antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 12:47 pm on December 21, 2019

Working with Stories – Cynthia Kurtz (2014)

Source: Working with Stories

Explore the book

Read selected excerpts

Fundamentals
Intro to PNI / Planning
Collection
Catalysis
Sensemaking
Intervention
Return

The form of a story is its communicative structure and meaning. The function of a story is its utility to thought, decision, and action. The phenomenon of a story is its life history as it moves through time and society.

Stories are like seeds. They condense complex understandings and perspectives into packages that can be transmitted and stored, then retrieved from storage, planted, and germinated again in the fertile soil of receptive minds. Stories can be studied and supported to help societies become more resilient in times of crisis.

Every time a person experiences something, a new story enters the narrative cycle of telling, hearing, remembering, and recalling. Purposeful storytelling adds “buds” of purpose and need to the natural cycle of story flow.

The abstract of a conversational story is a prelude in which the storyteller asks the audience for permission to tell a story. Statements of evaluation are direct lines of communication from storyteller to audience. In a story’s coda, the storyteller closes the circle of narrated events and ends the narrative event.

I have noticed that people veer off into one or more of three predictable trajectories at the mention of the word “story.” I’ve been amazed by the consistency in the responses I’ve seen. People even use the same words even though they have never heard other people use them.

If you were to create a list of stories that any randomly chosen member of your community or organization could be expected to know, stories that are common knowledge, how easy would your task be?

Reader quotes

From emails

“I wanted to say thanks for making Working with Stories available. It’s an amazing piece of work, so simple (not the ideas, but the presentation) and unintimidating.”

“Your detailed description of [the sensemaking] process is so useful and helpful. It makes seasoned facilitators like me yearn to try out the ideas.”

“Over the past few months I have been reading, reflecting, and feasting on your experiences working with stories. I am really excited to have found Working With Stories because it seems like a rich set of options for our needs.”

“Your terminology and explanation of participatory narrative inquiry have helped me greatly in understanding what I want from my practice and what I might be capable of achieving in social change.”

“I have been returning to Working With Stories time and again over the past six months to help support a community project, and my printed copy is underlined, noted and dog-eared.”

Bibliographic citation

Kurtz, C. 2014. Working with Stories in Your Community or Organization: Participatory Narrative Inquiry. Third Edition. New York: Kurtz-Fernhout Publishing.

Like the book? Try the software!

NarraFirma is companion software to Working with Stories. The book describes the use of NarraCat, but I’ve since moved on to develop something even better. Many of the questions and recommendations you can find in NarraFirma come straight out of Working with Stories. So if you’re looking for practical help carrying out Participatory Narrative Inquiry projects, look no further.

About the author

Cynthia Kurtz wrote the first edition of Working with Stories in 2008 and the second edition in 2009. She finished the greatly expanded third edition in 2014. She estimates that she put about 2.5 person-years into all three editions of the book. Crazy? Maybe.

Cynthia is a researcher, consultant, writer, and software developer. She has been helping communities and organizations work with their stories since 1999. She has consulted on more than eighty narrative projects for a variety of government agencies and for-profit and non-profit corporations. Working with a series of collaborators, Cynthia developed participatory narrative inquiry, an approach to story work that helps communities and organizations make better, more grounded decisions by making sense of their own stories.

You can read more about Cynthia’s professional history on her web site at cfkurtz.com. (Click on “Bio” in the menu for the full story.)

Source: Working with Stories

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 7:35 am on December 18, 2019

From Linda Booth Sweeney on the CLE K-2 systems dynamics mailing list – an example from work with young people, and a request for engagement

responses to Linda_Booth_Sweeney@post.harvard.edu please

Dear Friends and Colleagues

I’m writing to ask your thoughts on ways to bridge teens and adults from systems thinking experience to systems dynamics.

Here’s the scenario:

A few weeks back, I ran a one-day youth summit on systems change for a local group called SparkShare – https://www.sparkshare.org/
. We had 13 working groups from the Boston area focus on solving complex challenges in their communities — from vaping, substance abuse and racial bias to youth employment and safer streets. I worked with each group in advance to identify a strong systems statement and key factors. During the summit, I introduced one building block for systems change — helping the system see itself. We walked through a five-step tool (inspired by Michael Goodman and Daniel Kim) and built in plenty of opportunities to envision a different future, cross-pollinate between and among the groups, make real commitments for action and have fun.

