NurtureGirl

Savoring People in San Fran October 23, 2008

Wow, what an incredible trip.

Friday night I arrived in San Francisco. Michael Maranda and I drove to the San Fran University area to meet with the Appropedia folks organizing the Open Sustainability Network camp. Discovering that they didn’t have a clear plan for facilitation, I stepped in. I knew if I didn’t that it would not be where I wanted to be. Do-acracy, right. The amazing and delightful Evonne Heyning along with her handsome, Brent, joined us. (Despite her living in LA, we do manage to make our paths cross several times a year.) I have a tagging project in mind based on an idea I came up with during the Omidyar.net days. It will be perfect for collaborating with Amoration and Evonne’s circles of love. I will tell you about it when we are ready. (Too bad I missed Tony Deifell, because he is such a whiz at spreading mind-opening ideas.)

Saturday the conference began. An amazing woman, Amber Word, arrived to act as our greeter and artist. I wrote up the four principles of Open Space and the two laws, then Amber drew a splendid butterfly and bumblebee. Collectively we created our marketplace, and I was pleased to see a rich collection of ideas being explored next to projects being shared. We, of course, had a session to discuss what sustainability means. I am thrilled to share that people really loved the thrivability framing. Let the thrivability meme propagate!

I left a bit early (Michael Maranda took over running the evening news). Kaliya had arrived, and we talked until it was time to head to the East Bay. (Kaliya missed the Sunday session where her knowledge of open standards would have been incredibly useful. Perhaps her energy helped create that space/conversation.) Kaliya and I jumped on public transit and talked on the ride to Rockridge. I always enjoy her discerning insight into process and identity. We parted with promises to hang out at the Bioneers after-party on Sunday.

Next, Tom Portante met me at the train stop. We have been talking about going out to Tilden for a carousel ride for a couple months. We made it just in time for two twirls around the merry-go-round. As we walked up to it, I realized that it might be sort of silly for two adults to be riding, but I let that inner voice fade into silence as the horses went up and down, and the spin nearly pulled me off the saddle. What a thrill. How alive! We had time for dinner and espresso in Berkeley before arriving at Wisteria Ways for a house concert. (I did their web design years ago.) After hugging my old friend Lisa Tracy, we reveled in the amazing voice of Amy X Neuberg. WOW. Fantastic experience, and Tom is just the person to share it with. He really knows how to savor experiences.

Sunday at the conference found new friends easily discussing projects, actions, and possibilities at the Open Sustainability Network conference (#osn). I enjoyed conversations on geo-mashups, messaging the network, and building a coalition for Open Sustainability. I think we came away with a group committed to sharing data and creating data-standards–yeah!!! Post-conference de-brief dinner was lovely ending with goodbyes to several of our amazing circle. But I managed to steal away Lonny, Amber, Chris, and Scott for the Bioneers afterparty.

We arrived miraculously (without clear directions) at the Sacred Grove. I managed to find both Kaliya and Kachina Katrina. We thought we might stay an hour, but we wandered, danced, and played until 3am. (I believe the band we danced to was Dogon Lights.) I might have mingled more, but it was gret to focus on playing with the people I brought.

Monday started late. I met Lisa Parker on Haight at The People’s Cafe. (I met Lisa at our Inspired Legacies event in late June.) We have much in common and a shared vision, so our time together went fast. I am eager to see what Lisa does next with YouthGive as well as her own efforts to help democratize philanthropy.

Monday evening was our dinner party! Rather than run around the Bay Area having one on one meetings this time, I had decided to have a dinner where people could meet each other. Jerry was one of the people I invited, and he had plans with some friends that night. So he brought them with. (Jerry and I are working together with some amazing people on guildsmiths.) Tracy Gary made it! (And my dear co-founder showed me our Inspired Legacies bi-annual report which consumed my life since early August along with our trade show booth banners - so terrific!). So the crew who turned up for dinner at Chow included: Jerry Michalski, April Rinne, Tracy Gary, Eric Utne, Leif Utne, Leif’s friend JP, Amber Word, Kaliya Hamlin, and later in the evening David Harris and his partner. Topics on the table included TheUptake (Leif is on the board), Zanby, EarthCouncils.org (Eric’s project), Global Lives (David’s work), Inspired Legacies (showing off the report), microfinance, and more. As the party broke up hours later, Leif invited those remaining to karaoke. Eric, Leif, JP, Amber and I wandered down the street, with all our bags in tow, to a fabulous little bar and some fun. I have never been to a karaoke night, so I had to turn off the little inner voice arguing not to do anything to look silly, and be open to whatever might happen. It was fabulous!

