New videos on working with complexity and using Participatory Narrative Inquiry
Laureen Golden is one of those people that is able to just get me talking. From the first time we met back in 2015, she and I have had dozens of great conversations about complexity, facilitation, participatory design and leadership. I’ve supported her in her work with leaders and Montessori educators and also in teaching a course on system work and trauma.
Here are a couple of offerings from her YouTube channel, where she has edited some of our conversations into teaching pieces that we are happy to share with you
- A playlist of four short videos on working with complexity in trauma. These interviews were for a series called “Looking at Systems with a Trauma-Informed Lens” taught at Portland State University.
- Introduction to Participatory Narrative inquiry. A short interview with Montessori educator Jacqui Miller where I talk about using story to make sense of the world. Here I talk about why we work with anecdotes and story fragments and how PNI helps us to gather information for collective sensemaking about our world and how we should act. If you want to learn more about PNI, Cynthia Kurtz shares all her resources here, and I’m told she’s thinking of making a workshop for deeper learning, for which I cannot wait.
Enjoy these offerings.
Really loved that PNI mini-lecture, Chris. I’m going to put my learning to work soon on a project — like, first thing tomorrow morning. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you for sharing. These are great , and the one about Self Organization and Emergence really got my brain firing. Patterns and attributes of edges in systems. In natural systems the most productive areas are the edges. The areas of overlap (that sweet spot) between systems where new life (emergence) and information can flourish (or maybe not). For example: woodland to grassland. Trees on the edge break the wind coming across the grassland, deposit nutrient from dust into the forest system, provide shelter, shade, and habitat for birds etc – which feed the system with their poops and do their thing. New plants on the edge are supported and new information is encouraged, and that highly productive edge will continue to grow out into the grassland. Highly productive and emergent.
Another way I think about it is a city curb (essentially an edge) – a collector. Collecting water, leaves, dirt, seeds, nutrient on wind. If left and the street wasn’t cleaned the seed would grow (nature abhores a vaccuum), creating a little micro system right there, and as that system grew (more information), that could be the start of the new forest (library) that could take over the whole city. It wouldn’t do it alone. Other similar small curb systems would eventually meet up, and begin to share information, from the common library and not one element in the system would have to do it all alone. In fact there’s no way that it could do it all alone. It’s gonna take a network.
It might seem a bit abstract talking about natural systems but for me the overlaps with participatory leadership systems in human systems is very similar. The patterns and metaphors work for me. Chris thank you so much for your practice and investing so much life, time and energy into becoming so clear, and effective with the tools, on how to help us make some sense in the complexity. It’s inspiring for me.
It’s perfect Conrad. Human systems are living systems and all kinds of life and sustenance come from the edges of our worlds, our communities, our circles of friends.