Christmas Eve. I was holding my intention of Living Human Living Earth. Aria didn't make a direct connection with her intention, but really enjoys space aesthetics. An aesthetically pleasing space nourishes her. Is there a general human experience that clean beautiful spaces connected to nature is something a lot of people respond to.  It's a felt energetic, not an absolute kind of thing. So it could be possible for a row of desks in a classroom to be aesthetically pleasing? Not to her... but to a professor? If it also had good energy, with natural light and other kinds of touchstones, connections that are aesthetically pleasing. Like sunlight coming in a window, beautiful colors, plants, a fountain (she's describing our living space now). Ben LeviAesthetics of Space
​​I pulled this card with my partner Aria on this Christmas Eve. I was holding my intention of Living Human Living Earth. Aria didn't make a direct connection with her intention, but really enjoys space aesthetics. An aesthetically pleasing space nourishes her. Is there a general human experience that clean beautiful spaces connected to nature is something a lot of people respond to.  It's a felt energetic, not an absolute kind of thing. So it could be possible for a row of desks in a classroom to be aesthetically pleasing? Not to her... but to a professor? If it also had good energy, with natural light and other kinds of touchstones, connections that are aesthetically pleasing. Like sunlight coming in a window, beautiful colors, plants, a fountain (she's describing our living space now). 
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/23 Courageous Modeling

​​Ben R, Ben L, Tom. Heather and Linda gathered...
​​ 
  • ​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Someone needs to risk going first: to speak out, try a new behaviour, raise concerns, welcome feedback. Be honest, open, authentic, bold, and smart about it. You can catalyze forward movement by taking the lead to show others it can be done, and how.
​​ 
​​Category: Modelling
​​ 
​
​Live Conversation
​​Ben: M Scott Peck's two sins of Community groups: 
​​ To speak when not moved;
​​ To not speak when moved.
​​This card speaks to the courage necessary to overcome the latter.
​​Linda: Bohm Dialogue - to be present with our inner voice to sense when it needs to be heard. 
​​Tom: Often I see things at a meta-level; conversation is on a particular track and I see/feel something different (but evoked by it), but it's not what's going on. Part of being courageous is to violate the flow of the group... it's a question for me... should I say this, will something be derailed? Some processes invite that because of interest in the offshoots... some want to compromise with a "parking lot" to deal with later. Courage can sometimes be an interruption. Part is sitting in that unknown space, reflecting on what I want to say.
​​Heather: Is it in service to the whole of the gathered group? e.g. Quaker silent meetings of worship. It is coming through you for the benefit of the whole? Or is it more your ego having an impulse? So I've learned to wait and see if anybody else speaks it first; if it's for the whole, almost always somebody will speak it first, if I wait long enough. If it's too long, I go to my own discernment practice... how does my embodied self feel... Buddhist instruction around don't say it, but ask yourself, "Is it true? Is it useful? Is it kind?"
​​Ben: It invites the softest voice amongst us to have some space... that's Silence.
​​Linda: At solstice, I had an urge to be first! All I did was hold silence for about 2 minutes... it was profound because of all the chatting that had been going on.
​​Ben: Silence is a card in the deck. You're a "silentist"! (A new economy job!) 
​​Tom: In a Bohm dialogue he distincted between thinking and feel, and thoughts themselves. Thoughts are stuff you've thought before, rather than what's going in you right now. 
​​Linda: Or if you bring thoughts, letting everyone know they're assumptions/beliefs that you've navigated... thus the usefulness of suspending our thoughts into the center, so we can be clear of that and be more present... consciously.
​​Heather: "Feeling" skillful use... to me it's a felt sense of my physiology, not my emotions. e.g. I have an emotion of sadness or anger, and I'm feeling sick in my stomach. I'm just trying to feel my physiology first, then not rush to label it with an emotion, but with a description of the feeling (achy, sick). 
​​Tom: Feeling has been claimed by NVC to be the emotion world. It's hard to agree on what the words mean... feelings... dialogue... we need the equivalent of the Eskimos' 50 words for snow. 
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​We came up with "silentist" as a new paradigm job title at a session Ben R. co-convened at the Peace and High Performance Open Space held in NYC in Jan 2014. I see now that one of them is "global grief worker." Another of my favorites: the Randomizer!  That was cined in honor of Tricia Chirumbole, who I am hoping will join us in this community of inquiry. Here's a graphic recording from that session, courtesy of "roving listener/storyteller" April Doner:
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/22 Listening

