Tuesday and I just did a webinar on Shared Work with Joshua Cubista @ Borderlands Restoration Leadership Institute, which explores how to take action in the midst of the increasing complexity of the 21st century. It explores shared work and the practice of leading systemic change within our personal lives, communities, organizations, and the world.
Read MoreIn a webinar offered by Engage Nova Scotia and filmed at the HUB South Shore, my old friend and mentor, Toke Moeller explored the Art of Hosting: the method's radical common sense and impact, and how it's become its own movement. What can we learn from this as we work to accelerate change in Nova Scotia, and how might we use it to encourage young people to lead change within their communities?
Read MoreThe majority of meetings should be discussions that lead to decisions. Meetings are the linchpin of everything. If someone says you have an hour to investigate a company, I wouldn't look at the balance sheet. I'd watch their executive team in a meeting for an hour. If they are clear and focused and have the board on the edge of their seats, I'd say this is a good company worth investing in. —Patrick Lencioni
Read MoreRecently there has been an excellent exchange of resources on the Art of Hosting email list around how evaluation connects to the work of participatory leadership. I hope you find these resources and reflections as useful as I have. I have separated the content based on the person that contributed to make it a bit more accessible.
Read MoreIt does feel to me like the chaos has only increased over the lat 13 years: the number of ecological disasters, increased economic uncertainty, massive social unrest, the breakdown of trust between citizens and governments, corporate greed running rampant. That got me to thinking about why Nova Scotia is such a great place to be.
Read MoreI truly believe if we could change the quality of our meetings, not only would people's happiness and productivity go through the roof, we would need less meetings. Imagine a bright future ahead of us: no more meetings for the sake of meetings!
Read MoreIn addition to getting results swiftly, people get really excited to learn a whole new suite of tools and a new way of thinking about problem solving. It immediately starts to be applied all over the organisation. As one client put it last week: "What we do is not hugely different—the structure is not undergoing big re-design—but how we do everything is changing".
Read MoreIf we want to be change leaders, we have to find a way to engage and work with people who hold power and influence. It is essential piece of the puzzle that needs to be integrated into our strategies. It is dangerous not to—our work ends getting squashed, co-opted or undermined long term. Simple put, any obstacles I carry to working with power is hurdle to having impact.
Read MoreWhat's the minimum order we need to navigate change meaningfully and productively? Too much control and we kill learning, too little and everything falls apart. My go to is the chaordic stepping stones. I use the chaordic stepping stones all the time: project planning, meeting preparation, long term strategic plans, my own personal reflection, designing events and trainings, writing proposals … the list goes on.
Read MoreOk, so there's some questions I ask every time before choosing to work with someone on a project, event or long term initiative. They help me get a sense of the landscape and discern if the conditions are in place for me to do my best work.
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