You can see a short video clip of the young people’s reaction to the day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnwRBepvqoc&feature=youtu.be Kind of electric!

As you can see, a number of these teens (and many of the adults) soaked in the systems approach and were ready for more. These young people participate in these Sparkshare summits over the course of three years or more. I think the opportunity to help some of the teens bridge to the practical application of other systems change tools, including more rigorous system dynamics modeling is possible. The question is: how to make that happen? They are in schools around Boston with no explicit system dynamics curriculum.

I’m looking into two possibilities:
• High-impact, long-term ways for these students to develop real systems change and systems dynamics skills, beyond the introductory level,
• Access to a pod (or posse?) of practitioners, including system dynamics modelers who will help to frame (and possibly model) their issues to support their conversations with key stakeholders, community leaders and policy makers.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Wishing you all happy, healthy and peace-filled holidays. 🙂

Linda

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 6:12 am on December 18, 2019

Creating a Shift in Leadership | Systemic Leadership Summit – online, 12-19 2020

I’m speaking as part of this, and have paid as an online guest in the past. It’s a series of video interviews with people interested in all aspects of ‘systemic leadership’.

Jennifer is a brilliant interviewer, so if you like the look of the speaker list, do consider it!

Source: Creating a Shift in Leadership | Systemic Leadership Summit 2020

[disclosure from Benjamin: as a speaker this is my referral link and I will get a share of any sales – if you share, please share this link: https://sls2020sp01.krtra.com/t/PYBIDA2rkjYf ]

An online event with a simple mission

We aim to create a shift in our leadership paradigm from the individual to the collective and dramatically grow and spread the transformation capabilities of leaders across the world.

How? By introducing you to a highly diverse, cutting edge and experienced group of influencers.

Slash Your Learning Curve

With 500+ Years of Leadership, Systemic Approaches and Transformation Strategies Straight From People Who’ve Done It.

Value-Packed Sessions

Interviews With Top Experts, Leaders & Entrepreneurs. See
the expert in a raw, authentic conversation about a topic in-depth.

No Pitch Summit

We aim to deliver value and to provide you with powerful and
inspirational material. Therefore our summit sessions are pitch free.

Systemic Leadership Summit 2019 Line-up

Founded and hosted by Jennifer Campbell

This is the fourth edition of the Systemic Leadership Summit, which was first launched January 2017. The online
event is broken down into 3 parts to help you accelerate your understanding and implement your learnings faster.

1. See The System

View your organization as a whole

Learn what systems are and what a systemic approach to leadership brings
to the table. Practice seeing your tribe as a system and discover what it costs you when you keep focusing on the parts in it.

2. Share the Space

Foster generative communication & interaction

Learn how to have dialogue from a place of real connection, deep listening and reflection. Tap into the wisdom and the different viewpoints that exist in the system you are part of.

3. Shape the Shift

Create Sustainable Solutions, Transform the System

Generate results from the collective intelligence and leadership of your tribe by co-creating from what emerges, rather than react to what has already happened in your systems environment.

See the System

Jennifer Campbell

2020 Summit Kick-off & The Value of Systemic Leadership

Edgar & Peter Schein

Humble Leadership: Challenging Current Theories of Leadership

Arawana Hayashi

Social Presencing Theatre: Visualizing and Embodying Systems

Dave Snowden

Cynefin Framework: A Sense Making Framework in a Complex World

Dr. Glenda Eoyang

Human Systems Dynamics: See Complexity Differently, Take Adaptive Action

Jan Jacob Stam

Systemic Phenomenological Work: Org. Constellations

Joan Lurie

Orgonomics: Operate at your Organization’s Growing Edge

Benjamin Taylor

Paradoxes, polarities and paradigm shifts in systems work.