​​Heather, Bruce and Ben R gathered to pull this card and discuss it...
​​ 
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Listen from genuine curiosity, welcoming the expression of thoughts, opinions, and especially feelings. When we listen with our whole selves to more than the words, people feel heard and their energy moves into new channels, naturally weaving connection.
​​ 
​​Category: Modelling
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion
​​Thich Nat Han speaks of listening as a core practice in a book Heather just read: How to Love
​​ 
​​ 
​​One of Bruce's favorite books is Kay Lindahl's Practicing the Sacred Art of Listening
​​ 
​​ 
​​Things are complex. We can only take in so much, and trust the process of things integrating in your soul, given time.
​​ 
​​How can we support different groups talk to each other? 
​​ 
​​David Korten's new book: Change the Story Change the Future
​​ 
​​ 
​​There's a lot on the hackpads about participants wanting action. And these CoE conversations are not explicitly "action oriented," but they're really working for those of us showing up. What does that tell us?
​​ 
​​Bruce: based on reading the Dalai Lama, wondering if we could find a common ethical ground for all these conversations. This could be a connecting link across processes..
​​ 
​​What's holding this CoE together? 
  • ​​Life force--it feels good
  • ​​A nice simple technology
  • ​​The ability to make a record of what we've said that others might appreciate.
  • ​​Feeling the heartbreak of ecocide alone--being together helps, and magic can happen.
​​ 
​​Re magic, Ben tells the famous story of Heather and Blind Lady Justice at Occupy Cafe during the National Gathering in July 2012.
​​ 
​​Heather is reminded of this:
​​ 
  • ​​How do we put the philosophy of kindness into practice?
​​ 
​​Hospicing work is a very special and powerful form of collective kindness.  Are we here to hospice the old world and midwifing the new?
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​Thank you Ben R. and Bruce.  Our gathering today way Just Lovely!  Can't wait to see who shows up tomorrow.
​​Did you read the notes above? Let us know you were here!
​​ 
​​Bruce: just dropping by, thanks for a very good call.  I am going through the Dalai Lama material on "ethics" and "moral compass"  that interests me, and I am also looking at a quote in the new Fritjof Capra book on "The System View of Life" added there by Great Transition Initiative associate Marjorie Kelley, who is discussed in the Capra book, and who includes in her "guest essay" (included in the book), speaking of "bio-ethics" (page 404) this powerful simple principle, which I believe might (?) be extended to most issues of ethics in a (shared common) global environment:
  • ​​ 
  • ​​“What kind of economy is consistent with living inside a living being?” This was a question posed under a leafy canopy, deep in the woods of southern England, not far from Schumacher College, where I’d come as a teacher. I stood listening with a group of students as resident ecologist Stephan Harding asked what for me would become a pivotal question - the only question there is, really, as we negotiate the turn from the industrial age into a new age of civilization.
  • ​​ 
  • ​​I"’d come to Schumacher to share my learning from four years as cofounder of Corporation 20/20 at Tellus Institute in Boston, where I’d helped lead hundreds of experts in business, law, government, labor, and civil society to explore a critical question: How could corporations be redesigned to incorporate social and ecological aims as deeply as financial aims? Over twenty years as co-founder and publisher of Business Ethics magazine, I’d seen how corporations and financial markets had come to be the dominant institutions of society, how their profit-maximizing operating system had become the operating system of the planet. That design lay at the root of many major ills facing our society. But Stephan's talk helped me understand why redesigning corporations did not quite hit the mark as the solution: You don't start with the corporation and ask how to redesign it. You start with life, with human life and the life of the planet, and ask, how do we generate the conditions for life's flourishing?
  • ​​ 
  • ​​"If you stand inside a large corporation and ask how to make a sustainable economy, the conversation has to fit itself into the frame of profit maximization ("here's how you can make more money through sustainability practices").  Asking corporations to change their fundamental frame is like asking a bear to change its DNA and become a swan.
  • ​​ 
  • ​​"A better place to start -- as the founding generation of Americans did -- is by articulating truths we hold to be self-evident.  That's what ecologist Stephen Harding [discussed in Kelly's comment] did in the forest, saying simply "a thing is right when it enhances the stability and beauty of the total ecosystem.  It is wrong when it damages it.  The sustainability of the larger system comes first.  Everything else must fit itself within that frame."
​​ 
​​I'm thinking I should write something on a "Universal Ethic of the Whole" -- which emerges solely from a conscious respect for the entire holistic/integral context of shared human experience -- the "oneness of being" across all sectors and categories of human experience -- and perhaps connecting to the global ideals discussed by the Dalai Lama -- and, I suspect, echoed by Thich Nhat Hanh.
​​ 
​​PS -- the "power shift" card below, drawn Dec. 19 -- shows the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela.  
​​ 
​​How do "kindness" (mentioned by the Dalai Lama and by Heather) connect to "compassion" -- and how do both of these elements work together to guide humanity (maybe interconnected through a huge all-sector network of circles) to make whole-system decisions -- where "every decision is made with respect to the whole" -- and not in a way that fragments the whole by ignoring it, and only paying attention to immediate local contingencies -- ?
​​*****
​​Bruce...
​​I'm currently taking an online course through edX from Berkeley, "Science of Happiness". I've got about 20 pages on how kindness and compassion connect and work together to evolve humanity... it's simple, really... kindness and compassion are built into our DNA, as they are a dominant strategy for evolution. Check out http://http://greatergood.berkeley.edu and do a search for kindness and happiness... there's thousands of hits on the site, which aggregates tons of research on happiness done over the past couple of decades (before that, there was NO research being done on happiness... just pathologies, anger, fear and anxieties.)
​​*****
​​ 
​​And to comment on what Ben L. said below -- a couple of things.  First, thank you.  Secondly, Just before I arrived on this hackpad, I was transcribing some comments from the Dalai Lama regarding some ideas from his friend David Bohm (DL explicitly called David Bohm "my friend").  I will put those comments into a word.docx I will send to our group.
​​ 
​​Thirdly, Ben -- I am continuing to cook away in my little brain on a few ideas regarding "circle" -- which I think fit very well with the article on circle-practice you sent to us a couple of days ago.  Right now -- I am exploring some kind of "global-scale moral compass for humanity" that might emerge through a "network of circles" all of which are interconnected, and which are -- dare I say it -- taking on all the big issues facing the human race.
​​ 
​​I like what William Isaacs says about "dialogue and center" -- and I would like to further explore that.  Hook 1,000 circles together, taking on 1,000 interconnected issues -- and somehow cross-correlate them around some very simple common ethic of wholeness.  And "put a candle" at the center of the entire process -- or a campfire --  or a "sacred flame".
​​ 
​​"Living Human Living Earth"
​​ 
​​All within a single context of Wholeness and Oneness and Being -- such that every action not only honors living human living earth at the local point -- but honors them globally ("everywhere") as well.  If we get a global network of circles with "people from everywhere" in the network, those people can gently remind us of what we are missing when we are making some "local" decision in a way that impacts them negatively.   Every "local" deicision should also be embedded in a global context of awareness.  That is a "pure ethics of wholeness" -- with a kind of mathematical purity that is not derived in some opinionated ideology.  Maybe this is indeed a way to build a new world on a foundation that is, as Ben L suggests, based on "self-evident truths".
​​ 
​​******
​​ 
​​Ben: WOW! Another ihi! I love this group! While you all were on your call, I was having a great conversation with Linda about our two closely related experiences with Bohmian Dialogue (given we've never been in B.D. together)... I want to say that we were totally tracking you all in your 'Listening' conversation above. Listening is one of the key qualities/building blocks of Bohmian Dialogue. And I was sharing with Linda my deep intention to propagate a meme I heard while on a call with David Korten and Otto Sharmer... Living Human Living Earth. It's a meme that represents a superordinate goal that I can share more about... I think it could end up being a political party.
​​ 
​​I love following Bruce above... he just wrote about "self-evident" truths... Living Human Living Earth is a self-evident truth.
​​ 

