Money, Money, Money: Bohemian Grove's Reminder

George Moskoff — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 03:55:37 +0100

Rich, White Guys: Why Such a Mystery?

From the landing outside my second-story granny unit in Santa Rosa, I can hear the jets come and go from Sonoma County Airport. They are private jets: the ones I saw yesterday while at an autocross event yesterday (decadent, I know -- at the back end of the airport) look like they can hold about eight passengers.

What is Collaboration?

Jeff Young — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:00:41 +0100

Here is an interesting article on collaboration: (http://bit.ly/rYOKn9). It's point is to make a distinction about the definition and nature of collaboration and that it isn't what most people think it is.

Co-ignite's definition of collaboration is: "A conscious awareness of the way we are working together that supports balancing our individual needs with the needs of the group as a whole." It isn't consensus, although consensus may be used sometimes where appro...

Competition or Collaboration?

Saul Eisen — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:56:33 +0100

It’s useful to know the game we’re playing, and the rules that govern play. Sometimes we can be playing several games with the same people at the same time. We may be winning at one game, but we're losing at a more important one.

I remember being in a pick-up basketball game in high school, and having a good time, until I got an elbow hit to the nose. I had to walk around with a bandage over it for the next couple of months. I was ...

Do It Yourself University - is it time?

Jeff Young — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:30:54 +0100

I ran into the following video last night in my reading. It appears that others are also thinking about changing some of the traditional assumptions about learning and learning institutions. For that, I cheer as I have long held the observation that traditional education, while having served us well for hundreds of years, is in need of an overhaul.

I would want to caution, however, against the idea of completely learning on your own. I am not sure yet exactly h...

A Choir of Thousands of Voices

Jeff Young — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:34:31 +0100

What if we were to all come together to make our own unique contribution on projects that are deeply meaningful to us? What would that look like? Well, perhaps Eric Whitacre gives us a rare example of how it can be done – beautifully. You need to see this video from TED. Go ahead, click the link. I will wait for you right here. When you are done, come back here so I can share with you what I see as significant that can be applied in our workplaces and in our non-profit organizations.

...

One Place to Learn How to Make a Difference

Jeff Young — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 05:24:22 +0100

The Sonoma State University MA in Organization Development Program is offering an information meeting on May 7th. I highly recommend this program for learning about yourself and other individuals and groups - learning how we can all work together better.

Here is the information about the information meeting:

Attend this information meeting for an informal overview, and a question-and-answer conversation about this MA program. Discover whether it's right for you:

Are You Looking for Meaningful Work?

Jeff Young — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:16:28 +0100

In reorganizing my website this past week, I again came across this video poem from Dr. Keith Merron on the Search for Great Leadership. (http://bit.ly/g3yNle). As I watched, I was deeply moved by his words saying that we have a need:

to be valued for who we really are.
to be seen, honored, recognized and respected for our unique gifts,
to make a greater difference in the world.

Ken Robinson does it again. Here is a delightful video created by RSA that illustrates the shift in paradigm being called for in education. (Link to the Video) The video tells a clear story of what has happened that is causing the need for change.

We are not so much needing higher standards or a different curriculum as needing to shift from a manufacturing pro...

Introduction... an experiment

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:23:24 +0100

The Image

Dreamy-eyed, I look to the horizon across the Puget-Sound and imagine an ocean vast and terrifying. My life, a story, rises and falls with the waves which distort the image I see, like Narcissus captivated by his own reflection. Yet, instead of reaching for this ungraspable phantom and drowning myself, I shall reach past the image into the depths, fight the whale of a monster, and ride the waves.

Shall I float and survive this monste...

Bring on the Learning Revolution!

Jeff Young — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 03:13:38 +0100

I came across the following video yesterday and was deeply moved. (Link to the Video) Sir Ken Robinson has once again spoken bringing great clarity to the changes needed in learning and education. I have been focusing for many years on digging deeply into the gifts and talents of people and helping them develop those gifts to the point of designing a life around the pursuit of mastery of those gifts. I have long held that...

Do You Know HOW to Become one of the New Generation of Non-Profits?

