Curiosity: The MUSCLE Of Change

I read a great quote today from Hugh MacLeod:

People don’t resist change. They resist being changed.

So let’s go back to the beginning and watch our kids grow up. Think how much they learn and how much they change – seemingly in front of our very eyes.

We – parents, family, teachers – are not changing them, they are changing themselves, driven by a innate curious to understand and orient and reorient, no stone left unturned.

Continue reading “Curiosity: The MUSCLE Of Change”

Just What Am I Here To Do…?

When you enter the dark and misunderstood world of change agency, a curtain is parted and you see before you thousands of shiny objects and golden baubles – all of them possibilities. Possibilities to add value, to shake things up, in deepen and improve community, to unlock talent from outmoded ways of organizing. What to touch? What to play with? It can be intoxicating, and all the more difficult to decide for it. A Change Agents Worldwide colleague, Kevin Jones, wrote recently about how he defines his service, when there is SO MUCH TO DO! He practiced a few times at a … Continue reading Just What Am I Here To Do…?

#PKyvr33 Day 6: Just How Meta Can I Get? #WOLweek #WOLyo

Somehow, during #PKyvr33, I want to get this idea across, because I both like and despise how meta I get sometimes… This is a (pecha kucha) PK about my (working out loud experiment) WOLyo which included PKs, including one on PK; and one on WOL. Additionally, this PK was built using WOL (#PKyvr33) Is the idea that I have cubed the process? Or has WOL eaten itself? ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading #PKyvr33 Day 6: Just How Meta Can I Get? #WOLweek #WOLyo

The Person To Person Economy: Curiosity

The TMWK Manifesto begins with curiosity – and, if push comes to shove, it could end there too. Curiosity is EVERYTHING. The Manifeto says: Cultivate curiosity. It all begins with curiosity. “Our number one value isn’t in any of the skills we have. It’s that we’re essentially curious.” – Jim Coudal via @brainpickings Curiosity is the kick-start, the pre-requisite. It allows us to move forward, in the footsteps of children. John Pilger had it right: “…the first step is to engender an approach, enable the measurement of distances and walking toward. It is show the possible and potential.” – Extract from article in The Guardian … Continue reading The Person To Person Economy: Curiosity

A Personal Commitment To The Person To Person Economy

This week I was involved in an online conversation with fellow CAWWers, including the inimitable Luis Suarez, concerning Sharing Economy services such as AirBnB and Uber, and Luis made this point: It’s more down to P2P, right? As in People … Continue reading A Personal Commitment To The Person To Person Economy

The #unSquirrel Manifesto: The Visual

Post-it notes are the best way you can include many people into a process to learn. Adults learn by doing, writing something down and sharing it in the open puts skin in the game for everyone. All meeting should involve post-it notes. It is the #unSquirrel manifesto in action: #unSquirrel today! ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading The #unSquirrel Manifesto: The Visual

#unSquirrel Manifesto 10: Your Turn

I attended the first #ResponsiveOrg unConference in London last week. Illuminating, deep discussion on how to solve the world’s (organizational) problems – y’know, nothing much. Importantly, after a day of healthy and inspiring conversations, we have to ask: “And…?” Where is the action, the outcomes, the next steps? We have to reach for more. So, it inspired me to add an action item here. In some small way, BIG changes can occur when we take a step forward, when we lean in, when we look to commune and share our knowledge. You will make a difference if you #unSquirrel. So, … Continue reading #unSquirrel Manifesto 10: Your Turn

Real Miracles Make Little Noise. Essential Events Are So Simple!

As usual, waiting for serendipity to strike is time well spent. Learning happens when new neural pathways are created, and they do so when your brain exclaims: “Huh? Heh? Hmmm! Who knew?! I will squirrel that one away for another day.” So, how important is a smile? Nothing short of miraculous, of course. I had this image on my desktop for a month or more. I knew I wanted to share it, but had no context. This morning, I thought, “well, I can just share it with an upbeat note.” [I don’t take the blog too seriously that I think … Continue reading Real Miracles Make Little Noise. Essential Events Are So Simple!

Change Agents Are Peasants On A Hillside, Hearts Open, Mouths Shut

Undertaking some garage spring cleaning on Easter Sunday, I found some old picture frames, one of which is worth resurrecting from storage TODAY. Ripped from the intro page of a Paul Theroux book, if memory serves, it highlights perfectly my own #FutureOfWork point of view as an advocate of change. “A peasant must stand a long time on a hillside with his mouth open before a roast duck flies in.” I have been there, for years too long, alongside colleagues too many, a powerless peasant in a system I neither controlled nor understood. Yet… “The movements which work revolutions in the world … Continue reading Change Agents Are Peasants On A Hillside, Hearts Open, Mouths Shut

#WOLyo! Close Out: Storify Reflections On Working Out Loud

Well, I put together a Storify of the #WOLyo! experiment from last week. Storify curates the social conversation around the topic – this is about me working out loud for a whole week under the stairs at work. Unfortunately, I cannot embed the Storify here on WordPress, so click through to the slightly weird but quite interesting little experiment…it looks a little bit like this. Enjoy. ←This Much We Know.→   Continue reading #WOLyo! Close Out: Storify Reflections On Working Out Loud

Pecha Kucha Squared = #WOLyo!

Last week, I presented 10 (count ‘em!) pecha kucha, every day at 1130 and 1330. Topics ranged from my (fairly uneducated) take on Microsoft Office/Oslo roadmap and shipping finance for beginners, to perspectives on the company and the CEO, and then more meta content about working out loud and the value and practice of pecha kucha itself. At the end of the pecha kucha on pecha kucha, I suggested it as a good option for people to practice their presentation craft, and finished with a Challenge Accepted image. Someone asked, does this mean you want us to ‘pecha kucha’? Well, no … Continue reading Pecha Kucha Squared = #WOLyo!