​
​12/21 Trajectory

​​Ben R., Tom, Ben L., Gerald and Nancy gathered to pull this card and discuss it...
​​ 
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Group work is a collective journey. How long will it take, and what will be the shape of the path? Consider what happens before, and after. Structure agendas in light of anticipated stages, choosing activities that align with each phase. Complete the arc to arrive at your desired destination.
​​ 
​​Category: Flow
​​ 
​​Reminded of ​+Khalil Gibran's poem on children​ being arrows. and our thoughts are also our children.
​​ 
​​ 
​​Trajectory is launch point. Fuller's favorite word for lines and the ___ of systems.
​​ 
​​Teleology=future causation. A trajectory can be pulled by the future. In this enterprise, the future is calling us. A "living into" of the inquiry.
​​ 
​​Ben is thinking about the next piece of the inquiry--a new invitation that offers more clarity and specificity, and can be sent out more widely. And he is holding some tension around a desire to get that out ASAP.
​​ 
​​Nancy wants a name for this engagement, or at least is noticing she doesn't have one now. We can use evocative images, versus words.
​​ 
​​Ben is calling this "an inquiry, in community, at the intersection of D&D and systemic transformation." Is it too ambitous to want to be in community for such a short time (i.e. "ending" in January)? Paying attention to people and relationships=the key in this. That can happen in a short time, if that intention is named.
​​ 
​​A "collaborative inquiry" is another possible term.  
​​ 
​​Tom: re the energetics around the question "what should we be doing around these big issues"" This is shifting to "what converastions have to do with change? What is the quality of energy I want to cultivate? Catalytic energy resonates (for Tom). Not directive, or strategic energy. Ask "what is the strategic use of catalystic power in a potentially catastrophic situation?" Which processes, kinds of people are more catalytically oriented?
​​ 
​​Positive Deviance Inst. Positive deviants have a catalytic effect. Naming pos. deviant trends can have an incubative effect on the population. www.positivedeviance.org.
​​ 
​​Ben L: the "purpose" card I pulled (in parallel with the main card) relates to finding coherence through dialogue (i.e. Bohmian), not only in the sweet spot of collective "flow of meaning," but also taking the next step into processes leading to action -- coherence from the beginning.
​​ 
​​A propos of Nancy learning that Ben Levi lives in Boulder, Ben R mentions that he watched this wonderful short video this morning with the youth in the OWL program he is co-facilitating at UU Danbury, and recommends that y'all check it out!
​​ 
​​ 
​​Thanks Ben! That was amazing and inspiring, and love it was done with humor.
  • ​​You're welcome, Ben!
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​
​Additional Comments
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​
​12/20 Playfulness

​​Ben R and Fedor Ovchinnikov got together on Skype, pulled this card, and discussed it...
​​ 
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Invite light-hearted and high-spirited interaction to exercise mind, senses, imagination and body, to engender creativity, and deepen relationships. Playfulness may be evoked through structured but fun ways to engage relevant topics, or restorative breaks that allow laughter free reign, or may simply show up as humour.
​​ 
​​Category: Creativity
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion Highlights
​​ 
​​Some humour, simply showing up...
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 
​​Fedor declares that "Lego is a great tool for ontological designing!" Fedor just got this for his 5 year old daughter Anna (who is clearly very advanced!)
​​ 
​​ 
​​It took Ben four tries to find an image the right version of "Princess Lego" from among the seemingly dozens of options within that category online. this one is the ROMANTIC castle--a very important distinction!
​​ 
​​Fedor says that the ontological designing comes from disassembling the castle pieces and using them to create new realities that would replace the old Cinderella story that the child is bringing from the preschool. Ben observes that this is probably not what Lego had in mind, to which Fedor replies: "Well, then... FUCK them!"
​​ 
​​Fedor mentions this event, coming up in Feb: Global Innovation Summit + Week. He is on the facilitation team this year.
​​ 
​​P.S. Some alternative design materials:
​​ 
​​ 
​​And a brief anecdote from 2012: 
​​- Anna, who do you like more: Obama or Romney?
​​- Birds.
​​ 
​​Such a pleasure playing with you, Fedor!
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​ 
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​​ 

