Characteristic of great leaders according to JK Galbraith

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.

~John Kenneth Galbraith

Krishnamurti - being what we are

"Don't you see, it is really an extraordinary thing that you are so afraid to be what you are.; because beauty lies in being what you are. If you see that you are lazy, that you are stupid and if you understand laziness and come face to face with stupidity without trying to change it into something else, then in that state you will find there is an enormous release, there is great beauty, there is great intelligence."

Think on these things  - chapter: The attentive mind
In response to the question: "Why do I hate myself when I don't study"

Cross-cultural awareness, competences and other related jargon. Training ideaS

I am reproducing an interesting article about cross cultural training... It presents simply what is quite simple. Which is 1000 times better than what most so called expert do: making something simple complicate and trying to make sound simple the resulting complexities. None of this here. Thanks to the author whose website is mentioned below:

Terminology within the cross cultural communications field can sometimes be baffling to those reading the literature, websites or promotional material. Many ask what is the difference between 'intercultural' and 'cross cultural'? What is 'cross cultural awareness' as opposed to 'cross cultural knowledge' or, are 'cultural sensitivity' and 'cultural competence' the same thing?

 With a view to clarifying some of the above mentioned terminology, this article will examine terms used in relation to building cross cultural understanding within the business world. Cross cultural understanding simply refers to the basic ability of people within business to recognise, interpret and correctly react to people, incidences or situations that are open to misunderstanding due to cultural differences.

The fundamental intention of cross cultural training is to equip the learner(s) with the appropriate skills to attain cross cultural understanding. Once the foundations of cross cultural understanding have been laid, the learner(s), either through continued training or experiences within the workplace, gradually attains a more acute appreciation of cultural differences.

The different types of appreciation are cross cultural knowledge, cross cultural awareness, cross cultural sensitivity and cross cultural competence. Although all the terms may appear similar in meaning, subtle differences exist between them. 'Cross Cultural Knowledge' is critical to basic cross cultural understanding. Without it cross cultural appreciation cannot take place. It refers to a surface level familiarization with cultural characteristics, values, beliefs and behaviours. 'Cross Cultural Awareness' develops from cross cultural knowledge as the learner understands and appreciates a culture internally. This may also be accompanied by changes within the learner's behaviour and attitudes such as a greater flexibility and openness. 'Cross Cultural Sensitivity' is a natural by-product of awareness and refers to an ability to read into situations, contexts and behaviours that are culturally rooted and be able to react to them appropriately. An suitable response necessitates that the actor no longer carries his/her own culturally determined interpretations of the situation or behaviour (i.e. good/bad, right/wrong) which can only be nurtured through both cross cultural knowledge and awareness.

'Cross Cultural Competence' is and should be the aim of all those dealing with multicultural clients, customers or colleagues. 'Competence' is the final stage of cross cultural understanding and signifies the actor's ability to work effectively across cultures. Cross cultural competency is beyond knowledge, awareness and sensitivity in that it is the digestion, integration and transformation of all the skills and information acquired through them, applied to create cultural synergy within the workplace.

Thanks for this valuable article taken from the following web http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/cross-cultural-understanding.html

What seems to me is the importance of appreciation. The practice of appreciation is what will help seeing the intention beyond and connecting with what is really good in every thing. Culture is often the make up for wanting to do things properly. Because of the general positive inclination of any culture, this very trait is often used and abused by groups of people wanting to draw power and benefit from society - either by their position or by their business or practices. That is how culture or cultural features become degenerative - ie they lose their meaning and become mere instrument of power or control -. This is obvious in some rituals - often religious rituals whose meaning is lost - or some table manners - where to put our hands or forks or knife, whether using hands or not etc... -

A deep training directions would be look very seriously for as many reasons as possible why a behavior A is good and  why its opposite A- is also good. Practicing that. Then practicing that on our personal top 10 of what we believe is right - right in business relationship - right at home - right with children - right with friend.

Then the same should be practice with someone else list. Before that, the "someone else" list should be "de-personnalised" ie it should be re-written by someone else (who would read it though) and following that, it should be placed in a box for someone else to pick it up randomely.

This technique would enhance the practice of appreciation, detachment, distinguishing between person and the behaviour. It would help de-personnalise issues while bringing to light the purest intentions (the top ten of what is right). It could create an "arch" of understanding - well above persons, ego and behaviours - under the light of pure intention and universal values, where we all stand equal and united.

Quite a high aim and surely an interesting training session.

Open space facilitation

Great, authentic sharing about practical 'Open space' facilitation:

Open space technology is an ‘innovation’ that has been created to provide a forum for development stakeholder interaction. It works by breaking away from the stilted western influenced ‘one-man shows’ where an ‘expert’ occupies a position of power, usually on a raised dais with, the others sitting in a square or semi triangular shape below him. In open space there is no boss and the no real rules of interaction. The format is meant to ensure everyone is able to interact with everyone else.

First the people sit in a circle.

There is a minimum of ceremony. The gathered people start by identifying the key issues that have brought them together. If several issues are identified then the circle will break into several smaller circles to discuss each of them and suggest solutions. A closing circle will later be created to bring all this input together. Everybody who wants to speak has a chance to do so. There are no titles here, no affectations and no honorifics. The cleaner sits shoulder to shoulder with the manager and the driver surprises everybody by her well reasoned and animated contributions. It is amazing how much openness and trust this simple but powerful tool brings.

