Leaving New York today. It has been an incredible four days here working with my good friends Kelly McGowan and Tuesday Ryan-Hart and Lex Schroeder, Aniestla Rugama, Alissa Schwartz, and Aswad Foster. We were running a workshop called the Art of Social Justice in which we were investigating the intersection of participatory process and social justice work. Over three days we explored a framework that Tuesday has developed and investigated with Kelly for the past year. The framework includes and transcends the gifts and drawbacks of traditional social justice frameworks and of what we know about participatory process. Tuesday is …
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I have great clients. Most of the people who end up working with me do so because they want to work in radically more participatory ways, opening up processes to more voices, more leadership. In conference settings this means scheduling much more dialogue or running the whole thing using Open Space Technology and dispensing with pre-loading content. But there persists, especially in the corporate and government sectors, a underlying nervousness in doing this. common objections to making things more participatory include: It’s too risky We’re not ready for it I’m worried it won’t work There won’t be enough structure People …
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I’m currently engaged in a number of projects that have me working at the margins, exploring margins, eliminating margins and generally working with difference, otherness, power and exclusion. These projects include: Running an Open Space Technology event in September to create collaborative actions around reducing addictions-related stigma in the health system in Vancouver. Working with the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in the United States on supporting and expanding a culture of welcome and acceptance in their work with migrants and refugees, work that is stunningly radical in the context of the current “conversation” on immigration in the USA. Part …
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What a pattern…all over the world police attacking citizens…it happened here in Canada too last year during the G20 talks (that probably had some bearing on what subsequently unfolded in Greece). The most powerful line in that video is that one that welcomes us to the age where everyone is innocent except the people, who are guilty. That is a stirring reminder of how this story is being told. If you are not a part of the problem, you cannot be a part of the solution! So, proud to stand with all those who identify as “guilty.” Time for those …
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Just dipping into Google+ a little more today. I’ve set up a few circles of friends, family and various professional and local communities of practice. Today I went a step further and set up a circle of “conspirators.” I intend to use this circle for posting process and facilitation design questions for clients and challenges I am currently working with and I invite you to do the same. One of the ways the social web has changed my business practice is that I rarely design projects without checking in with friends first. Usually I do this based on who is …