​
​12/19  Power Shift

​​Tom, Ben R., Linda, and Heather got together on Zoom, randomly pulled this card and discussed it:
​​ 
​​ 
  • ​​Category: Relationship
  • ​​ 
  • ​​Heart: 
  • ​​Critical awareness and transparency around existing power differences can, if held well, allow the group to adapt authority structures to best reflect their values or serve their aims. Sharing power isn't always easy, but the rewards for groups who do so can be profound.
​​ 
  • ​​Live Discussion:
​​Amazing that we picked the same card twice, twice (naming too). And what an appropriate card.  And how related it is to another card picked in this group of four:  Experts on Tap.  
​​ 
​​Tom notes that we don't know how to actually do the power shift that is needed, so we're always stumbling.  It is like having a very bad transmission:  There's lots of noise and shaking whenever we try to shift gears in this realm of power and authority.
​​ 
​​Heather has a triggered reaction to the word "authority!" Linda: many of us have a similar reaction. There's a huge shadow here. And, if work is to be done, authority has to rest somewhere.
​​ 
​​Tom: root is same as "author." It can be shared. It's gotten a bad name from top-down systems. 
​​ 
​​PATRIARCHY!!! We know we need to transcend it, and perhaps we also don't really know how to do that. AND the urgency of this moment tends to evoke our desire to "be in charge" so we can "get something done fast."
​​ 
​​There are people who cannot transcend their shadow issues with authority. And there seems to be a pattern of outwardly  "progressive" initiatives having deeply "convservative," authoritarian internal cultures.
​​ 
​​Time is such an issue. When we don't think we have enough of it, that scarcity mentality (reality?) undermines our work. Especially work that requires DIALOGUE.
​​ 
​​Acceptance and tolerance of chaos is needed for a real Power Shift. Tom talks about "co-sensing" (feeling our way together) versus consensus (making agreements we all sign on to).  Co-sensing - like all forms of participatory culture that we are trying to create - demands time and attention and especially conversation that most of us are not willing to invest.  Thus the complementary need for tolerance to deal with the resulting rough edges.
​​ 
​​"You're not the boss of me!" We all have that voice in us.
​​ 
​​Check out Authority in Open Space (from a session initiated by Dan Mezick at the Peace and High Performance Open Space, NYC, Jan 2014). Based on theory from the Group Relations Community www.akriceinstitute.org).  ​+This excerpt from notes linked to above​ was read on the call. Tom suggests that "wasted authority" is another dimension of it.
​​ 
​​Leadership is a function, not a person. But we have a very hard time seeng that.  The shifting of ideas like leadership, authority, intelligence, wisdom, empathy, etc. from qualities of individuals to capacities or phenomena present in groups, systems, situations, contexts, cultures, etc., is one of the biggest leaps of understanding needed in the Great Turning - and so many people can't even conceive of what that is about...
​​ 
​​Being "leaderless," not "leaderful," is a misuse of authority.
​​ 
​​All agree that this has been a wonderful impromtu experience!
​​ 
​​Ben closes by reading one of his favorite quotes from Peter Block's Community:The Structure of Belonging, on how "​+leadership is convening​."
​​ 
​
​Additional Discussion
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​​ 
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​​ 