Open space technology was created by Owen Hanson in the 1980’s as a methodology for conducting meetings. He acknowledges that, in developing the methodology, he was influenced by ‘his experience of life in an African village.’

http://nkahihu.wordpress.com/

Learning and facilitation. How to learn? How to teach? How to reach

It seems to me: learning how to teach is learning how to reach

I am impressed by the following metaphor when it comes to learning, reaching and reaching out: infusion / waiving. In future posts, I will elaborate on the analogies between these seemingly very different fields.

Infusion:
how to let a subject infuse? penetration, penetrability, diffusion, time and space of contact, mixing without disturbing, blending, getting the flavor, getting the essence...
Pictures below can help relate and bring us a little step further in elaborating a clearer notion of an "infusion-based learning and facilitation"



 


Waiving

The long process(es) - creating thread, dying, weaving, the shuttle, going up and down, the science involved (it is very exact in a way - it goes thread by thread - and if not exact, it will look awkward) , the long, gruesome, time-consuming practice of it and how it is learnt (passed on from mother to daughter - as some form of apprenticeship - and how it often reflects on someone's maturity level or level of preparedness - like in the case of a young bride who is completing her own work or tapestry, or as a matter of fact it could be batik though batik is not about weaving).

Buckminster Fuller in the Critical Path is making explicit allusion to weaving patterns of South East Asia and those weaving patterns that use tri-angular weaving (three points of contacts which make the pattern almost indestructible).

     



 

Cross-Cultural Managment - Various concept and approaches

Cross-Cultural Management - Various concept and approaches
As part of our usual methodology, we explore the immediately-available material on the subject.
We try to cross a few approaches, from which we get a bigger picture understanding
We are then able to articulate what we believe is key to our own approach - namely the dimension of appreciation inter-linked with the various dimensions of communication especially listening, silence and questioning.

Below are some parts of the first step: understanding various approaches...

Cross-Cultural Management:A Knowledge Management Perspective Description Cross-Cultural Management, A Knowledge Management Perspective forges a break with the concept of culture that has dominated management thinking, education and research for several decades. Culture rather than being presented as a source of difference and antagonism, is presented as a form of organisational knowledge that can be converted into a resource for underpinning core competence. "If books are to be judged on the effect that they have on the thought processes of the reader Professor Holden's book is outstanding.  This book will provide both a valuable theoretical underpinning and many insights that will move the study of cross-cultural management and knowledge management into the age of the knowledge economy - an achievement that will pay dividends both to researchers and practitioners for many years to come." Prof Anthony Wensley, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Toronto

Features Criticises cross-cultural management studies for being dependent on traditional concepts of culture that are too detached from the everyday cross-cultural aspects of knowledge sharing, networking and organisational learning in the global economy. Proposes a new notion of culture based on the modern corporate world in which undergraduates, postgraduates and managers will work. Suggests new boundaries and directions for cross-cultural management education and research.

Table of Contents PART 1: ANTHROPOLOGY S AWKWARD LEGACY TO THE MANAGER'S WORLD  1. Culture: the specious scapegoat  2. The anthropologist's legacy  3. Some consequences of culture's consequences  4. Navigating knowledge management  5. Towards culture as an object of knowledge management PART 2: CASE STUDIES: MAKING SENSE OF CULTURE FROM A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE  6.  Case study 1: Novo Nordisk: cross-cultural management as facilitation  7.  Case study 2: Matsushita Electric: A learning history  8.  Case study 3: LEGO: transferring identity knowledge  9.  Case study 4: Sulzer Infra: creating one winning team PART III: REDESIGNING CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT AS A KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN  11. Language: management's lost continent  12. The cross-cultural management and the translation of common knowledge  13. Cross-cultural management: synergies for participative competence Glossary

Back Cover "If books are to be judged on the effect that they have on the thought processes of the reader Professor Holden's book is outstanding.  This book will provide both a valuable theoretical underpinning and many insights that will move the study of cross-cultural management and knowledge management into the age of the knowledge economy - an achievement that will pay dividends both to researchers and practitioners for many years to come." Prof Anthony Wensley, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Toronto "By positing that cross-cultural management is a form of knowledge management, he broadens and reinvigorates the entire subject area at a stroke.  Researchers, practitioners and consultants are supplied with an array of new concepts, models and insights and , to some extent, a new language - all of which have been long overdue.  For the foreseeable future this will be the leading book on cross-cultural management." Prof Dr Gerhard Fink, Director of the REsearch Institute for European Affairs and Chairman of the Faculty of Business at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration "Holden's book is a milestone in the development of cross-cultural management.  It represents a conceptual shift in the field, one that many have been waiting for, redesigning cross-cultural management as a knowledge domain.  These new concepts will become references for practitioners as well as for researchers and trainers.  In the academic world,  where cross-cultural management is more and more to the forefront, no-one can afford not to have read this book." Marie-Therese Claes, ICHEC Brussels, Business School and Catholic University of Louvain Cross-Cultural Management: A Knowledge Management Perspective forges a break with the concept of culture that has dominated management thinking, education, and research for several decades. Culture, rather than being presented as a source of difference and antagonism, is presented as a form of organisational knowledge that can be converted into a resource for underpinning core competence.  FEATURES and BENEFITS:         " Focuses on 'cross-cultural interdependence' rather than tradititional views of comparative differences and similarities between cultures thereby suggesting new boundaries and directions for cross-cultural management education, research and practice for students and managers for years to come. Key to the text are four case studies of global companies which analyse rarely observed, yet everyday issues for organisations within the global economy- cross-cultural communication behaviour. " Supplies models and a glossary of terms to clarify the new concepts which ally cross-cultural management with knowledge management, providing an accessible, learning-oriented student and manager resource. Nigel Holden holds visiting professorships at the Vienna School of Economics and Business Administration, the Leiden University School of Management and the Kassel International Management School. He was formerly Professor of Cross-Cultural Management at Copenhagen Business School.  He has wide international experience as a management educator, researcher and consultant and has been a keynote speaker at academic and business conferences in the UK, various EU countries and the USA. http://www.pearson.ch/1471/9780273646808/Cross-Cultural-Management-A.aspx

