Transformation or Collapse?

Many of us sense that humanity is a a place of act now or die – no exaggeration. Yet, not much change seems to be happening, especially in human behavior.

There seems to be incredible unconscious fears about acting on ideas, and even more about the future that is ours … Just better not to think about that part. Thinking is wonderful, but if it just stays in the mind, nothing new gets created. And I’m not sure that thought is the way out of our misbehavior in a world that is asking for a reunification of its wholeness.

‘Failure’ too is another show stopper. It is so voodoo in most cultures that it freezes people from action, and increases the thinking – It’s safer there. Even the responsibility of success is scary because of the confusion that comes up when we think of having to do the work; for no pay typically. How would we survive?

The essence of personal sustainability emerges in this space and is not being addressed in traditional organizations – even the ones who are attempting to apply sustainability in terms of technical developments.

There also seems to be a fear of abandonment and being shamed if acting on their out-of-the-box, culturally unaccepted ideas. I speak from my own experiences here, but this has not stopped me from trying. Not one bit. But I’ll admit it has put me into a horrible place in life, with no ability to make ends meet financially, loss of friends and family, inability to find meaningful work, isolation, and so on. I guess their fears are valid.

Yet: Where are the new heroes going to emerge? I have felt for sometime that the new hero is not “a” hero, but a collective “heronis”. This is my word for a collaborative form of heroism that arises through the integrity of collaborative design. Strangely, very few seem to know how to do this thing called ‘collaboration’ and fall into the trap of linear structured methods of development that depends on singular forms of leadership – truly old paradigm, but still viscerally real in our existing world.

This way of organizing worked in the past, but now it only sets up false expectations based on the idea of a ‘savior’, an idea that is so prominent in all human cultures. The savior mythology for leadership needs to pass out of our consciousness so that a new myth can emerge – a global mythology that reshapes the role of leadership from having power ‘over’ people into power ‘to’ people. Myth is where the unseen directives that influence a society’s way of being come from, and is where we will need to go – if we want to see real change.

… More later on this, and how to move from thinking to action, as well as how our fears and myths blind us and bind us. I plan to move this discussion into the realm of ‘values’ – those tangible tidbits that are visible when a culture’s underlying story (its mythology) expresses itself. They are the bridge from the conscious to unconscious, and have a big role in limiting the emergence of a new creation myth by entangling our abilities to manifest an evolved shared humanity. Vic D.

Systems View of Life Video (click pic)

Biomimicry Video (click pic)

Watch these videos on a Systems View of Life and Biomimicry. Then review these thought-provoking guidelines, including a set of Sustainability Principles and Concepts for Sustainable Design, to get a flavor for how brand new (w)holistically-conceived frameworks are changing the way we innovate, design, and shape our world.

Regen/Restore Commerce Loop

The basic premise asserts that, to design well, you must start with the WHOLE SYSTEM (see these extended definitions 1, 2, 3), which in practical terms needs be several orders of magnitude larger in scope than the specific system being designed (see Bucky Fuller principles). In other words, sustainable innovation is the process whereby the connections between the structure being designed, related processes, and the patterns which emerge, are recognized and intentionally ‘hooked up’ into closed loop systems that ultimately create a growing capacity of knowledge capital using a simple interdependent system that is based on an ‘ecology of design‘. True innovation taps into emergent properties that are latent within all systems, which is literally one vast inexhaustible resource, a closed loop metabolic system that’s available to all humanity for creating and sustaining a livable future.

Metabolic Material Design Loops (click pic for larger view)

A common example of sustainable innovation in practice is stakeholder involvement in the solving of complex organizational problems. In this case, even though the stakeholders may not have a completely vested interest in the immediate success of the organization, or even specific decision making authority, they are nonetheless significant due to their potential impacts, whether positive or negative. It is this ‘impact potential’ that signals the necessity for recognizing interconnected links between the components of the system being developed, and then using that awareness to inform all organizational design decisions. This collaborative design effort is what Discovery Fuel’s Colabs™ are all about.

From Fractured-Parts To Fractal-Wholes

Another example is Nature; which is truly a whole system; an ecosystem, that is tightly integrated into one global unit which carries unique varieties of form within an enmeshed network of fractal wholes. An economy, a family, a company, a community, etc., can also be viewed as whole systems. A whole system view would include all the factors involved by examining how they relate to each other and how they work together as a whole. To deal with a whole system, we can not leave anything out as irrelevant.

Note that intuition (or gut sense) is an important “rationale” to be included in whole system design process. A convergence of both scientific (rational) and artistic (irrational, or intuitive) approaches are necessary to become aware of the “whole system”, as well as material and spiritual needs, small as well as big, what we think AND FEEL, and what we perceive as well as what we imagine as we build a world of communities that is generative rather than destructive.