​
​12/18 Right Size Bite

​​Tom, Ben R., Ben L, Linda, Bruce, and Andrea got on Zoom to pull this card and discuss it:
​​ 
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Break tasks, processes, and content to be absorbed into chunks that are an appropriate match for the time and people you have. Tackle complex topics and larger goals piece by piece.
​​ 
​​Category: Flow
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion:
​​The need for a common, larger (super-ordinate) goal. One articulated, everybody will be involved in projects toward that goal. and it's a complex goal.
​​ 
​​So many pieces at once. They need to be sequenced or "linearized," based on the design of the whole. Feels essential to me.
​​ 
​​Tension between larger reality of global situation and anything we might attempt to do. Bite sized pieces might be... [too small??]  Pattern languages (like these cards) can help. Name the pieces in the context of the larger whole they belong to. What might a pattern language be that can address the larger world situation in realistic terms, so can work in a way that has us know we are part of a larger design.
​​ 
​​What if we did a bottom-up fishing expedition, asking people to each bring their own aspect. Compile it and refine it, looking for agreement. Meet people where they are.
​​ 
​​Say we said this DandDTrans group focused on something, e.g. "global culture change." Find all the best practices out there. Break that down. But we haven't landed on the exact inquiry we are in. Can we break the steps down for the process of landing on that?
​​ 
​​There's already a lot on the hackpad now.
​​ 
​​There's a need for one or more people to tell the story of the what's happening now--the story. Blogging.
​​ 
​​ 
​​In "right size bite", what is the definition (or assumptions underying) the idea of "right"?
​​ 
​​This pattern wasn't framed in a merely organizational way. Appropriate, nourishing, at the right time and for the right people! Pay attention for difference.
​​ 
​​The cards fit for group process, but do they work for large system process change?
​​ 
​​Can also refer to the capacity of a system to absorb something , or confront disturbance. 
​​"Leading from half a step ahead."
​​ 
​​The notion of fragmentation. don't want this to be another isolated initiative. This is a critical point.
​​ 
​​The What's In Motion pad is a way to deal with the fragmentation and specialization. What if we are prototyping a form of inquiry that can then be brought out in service to a set of three, four of five of these "things in motion," in a way that serves them all?
​​ 
​​We came up with a lot in the listserv discussion! These ideas haven't made it into the hackpad.  Lot's of organizations and initiatives were identified. How might we help them?
​​ 
​​Tom highly recommends using the Reliable Prosperity.net site as a pattern language tool as a personal practice, choosing a "major" and a minor," with the whole pattern as the education. change strategies, for example, could be a subject. He has some disagreements with some of the actual content, but loves the beauty and ambition of the framework. Might a group emerge that would create a pattern language for systemic transformation, of about how to improve  Reliable Prosperity.net site. 
​​ 
​​An inquiry that could shape a pattern language project: What design elements (including gifts and key dynamics, strategies, and tactics) do we have to keep in mind as we seek to catalyze the Great Turning with our D&D skills?
​​ 
​​A shift in global consciousness is part of what needs to happen, including what it means to be able to think like (and be a competent) global citizen. How do we create a process that takes us from an individual to a collective hero myth?
​​Tom: efforts to change indiv consciousnes are complex and long term. One approach to that frustrating fact is to ask What social/political/economic processes and systems can cause people's collective behavior to be enlightened even if they are not enlightened as individuals (like full cost pricing or high quality D&D among diverse people).  A book that is now out of print that is relevant is called "Changing Consciousness" by Mark Edwards and David Bohm.  
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 
​
​Addition Comments
​​Right-size flow patterns:
  • ​​For each vocation, dialogue, project, there are natural flow sequences. We template these language patterns seasonally (advent-winter, spring, summer, fall-harvest) and/or daily as advent/pre-dawn dark, dawn/early day light, mid-day full-light, evening/dusk/light's resolution. Messianic/manna religious cultures tend to emphasize the annual/fractal and spatial perspective, while Taoist/Eastern philosophies are more dualistically sympathetic toward contrasts of light and dark, Yang and Yin self-perpetuating and mutually-self/other-defining revolutions, evolutions, and sustainable perpetuation of time. 
  • ​​ 
  • ​​There are many other evolutionary stage-theories that follow this basic pattern, including trigonometry (LINE, COSINE, LTR, FRACTAL/SPATIAL INFORMATION), Bloom's Deep Learning Taxonomy: Notice/Awareness, Explore/Research, Understand/Report/Explain, Comprehend Systemic Analogical Relationships/Replication Potential.
​​ 
​​. In Dharma and Development, Dr. Joanna Macy discusses a development fractal following this same pattern:
​​1.      NOTICE: metta--loving kindness = Basic Positive Teleological Attendance
​​2.      HOPE: karam—compassion and/or grief [I would translate as confluence and/or dissonance, within information and communication theory]
​​3.      FAITH: mudita—joy in the joy of others; confluence/sorrow in the confluence/sorrow of others; trust in the trust of others; informating through informating with others; incarnating through incarnating as Integral Eco-Other Positive mythos/logos, eisegetical/exegetical string species
​​4.      LOVE/ACTIVE PEACE WITH JUSTICE: uppekkha—equanimity/integrity optimized value balance; a great, and deep, peace Tao of balanced equity.
​​ 
​​"To everything there is a Season" transliterates as within each discernment there is a natural flow momentum from 
​​Naming the Darkness/Pathology
​​to Finding the Lightness/Therapy
​​to Understanding Ecological Economic Balance between the problem and life-sustaining solutions
​​Resolved: Regenerative Diapraxis (both positive and negative Intent and Practice) Design and Development Plan.
​​ 
​​Not sure this is the "right season" for me to try to communicate through this spot on this hackpad on this day. Somehow all my prior attempts to communicate what I am hearing and seeing seem to disappear into the chaos of a congested too-much-information platform.  I feel invisible in this space, and I think the intent was for inclusive significant participation. Maybe its just me.
​​ 
​​G Dillenbeck
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/17 Naming

