The iceberg model is a valuable tool for encouraging the systems thinking that is important for seeing an issue or challenge as part of a larger system. By asking you to connect a single or occuring event or issue to patterns of behaviour, systems structures, and mental models, the iceberg allows you to see the structures underlying the event. Just like an iceberg, 90% of these structures are hidden below the surface. However, if you can...
Our youngest son wasn’t quite three years old at the time when his older brother unexpectedly gave him one of his coveted GI Joes so they could play together. As the result of being the recipient of such unexpected generosity, he turned to me, grinned, and said, “Mommy, that’s collaboration.” While I was sure a child with that kind of a vocabulary was a genius, upon questioning, I soon realized that he had simply absorbed collaboration...
The Path to Collaboration Station We're not just celebrating our 10th Anniversary as Campus for Communities of the Future with cake. Instead we're at a very new, and slightly scary beginning that evolved as we supported and learned from individuals, organizations, businesses, neighbourhoods, and communities as they strengthened their leadership and organizational capacity for complexity. It is also the result of a sometimes messy and vast...
Like many others, I’ve learned about both personal and work-related partnerships by being part of some that were good and some I’d rather not think about. As with a good marriage, a good partnership has the potential to enrich who you are, what you do, and how you do it. I’ve often thought partnerships could be compared to fabric. Even though one’s existing fabric might be fine, it can be enriched and strengthened by the right partner...
My mother has a sense of style that hasn’t let up even as she’s moved into her 90’s. She loves quality clothing and has a clear understanding of what styles and colours look best on her. When I talked to her recently, she shared that when she had been out for her daily walk, a young woman she estimated to be in her early 20’s was walking her dog on the opposite side of the street. To her surprise, the woman, crossed the street to speak...
Albert Einstein once said, The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple. He also said, Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. Yet, making things simpler is not for the faint of heart, because ultimately it means everyone should be able to understand and use the knowledge, plan, or resource being shared regardless of their experience, cultural background, literacy, or learning style. In other...
In my younger years as a grassroots activist I proudly wore a t-shirt that said, “Think Globally. Act Locally”. While I knew the slogan was suggesting we all needed to consider the health of the entire planet and to take action in our communities, I’m not sure until now I really understood how I could make the world a priority when just local on its own was often so daunting. As a result, my work instead focused first on community-led...
I think I was born practical. As a result I really hate wasting time, money, or energy. No surprise then that I have very little tolerance for red tape – meaning complex and time-consuming forms and procedures. While I no longer work for government or a bureaucracy, a number of recent encounters were a reminder of just how darn good they can be in terms of generating it. And the thing is, every centimetre of that red tape was generated by...
Like many others these days, the complexity of the world we live in is wearing me down and I find myself craving simplicity. But, what if instead, the big picture actually made things clearer? When seeing the Earth from afar for the first time, many astronauts described a cognitive shift in their awareness. Now called the Overview Effect, their experience of seeing the reality of Earth suspended in space with national borders no longer visible,...
We all need to think ourselves as a leader because, contrary to what most people think, a formal title doesn't make you a leader. It is instead much more about one's traits and actions. However, in this article by Sharna Fabiano for Enlivening Edge Magazine explores the idea of leadership vs followship and suggests that if everyone is going to lead, then everyone must be able to follow. The article explains why leadership is like a tango.