Using principles of sustainability as a catalyst, Discovery Fuel’s primary objective is to help your company realize deeper forms of collaborative, sustained INNOVATION. We seek to work with your whole organization – the “whole system,” while considering the inter-dependencies of factors that influence an innovative outcome. To do this, we look beyond environmental conditions to a blend of economic viability, ecological stewardship, and social equity (known as the triple bottom line – also see matrix. We consider how individual values become a valued product or service, how your organization learns, and what drives healthy decision-making guided by a values process.

Triple Bottom Line Symbol (click pic)

This defines a deeper nature of “sustainability” using a tri-lens (ecology-economy-equity) to view the outcome (see triple bottom line economics). Ultimately, this is about realizing new forms of sustainable innovation. And sustainable reporting is becoming the primary driving force behind business growth, technology inception, global community development, and the creation of a regenerative commerce system.

For more information, see innovation mapping and the sustainable innovation paradox.

Contact Vic Desotelle directly for a conversation.

A Shift …

1:  A Shift From Single -> To Triple Bottom Line Management

Developing Evolved Organizing STRUCTURES

2:  A Shift From Building Mechanistic Systems -> To Growing Living Wholes

Advancing Technological PATTERNS

3:  A Shift From Linear Sequencing -> To Nonlinear Cyclic Closed Loops

An Integration of Value-Web PROCESSES

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DiscoveryFuel.com’s long term objective is to create a global network of innovation learning centers. Each interdependent center will incubate innovative technologies and companies that can work for a our emerging globally conscious community.

The concept, known as ‘Regenerative Commerce‘, will act as an integrating framework for incorporating principles of sustainable innovation for the realization of business products and services that work for a post-industrial society.

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RELATED CONCEPTS

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1- Sustainable Design Techniques
Closed Loop Systems * 7e’s of Strategic Innovation * 7 Elements of New Enterprise * Sustainable Innovation Defined

2- Development Principles for Metabolic Growth
Biomimicry * Ecological Systems * Knowledge Capacity * The Natural Step * Permaculture * BauBiologie

3- Knowledge Distribution Methodologies
Triple Bottom LIne Matrix * EcoManagement * Innovation Mapping

4- Regional Design & Dialogue Frameworks
Tri-Cellular Communities Model * Conversation Word Map * World Dialogue Experiment on Change & Myth

5- Sustainable Enterprise
Ethics & Ethics to Innovation * Values Considerations * Innovation vs Invention * Technology Council * Sustainable Business Planning Guide

6- Networked Communications Modeling
Concentrix Management For Group Design * Collaborative Learning Exchange Markets * Community Domains For Culturally Creative Design

3P's of community design; click pic for more

Creating Sustainable Society Based on Conscious Design

In the near future, the PRINCIPLE-PRACTICE-POLICY model ( 1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5) will be integrated into the Regenerative Commerce (RegenCom) concept.

Here, the policy body acts as a ‘governor’ that monitors the effectiveness of pre-determined guiding principles via the principle body, and provides feedback to the overall system so that adjustments can be made as the chosenb principles play out in a practical way within the practicing body.

What is missing in today’s model for community design and development, based on this 3P’s model?

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What are you’re thoughts? Blog me below, or contact me directly at RegenCom@DiscoveryFuel.com, or join me and others in collaboratively designing and applying this concept by going to the Regenerative Commerce collaboration wiki (This is a new effort and I need and want your help!).

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The idea of the ‘smart’ super hero is on top for 2012. Leading the pack on this theme is a movie called “The Hunger Game”, which I believe exemplifies the state of our society. I was intrigued how exhilarating it was, just watching the preview. I don’t think I’m alone, as this surge within me is collective. Plans for this movie becoming a mega-block buster suggests it’s story is addressing a rising desire within us. Some are aware of it, but most of us are not.

There is a growing edge of discomfort occurring world-wide, and I believe that it is crucial to keep an eye on emerging mythical stories that are being told in film and other medium. For it provides us with a crystal ball that reveals an emerging future. Watch how movies are talked about at  home, at work, and on political stages. Look for changes in the myths that are told. How is the super hero’s story changing and why? And how does it reflect real world circumstances?. Listen to NPR’s news brief on the relationship between movies, super heroes, and myth.

How To Become An Authentic Leader

Click here to view the embedded video.