Deborah Rowland

Still Moving: How to Lead Mindful Change in Times of Disruption

Dr. Louis Klein

Governance, Purpose, Change and Potential in Organizations

Siets Bakker

Moving questions: systemic inquiry as an invitation for exploration

Dr. Max Schupbach

Deep Democracy: inclusive, whole system conflict resolution

Nora Bateson

Warm Data and Warm Data Labs: Navigating the Transcontextual

Brian “Ponch” Rivera

The Flow System™: understand complexity, embrace teamwork.

Jeremy Lloyd

Hearing the Customers Voice: A Systemic Approach to Marketing

Pilar García Sánchez

Beyond the Numbers: Diversity and Inclusion in Business

Giles Hutchins

The journey towards regenerative and eco-systemic leadership

Dr. Mette Böll

Shapeshifting Education: Systems Awareness in Practice

Patrick Hoverstadt

The Viable Systems Model: Creating Sustainable Organizations

Laura Storm

Regenerative Leadership, Sustainability and the Practice of Silence.

Martin Kalungu-Banda

Leading from the Emerging Future and Collaborative Innovation

Wendy Mahoney

Why Innovation is Human, and how it is different from Disruption or Technology

Dr. Stuart Hill

Enabling Real Change the Ecological and Sustainable Way

Dr. Orit Gal

Social Acupuncture: from Complexity Thinking to Complexity Action

Summit Q&A

Live summit session led by SLS founder and host Jennifer Campbell

Source: Creating a Shift in Leadership | Systemic Leadership Summit 2020

[disclosure from Benjamin: as a speaker this is my referral link and I will get a share of any sales – if you share, please share this link: https://sls2020sp01.krtra.com/t/PYBIDA2rkjYf ]

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 2:59 pm on December 17, 2019

Leading Systems Change — Open Impact

Source: Leading Systems Change — Open Impact

Leading Systems Change: A Workbook for Community Practitioners and Funders

Download the full workbook or the executive summary here.

Click the image to download the full workbook.

Click the image to download the executive summary.

We are living in a time of systemic problems in America—from rising income inequality and the opioid crisis, to increasing gun violence, to failing education and health systems, to extreme weather events induced by climate change. This has many social change leaders asking: Just how can we collaborate to change complex systems that no longer serve us? How can we re-build communities to have equity at their center? And what kind of leadership is required to change systems?

Our new book Leading Systems Change—by Open Impact co-founder Heather McLeod Grant and Adene Sacks of the With/In Collaborative—tackles these questions head-on. The book is based on two community change experiments we helped lead over the past six years in California’s Fresno and Stanislaus Counties, with funding from the James Irvine Foundation. Each New Leadership Network (NLN)—which engaged nearly 100 local leaders—comprised three weekend convenings designed to help diverse cohorts of leaders develop the new skills, mindsets, and tools needed to better understand their communities and act on local systems to drive greater impact.

In the book, we introduce the five foundational approaches we believe are essential to creating collaborative cross-sector networks for local systems change. The book includes an updated case study that walks readers through the process of building leadership networks, along with a number of tools, frameworks, and resources available for download—creating a playbook for other communities facing similar challenges. As we write, “We hope it helps fill a gap in the field, spark a conversation about what kind of leadership is needed now, and ultimately, catalyze the kinds of change needed in so many communities.”

Source: Leading Systems Change — Open Impact

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 12:35 pm on December 17, 2019

Cybernetics in the Future – Introduction by Mary Catherine Bateson – YouTube (American Cybernetics Society, 2014)

This is Mary Catherine Bateson’s introduction to the Cybernetics in the Future workshop held at the 2014 conference of the American Society for Cybernetics at George Washington University in Washington D.C. The workshop was led by Dai Griffiths and Robert Martin. Video by Judy Lombardi.

Cybernetics in the Future – Introduction by Mary Catherine Bateson

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 3:49 am on December 17, 2019

Nora Bateson – There are some buzz words I think are worth questioning (the Ecology of Systems Thinking group on Facebook)

A good conversation opener and good responses (you have to join the open group to see I think) – and you all might want to join the Ecology of Systems Thinking and all the other groups:

systems thinking facebook groups at

the ecology of systems thinking https://www.facebook.com/groups/774241602654986

systems sciences https://www.facebook.com/groups/2391509563

Systems thinking network on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2639211

Nick Ananin’s systems thinking events map worldwide https://goo.gl/4PXkCg

There are some buzz words I think are worth questioning. The change-making world is prone to glomming onto words that are rather empty. I like to be careful with these words.