George Smoot on the design of the universe | Video on TED.com

It was said that Buckminster Fuller understood the architecture of the Universe. I take it to mean that he had a perception of how Universe of Nature organized itself, and continues to organize itself. And here is a guy sharing about the design of the Universe. This should be interesting, I haven't not watched this yet while posting this blog

George Smoot on the design of the universe Video on TED.com

Being childlike - a life of promise and efforts - Learning with Joy

30 April 2009 and 10 May 2009

An important part of myself has been, ... an important part of my life has been to keep in touch with some precious childhood memories.

These are not really the usual childhood memories, like Christmas, parties, holidays or even people. These are more like impressions - lasting impressions. My problem has been to be able to express them. Even understanding, or 'locating'  them has proven difficult. In fact precisely because of this difficulty to understand or to locate them, the ability to express them and share them has been greatly impaired... like limited.

Today, I think that a conscious decision, an important, deep decision that somehow I - or something in me - took, was to remain faithful to these impressions and somehow bring them to life.

***********

A lot of my professional, entrepreneurial life has been determined - like led - by that desire and that 'implicit' decision. In fact - it seems - my professional life became about that:

              bringing to life and getting in touch with strong, lasting child / child-like feelings    

Only recently - I would say these days, do I start to learn more and approach these feelings closer again.

What are they? Whom are there? The taste of the mango lies in tasting it - words are at loss. Only today is society more willing to invest and investigate into these... Early childhood development, children feelings and intelligences are being studied with a more open mind.

In this 'conflict' or 'tension' between the growing human being and the child, it is often the growing human - more specifically the adult - already grown up - that will look at and judge the child, it is often the growing human - more specifically the adult - already grown up, that will look at and judge the child.

Shall the adults' views prevail over any other? In fact are there been even any others? Rare are the instances in our modern world. The Little Prince stands out in his confinement and solitude. Far away in history are the stories or the representation of child-king, in ancient Egypt or during the Khmer kingdom.

In a world designed for the adults to WIN, shall we be surprised that little be made to uncover what is it that the child has and the adult not?

I am not saying that children should win nor that education is a fallacy and responsibility a mirage. I am giving my best at becoming an educated, responsible adult. But where so many of us, so often fail, isn't it worth to turn back and look at the whole equation differently?

1- What can we learn from children? Is there anything that adult can learn from children?
2- When it seems that from birth the fragile infant 's life is suspended into the adults' hands - primarily the mother and father - is that that children can only take and adults give?
3-Besides love and gratitude is there anything that we adult can receive and our children give?
4- If one has to admit that yes adults will have to win, does that mean a contrario that children must lose? Above the all too common scheme of domination, dependence, sometimes contend and humiliation or their reverse - adoration and glorification - is there another path of win-win openness, education and inclusion?

In view of the multiple talents deployed by our children, the world of adults is put into question...

a/ Yes - no 5 years old created the atomic bomb or the space shuttle or the compass or the chopsticks... Nonetheless if a comparison is possible by any standards the field of possibility for each man seem to shrink with years for most.

The smart student becomes a great professor, the dynamic teenager becomes a successful businessman, the playful boy a talented architect etc... a great violinist, scientist, sportsman...at most. And for most of us, an employee, a staff, a clerk, a worker, a farmer, ...There is absolutely no shame in this status, positions, occupations... And for sure they can be the subject of much pride and accomplishment.

Just that the spectrum of resources being used, the intensity of efforts and the depth of progress being made seem to pale when you compare how much is between achieved between 0 to 6 and 7 to 77. Isn't it? Maybe it could become the subject for new researches for people who have the time and money...

b/ Another reason why we question the world of adults and its traditionally accepted dominance over the world of children is the blatant failure - and irresponsibility - the lies, the perversity that seem to pervade every level and every aspects of the adult's society

Since my daughter was born, besides becoming - maybe - a subject of pride for a loving father - she also become a subject of wonder, such wonder as I encounter with any infant: I cannot help but wondering at the great efforts - inhuman for us adults it seems - over-human efforts my daughetr is making to ajust herself to her new environment and world: conquering, managing space, time, langage, food, objects.... She goes through all those previously unknown dimensions at high speed, overcoming all obstacles one after the other.


Besides signals of pain and absolute needs, she is only smile and laugh. There is an immense sense of enterprise. What drives her?

Conformity and to be totally free from comparison

Conformity and to be totally free from comparison

When there is absolute freedom from any form of comparison
When within I evolve - I am without any fear - the slightest fear of not being this or that - I is - freely and creatively.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-7-ZiiM-o

habits and getting stunned

We would rather get stunned than fully alive.
We would rather get absorbed into a non-activity: often reading a newspaper, watching TV, certain discussions - rather than to open to something real about using our mind.
We would rather fall back into habits - old habits, or new ones - than really - courageously - think.
Do we think about it? Do we?
Krishnamurthi - on this road - left footprints one may well follow - though they - his footprints - do not lead anywhere else than our own somewhere sometimes...