<p>I was reading my LinkedIn Groups this morning and came across Mike Smith&rsquo;s &lsquo;Life Back West&rsquo; thoughts on people, teams, organizations, effectiveness and success (thanks Mike!). Now, it may seem that I jump around here a bit, so buckle your seat belt and see if you can stay with me on this …</p> <p>So, after reading his short blurb on leadership that caught my eye, I went to Mike&rsquo;s blog planning to oppose what I anticipated would be a description of an old belief system that suggests, if we are professional, our feelings are to be suppressed in the workplace. Instead, Mike described how his young son has inspired his professional nature to include expression, compassion, and emotion. Having a young boy myself, I can totally relate to how he and I allow each other space for emotional expression. But then, why is it that we are not allowed too much expression at work without being sited as a problem?</p> <p>It seems that our society has become afraid of our own human-ness. Have we lost our sense of how to be with each other in the messiness of our humanity? For me, today&rsquo;s sorely needed emerging leaders can not be likened anymore to the stoic guy on a horse riding off into the sunset after he single-handedly saves the town from Godzilla. Why? Because this guy (usually someone we all aspire to be) rarely shows the kind of emotion that allows for collective transformation. Rather he tends to be about eliminating a problem, along with the people that go with it.</p> <p>What if instead, we began to choose our leaders based (in part) on how well they have learned to express their emotional selves and how well they are exemplars for others by the way they share the messy parts of their humanity and also be able to hold it for others? I propose that we dare ourselves to allow messiness in the workplace by helping to teach and &ldquo;lead&rdquo; groups through spells of negative emotion. Rather than try to find ways to avoid or expel it. Note the key piece here is how to teach groups or teams to hold individuals in their time of need, rather than expecting the so-called leader to do it alone. This is known as collective leadership and I believe that gold can be found within the mines (minds) of our organizations that will generate amazing new forms of innovation. Why? Because the form and function of innovation becomes an expression of&nbsp; the group or company who created it.</p> <p>I think <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3wyCxHtGd0&amp;eurl=http://discoveryfuel.com/team-building-leadership/a-twist-on-the-idea-of-professionalism-in-leadership/” target=”_blank”><object width=”425″ height=”344″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/r3wyCxHtGd0&hl=en&fs=1&”></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/r3wyCxHtGd0&hl=en&fs=1&” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425″ height=”344″></embed></object>Daniel Goleman&rsquo;s talk on TED</a> points to this evolved form of leadership that I speak of. And it often starts with what he called a &lsquo;human moment&rsquo;, which are the times when we are paying full attention to the person(s) we are with. Additionally, he suggests that there is zero correlation between intelligence and the awareness of another (compassion). Yet we hire our leaders and managers almost completely based on their level of intelligence and rarely rate them based on their ability to express, show compassion, or hold a group through troubling periods. Why is that? Interesting to me is that he also correlates the rapid growth of information to compassion. And it makes sense! This begins to define a true ecology of thought and being and I feel that this is where we are headed – a collaboration of relationships that connect as we become more present moment to moment in our lives. Now, this is a bit of a paradox because our increased access to information so often pulls us away from being present with another, right? Well, both are happening. Now, I am aware that my writing is moving in a number of directions, but hang in there with me.</p> <p>I am trying to suggest an <strong>ecology of leadership </strong>and the relationships and awareness that make this up. And that the meaning of &lsquo;professionalism&rsquo; is morphing into something completely different. In ecological terms, this means that even the idea of &ldquo;the leader&rdquo; is old, and that we instead need to consider the possibility of what a collective leadership would look like and how this carried into group dynamics can help to generate a deeper form of authenticity within ourselves and our companies.</p> <p>I plan to write about this later on in my blogging. But for now, let us all &ldquo;re&rdquo;consider and discuss what it means to be a &ldquo;professional&rdquo;, and also reconsider what kind of &ldquo;leadership&rdquo; we really need in this new interconnected world of ours.</p> 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learn more about the author, Vic Desotelle.

Outcome: Listening someone to talk is not an effective way for humans to learn. However, if small group discussions are used to learn the same material, it was found that comprehension gains triple by the end of a semester.

The days of the ‘sage on stage’ are over. It is no longer enough to just have information. Teachers today have to be facilitators of a process that enables their students to self-learn through interactive conversations and activity. This is what I like to call “Collaborative Design”. Listen to this great interview from NPR news on how our antiquated lecture framework, an educational model that’s been used for centuries, is no longer enough.

Imagine a new definition of government. Rather than provider of fixes, it becomes a convener of ‘we the people’ and we generate our own solutions. This act shifts a STATIC ‘government’ institution into a DYNAMIC ‘governance’ system. The governing body becomes a manager (or governor) of the ecology of interactions that happen by us the people. Collaboration then becomes the vehicle that acts as this governor, as it enables the flow of action and change. In this way, collaboration and governance become almost synonymous.