Jeff Young — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 02:15:36 +0100

I was reading the following blog article about the “New Generation of Non-Profits on Stanford’s Social Innovation Review and found it very interesting. (http://bit.ly/e76moG) (Written by Rosetta Thurman - @rosettathurman) The point of the article is that a new generation of non-profit organization as well as leadership is being strongly called for. It clearly identified the more collaborative and network oriented skills that leaders and orga...

Are You a Wolf or a Dog?

Jeff Young — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 06:18:31 +0100

This weekend I saw a really great program on PBS’s Nova entitled, “Dogs Decoded”. (http://bit.ly/dJpw3R) The program sought to explain how dogs evolved from wolves. The program is typical of Nova being both entertaining and scientifically interesting at the same time.

One major discovery of the scientists exploring the evolution of dogs is that much ...

The Search for Great Leadership

Jeff Young — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:46:56 +0100

What is leadership? One of my colleagues and a person I can genuinely call a good friend has spent a good portion of his life helping others answer this question. I recently received a wonderful video poem from him that, in my own opinion, nails the elusive answer to this important question. You can find this extraordinary poem here: The Search for Great Leadership

What do you think of this viewpoint? How then do you become a great leader? Do you...

Working Wikily: The Impact of Social Media

Jeff Young — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:00:00 +0100

I recently ran across the following article titled “Working Wikily” in the Stanford Social Innovation Review:
http://bit.ly/g6n3gf

It talks about the impact of social media showing up in how we now need to work together. These social media tools are not just making it easier to communicate with each other and share information between friends. Social media...

Social Networking – Size Isn’t Enough

Jeff Young — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:40:59 +0100

This past week I saw a story on my computer that Facebook celebrated reaching 500 million users. What huge accomplishment in this new and exciting world of social networking. As a society and as a world we are much more connected with each other than ever before in human history.

We instantly send messages to each other, find schoolmates we haven’t seen in decades, share our vacations, our triumphs, and our dazzling moments with our children. As a pa...

What Motivates Us?

Jeff Young — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:37:11 +0100

I received a cool email from Global Mindshift on Monday. It contained a link to a 10 minute video from Daniel Pink on "The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us." This is solid research supporting the ideas and approach behind Co-ignite's CollaborAction Communities - that we need to make our work places more human in order to get better performance. Dan makes the point so well in this fun video that I will stop here and just let you see for yourself. Enjoy. Se...

Moving from Skills to Capabilities

Jeff Young — Sun, 16 May 2010 14:00:00 +0100

It used to be that we prepared ourselves for our future by gaining skills for our lives and the workplace. In a conversation I had recently I found another important distinction: That in today’s world when we can no longer know what the future brings, we need to become more capable of responding to challenges. The difference between capabilities and skills, in my mind, is that skills are about being competent in what you do.

Increasing your capability has ...

Discovering your Purpose

Jeff Young — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:00:00 +0100

When everything is feverishly changing around us, how do we know which way will lead toward success? When we define our success on what is going on out there, the path will always be shifting and changing creating a confusing, exhausting, and ultimately futile journey.

However, when we shift our definition of success toward one of living our own purpose and contribution, the path forward is clear, more stable, and more powerful. We aren’t just looking for ...

Shift Happens: How Can We Prepare for our Future?

Jeff Young — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:00:00 +0100

A colleague of mine shared a popular YouTube video with me. It’s called “Shift Happens” and you can view the video by following this link:

Shift Happens Video

He offered it because it highlights a central theme of mine that economic discomfort we are experiencing is not just a recession, but a symptom of much larger changes and challenges facing us. These changes are reaching a point where they are breaking many...

Will You Choose to Invent Your Future?

Jeff Young — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:00:00 +0100

I was talking with a successful small business person today and he was scared; really scared. He was wound up so tense, I wondered if his muscles might fuse his bones in place. Welling with tears, he shared with me that for the first time in his life he wondered whether he would become homeless. His spouse had a job in home remodeling and she was struggling to find remodeling jobs after being so successful for many years. He was a teacher, recently out of work. Now the...

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