Governmental or non-profit organizations typically include a specific perspective at the top of their strategy map

http://www.activestrategy.com/strategy_execution/strategy_mapping.aspx
Without a strategy map, many companies expend endless hours planning a strategy, then falter at deploying, communicating, and executing it properly. Strategy mapping is a proven way to turn the complex and
often inaccessible strategic plan into an interactive, visual roadmap for the plan's successful execution.
A good strategy map is:
- A simple, visual depiction of key parts of current strategic plan
- A way of grouping your highest-level objectives by areas, or "perspectives"
- Comprised of objectives that indicate your desired outcomes
- An explanation of cause and effect relationships
- What creates the foundation for good scorecards and effective strategy execution

Making the Perspectives Fit Your Organization The example above uses the "traditional" perspectives described by Drs. Kaplan and Norton (Financial, Customer, Internal, Learning and Growth). Your organization may require more or different perspectives
to accurately represent all of your stakeholders. For example, hospitals often add a "Clinical Quality" perspective, while governmental or non-profit organizations typically include a
"Constituent Outcomes" perspective at the top of their strategy map, and often move the "Financial" perspective to the bottom, since profits are not the ultimate goal, but rather provide the resources to meet their missions.

Strategic mapping

In the process of working on a strategic planning exercise for a client, the idea and somehow the need to using something I called "strategic mapping" came up. I then realised - as often - that I had not created something new and that there were already (available) various concept of "strategic mapping". Now I do not feel compelled to forget my initial intentions, and bow to previous thoughts from other consultants. Instead I feel I can learn extra stuff from them while being true and honest to my initial intentions and ideas.
Ludo's initial idea and intention: out of a strategic planning exercise, it seems essential to me to offer an authentic approach to dialog, meaningful dialog, the art and science of conversation. True to that spirit, no strategic thrust can emerge without allowing a meaningful, open, authentic appreciation of what is emerging... various trends, directions, positions, ..... Because it is open, mutli-directional, across section, acros hierarchy and power-structure, a map seems a good way to capture the complexity and the multi-levels of views and perceptions involved... therefore, and quite naturally, a map is to a plan what strategic mapping is to strategic planning.

Now, below some is some introductory info on strategic mapping according to other organisations:.
The information is taken from various websites following a rapid search

taken from http://www.idiagram.com/
What they say: in "The Art of the Strategic Conversation* "
The images we create are tools for catalyzing creative and expansive conversations while keeping those conversations grounded in the reality of the situation.
By literally mapping out the details of your technology, marketplace, strategy, etc. we can give you and your team the opportunity to step back and see better:
see things more clearly
see the big picture
see things together
see things differently

A good strategic map and the process of bringing people together in constructive dialog, can help your team grapple with the complex, various, and difficult issues that are impeding your progress.

Navigating the future without a good map can be difficult and dangerous: difficult to see where you are, and at risk you won't get where you want to go. A good map can help reveal your strategic reality and thus position you to create the future you want. As a tool for generating meaningful conversation and clearer communication, a good map can generateunderstanding and insight, agreement and action.


Another organisation:

taken from http://cdn.information-management.com/

Outdoor education - field of interest to share at the MOE conference

It is time to submit a list of topics for which I will be keen to share and speak at the MOE outdoor education.
Though I never thought of specialising in outdoor education, I have been running hundreds and hundreds of outdoor training programs - many teambuildings and many camps. I created most programs and I had to adapt to many and many various types of situations, people, environment,.... I cannot help but wanting to contribute. I believe one the interesting aspect I am able to contribute is the freshness and innocence directly at the source of our designs. Our delivery is dictated by a strong, imperious need to engage everybody which means: every body should want to play and every body could and would. Last, learning should be a natural outcome - hence the idea of facilitation: (facil is french means easy - to facilitate is to make things easier: to support learning because learning is there, ready to be picked up... like a fruit when it is ripe or when the chick gets out of the shell and the mum gently helps breaking the shell).

"Natural" learning is something I should expand on.... I believe it is something many people do not get - or totally undervalue - and it is not their fault... there is a major drift in our modern societies between our natural abilities to learn and where "modern" education is bringing us, a drift to where and how learning really takes place and where our schools are leading us.

Now outdoor education is just one among the many ways to help us deal with the question of learning but it is a powerful one. Personnally, outdoors have always been an attraction because there is something "wholistic" when it comes to being outdoors. In no any order, I am listing below some of the reasons why I think so:

1- outdoors, the body - not just the mind - is part of the experience: how you walk, run, jump, hang on to something (or not)... etc... it all makes a difference. It matters and cannot be left aside as opposed to purely mind-based form of questioning. How the body gets engaged - in itself - should lead to much discussion. In particular we could start a reflexion on action - engagement - being. A funny - but essential way - to look at it: we all know Rodin's sculpture: "The thinker". Question: is the thinker really thinking? Or is he simply bored? German philosopher Nietzsche was saying (and I got this quote quoted by a famous jazzman - which is in itself significant): "Only thoughts that come as we walk are valuable thoughts (worth considering)"

2- outdoors there is no way but thinking about space and dealing with space and managing space... This is essentials when I see all too often how poorly human beings plan and manage and deal with their own space, their personnal space, their learning space, the private or public space. Learning to acknowledge and deal with space... a capital value.... missed, forgotten, ignored...

Now, what are the implications in terms of OE? There are important and relate in my opinion to a mature audience in the first place: dealing with space is about planning and about developing the ability to see through (helicopter view, mapping things, strategising). To reach to this stage, OE has many steps to cover, starting from the basics: dealing with groups, dynamics of groups, organising camps, to the more advanced: facilitating learning (creating learning space, learning climate, learning tools...).

Here the whole question of learning space can be looked at as the question of dealing with learning ecologies. Each outdoor speciality (outdoor sports and activities) offers a specific learning eco-system, with its idiosyncrasies and its richness. Much education can be derived from there. It needs to be looked into behind the technical aspects, but rather, focusing on what can be more universal and/or relate to behavior, skills and attitude. Of course the technical aspects should be kept and integrated within the bigger picture.