​​A group of us gathered on MaestroConference at 7:30pm ET (Ben invited everyone who has posted to hackpad so far, and a couple of additional friends). Present were:
​​Ben Roberts, Andrea Houchard, Linda Ellinor, Bruce Schuman
​​ 
​​ 
  • ​​Category: Inquiry and Synthesis
  • ​​ 
  • ​​Heart: Call it out, stating directly what is perceived. Naming functions to birth things not yet recognized by the group, sometimes things that are taboo. Akin to an alchemical process, to name can be to transform, and brings change in its wake.
​​ 
  • ​​Pulled by the group on MaestroConference
​​ 
​
​Live Discussion
​​So many fabulous ideas that came up so far. Now is the time to name something that is transcending many of them. Helps to clarify--we're looking for collective clarity.
​​ 
​​Re Naomi Klein and environmental ethics. The virtue of envioronmental creativity. Direct experience in nature. But we're so urban, the importance of naming this virtue to call attention to it and encourage and call attention to a new way of being.
​​ 
​​Robert Corman talked about finding the "leaky margins." 
​​ 
​​We need a collective hero story. we are the ones we've been waiting for. Many people are working on this now. New Story, New Narrative, New Myth, New Economy. Maybe we're ready for a "New Dialogue!" or " New Conversation! 
​​ 
​​I want to see all the tangle get clarified in a new framework that fits into a new story. Ecology isn't fighting the economy, but in harmony.
​​ 
​​Relates to Ken Wilber's idea of transcending existing polarities.
​​ 
​​Are we talking about naming in general, or a name for what we're trying to create?
​​This group, and naming what we're hearing so we find common group.
​​ 
​​Bruce: I like being in a smaller group. I feel like I'm being pulled along by a primal evolutionary force. 
​​ 
​​How can we tie our work to the agenda Naomi Klein has suggested ??
​​ 
​​Ben reads his favorite ​+Quote from Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything​
​​ 
​​Andrea: The history of dialogue is geared toward problem solving and analysis. The "new conversation" Klein is referring to calls for a different, less analytic way of being. It calls for a way of being compassionate and understanding and this may require a new name. "Dialogue" historically refers to a way of problem solving, and not so much a way of being together. "Solving problems" which Western society has done well, from a purely formal point of view, has created many of the challenges we face. We need a new name to describe a new way of being, talking, acting, and caring.
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 
​
​Additional Comments
​​WOW! I just want to say that I'm having a major 'ihi' right now (that's the feeling you get in your spine running up to your head... you know that feeling)... I need to share the process I've been on while you all were on your call. I was talking with a group of four people in Caracas, Venezuela that I met online at the Korten/Sharmer event that Ben R helped host, I think... [Yes, I did help design and host that call. Ben R.] I was in a breakout group with just them, and we talked for 15 minutes; and today I spent 3 hours over Skype with them talking about Spiral Dynamics, and learning about life conditions in Venezuela (which they say they're in Beige right now... that means lots of people roaming through the city just looking for food, for there's a huge shortage)... 
​​To make a long story short, I wanted to share my experience of what you all talked about above. It starts with a paper  describing two major factors which, independently, could lead to civilizational collapse... they are Economic Stratification (increasing gap between haves and have-nots), and Ecological Strain (depleting resources). So part of the new story, the new myth, the new meme, has to do with reducing the stratification gap, and slowing down our extraction of natural resources. Needless to say this is going to require a totally different organizing principle than how we've done it heretofore. I don't have a clue what that looks like... BUT, I have a meme that I believe represents that experience...
​​Living Human Living Earth
​​The other piece that's important for me is about Common Knowledge ... which the author, Ben Hunt, says is "the ideas that a crowd believes that the crowd believes; it is the power of the crowd seeing the crowd, and it is the most potent force in the social world." What if the ideas that Naomi Klein, the paper referenced above, etc. can align with a "superordinate goal" like Living Human Living Earth, and that starts to become Common Knowledge? 
​​All these are inquiries that are worth dialoging... and I would enjoy having them with a dialogical-based group such as this one. I'd like to use zoom or skype video conferencing, and I'd like to have it regularly. That's what juices me at the moment. As we interface with each of our networks, something useful is bound to happen... I believe that.
​​What gave me the "ihi" was reading the card you all picked... it nailed the energy I was feeling, perfectly.
  • ​​ 
  • ​​Ben Roberts, 12/18
  • ​​I love how that came together for you, Ben! The "Living Human Living Earth" framing is closely connected with a number of other Life-centered new story frames I've seen co-arising. Let's talk on today's hosting call about the idea of a pad to compile these memes. Maybe somewhere in the ​+What Else?​ space. And also about how we might get that regular dialogue you've proposed going as well. Maybe that can even weave with the Card of the Evening conversation.
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/16 Experts on Tap