Tuesday again started late. I met with David Harris for more conversation (I have done some limited pro-bono consulting for Global Lives since I met David at Omidyar.net in 06.) He is consulting for Institute for the Future, so he gave me a tour and a handful of introductions. IFTF maps on the wall made me feel right at home. The experience was highly encouraging. We caught up a bit - David has been doing a lot of traveling for his project; then he kindly coached me some on the services Nurture offers. Since I passed Redwood City on the way to see David, I messaged Thomas Kriese. We met at Peets around 4pm for a fast-paced exchange and update. Next, I went back into San Fran to meet with Jodee Rich of Peoplebrowsr for a demo and discussion over dinner.

What a phenomenal trip. Thanks to everyone I met with! And apologies to many I missed this time through.

Subversive Giving September 26, 2008

Of course activists have long given their time and money to causes, but this sort of activism I have not seen before. This kind–the kind where people contribute to a cause, planned parenthood, in the name of a political personality so that this personality would be blanketed in the usual “a contribution has been made in your name” letters. What an interesting way to take advantage of the system!

First, you must understand how much I truly and deeply appreciate subversion. Then you might benefit from knowing that planned parenthood is very good at overwhelming donors with materials and requests, which is why I stopped giving to them (paper is such a waste of resources). Third, I really prize innovation and creative thinking.

So I am totally celebrating this unusual form of philanthropy. Reminds me a bit of shareholder activism. Bravo. Now, my friends, how can we continue to evolve practices like this to fuel our purpose?

Bravo.

Here is the letter, borrowed from What’s Sarah Thinking blog.

Instead of (in addition to?) us all sending around emails about how horrible she is, let’s all make a donation to Planned Parenthood. In Sarah Palin’s name. And here’s the good part: when you make a donation to PP in her name, they’ll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor. Here’s the link to the Planned Parenthood website:

https://secure.ga0.org/02/pp10000_inhonor

You’ll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send the “in Sarah Palin’s honor” card. I suggest you use Sarah Palin’s home address, which is:

Sarah Palin
PO Box 21
Wasilla, AK

PS make sure you use that link above or choose the pulldown of Donate–Honorary or Memorial Donations, not the regular “Donate Online”

14 - 7 - 5 Adventure Part 1 August 21, 2008

I set out with the intention of seeing 14 people in 7 days and 5 cities. Unfortunately, I drove.

The adventure began when the service engine light came on just as I was heading out of Chicago. A quick look at the owner’s manual reassured me that it might not be a critical failure, so I drove on. Wanting all the good luck the universe might offer, I paid for the family behind me at the first toll booth I came to. Minutes later, an old client called to ask me to do some work. That was great to hear, but I worried my good karma wasn’t going to help the car now. Silly me for not being specific about my needs.

The drive to DC is not short. A good 11 hours spent talking on the phone, singing along to my favorite female divas, and trying to keep up with the usual internet flow. The route is nearly all toll roads. Incredibly expensive. But maybe it should be for all the carbon emissions. When I discovered that my fuel cap was not on appropriately, I assumed that was the reason for the light going off (according to the manual, that was a reasonable cause). Toll roads are not very pleasant ways of seeing the country. You can’t get off the road for fun distractions.

I am a lifelong cross-country driver (please forgive the carbon emissions). I used to stop only when the car needed refueling. Bathroom break, refuel me, and jump back in for the next stretch (which could be 6 hours). This trip I tried to stop every half tank. I have played math games about traveling ever since I was a kid. So I burn up mental energy calculating time and distance to major cities and final destinations–and breaks. Though this exercise, I have figured out lots of things about reading interstates.