1. Trust — What is trust? I mostly see the word used when it is referring to something which is *not* there…When I walk across a room, I do not trust my feet to get me there– I just go. But when my ankle is sprained, then I notice how I used to trust my body. Do I really mean integrity? I need know that if you are not there for me, the choices you make are made with integrity.

2. Grief– A feeling that is only possible in its complexity. The term grief and the making-a-thing-of-it is a dangerous reductionism of the confusion, gratitude, love and joy that are also present in grief. The sorrow that is felt in these confusing times for the loss of biodiversity and democracy, and the enormous ache of knowing of some fraction of the pain caused by exploitation and extraction — is i think perhaps closer to a sense of betrayal. The systems that were supposed to offer structure within which it was possible to be a good person turned out to be traps within which it is only possible to be linked to the horror. Is the grief of witnessing a the breakdown of existing systems a sign of privilege? Are we mourning or recognizing that we’ve been duped by a lying, cheating, no good system?

3. Collective intelligence: This is not necessarily a good thing. There is nothing inherently good about collective intelligence. It can go either way. Remember that Nazi Germany was made possible through collective intelligence. Weinstein got away with sexual abuse for decades because of the collective intelligence of those around him keeping their mouths shut, capitalism, and racism are all products of collective intelligence. Beware.

4. Collaboration. If it is not mutual learning, collaboration can be very mechanistic. You do your thing, I will do mine…. that is not collaboration that leads to anything new. That is mechanism. Fine for military— not useful for finding new ways of living on this earth together. Improvisation is much more useful– I find.

5. Emergence. Ya…. don’t forget that emergency is also emergence. Mostly in emergency situations the romance of *emergence* wears off in a rush, and there are only binaries left. Emergence is not always lovely.

6. Mind-set. What the heck is this? There is nothing set. Only a vast interlinking abductive process— that is never static. Where is the edge of mind?

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 3:19 am on December 17, 2019

Reimagine Leadership 2030, Malmö 21 and 22 January 2020

Source: Reimagine

2030 marks the year by which nations agreed to secure a sustainable future in areas such as climate change and sustainble city development. In ten years time Sweden is also estimated to have clearly less resources for welfare and healthcare due to an ageing population and changed demographics. Efforts to meet these scenrious are being made and the Sustainable Development Goals inspire hope. But it also call for radical shifts in how leadership and organisations operate, with current approaches proving inefficient in responding to an ever more complex, fast-paced and uncertain landscape. We need to unlearn past patterns and habits while also re-imagining our own practices.

Decisive action is necessary for us to adapt and continue creating the conditions for prosperous organisations and a sustainable future to emerge. But what kind of action? How do we navigate when clear goals, well-defined strategy, and control mechanisms no longer seem to take us where we want to go? How do we prepare to successully create collaborative cultures in which it is ok to not have answers and certainty?

We invite leaders, practitioners, acitivists and experts from various sectors to explore, learn and advance our work together. What do we need to do today to support the transformations our ambitions for 2030 call for?

Complexity and Capacity
Experienced practitioners informed by complexity science share their learnings and host processes focused on what they see as most valuable for leaders right now. What makes transformational change possible? Get inspired, try out and get more comfortable with a wider sets of methods to support people in change.

The program includes keynote-presentations, full group processes, parallel workshops and experimental sessions.

The 15+ guests will share expertise, concrete methods and host processes supporting learning and designing unexpected experiences.

Challenges and initiatives
We believe in learning by doing. Informed by knowledge and practices for organisational and systems change we focus on work and support each other to advance our thinking and strategies.

We will work in parallale challange-tracks on how we establish processes to advance work that matters. Different aspects of the Sustainability Development Goals and organisational renewal will be covered.