​​ 
​​Category: Inquiry & Synthesis
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Experts play excellent supporting roles, providing technical help and judgements (sic) based on specific training. Respect their value as one resource to draw on, while recognizing that ultimately as stakeholders we must empower ourselves, relying on our own experience, values, and commitments to deliberate and make decisions on the issues that affect us.
​​ 
  • ​​Comments
​​Makes me think about who our colleagues and our audience(s) are for our conversations. Experts in our own D&D community, (other) experts in the Shift - e.g. activists, non-experts in either.
​​ 
​​Make sure we tap the D&D expertise of the group in the work we do together
​​ 
​​Reminded of the phenomenon of experts being overridden by the beliefs of the people who don't understand things well (e.g. climate deniers).
​​ 
​​Working with dialogue, I teach the shift from being a "knower" to being a learner. Reminded of how often experts come in as "knowers," and how difficult it can be to show up as a learner. Hard to get to the sweet spot of dialogue if there's too much "knowing" in the group.
​​ 
​​Expert has the "movement" of exporting, i.e. bringing things from one paradigm into another.
​​(Nice, more of a peer feeling - as with "Experts on Tap" - than the usual framing around experts.)
​​ 
​​John, I'm intrigued by the "movement" context of "expert"... it seems like we all can bring things from one paradigm to another; that it certainly doesn't require being an expert to do so... just a willingness to be a bridge, so to speak.
​​Everyone is an expert at some things, most obviously on their own experience.
​​Yes... kind of dilutes the concept of expert, though...
​​From my perspective that rescues the term :-). It's not that everyone is expert in everything (which would dilute it imho).
​​ 
​​Thoughts on moving the conversation to hackpad, from the call yesterday:
​​Nancy would be willing to help. Tension between pulling back and digesting, versus being in conversation and deepening connections, and also in responding to the direction of the conversation leadership versus going wherever we want.. Spent the whole day talking to people from yesterday. Already a bit overwhelming!
​​ 
​​Maybe a weekly harvest?
​​ 
​​We are using HackPad as a wiki. Lots to learn from the wiki world about stewarding this medium to develop thought and nurture community.
​​ 
​​Gerald wants to try an experiment, re spiral dynamics and DF, and Bucky Fuller and David Bohm.  (Gerald, what is DF?  Dynamic Facilitation
​​  Also interested in your experiement details.)
​​Gerald, please do describe your experiment, especially as it relates to Spiral Dynamics, and I'll chime in as I see fit. THx.
​​ 
​​B/ Fuller was interested in a strong analogical relationship between energy and information. Partially philosophical, but mostly phenomenologically based. Fuller, in a way that resonates with David Bohm's interest in the implied temporal order of language, alliterative verbals/praxis imaged within spaciated/geometricized time. 
​​This reminds me of evolutionary psychologist Julian Jaynes, his bicameral mind theory of the development of not only Left-brain dominant self v. other consciousness, but also its differentiation from more primordial Right-brained intuitive awareness of relationship and proportion, harmony and balance, equity and feeling of goodness, affective confluence and dissonance Unlike our newer Left-hemisphere, our older half of our bicameral information processors are not deductively languaged--absence of capacity to cognitively imagine labels, nomials, memes, codes--but might be profoundly influenced by "tree" dia-hierarchical (-)root+branch systems and natural temporal cycles, like +light and (-)dark, and the fractally-lunar organized seasons of the year, and sound and color octaves.
​​So, layering information in a bicameral 4-frame Win-Win Game Theory, using spaciated temporal-affective verbal analogies, might be a rational way to translate the intent of dialogue and/or diapraxis (what we have in mind to be and do; not be and not do).
​​For example, 
​​ 
​​Heart: Call it out, stating directly what is perceived. Naming functions to birth things not yet recognized by the group, sometimes things that are taboo. Akin to an alchemical process, to name can be to transform, and brings change in its wake.
​​ 
​​the only way we can make the Great Turning is if thousands, and maybe even millions of us, can somehow call forth the level of compassion, integrity, and determination that these two have modeled so powerfully. (Yes....this is why I keep coming back to interlocking dialogue circles/pods.  People change consciousness while Dialoguing, there is nothing left then to do, no need for a new story  - although the story begins to become a meta-level metaphor for what people would be directly experiencing in their Dialogue circles/pods).  
​​ 
​​ the urgent need to address "extinction-level issues" with systemic "transformation" in the context of the D&D community of practice.
​​ 
​​ I want to create verb-synonym subsets of phrases articulated within a rhetorical event, and possibly organize these as before or after or temporally transitional.
​​ 
​​ So, these should be in a circle, with 
​​“winter/purgative/yin” language in the upper left quadrant, 
​​“spring/birth/becoming/young-yang” language upper-right—imagining future
​​“summer/full-Yang/being/matured/ripe” in lower-right,
​​“fall/transition/advent-yin/evaluation/winnowing” in lower-left—remembering past
​​ 
​
​Winter-Purged/EmptyYin: Intention to Notice
​​In the context
​​Urgent need
​​Extinction-level issues
​​ 
​
​Spring-YangBirthing: Hopes of Group
​​To address
​​ Call it out
​​ state directly what is perceived
​​ Naming functions
​​ to name
​​call forth the level
​​ 
​​ the only way we can make 
​​ birthing things not yet 
​​ birthing things sometimes taboo
​​ bring change in its wake
​​ 
​
​Summer-FullYangPractice: Faith of Group
​​have modeled so powerfully
​​ 
​​ is if thousands, and maybe even millions of us
​​D&D community of practice
​​ 
​
​Fall-AdventYinReGenerational Intention: Love/Synergetic Spacetime of Group of 3 Sample
​​ 
​​ akin to an alchemical process
​​ 
​​determination that these 
​​ 
​​ to transform
​​ the Great Turning
​​of compassion
​​integrity
​​systemic transformation 
​​ 
​​recognized by the group
​​ 
​​A summary of these three selections might read:
​​ 
​​In this critical moment,
​​We intend to name and give birth to,
​​Powerfully inclusive praxis models [mentor?],
​​Recognized as compassion transforming integral [organic?] systems.
​​ 
​​I put in brackets words that came out of my mind as strong correlates of phrases cobbled together with synergetic spiral intent. Presumably a compassionate, transformative, integrated system responds to urgent threats of extinction. While I doubt that this statement achieves the magic of alchemistry, it does seem to reflect what was in my Heart.  Yours? Does this seem in any way useful, or even potentially sane?
​​ 
​​(Yes!!!  It sees to sum up what this D & D list-serve group is attempting to move towards....better words/naming will come...and we will need to be more specific to make anything actionable, but a nice mixing of concepts as a way of pointing towards a direction for where we may be spinning.)  
​​ 
​​G.D.
​​ 

