Human to Human

When in New Zealand I heard a story from friends there about the power of a social network to create change. Cadbury New Zealand had changed one of the ingredients in its chocolate (which is very delicious by the way). It removed cocoa butter, I believe, and replaced it with palm oil. This was met with resistance by some. Palm oil comes from Borneo forests and other rain forests. With increased demand for palm oil, not just through Cadbury, more rain forests are being slashed, wild life species are becoming displaced and endangered, and there is further deforestation and global warming. Basic systems stuff that is simple in concept, yet complex and far reaching in impact.

In previous eras, average citizens would not be as likely to be able to do anything about this. Individuals, groups of citizens stood far less chance in influencing large and powerful corporations. It would have taken mass organizing efforts. But this is a different age, an age where social networks have much more influence. The Auckland Zoo boycotted the Cadbury products. 3,500 people and groups connected on Facebook and other social networking sites, and through freely available tools like Youtube, created a formidable voice in opposition to Cadbury’s actions.

The short of it is that within four weeks, Cadbury heard the response, recognized the level of reaction, and issued an apology and reversal of its policy. Citizens united around a cause with simple tools to connect and offer voice. It is how change happens today.

It is what I have learned with friends Debbie Frieze, Meg Wheatley and others about working with emergence and
taking change and connection to levels of scale that is hopeful for all of us. From isolated individuals to networks. From networks to deliberate communities of practice. From communities of practice to systems of influence. It comes from a four step model that my colleagues and I at Berkana Institute have been practicing now for many years. 1. Name the issue and purpose. 2. Connect people together around that issue. 3. Nurther the connecton — the relationship, the co-learning, the relationships. 4. Illuminate what you are learning, doing and practicing — tell stories. There is an excellent article by Meg and Debbie here.

A basic description of the situation with Cadbury New Zealand .

A bit more on the involvement of the Auckland Zoo and Facebook group.

And even better, embedded in this process of how change happens through social networks, is that local action impacts regional and global learning. Because of what has happened in New Zealand, there is now amplified and accellerated reach to connect other rainforest action groups.

A good book read on this that I’m in now is Here Comes Everybody, written by Clay Shirky. The subtitle speaks to what happened with Cadbury. “The Power of Organizing without Organizations.” Shirky makes simple points that help to context what happend with New Zealand and Cadbury:

– “New social tools lower the cost of group action. Most of the barriers to group action have collapsed, and without those barriers, we are free to explore new ways of gatheirng together and getting things done.”
– “We are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and to take collective action, all outside the framework of traditional institutions and organizations.”

Mind boggling yet simple. Powerful. Emergent. Happening in many places on the planet. How change happens in this era.

Lately I have been asking three simple questions. Who are you? What is it like to be you? What has your attention? I ask these three questions of groups as they interact. I ask them of myself. I sometimes ask them at the beginning of gatherings, and often in some form, at the end. In participatory leadership, the conversations that they evoke help further claim our fundamental relationship as co-learners, as co-creators. They also help train all of us into collectively noticing what we learn from being together. They help make available tacit wisdom that creates social and business value. Three questions. Rich outcomes.

Last week I was able to participate in a learning circle with an amazing group from Ottawa. They were all involved in calling and participating in an Art of Hosting from the spring of this year. Together we were exploring what next would help to create further community capacity to host conversations that matter. This checkin took us to a deep place from which choices and decisions were simply more clear.

I remember many years ago my friend Toke Moeller teaching me to “never underestimate the power of a good checkin.” Try these and share what you learn.

Invitation — September 5, 2009

Three days ago, I sat by a morning fire at the Whatipu Lodge, very near the Tasman Sea and the Manukau Harbor in New Zealand. It was a day when I knew that the remaining four of us, those who had called, designed, and hosted a men’s gathering, would be leaving to a new place. Four of us had a gift of a conversation that morning. There was friendship. There was a unique connection that I felt as men together. There was insight that doesn’t just come everyday. In particular, I gained six insights into some of what I hope for and invite in the work of hosting conversations that matter. Thanks Roq, Glen, Wayne. This helps me verbalize what I couldn’t see as clearly and to invite it in the groups I work with.

1. Clear Voice – I hope for us to be able to speak with clear voice together. Sometimes it is with innocence. Often with simplicity. And often with awareness that there is always another way to think about things. I hope for us to name and share what we see in the moment, as if we are all tuners to frequencies that none of us individually can receive.

2. Authentic – I hope for us to be deeply authentic. And approachable. When I coach people I usually call attention to purpose and share some of the words I might speak if it were me. However, I invite them to find the words that work for them. If they show up authenticly — not performing, just authentic and real — that energy carries to others. It gives people permission to be authentic, honest, vulnerable. I hope we can step ourselves and with others a bit further into our own brilliance. Authenticity, including vulnerability is a doorway.

3. Scissor-Hands Design – I hope for us to realize that design can come quickly and in a comprehensive way. When we notice values, intentions, and a few key questions, it is simple to create times and engagement processes. What can feel like it should take longer — in fact, often has — can become surprisingly fast and comprehensive. I didn’t see the moving Edward Scissor Hands, but I remember a commercial that showed very quick hands.

4. Magic – I hope for us all to be able to make shifts in the energy in a room by what we do. I hope we can do this with clarity. One of the simple ways to do this is to witness what we love, what is beautiful, what has us really curious. It is as if each of these witnessings invite others to join into a creation together. And oh, it is good to laugh with each other. Even in the difficulties, to shift energy to a field of beauty and curiousity is to make the stuck, unstuck and flowing

5. Vibrational Rate – I learned with these men about how we each are the harvest. Yes, there are documents to create and reports to share. However, I sense that how each of us is changed — vibrationally — is the most lasting harvest. I’ve known people who are able to change the vibrational rate of a room. It feels like many of us are learning to trust this. I know that for me this has included deliberate practices of wholeness and wellness. It has also included releasing energy in relationship with some of the people I have loved most in my life. Resonance — us — lasts longer than any words and actually becomes the most important tool for creating change.

6. Commitment to the Practical – I hope for all of us to be able to take big ideas and apply them at the level of work getting done. I hope for all of us to be able to integrate many ideas and move them from philosophical to practical application. Sometimes we are teachers together. I never find myself doubting that the underlying world views with which we work are not practical. In fact, essential in the new stories we are creating together.

What a gift to sit with this circle of men. What a gift to relate to each other in this way. What a gift to explore and reflect back some of what we notice and learn together. I smile to think of the “symbol books” that we picked to close out this learning together. Glen, the Allan Root that goes to the heart. Wayne, the Mole that tunnels below the surface and with a sense of smell and vibration felt through the ground. Roq, the Peace Lilly. May it be so. Me, “I can give up anytime.” Ah, there are beliefs to just let go so that we can be at our next level of generativeness together. Thank you men.