For example: How do they number exits? By mile markers. Exit # - current mile marker = distance to go.
A few states do not do this–and on some roads on the east coast, they will indicate the old number. One system –I think it was the New Jersey Turnpike, numbers theirs consecutively. It can be rather frustrating to find out that exit 10 is NOT 10 miles up the road nor at mile 10, but instead is 10 toll road exits further. Vastly different when calculating distance and time!

I am a terribly impatient person. Horribly. And my mother seems to have broken me of most external indications of this. I have to keep my brain busy. So calculations amuse me. Soaking in what nature I can get across vistas of concrete also keeps me at peace. The light penetrating the forest and reflecting in dancing waves off the outermost leaves. Hawks circling. The vast range of domiciles one can view from concrete interstates. The rains which come slower of faster when in a car depending on which direction you are going in a storm. So much external information to soak up while moving.

I am a compulsive reader. In the shower, I read the shampoo bottle. At breakfast, I read the cereal box. I am not sure any of this registers in my head consciously. Surely little of it sticks. But in my usual compulsive reading way, I felt compelled to read a sign at a rest stop in Pennsylvania explaining wind power and the wind farms in view from that location. MMmm, good, very good. I thought to take a picture. But like photographing redwoods, windmills just don’t really show scale in a landscape very well. You have to stand next to one. Wind-farms are like giant flower gardens.

Hours later, stomach grumbling, I got lost 3 times on my way into Washington DC. Thankfully my patient host guided me in. The final minutes were marked by my name being called as I approached an intersection. Really?

PART 2, where I actually get to PEOPLE I saw, coming soon….

Green Girl at 6footSix April 17, 2008

Through my dear friend Steve Crandall, I became aware of this amazing woman, Colleen, who is 6 foot 7 and plays beach volleyball professionally. What we all share, besides being tall, is a passion about climate change.

Colleen and Steve have been brainstorming different ways for her to create sponsorships so she can continue to play. They have also been brainstorming on ways to make an impact around climate change. The two come together at http://www.6footsix.com/.

Do you have any creative ideas about how Colleen can use her billboard-like eye-grabbing body to both make people aware of climate change issues and get sponsorships?

Currently she wears temporary tattoos at 1 meter–showing how high on her body the water will rise in the next 20 years (according to some). I think she has a good story to tell around this mark and solid information to provide to people who ask her about it. What I think she could add is a place for people to go to take action. Greenhome, Osoeco, Eden, GreenLeaf, ClimateCounts, SustainLane, Bioneers, etc would be the kinds of organization I picture benefiting from her magnificent height and bikini sized advertising space. Then people would associate her climate conversation with the brand she was wearing.

Do you have any ideas for Colleen? Contact her at 6footsix using that lovely google service, gmail.

‘Tis the Stuff Season! December 13, 2007

Which means it is an ideal time to grab a cup of tea and watch this: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Many years ago I toyed with the idea of writing a paper about how flea markets and garage sales are forms of “resistance” to consumer culture. And in a way they are, as the sites of production do not benefit from the “resale” of goods through these avenues. But still, it perpetuates the very notion of happiness through consumption that leads us toward mass consumption of anti-depressants along with all the other stuff that can never fill the void of our disconnected materialist lives.

I don’t watch tv and I avoid ads on websites, sticking to a space on the internet unmarred by flashing lights. I still consume. I am not wholly free. But I can see some lights shining. One comes from giving–when we give or act as a gift to others–all the people (giver, receiver, and observers) experience positive chemical flow in their bodies. Self-made anti-depressants. Give and get happy!

A guide to visitors (on tv) September 24, 2007

well now, that seems a little confusing.

I went to college with this brilliant, funny, playful woman, Jeannie Yandel. We were the two “Jean’s” in a Feminist Theater class. Smirk.

Now she works in NPR out in Seattle (KUOW). And she, with some other friends, created a story-telling stage show, A Guide to Visitors. Curated real stories by real people. And this has gone over pretty well in Seattle. They have been doing it for years.

I just checked in on her….now they are on TV!

So you and I can watch people tell stories from where we are. Enjoy!