Practically, it could mean looking at building curriculum and lesson plans to train the trainers in the relevant aspects.  

3- outdoors and dealing with what is free. The greatest tragedy of our modern world(s) is to have lost touch with the magnificence of what is given and provided to us by Nature and the Creator (in a non-religious sense). Sun, air, water to start with. The very tenets of life are so so taken for granted that we ignore them, we even blame them for most things and we hide and cut ourselves from them. As we do so, the very first thing we should have - gratitude (a with it a sense of love, appreciation, humility, acceptance and the whole gamut of values that build proper attitude, skills and character) - is replaced by a sense of loss, frustration, fear and any opposite to what makes life easy, simple and enjoyable (complexities, negative emotions, ...). Of course, outdoor education in relation to THAT (capita letter because THAT = NATURE = outdoors in this context) teaches about freedom and dealing with freedom as human beings, ie the choice we have to make to find our place in this grand scheme of things and in our lives. OE has a role to play in helping

a- develop a sense of appreciation of nature, leading to respect, care etc...
b- connect the physical reality to the meta-physical reality (our dependancy) and highlight/extract from there the set of values people and society need to adhere to to live live fully, happily, together in peace.(courage, tolerance, patience, determination, collaboration, sharing, listening, and hundreds and hundreds more ....)

In other words, OE has a big role to play in dispensing value-based education

4- As a consequence, outdoors teach us about the essential distinction between NEEDS and WANTS. There is no WANTS in the Nature, there are only needs. Another way to put it is that outdoor education is very strong at reminding us all the time that what we want is only possible to the extent that the circonstance, nature, the weather, the geography allow it.

What about NEEDS AND WANTS is essential for any of us? People, we - are running around crazily talking about what we want to do. Our society has created so many wants so that millions of products can be sold, that we have become consuming machine driven by our wants. That - as early as 1930's how Ford was describing his philosophy of mass-production for mass-marketing. Today, even higher education is using the tricks and selling MBAs to any bored executive in its 30's. As professor, author and educationist Mintzberg puts it in one of his book, let's look for "Managers, not MBAs". It is not about what we have but what we do. We need people with the right values and qualities to run our business and institutions: ideals vs greed, patience vs rushing for quick gain, support of the people vs political backfiring etc....

How do we get OUT of the "wanting" zone? How do we learn about something different? Can we "de-condition" ourselves - after 20, 30, 40 years of exposure to a world bombarded with advertising, malls, commercials, fast food, fast cars, fast relationships, fast jobs... What else do we need to learn? How?

OE puts us in touch with nature and nature has the built-in ability to teach about needs, about reality, real causes and real consequences.... The practical implications are many and very powerful and of great consequences:

a- What does a human being really needs to survive: basics of food, body care and personal hygiene, human inter-personal skills so that I can live peacefully with my peers, intra-personal skills so that I remain a healthy, positive individual?
b- to live, play and enjoy: meanings, purposes of being together in a group or a society, role of rules, punishments, rewards, duties
c- connecting back to our natural learning abilities: what am I good at? what do I really enjoy doing? How do I see myself growing? What is my voice (See the Eigth Discipline by Cowey), my vocation, my destiny?

In Singapore context, any of these issues are highly relevant and can be discussed either in a broad context or in very specific, detailed manner.

Outdoor education - "The curious garden" - what does that mean?

Thinking about the 4 objectives stated for the 4th outdoor education conference 2010 in Singapore.
As a prelude to sharing more specific, personal thoughts:

1- to explore how outdoor education (OE) can enhance the holistic development of Singapore students as part of the curriculum and/or co-curricular activity programmes
2- to encourage the design and delivery of quality OE programmes through the sharing of best practices...
3- to examine the role of research in the delivery of quality OE programmes in schools through sharing of research findings
4 - to establish an international network through the sharing of knowledge and best practices by academics, educators, service providers and others interested in he field

Edward De Bono - Atlas of Management Thinking

'I believe that in 100 years' time people will look back with incredulity at the primitive nature of our thinking today'

Recommended reading:
This is the first book to be written deliberately for the right side of the reader's brain.

Research work on the brain has suggested that our usual thinking, dominated by language and logic, takes place in the left side of the brain. The right side of the brain works in images, whole patterns and undefined feelings - all of which cannot be verbalised. This non-verbal type of thinking often works as what is loosely called 'intuition'.

Verbal descriptions of complex management situations are necessarily lodged in the left side of the brain. In order for us to be able to use the right side of the brain we need a repertoire of non-verbal images. That is precisely what this book sets out to provide. The images provided by drawings in this book enrich the perceptual map of the executive. The images allow him to add some right-brain thinking to his usual left-brain thinking. This makes it easier for the executive to recognise situations in a flash instead of having to build them up piecemeal.

Atlas of Management Thinking is another of Edward de Bono's pioneering books, and has become a standard work for anyone concerned with the management of decision making.

With this book as your guide, you pay keener attention to thinking as a skill and gain a clear perception of your surrounding. It is written specifically to stimulate the right -- intuitive -- side of your brain, the side that deals with the abstract and is not logical. Dr de Bono illustrates, then clearly and descriptively defines and gives examples of a vast array of business terms.

Intro to Robert Fritz and his ideas

Discovering Robert Fritz and his ideas. I guess the next best thing I could do is to read his book "The Path of Least Resistance"

Tension seeks resolution

A basic principle found throughout nature is this: Tension seeks resolution. From the spiderweb to the human body, from the formation of the galaxies to the shifts of continents, from the swing of pendulums to the movement of wind-up toys, tension-resolution systems are in play.

