Category: Uncategorized

January 6th, Values, Self-Organization, and the Goals of this System

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 →

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) →

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 →