Tailored experiance
Participant take on an active role as learners and the programme lets you customize your experience. You can also choose how much you would like to participate. We recommend participation two days. You get the full experience including the more in-depth learning tracks with focus on application and practise-development. Participating one day is also possible. In collaboration with EFL – Executive Education Lund we also invite to a shorter seminar on Complexity, Leadership and Strategy – late afternoon the 21st .

We welcome leaders and practitioners who work towards the SDGs within different sectors, those of you that strive for public sector or organisational renewal, complexity science thinkers and doers, and entrepeneurs, creatives and artists with an interest in societal change.

We look forward to co-creating this learning space with all of you!

The invitation comes from people connected through Forward Malmö – a network of people and initiatives exploring how changemakers can learn and collaborate to create greater impact. The event is organised as a partnership with Malmöakademin – part of the network Forward Malmö and our learning partners in quest, the Kaospilot-school in Aarhus, Denmark, Cognitive Edge, Förnyelselabbet and Gro – Co-creating Sustainability.

Welcome!

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 6:33 pm on December 16, 2019

A collation of Cybersyn links

One of these articles refers to ‘the often-ignored Cybersyn’ 😀

Gui Bonsiepe – designer and thinker en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gui_Bonsi guibonsiepe.com/pdffiles/desco

Links:

youtube.com/watch?time_con

newsocialist.org.uk/allende-projec

jacobinmag.com/2015/04/allend

scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2019/02/26/cyb

99percentinvisible.org/episode/projec

newyorker.com/magazine/2014/

nytimes.com/2008/03/28/wor

newstatesman.com/world/2018/08/

uberty.org/wp-content/upl

wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/s

cybersalon.org/project-cybers

ventricles.simplecast.fm/69883df3

thenation.com/article/anti-s

radioambulante.org/en/translation

meaningness.com/metablog/buddh

open.spotify.com/episode/5iFl7A

newbooksnetwork.com/eden-medina-cy

autonomy.work/portfolio/digi

opengeography.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/cyb

livemint.com/Leisure/WyN2mh

culturalstudies.gmu.edu/articles/13213

timharford.com/2017/12/could-

mises.org/wire/allendes-

richard-hall.org/2017/07/07/not

books.google.co.uk/books?id=_IFDD

https://model.report/s/tklgud/eyewar_-_cybernetics_and_project_cybersyn

https://model.report/s/eogcvf/project_cybersyn_-_stafford_beer_s_cybernetic_science_fictions_-_youtube

and from SysCoI:

https://stream.syscoi.com/2019/09/15/cybersyn-cybernetic-synergy-chilean-website/

https://stream.syscoi.com/2019/09/23/econpapers-the-pretence-of-knowledge-hayeks-nobel-prize-lecture-1974/

https://stream.syscoi.com/2019/08/07/the-desire-for-full-automation-toby-shorin-july-20199/

https://stream.syscoi.com/2019/04/08/cybersyn-metaphorum/

https://stream.syscoi.com/2018/09/22/cybersocialism-red-pepper/

https://stream.syscoi.com/2018/09/15/cybernetic-socialism-project-cybersyn-in-the-21st-century-the-world-transformed-mon-24-sep-liverpool-uk-part-of-a-fringe-event-around-the-uk-labour-party-conference/

https://stream.syscoi.com/2018/08/27/project-cybersyn-the-afterlife-of-chiles-socialist-internet/

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 7:19 am on December 16, 2019

Job opportunity – School of System Change Curator | Forum for the Future – deadline 11:59 pm EST on January 6, 2020

Fixed term contract one year

Closing date for applications: 11:59 pm EST on January 6, 2020.

Source: School of System Change Curator | Forum for the Future

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 7:18 am on December 16, 2019

General Intellect Unit podcast 038 – The Viable System Model

good takes, from a consistent and explicit perspective

Source: 038 – The Viable System Model

General Intellect Unit

http://generalintellectunit.net/feed.xml

038 – The Viable System Model

July 15, 2019

In which we discuss the Viable System Model, by Stafford Beer. We read “The VSM Guide” by Jon Walker, and “The Viable System Model as a Framework for Understanding Organizations” by Raul Espejo and Antonia Gill.

If you like the show, consider supporting us on Patreon.

