I was at a gig the other evening in which the Kennedys & Edwina Hayes were playing. In introducing one of the songs, Maura Kennedy explained how he had a first degree in history, and Masters in folk music. The learning about ‘folk’ had come from inside – mainly through playing with other great musicians (Nanci Griffiths was the haunting…
In July 2012, Paul Omerod spoke at the RSA on network effects. He described this as positive linking – but not because the effects of networks are all positive. His contention is that – especially in economics – we tend to be subject to (but over look) network effects. Better attention to this trend could lead to a revolution in our…
Part of the point of hierarchy is to create a system in which dependency is separated from intimacy. And just to be sure, we will also separate power from dependency…so the people furthest from the point of interaction and relation – from the risks of dependency – to need have the greatest concentrations of power. Yet their only real domain…
Listening to a group of conference goers talk about a workshop on tango strategy – they said several things about communications and resistance the importance of resistance in the ‘hold’ that makes it possible to dance with a partner without resistance there can be no communication between the partners – at least not of intent you open yourself as a…
The immersive entertainments’ industry puts me in mind of a way of innovating that has some of the qualities of an intimate dynamic, but without the grit and pushback of the face to face. In this version of events reader and viewer participate in the involved narrative – they get lost in the plot there is a blurring of the…
In the Skilled Facilitator Field Book, there is a discussion of a ‘unilateral control model’ which describes a default position in the process of learning – where a growing sense of being outside one’s ‘comfort zone’ leads to defaulting to a set of strategies which are sub-optimal (in creating the conditions for learning) but optimal in maintaining control of a…
In his Art of Immersion, Frank Rose speaks of the characteristics of ‘immersive experience’ – in the entertainment industry. His book is about the re-invention of Hollywood. I think the a astonishing parallels – metaphorically speaking – between his account of immersion in multi platform entertainment and the intimate experience of leading, following, and innovating. I am aware that I…
Some time ago I heard Rupert Goold talk about Decade, his collection of 19 playlets about the decade following 9/11. He remarked how striking it was to him that people could remember what they were doing when they heard about 9/11, and how much they wanted to tell that to others. He used the phrase, ‘…the need to narrate themselves…
How do you plan in an emergent context without denying what you know about the context? In relational & leadership terms, you could consider the governing metaphors which frame and limit assumptions about planning and power tackle causes not symptoms avoid concentrating on what happens ‘above the surface’ at the expense of what is happening ‘below the surface’ attend to…
I find that working intimately with innovation almost always involves being in – or on the verge of – ’emergent’ settings; and there are particular qualities to this experience. What it feels like to be in an emergent setting tells you something about emergence; and emergence tells you something about what it is like to be in a complex context,…
Slingshot