Field Building? What is that? September 10, 2007

Social network analysis reveals the nodes and their connections. Yes. “The nodes in the network are the people and groups while the links show relationships or flows between the nodes.” Great. What about the things that support the nodes and their ability to make connections. This is the field of the network, and it functions as an energetic even magnetic space that impacts the network in profound ways. We are defined not only by the positive space of our presence and the relationships we bear to each other, but also the space between us, the “negative space” referred to in art class.

If you want to change the configuration of the social network map, changing behavior is one avenue, but it is often difficult to encourage and enforce. Another option is to change the environment. It can be easier, perhaps, to find levers for change in this layer.

So when I talk about field-building, I am talking about that space–the environment of the network. Created by convening events, participating in dialogs, creating avenues to disperse messages, refining the language and frames of the network and its purpose.

Friend Wheel September 3, 2007

This friend wheel thing is pretty fun on Facebook. How connected are your friends? To each other. Keep in mind this is only as good as the data and the condition that your friends be on the social network.

Curiosity! August 23, 2007

Listening seems really important. But to go beyond that and be actively listening there need to be a spark of curiosity.

To go beyond hearing what someone has to say and be engaged in discovering them and their ideas–that reveals several things about both parties. First, that you really care and honor them as a person, which frees people to share. Second, that you have connection to what they have to say–that you see value in knowing what they are offering. Third, that you see potential of learning from them and opportunity to co-create together. Forth, that you are interested in exploring with them.

Many dialogs really are monologues cross-spoken. If someone holds in their mind what they want to say, what they want to get across, what they want to argue, what they want to push as an agenda…then the conversation isn’t really a conversation. Be co-creative in your conversations and display a good dose of curiosity.

When I went through training as a coach, one of the first exercises we did was to give advice to our partner. The second exercise was to listen. I noticed two very important things. One, that the person I listened to seemed very capable of creating their own solutions. Second, the person I listened to was energized more by being listened to then by the advice. Since then, over and over, I have witnessed the power of being curious and listening actively and deeply as it activates the creative resourcefulness in people. More than that, they seem more likely to follow through on their own ideas and solutions than on any advice I would give.

It does take some stepping back…it requires the listener to give up the idea that they have the right answer. Be curious, the person you are talking to deserves the opportunity to create solutions for themselves. What is that? Listen for it. Be curious. And you might learn something wonderful and unexpected. I have.

But don’t just take my word for it, check out these benefits of active listening from an expert:

All over the place and focus August 14, 2007

I suppose to some people my interests appear to be all over the place: philanthropy, currencies, technology, visualization, mapping, marketing, coaching, leadership, process arts, community development, art, creativity, and some other issues too like globalization, the bottom of the pyramid, social entrepreneurship, etc. And most of these areas I have enough understanding to listen and ask good questions…but not enough to debate academically on the finer points or the history. Coaching might be the exception. Maybe. I am not a specialist. And some say it is a world where we ought to be specialized. I don’t know about that. I think it is a world where we ought to connect and have engaging conversations.

Sometimes, in our lives, we find the varied paths we lead all connecting down the road somewhere. All this leads together…

How? Field building. I will post soon a longer explanation of field building, along with some tidbits of conversation and great links for those who are interested. For now, let me simply explain that field building is the conscious collective development of a network of purpose (both the nodes and the space between the nodes). And I see this as being critical for our evolution. We need to adapt to survive and for the planet to survive. We need to understand our world in more useful and appropriate ways. And all these interests of mine lead back to the many tools, processes, and systems that play a role in field building. An example–Social Network Analysis is an emerging field…It is defining itself, the practices, examining what distinctions are valuable and which are not. It changes how organizations work, and values human connection. It requires message management for maintaining a cohesive set of meaningful terms. It requires leadership to grow the edges and community to build the depths. It takes funding and marketing to keep thriving. It takes mapping and visualization to track and analyze itself. Other examples are Digital Media and Education, Currencies/Flows, and Thrivability (next evolution of sustainability). Sometimes fields are in transition too, like the work we are doing in Philanthropy to democratize giving, promote giving while living, encourage micro-philanthropy, etc.

We need to change our world, to understand it in new ways, to work in new ways. I see my work as building fields that help with that process. And why? It comes back to my core purpose–to help people transform their lives and live with passionate purpose.