What does this do? Well. We no longer have to wait for government to get on board to see the change we want. Instead the governing body builds the infrastructure that allows connection and decision-making to happen. Decisions are no longer made by them. Instead they are made by us and they merely create tools and processes (many via the internet) that allows everyone much more access to the learning and decision-making process. This then becomes a healthier form of control. Rather than government directing and making the decisions, it instead becomes an enabler and ‘governor’ (as it was meant to be) by acting as policy makers but with a different understanding of the meaning of ‘policy’. Now, government monitors rather than polices the outcomes that occur when publicly induced design occurs. Government evolves along with the society by being entwined in the overall feedback system. They become watchers of the difference between consciously derived guiding principles and actual applied experiences that occur in communities of practice.

clic pic for correlation to regenerative commerce system

This diagram shows how the interaction between PRINCIPLE, PRACTICE, and POLICY. It shows that none of these three can sustain the system on its own but each must instead act interdependently with the other two. Here, the policy box is government, or in other words, the convener of a dialog between principle (which is generated out of desire, need, vision, and design possibility) and practice (which is how the design is experienced in the real world). Policy becomes a way to keep the FEEDBACK going between these two subjects the same way a governing value acts on a pipe – too much or too little puts the system into instability. The people inside the government do not make the decision to adjust the flow of choices. Instead, they create and maintain the channels (or policing) that allow the collaboration process to INFORM itself. This is a self-generative behavior and occurs via the interactions between the engagement of the people involved in each of the principle, practice, and policy domains.

Yes, Collaboration “IS” the New Government.

The intent here is to help organizational change processes be more conscious and more effective by becoming aware that how we communicate with each other strongly effects meeting outcomes, as well as how well thsoe outcomes sustain the desired changes. In short, this is all about how we make conscious decisions that influence positive change.

Our world is in dire need of evolved decision-making techniques that can provide us with a better way for sharing and choosing solutions that are healthier for ourselves and the planet. Effective communication is the glue that allows for real, sustained change to happen. Note that communication colors all levels of organizational development, including its methods of leadership, its ability to learn, team work and collaboration, and the sustainability of innovation itself.

DEBATE = Language is manipulated with the intent to cripple other viewpoints (argumentative). Change is hard to come by with this approach. However, it is useful for keeping an existing systems in place. Energy comes from the lizard mechanisms in the brain, which attempt to protect and defend. The person with the most power over another is seen as the best leader. This process is not good for creating change except at conscious predetermined places in the process where challenge generates a different thought process that can bring clarity and assurance on choices that have been made.

DISCUSSION = Questioning each other comes from a predisposed positioning (having an agenda). Change is possible but usually can not be sustained due to the process being based on a questioning process that makes each feel someone has to win. Others often loose their identity to consensus. It’s based on a sudo-democracy process whereby everyone unconsciously assumes that there is a best answer, thus only one viewpoint is ultimately chosen. Occasionally discussion moves into dialog, but usually it moves into debate.

DIALOG = Collaborative inquiry with an openness to possibilities beyond each others own beliefs and views. Communication about communication happens allowing the creation of a safe environment; a place where the unexpected and insight can happen more freely. Everyone’s viewpoint is allowed whether or not others agree with it. All work to wear the shoes of the one speaking and seek to integrate diversity rather than extract the best answer. It stands for the power of the question is valued more than answers. The challenge for creating change is that too often dialog does not move toward decision-making and action.

TRILOG = Ideally, all three forms of conversation are useful if used in tandem with each other. Dialog is to be used during the early envisioning stages. Discussion during the goals and strategy-making stages, but only at the point when decisions have to be determined. Debate is useful to challenge a new system against an old one. It must be used very consciously however, because otherwise power over can destroy all previous efforts. Dialog should again be used to close a group’s process because it brings us back to our humanity and to what’s most important, which are the relationships. They are as important (or more) than the outcomes generated by the group, for it is what becomes the foundation for sustaining the determined change.

About Room Geometry = One final point to make here is this: Be aware of the geometry of the room in which people gather. If shared views are the choice, be sure to stage the room with multiple small circles in mind. If one person’s opinion is to be impressed upon the group, then line up the chairs in straight lines without breaking up the group. I for one almost always choose to use circular geometries because it seems to appease the need for all to feel like they are participants rather than merely receivers of information. A room’s geometry needs to be considered at all levels of a community’s decision-making hierarchy including company meetings, town hall meetings, city council meetings, board rooms, and living room gatherings.

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To bring in more of a trilog approach (with an emphasis on ‘dialogue), use this collaborative design tool during your next meeting: Create a ‘Learning Exchange Markeplace‘. For more information, contact Vic Desotelle at DiscoveryFuel.com