'I call the relationship between the vision and current reality structural tension. During the creative process, you have an eye on where you want to go, and you also have an eye on where you currently are.

There will always be structural tension in the beginning of the creative process, for there will always be a discrepancy between what you want and what you have. Why? Because creators bring into being creations that do not yet exist. Structural tension is a fundamental principle in the creative process. In fact, part of your job as a creator is to form this tension.'

From 'Creating' by Robert Fritz
http://www.robertfritz.com/index.php?content=principles

Ghost in the Machine

Rene Descartes, a seventeenth-century French scientist and philosopher proposed the concept of dualism in view of the mind and the brain. Descartes viewed the brain as an organic substance whereas the mind was a mysterious cloud of consciousness. The theory was later dubbed as the Ghost in the Machine. The analogy came from the idea that the carbon based machine we call the human body is operated by a nebulous mind that is not rooted in the material world. The question then lies on how do thoughts, ideas, feelings and emotions materialize into reality and impact our life on a daily basis.

The average person has approximately 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day which means that a thought is generated every second of our waking life. The world we create begins in a place where we seldom venture due to many reasons. Fear, anxiety, ignorance and apathy could all substantiate our belief in why we should not tread in the domain of the mind. The thoughts that spring up every second most often try to convince our body into believing that the rule of life revolves around fight or flight. We have conditioned our nervous system to react to the external environment instead of creating our reality from within.

The bio-skeletal body seeks to satisfy its needs through addiction that is rooted in thought. Present day situations around the world clearly indicate that the majority of the thoughts that past through the mind are manifested into a reality that begins in negativity. A higher consciousness seeks to address what the lower reptilian brain does not. Though the brain is equipped with a driver, we fail to realize that its on auto pilot heading down into a chasm that we choose to ignore.

Movement throughout history has its beginning through collective consciousness. When the majority of the populace believes that a brighter future lies in their hands, it sets the stage for change. Change begins with individuals who bypass the fear generated by the lower brain and seek to enlighten the mind with possibilities. E=mc2, Mona Lisa, iMac, Space Shuttle Discovery all began with a thought that was harvested from the courage of great men and women. Unlimited great thoughts are waiting to be materialized into our world, one that is seeking an answer to our survival.

Knowing that our thoughts create our reality, how do we rein in our mind when its bucking like a wild horse and nurture it to choose a path of unlimited potential. A simple 10-step solution will not suffice in this ongoing battle. A concentrated effort must be utilized. A process that can bring us nearer to our optimum latent capabilities resides in ideas that will only become visible through our genuine desire for positive change.

Read the Manual

The deluge of information in this century more often confuses and desensitizes the recipient. Over stimulation has created a stressed out society ready to engage in battle on any front. The office, home, countries, earth, all have become battlefields for this. The seeker of truth has to sieve through mountains of information only to be faced with an onslaught of theories, concepts and coping strategies.

If we believe that we have a say in our life, there should then be a manual that gives us an understanding of how the outer world affects our inner reality. The manual is stylized and personalized by the owner himself. He decides on how his life should be. However beyond the uniqueness of the individual lies a constant desire to reach that place of understanding, the owner needs to be aware of how he operates in this world.

Awareness begins by listening to your thoughts and making the realization that they have an affect on your life. Take note of the thoughts that go through you every day. Separate the thoughts that have potential for your growth and those that might cause your downfall. Understanding your own unique manual and mode of operation through your thoughts will steer you towards the life you desire.

Being in the Moment

Life is constantly created in the present. However the past and future intertwine into a mangle that we constantly relive. Getting out from its clutches begins by being still. The eye of a hurricane is where stillness resides compared to the chaos that surrounds it. Take time to be still and let the chaos surrounding you subside. A hurricane loses its energy as it goes further inland and like life, grounding oneself increases your tenacity to survive the chaos that surrounds you. Take time everyday to meditate or just reconnect with yourself through observing your breath. Every breath we take is an opportunity to create a life we desire and reminds oneself of the beauty of life.

Focus on Infinite Growth

Like the bamboo whose beginning might be slow and arduous, once it reaches its potential it climbs toward the heavens in leaps and bounds. Research has shown that the mind and the brain have infinite potential and capabilities. We have yet to utilize even a fraction of what it holds. With our endless stream of thoughts, we are capable of attaching and rooting it down to be manifested into reality. Begin your day by affirming your worthy thoughts and declare your intention to grow as a person. Chart your own growth in all areas of your life and address the areas that are stagnating.

Decide on Life

The negative mindset that we unknowingly cultivate siphons away the very life we are trying to build. The choices we make in life have an affect on our future generations and not taking responsibility for our actions will accumulate in suffering in the future. Question yourself; are you are existing or living in this world right now. What constitutes a life and what does that life resemble? We seldom ignore the fact that we are not making full use of our gifts to create change but succumb to the dreary idea that we have no choice in life. Make a choice today to Live.

Expect a Struggle

Going back to an undesirable routine and self-destructive habits is always a way out from pain. The comfort of knowing that there is a safe place that we can go back to prevents us from reaching the other side of the bridge. When the moment seems unbearable, we source for alternatives to take the pain away, even though the methods we use inflict more pain than we realize. The struggle with the Gremlins in our mind will always be there and expect that it will be a continuous battle. The negative self talk at times seems more favorable without taking a step back to reflect on the consequences of the action.

The journey towards understanding the mind and its power begins with the desire to change and evolve. It’s a long road, filled with wonders and excitement and at times, pain and suffering. No matter what it brings, it’s a life lesson. Take control of the Ghost in the Machine.