​
​12/15 Transparency

​​ 
​​ 
  • ​​In the "Relationship" Category
  • ​​ 
  • ​​Heart: 
  • ​​Be open about what's real: feelings, experiences, how decisions get made, finances, and more. Transparency arises from a belief that the free flow of information and taking action in direct and honest ways best serves group needs. Handled well, openness nurtures trust, collaboration, and authentic community.
  • ​​ 
  • ​​Card pulled by: the 12/15 call participants
  • ​​ 
  • ​​Comments:
​​This says to me that the convening team expecially needs to be completely transparent as we attempt to shape, scaffold direction for the whole group and others can come into the convening team as appropriate and we can mix things up so that leadership becomes resident completely in the group  -  we create a true "shared leadership" for this D & D journey we are on.  
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/14: History and Context

​​ 
​​In the "Context Category" 
​​ 
​​Heart: History and Context hugely influence how the rest of the patterns are invoked. Pay attention to why things are the way they are and what the people coming expect. Tune in to discern when to respect the existing culture vs. when it benefits to stretch toward something new.
​​ 
​​Card pulled by: Linda Ellinor
​​ 
  • ​​Comments:
​​ 
​​Ben Roberts, 12/15
​​One of my favorites. Especially that picture!
​​ 
​​Linda pulled this card at the end of the conversation she and I had with Tom Atlee to design the 12/15 MaestroConference call, and we had a really good laugh together over its appropriateness! There was no discussion, as it was late, but it seemed pretty clear to me that, among other things, we were reflecting on the genesis of this conversation on the listserv, during the NCDD 2014 conference. 
​​ 
​​I think I can speak for Tom in suggesting that he might have done a better job of "paying attention to why things are the way they are and what the people coming expect" when he made his initial post! What he did after that though, also seems like a damn fine example of "tuning in to discern when to respect the existing culture vs. when it benefits to stretch toward something new." 
​​ 
​​It's a pleasure to be playing with you again, Tom! As my first mentor in D&D work, you will always have a special place in my heart. [Note to readers: if you're interested, I'd be happy to tell you the story (it's a good one!) of how Tom and I connected, back in 2010, perhaps as a preamble to your pulling the next card!]   
​​ 
​​On rereading the card description a few days later, what occurs to me is how many of us were reading Naomi Klein's book "This Changes Everything:  Capitalism vs. Climate".  Naomi so well depicts how the history of our collective understanding explains a lot about why we are all tied in knots around it.  Getting clear of the 'history' of some of our most intractibale, complex social issues really helps in unwinding them at a consciousness level.  In stretching to some new way of thinking about climate change we have to integrate all views, even the views that want to deny climate change for their own reasons, before we can find a way to transcend and move on together.  Clearly climate change, if we were to just use this as one issue towards which we wanted to work, can't be turned around until all views, political polarities, economic realities, social strata, etc., are all on the same page.  Looking at the history of the many groups/fragments in society out there really helps assess how people might come into a Dialogue on climate change and where the hidden tacit assumptions might lay that will have to be flushed out and seen in new ways before all of us can move forward. (Sorry for being so long.) 
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/13: Naming

​​ 
​​Category: Inquiry and Synthesis
​​ 
​​Heart: Call it out, stating directly what is perceived. Naming functions to birth things not yet recognized by the group, sometimes things that are taboo. Akin to an alchemical process, to name can be to transform, and brings change in its wake.
​​ 
​​Card pulled by: Jeff Aitken
​​ 
  • ​​Comments:
​​ 
​​Ben Roberts, 12/15
​​My colleague and Open Space convener/Art of Hosting practitioner extraordiaire Jeff Aitken pulled this card just after I had spent an hour or so updating the header of all the pads with the tag "DandDTrans." So one of my first thoughts was to question that choice, which has a somewhat cryptic quality. It's a good length though, and it also happens to be the bit.ly link to get to our home pad, so it's worth remembering when you want to share these hackpads with others, or can't figure out how else to get back here (although usually just going to www.hackpad.com and logging in will bring up some pads from the collection that you can click into).
​​ 
​​I also thought I had about this card's relevance in terms of the power of Tom's naming the urgent need to address "extinction-level issues" with systemic "transformation" in the context of the D&D community of practice. I just checked and saw that fifty eight of us are now registered for today's call. And the names I recognize are pretty impressive folks, and as I read your ​+Intros​, I'm finding myself getting excited about meeting the rest of you as well. 
​​ 
​​ 
​​ 

​
​12/12: Power Shift

​​ 
​​Category: Relationship
​​ 
​​Heart: 
​​Critical awareness and transparency around existing power differences can, if held well, allow the group to adapt authority structures to best reflect their values or serve their aims. Sharing power isn't always easy, but the rewards for groups who do so can be profound.
​​ 
​​Card pulled by: Kim Roberts
​​ 
  • ​​Comments:
​​ 
​​Ben Roberts, 12/15
​​What a perfect way to kick off this inquiry! Mandela and the Dalai Lama. I might go so far as to say that the only way we can make the Great Turning is if thousands, and maybe even millions of us, can somehow call forth the level of compassion, integrity, and determination that these two have modeled so powerfully. 
​​ 
​​The card is also a valuable reminder to me as a host. The online description notes: "facilitator has a tremendous role modeling job around power. Be aware of your own power issues." Good thing I don't have any of those! ;-)  
​​ 
​​Yes...here it is again.  The nudge towards what I like to call "shared leadership".  In this list-serve, D&DTrans group, as you have now named it, Ben, a great reminder that while we may differentiate our roles, in fact we need to quickly if we aren't to overwhelm ourselves, we can still share the power and leadership.  Sharing of power itself is a cultural shift that we might model.  
​​ 
​​ 
​​