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A New Toolkit
Photo by ernohannink Last week’s post on “Negativity and Self-Limiting Advocacy” ended up setting off quite a conversation. In light of that, I thought I might further flesh out some of what Barbara...
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Joy, Community, Connection
Last night we came together as IISC to bid farewell to the great Melinda Weekes; we are proud that she is moving on to be the Managing Director of the Applied Research Center. But today’s is not a...
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We Are Moving, Part 2
Image from Anders Sandberg Yesterday I posted a bit of a summary of Carter Phipps’ provocative new book, Evolutionaries, which included the suggested trajectories from a variety of evolutionary...
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Turning to One Another
Photo by Melissa Wiese I was so grateful when Laura Moorehead, Director of Training with the Institute for Civic Leadership, shared this reading from Margaret Wheatley at the close of my time with this...
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Living Systems Lessons for Networks
I was recently turned on to the work of Louise Diamond by the Plexus Institute. Diamond has been bringing insights from the dynamics of complex systems to peace building work for many years. Her...
View ArticleMischief-Making for Change
“The trickster is anybody who’s a bit of an outsider. They’re the ones who make change. They’re not thinking about making change; they’re almost doing it in a selfish way. But because they’re working...
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Network ROI and Co-Creation
“The most robust and resilient networks are those that create additional value for each participant while strengthening a community or ecosystem as a whole.” - Adam Pattantyus Photo by Wonderlane...
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The Roots of Our Interdependence
Photo by Dave F I recently was reminded of a truth about resilience. It came in the form of a story told by someone about the root system of red wood trees. These giant and venerable beings, some...
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Networks for Social Change: Life on the Edge
“Look to the growing edge!” - Howard Thurman Photo by Derek Keats Edge has its advantages. This is the finding of ecologists and other scientists looking at how peripheral spaces can provide adaptive...
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Networks for Change: Inquiry and Emergence
“Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday in...
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Practices for Resilience and Development
Photo by Manuela de Pretis When I take time to slow down, as I was able to do over the holiday break last week, my interest is refueled in practices that support our ability to maintain perspective and...
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Network-Inspired Questions for Change
Picking up on the spirit of yesterday’s post about asking “beautiful questions” and inspired by a staff challenge to articulate lines of inquiry stemming from IISC’s core lenses, I offer this post....
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Principles for Network Leadership Development
“In spite of current ads and slogans, the world doesn’t change one person at a time. It changes as networks of relationships form among people who discover they share a common cause and vision of...
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Strengthening the Network Within
Image by Steve Jurvetson Much of the work we do at IISC includes some element of helping to build networks for social change. This entails working with diverse groups of individuals and/or...
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Connectivity Creates Value
One of my mantras around network building and social change is that creating greater (and new forms of) connectivity is not simply a “so that” or a “nice to have” but is really an “as” and critical to...
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“Mapping” Questions to Enrich Networks
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to facilitate some of Farm to Institution New England‘s (or FINE’s) Summit at UMass-Amherst. Specifically I was asked to offer a bit of thinking, a few prompts...
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Network Impact: Hidden in Plain Sight?
“Networks are present everywhere. All we need is an eye for them.” Albert-László Barabási You may have heard a version of this story before: There was a man who had worked at a factory for twenty...
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Connections Change What is Connected
I can’t remember exactly where I saw the phrase recently, but I latched onto it. “Connections change what is connected.” So true. And this is a reason to seriously consider the power and promise of...
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3 Mantras + 3 Small Moves for Advancing Networks
“Emergence notices the way small actions and connections create complex systems, patterns that become ecosystems and societies.” -Adrienne Maree Brown, Emergent Strategy Image from whologwhy, shared...
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