Archive for January, 2010
Today I experienced palpably and movingly a benefit of the electronic connections that are possible. It was moving to the brink of tears to see the wonderful traffic jam of 2 lanes of traffic for blocks trying to get close to drop off goods at the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, DC in for emergency relief. It was great to be part of it, of course I wasn’t driving.
I received an email from a colleauge Friday the 15th that referenced and pasted in the contents of the Embassy webpage in which the National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians announced a survival kit guide and was requesting donations of specific goods to aid the victims of this week’s earthquake.
Here was something we could do in addition to contributing money, something very tangible and immediate to help with the unbelievable devastation that the earthquake inflicted on the Haitian people. I forwarded the email to offspring and some friends in my general neighborhood and to families in Silver Spring. Karin, my friend up the street replied almost immediately that we could go together to drop off donations. And she sent this on to her colleagues. And so on, continuing the network.
Karin had gone to Target this morning to pick up diapers for the effort, and she saw a number of people consulting the list of items on their PDAs. Wow. I don’t know how many people this reached or how quickly. I believe we witnessed hundreds of people responding today and the drop off continued for 5 hours.
This application of electronic connections is not unique. It is one more evidence of the caring and fellow feeling that most people possess and the sense of interconnectedness at a human level. Connecting on an electronic level allows us to mobilize our resources and realize our more fundamental connection.
Enter your password to view comments January 17th, 2010
I read with interest an article in the Washington Post today about D.C. teachers who have won national certification. Judy Leak-Bowes, a talented teacher, says the program “made me more of a facilitator than a dictator. You give students the room they need to make an investment in their education.”
This interested me because of its strong resonance with my earlier training to teach, back in the 60s. And it interested me because of my current profession, as facilitator of group experiences, learning, visioning, planning in work settings. This work is all about creating the space in which people can learn. And it is about encouraging inquiry more than advocacy.
Many people feel compelled in their professional lives to be confident, competent, persuasive, strong. In doing so, they often feel they must be in an advocacy role, telling, “dictating” in Leak-Bowes phrase for old classroom habits. There is certainly a place for advocacy. But if it is all advocacy without inquiry then little learning is taking place, either on the part of those getting talked at or on the part of the advocate.
Learning occurs when minds are open, when we wonder what possibilities are out there, when we entertain the ideas that seemed dissonant or jarring on first hearing. In organizations, learning occurs when it is safe to question and to explore, just as in Leak-Bowes classroom.
I commend to you a book that supports individual inquiry. It is a short, easy read in narrative form, Change Your Questions Change Your Life, by Marilee G. Adams, Berrett Kohler. In it, we experience the journey to be a Learner rather than a Judger, and we learn questions that can alter the path of that journey. “What assumptions am I making?” “How else can I think about this situation?” “What is the other person thinking, feeling, needing, and wanting?”
In supporting our own learning we support each other’s learning, too.
January 11th, 2010
Over the holidays, my family and I went to see “Young Frankenstein” the musical on stage at the Kennedy Center. I know, not a traditional holiday favorite, but my kids have been gown up for many years now and enjoy Mel Brooks’ style of humor as do I. We enjoyed the show. We laughed a lot. We were all glad we went.
This is not a plug for the play, but rather a comment on our experience vs. the experience I was afraid we would have once I started reading the reviews that came out after I bought the tickets. The best recommendation “The Washington Post” could give it was a definite maybe. The critics thought it wasn’t much of a musical. I was concerned.
In fact, had I acted more slowly, read the reviews, then decided whether to buy tickets, I might not have done it. And we would have missed a fun evening together. Ah, the power of critics. But the power is not inherent in them; we give them that power.
I have been thinking about my inner critic. How much power have I given that critic who thinks an idea of mine is not that valuable or a venture is not worth embarking on, maybe doomed to failure? It makes sense to make decisions about attending the theater by consulting several sources, balancing a critic’s quotes with what we know of the author or producer and what we know of our own enjoyments. It makes just as much sense to marshal some other sources and forces when the inner critic does its work. Giving in too easily to that voice is what we sometimes call a lack of courage.
In the motivational terms of Reversal Theory, it is helpful to equip oneself with the protective shield of past successes and focus on the present, on the process, one step at a time. Looking too far ahead can be daunting and allows us to conjure up negative pictures and anxiety.
My New Year’s gift to myself is a fresh perspective and awareness of possibilities that will help me balance my inner critic and take new steps, perhaps even be daring.
January 5th, 2010