Culture, Believes, Vision, Stories - Some thoughts and theories

'A shared vision is not an idea...it is rather, a force in people's hearts...at its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question 'What do we want to create?' Peter Senge


'Too many young people are being taught to give up their dreams before they have any experience attempting to pursue them'. Robert Fritz 'The Path of Least Resistance'


'It is not so much about to see what no one has seen before but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody sees.' Schopenhauer


'We can no longer stand at the end of something we visualized in detail and plan backwards from that future. Instead we must stand at the beginning, clear in our mind, with a willingness to be involved in discovery... it asks that we participate rather than plan.' Margaret Wheatley and Kellner -Rogers.


'Positive images of the future are a powerful and magnetic force... They draw us on and energize us, give us courage and will to take on important initiatives. Negative images of the future also have a magnetism. They pull the spirit downward in the path of despair..' William James


'A belief is not a belief until you can visualize it, unless you can create a picture of it in your minds eye, especially if you have no doubts that reality can be - or is - possible.' Hedley Beare Aust Educationalist


'There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth - not going all the way, and not starting.' Buddha


'You see things and say 'Why'? But I see things and say 'Why not?' G.B Shaw


No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. We need to see the world anew.' Albert Einstein


'If we always do what we've always done, we will get what we've always got.' Adam Urbanski


'Anecdotes, personal stories, reminiscences, like biblical parables, are the medium through which faith is restored. Stories are a form of poetry, and give us a saving image to personally relate to.' Peter Block Business Philosopher


"There are many definitions of organization culture. We view culture from the ideational perspective (Martin, 2000), and thus define it as the shared beliefs and values of members of an organization that provide meaning to and influence daily work life. Similar to Louis (1985) and Schein, (1992), we understand these beliefs and values affect work behavior in tacit and nuanced ways. These shared beliefs and values are expressed in organizational life through various more visible manifestations including business strategies, performance targets and metrics, management practices, formal and informal rules that govern behavior, traditions, stories and other symbols. While these different cultural expressions are based on the underlying beliefs and values (Schein, 1992), once established they serve to confirm and reinforce those beliefs and values. What results is forceful reciprocal chain of influence that resists disruption and change. We also do not view culture as a monolithic construct where all beliefs and values are shared strongly or entirely across the organization. Instead, we acknowledge that most large organizations are comprised of diverse sub-cultures. Yet we also believe that these sub-cultures share fundamentally similar ways of thinking about things and doing things that distinguish one organization culture from another." from Realigning Organization Culture for Optimal Performance: Six principles & eight practices
Organization Development Journal, Winter 2009 by Levin, Ira, Gottlieb, Jonathan Z

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5427/is_200912/ai_n42858880/

From wiki

One of the strongest and widely recognised criticisms of theories that attempt to categorize or 'pigeonhole' organizational culture is that put forward by Linda Smircich. She uses the metaphor of a plant root to represent culture, describing that it drives organizations rather than vice versa. Organizations are the product of organizational culture, we are unaware of how it shapes behaviour and interaction (also recognised through Scheins (2002) underlying assumptions) and so how can we categorize it and define what it is? Organizational communication perspective on cultureThe organizational communication perspective on culture is divided into three areas:

• Traditionalism: Views culture through objective things such as stories, rituals, and symbols
• Interpretivism: Views culture through a network of shared meanings (organization members sharing subjective meanings)
• Critical-Interpretivism: Views culture through a network of shared meanings as well as the power struggles created by a similar network of competing meanings

There are many different types of communication that contribute in creating an organizational culture:

• Metaphors such as comparing an organization to a machine or a family reveal employees’ shared meanings of experiences at the organization.
• Stories can provide examples for employees of how to or not to act in certain situations.
• Rites and ceremonies combine stories, metaphors, and symbols into one. Several different kinds of rites that affect organizational culture:

Rites of passage: employees move into new roles
Rites of degradation: employees have power taken away from them
Rites of enhancement: public recognition for an employee’s accomplishments
Rites of renewal: improve existing social structures
Rites of conflict reduction: resolve arguments between certain members or groups
Rites of integration: reawaken feelings of membership in the organization

• Reflexive comments are explanations, justifications, and criticisms of our own actions. This includes:

Plans: comments about anticipated actions
Commentaries: comments about action in the present
Accounts: comments about an action or event that has already occurred. Such comments reveal interpretive meanings held by the speaker as well as the social rules they follow.

• Fantasy Themes are common creative interpretations of events that reflect beliefs, values, and goals of the organization. They lead to rhetorical visions, or views of the organization and its environment held by organization members.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture

Culture is represented in a group’s:

language,
decision making,
symbols,
stories and legends, and
daily work practices.

Dialogue, an activity that might well prove vital to the future health of our civilization. Dialogue and leadership

Bohm Dialogue

"Dialogue resembles a number of other forms of group activity and may at times include aspects of them but in fact it is something new to our culture. We believe that it is an activity that might well prove vital to the future health of our civilization."

"...it is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces society, and indeed the whole of human nature and consciousness today. Moreover, it may turn out that such a form of free exchange of ideas and information is of fundamental relevance for transforming culture and freeing it of destructive misinformation, so that creativity can be liberated." 

