Happy January 6th- It's the anniversary of that time a nested social system within our society attempted to violently disrupt one of its vital functions, like a cluster of cancerous cells hell-bent on growth and control. We can still see the immune system of our democracy attempting to correct, learn, and hopefully prevent future threats … Continue reading January 6th, Values, Self-Organization, and the Goals of this System
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Three Sisters (From Braiding Sweetgrass)
In Kimmerer's book Braiding Sweetgrass, an essay called "The Three Sisters" delves into the traditional practice of planting corn, beans, and squash together in a mutually supportive triad: "For millennia, from Mexico to Montana, women have mounded up the earth and laid these three seeds in the ground, all in the same square foot of … Continue reading Three Sisters (From Braiding Sweetgrass)
Most Played Songs in 2022
It’s very nice of Spotify to tell me what I listened to most this year. But a couple of flowery words about my tastes just won’t cut it. Here are the top 6 songs I listened to this year and my reflections on them. Vérité- By Now https://youtu.be/BPp2jqrRlGc “I was overflowing, hoping you would notice … Continue reading Most Played Songs in 2022
Monotony
Just saw a post on LinkedIn about how 2023 is going to be just the same as 2022 (within a particular domain) and it reminded me about patterns of perception of a repetitive status quo. I see it often in my domains of practice (defense innovation) as well as fields I follow (politics for example). … Continue reading Monotony
Scattered Thoughts on Narrative, Storytelling and the Future
Stories, parables, chronicles, and narratives are powerful means for destroying mindset -- the bundle of presuppositions, received wisdoms, and shared understandings against a background of which legal and political discourse takes place. These matters are rarely focused on. They are like eyeglasses we have worn a long time. They are nearly invisible; we use them … Continue reading Scattered Thoughts on Narrative, Storytelling and the Future
Poem: It bends like a sheet
I don't judge you for having views,It's what people do by default we'd expect them to,I kinda judge though if they're too consistentToo insistent too convicted they persist without contradictionUnencumbered by the healthy helping of unhelpful fictionsUnshaken by the invasion of new information, Solidity consistently mistaken for wisdom,See, If you were paying attention,you should have the … Continue reading Poem: It bends like a sheet
Mapping Organizational Ecosystems: Predetermined vs Relational Roles
This is an excerpt from an essay I'm working on to describe developing perspectives and practices for mapping an organizational ecosystem. I recently ran a workshop with Agitare, the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum, and the Federal Innovation Network to explore how we view, create, and use maps of our massive, interconnected community, and how co-created and inter-subjective approaches … Continue reading Mapping Organizational Ecosystems: Predetermined vs Relational Roles
Innovation, Design, and the Adjacent-Possible
This is a simple depiction of this concept called the adjacent-possible. I'm going to use this visualization to describe a few thoughts about innovation strategy and practices that I hope you will find useful. The concept of the adjacent possible originated from Stuart Kauffman, who used it to describe evolutionary potential in biology. For any … Continue reading Innovation, Design, and the Adjacent-Possible
Leadership in Complexity – Conversation, Values, Democracy, Slippery Slopes, and Genuine Evil
https://youtu.be/4S0K7MAT_KA Text: I posted something in an Air Force Facebook group the other day that went something like this: I think more of our mid-tier leaders -- officers and NCOs -- need to be enabled, educated, and empowered to engage in the difficult task of rooting out, tamping down, and expelling extremist, sectarian ideologies among … Continue reading Leadership in Complexity – Conversation, Values, Democracy, Slippery Slopes, and Genuine Evil
2020-A Shared Illusion
I’ve been spending a bit of time on what I intended to be a retrospective post about the year 2020... but struggling. Perhaps that is appropriate, as 2020 was characterized by nothing if not struggle. Perhaps I should consider this piece on different types of alignment to be my official retrospective post, which explores some … Continue reading 2020-A Shared Illusion