Group items tagged

Complex adaptive leadership recognizes the need of today's context to acknowledge the expertise of the crowd.

The social and environmental challenges we face today are not only complex, they are also systemic and structural and have no obvious solutions. They require diverse combinations of people, organizations, and sectors to coordinate actions and work together even when the way forward is unclear. Even so, collaborative efforts often fail because they attempt to navigate complexity with traditional strategic plans, created by hierarchies that ignore the way people naturally connect.

"I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation. Not mediation, negotiation, problem-solving, debate, or public meetings. Simple, truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we each listen well."

Why do some leap ahead while others fall behind in our chaotic, connected age? In New Power, Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms confront the biggest stories of our time-the rise of mega-platforms like Facebook and Uber; the out-of-nowhere victories of Trump and Obama; the unexpected emergence of movements like #MeToo-and reveal what's really behind them: the rise of "new power."

Public education in the U.S. is at a crucial crossroad. Here's what it looks like for school districts to choose Bravely.

Modern society is plagued by fragmentation. The various sectors of our communities--businesses, schools, social service organizations, churches, government--do not work together. They exist in their own worlds. As do so many individual citizens, who long for connection but end up marginalized, their gifts overlooked, their potential contributions lost. This disconnection and detachment makes it hard if not impossible to envision a common future and work towards it together. We know what healthy communities look like--there are many success stories out there, and they've been described in detail. What Block provides in this inspiring new book is an exploration of the exact way community can emerge from fragmentation: How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? He explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.

Do you ever feel like you're going through the motions to get through the day? Do you continue to do what you do because you have always done it that way? You may not even have considered that you can change what you're doing AND have more joyful experiences. My book, Define Your WHY, shares stories and involves you in activities to get to know YOU better so you have a more meaningful life where you can live and learn on purpose. This book is for anyone who wants to discover or re-discover their WHY so they can grow their purpose.

When you talk about problems, frame them as a problem with the system, and not the behavior(s) the system produces. People in the system that are acting in ways that you don't appreciate are symptoms of this problem, not the problem itself. "Our teachers are stuck and don't want to change" can become "Our system rewards those that conserve what has worked in the past at the expense of what might be possible."

"Here's what we heard, over and over again: What's true of the vision and learning model for the kids needs to be true of the professional culture and operating norms of the adults. To help students become capable, caring, self-directed learners and creative problem-solvers, these educators believe, their schools should deliberately model those same attributes for them-in their design of learning, for sure, but also in the ways the adults work together, address problems, design systems and procedures, and engage with the community."

When a culture abandons the aggressive pursuit of status markers, the result is unexpectedly liberating.