Dialogue and Leadership

A Dialogue is essentially a conversation between equals. Any controlling authority, no matter how carefully or sensitively applied, will tend to hinder and inhibit the free play of thought and the often delicate and subtle feelings that would otherwise be shared. Dialogue is vulnerable to being manipulated, but its spirit is not consistent with this.
Hierarchy has no place in Dialogue.
Nevertheless, in the early stages some guidance is required to help the participants realize the subtle differences between Dialogue and other forms of group process. At least one or, preferably two, experienced facilitators are essential. Their role should be to occasionally point out situations that might seem to be presenting sticking points for the group, in other words, to aid the process of collective proprioception, but these interventions should never be manipulative nor obtrusive.
Leaders are participants just like everybody else. 
Guidance, when it is felt to be necessary, should take the form of "leading from behind" and preserve the intention of making itself redundant as quickly as possible.

 some extract are from: http://www.david-bohm.net/dialogue/dialogue_proposal.html

Fragmentation of thought, overspecialisation ... Are we aware? and then? Deadliest poison in town!!

A theme that is also dear to Buckminster Fuller - though maybe coming from a different perspective - though may be not... ;-) It is not indifferent that both Bohm and Buckminster come from the world of Science and both talk about higher level of conscienceness and the collective implication of raising to these... the individual is limited in scope and power, but the scope and power of what individuals can achieve together is de-multiplied when collaborative strategies are unveiled, unfolded and put into practice...

About fragmentation of thought: P359 - The Fifth Discipline Filedbook - Team Learning
"The theory of dialogue suggests that breakdown in the effectiveness of teams and organisations are reflective of a broader crisis in the nature of how human beings perceive the world. As a natural mechanism to develop meaning, people learn to divide the world into categories and distinctions into our thoughts. We then tend to become almost hypnotized by these distinctions, forgetting that we created them. "The economy is falling apart," or "The people are corrupt," becomes our reality, with a seemingly independent power over us.

... As Bohm has suggested, fragmentation of thought is like a virus that has infected every field of human endeavor. Specialists in most fields cannot talk accross specialties. Marketing sees production as the problem. Managers are told to "think", while workers are told to "act". Instead of reasoning  together, people defend their "part", seeking to defeat others. If fragmentation is a condition of our times, then dialogue is one tentatively proven strategy for stepping back from the way of thinking which fragmentation produces."

Exploring thoughts and dialogue with David Bohm

David Bohm's approach is meaningful to Peter Senge's theory of dialogue - in the section concerning team learning of the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. As stated p359 of the Fieldbook: "As Bohm conceived it, dialogue would kindle a new mode of paying attention, to perceive - as they arose in conversation - the assumptions taken for granted, the polarization of opinions, the rules for acceptable and unacceptable conversation...the group would have to learn to watch or experience its own tacit process in action. Dialogue's purpose, as we now understand it, would create a setting where conscious collective mindfulness  could be maintained." (inspired by Unfolding Meaning by David Bohm 1985)

David Bohm - on Meaning, Purpose and Exploration in Dialogue
(Extracted from a webpage - see below - where it had been edited with permission from tapes of an August, 1990 conversation)

Communication has been ailing in the human race for a long time and Dialogue is concerned with that. But the primary purpose of Dialogue is not to communicate. It is much deeper. It addresses the blocks in communication, not merely to understand them, but to meet them directly. It is aimed at seeing resistances to communication. In Dialogue we are ready to raise topics serious enough to cause trouble. But while we are talking we are interested in being aware of what's going on inside us and between us.
The word "dialogue" has many meanings and we are giving it a particular meaning. In this Dialogue we are not trying to make our points prevail or, if we are, we need to look at that. Our challenge is to see when each of us is trying to prevail, because if anybody prevails it means the dialogue has failed. Or, if we simply agree, the dialogue may also have failed because this means that we haven't gone deeply enough into the process or into the consciousness behind it. What begins to transform culture into something quite different is that ultimately the frustration or anger or rage or hatred that arises can lead to a crisis in which these feelings are transformed giving rise to impersonal fellowship - to thinking together and participating as if we were one body - by establishing a common consciousness. The group then becomes a kind of instrument of consciousness which can function differently.
It is essential to state the theory that this is what is possible. What I am saying is that a particular kind of dialogue is needed. But, as we talk together the question of what, if anything, its purpose is keeps arising. Sometimes we say that it should not have a purpose and sometimes we seem to say that it should. If we restrict the purpose too much it is clear we are going to be in trouble. None of the purposes is fixed because we find that as we go further into it the purpose begins to change; we discover a new purpose, and so on. So really, when we set a purpose, we set it only as a beginning, as a point of departure, not as a purpose we hold to. This is the crucial point. We may at any moment have to have a purpose, but we are not holding to that purpose. Purpose flows out of significance and value and that's what we're exploring. We expect that meaning is going to change through our learning as we go along and therefore purpose changes naturally.
In Dialogue or in our own meditation, or whatever, the attitude is one of exploration and emptiness - that is, not having fixed assumptions but rather an empty space where there is the possibility of exploring all sorts of things. This is a proposal for exploration. But even this is not final. It too has to be constantly open to exploration - seeing whether the proposal, as made, is coherent. In other words, we're not even saying exploration is the answer. The purpose is constantly changing and flowing out of the meaning.
But we can't give the meaning in a nutshell. If everybody knew the meaning, we wouldn't need the Dialogue. The dialogue is not aimed at settling anything. We explore meaning together - the creative perception of meaning - thinking together and feeling together. But meaning is active. It is not merely sitting there. The consideration of this meaning may act - or it may not. The whole point of having the Dialogue is that we're not trying to produce a result. That's very important. It may never do it. Or it may do it at some moment when we least expect it. The seed has been planted. And the meaning is naturally, spontaneously active and transformative.

http://www.david-bohm.net/dialogue/dialogue_exploration.html
Copyright © 1990 by Sarah Bohm
Use only with prior permission.