Pulling ideas forward

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Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the kings men and all the kings horses
Could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.


2008 ended an era. It was an awakening of what it means to go global. It was a death to naiveness about being able to act in isolation of everything and everyone else. Many assumptions about our way of life dissolved. The happenings of 2008 were foretold and felt many years before. Tiny fault lines in Humpty began showing up years ago. But like all systems in mature stages of development, behaviors had became more set, oblivious to outside challenges.

It's funny how when something falls apart we think we can simply put it back together again. Not this time. All systems mature and become obsolete over time. They leave only memories, not realities. Such is with the paradigm that just ended. It is gone. Now it is time to build anew and work our way forward with new systems. We need to adjust our lenses and watch for fresh ideas (once thought useless and ignored) to coagulate into somethings new, somethings closer to our dreams and hopes for today and tomorrow, not those of yesterday.

At this moment in time, I find myself letting go of assumptions, particularly for two concepts that I felt sure I had in hand. 1) What it takes to create healthy tomorrows, and 2) what and how "collaboration" plays a role in shaping tomorrow. I have been rewarded and honored for my actions with both. These two concepts have been a part of me most of my life. They have always worked hand-in-hand for me, but now in my quiet moments when I try get my hands around them, my sureness falls away, melting my knowingness.

It's not that I am throwing my knowledge about these ideas away. They are valuable and still useful. But I am glimpsing more, wanting to understand more, wanting to find ways to incorporate my understandings into a larger more potent context. My partner, Todd, and I have talked about this. There is a 'difference' we want to be making so that we can contribute to the 'difference that makes a difference' as we move our dreams forward.

We will be writing and talking about some nascent thoughts over the next several months.  We hope you will join us by making comments and contributing to our thoughts and possibilities...

 

Escaping to a Higher Order

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In assembling complexity the bounty of increasing returns is won by multiple tries over time.
As various parts reorganize to a new whole, the system escapes into a higher order.
Ilya Prigogine

Anyone who knows me well has heard me utter this quote. It is one of my favorites ... maybe because it has so much hope in it. I will say however, that I was beginning to tire of the number of 'trys' it was taking. Then suddenly, we the American people voted Barak Obama in as our new president and I have come to understand the word "escapes" in a totally different light!

The first MG Taylor axioms is "The future is rational only in hindsight." Over the years as I thought about the axiom I now realize that I was thinking too rationally. This is true within a given paradigm, but not so when a paradigm shifts to a higher order.

Clearly, President-Elect Obama's win was not rational. It really was an escape!!! So beautiful! Think about it. In 2004, a little known person gave a speech ... not just any speech but one that called out to each of us. Mr. Obama made us us realize how starved we were for wholesome, nourished, natural born hope. He unburied our hope. His speech brought to the forefront of our minds how hungry we were to create a new world, to begin again, to find joy in each other again. Obama's speech was a tremendous attraction to our better selves ... regardless of party affiliation.

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Facilitate: to Make Easy

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To facilitate means "to make easy"” The art of facilitation is the art of bringing clarity and effectiveness to the work process of individuals and groups. The facilitator's mandate is to ensure that the process is designed and implemented in a way that brings out the best thinking of each participant and the best resolution of issues from each group.

This morning I was thinking about my experience with cancer and the coming to knowing of my situation. I have had a slew of physicians and alternative health practitioners trying to facilitate my way to health. A few are quite good and others quite lacking with their facilitative skills. Cancer is a very individual experience. While there are many common elements and shared experiences can bring forth much useful knowledge, in the end it is my work to do. Work that is physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally taxing.

It seems relevant that I consider my own journey into a very foreign landscape and territory from the perspective of the MG Taylor system and method. Facilitation is such an important concept in our process and it has always been inclusive of several levels of recursion. There is no single facilitator or controller of the system. Instead, we consider three levels: Front of the room facilitator, middle of the room facilitators, and back of the room facilitators.

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