Links:

Source: 038 – The Viable System Model

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 4:14 pm on December 14, 2019

New Books in Systems and Cybernetics | New Books Network

Source: New Books in Systems and Cybernetics | New Books Network

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 3:59 pm on December 14, 2019
Tags: systemschange ( 9 )

A new leadership imperative: Corporate social responsibility | McKinsey

[Like a dinosaur lumbering behind the mammals, McKinsey are here to let us know that #systemschange may have officially jumped the shark…]

A new leadership imperative is emerging based on corporate social responsibility. It will require greater transparency on social and environmental issues and empathetic executives who can speak to deeper human needs while instilling greater meaning in their business models.

Source: A new leadership imperative: Corporate social responsibility | McKinsey

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 5:33 pm on December 11, 2019

London Space Launch – Systems Innovation – coming soon

watch this space…

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 6:59 pm on December 10, 2019

Complex Systems Leadership Program – WICKED LAB – starting January 30 2020, Adelaide, Australia (with online alternatives)

Source: Complex Systems Leadership Program – WICKED LAB

Register now and be part of the first
Complex Systems Leadership Program for 2020

Limited places remain – starts January 2020

The Program is self-paced and delivered online over a five-month period and includes monthly online group mentoring sessions. This project-based learning program means you’ll apply your learnings to address a complex (wicked) problem/s of your choice, in a real community, and use Wicked Lab’s Tool for Systemic Change and nine Focus Areas to understand how you can take focused action on creating systems change.

This program consists of three units:

Unit 1: Understanding wicked problems
Unit 2: Tackling wicked problems by building adaptive communities
Unit 3: Tackling wicked problems by strengthening the government-
community interface

Learn more about the program and read answers to common questions here.

Kicking off January 28th, you’ll join a group of like-minded individuals from a range of organisations working on a variety of wicked problems in diverse communities around the globe!

Reserve your place now! Complete the online registration form and save your spot.

Limited places remain – so don’t delay.

Hear from participants

“I would definitely recommend this program. An understanding of complex systems leadership theories have given me more confidence in approaching communities, and has allowed me to better articulate the complexity of communities and food security within our local context.” Read more…

Jessica Flynn, Community Development Officer – City of Onkarparinga (South Australia)

Watch the video of the interview and learn about Jess’s experience on the program

Program key dates

Unit 1 Understanding wicked problems – starts Tuesday 28th January
Unit 2 Building Adaptive Capacity of Communities – starts Friday 28th February
Unit 3 Strengthening the Government Community Interface – starts Friday 1st May

Online mentoring sessions on the following dates:

Catch up #1: Introduction to course, meet other participants – short session 30mins Thurs 30th Jan
Catch up #2: Unit 1 catch-up Thursday 27th Feb
Catch up #3: Unit 2 mid-unit catch-up Thursday 26th Mar
Catch up #4: Unit 2 end-unit catch-up Thursday 30th April
Catch up #5: Unit 3 catch up Thursday 28th May

Online catch-up times will depend on participants and the best time that fits across the multiple time zones. We do our very best to accommodate everyone and all sessions are recorded.

Interested in learning more about Wicked Lab?

Go to www.wickedlab.com.au

antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor 2:50 pm on December 10, 2019

Cultivating our Leadership: Being led – and not misled – by our values – Jennifer Garvey Berger

Some people begin their organisation with a clear vision, a solid purpose, and a business plan that shows their unique value proposition. We did not do this. Instead, about a decade ago, we three (and soon four) friends created a website based around our implicit values: friendship, curiosity, development, and generosity. We figured now the hard work of creating our firm was over (once we had a website, what more could we need?). Now we could turn to finding and supporting our clients. That was about a decade ago, and while we have grown our ideas and our practices along with our client work, we have also grown our firm itself. And along the way, we have tried to create a new sort of consulting firm, one founded on these values and enacted in a different way. We oriented around questions and not answers. We created a financial model that didn’t return money to anyone based on the work of anyone else. We were deliberately developmental before that was a common term, and we talked about our growing edges with each other and swam in a sea of feedback from one another.

Then we grew.

…

Continues in source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cultivating-our-leadership-being-ledand-misledby-garvey-berger/