Collaborators Partners | North American Network | European Network | Advisors Jean Russell (@nurturegirl) Jean Russell is a facilitator and social ecosystem designer. As your guide to a thrivable world, Jean takes entrepreneurs, social innovators, and business builders on tours of network culture. “Jean Russell is a visionary poet and master of network dynamics. Convinced the crucial roadblock to flourishing is collaboration, Jean is driven by curiosity about how each of us can work (and play) better together to make things that matter. motivation, persuasion, and influence (trained in neuro-linguistic programming and coaching)flows and risk analysis (via international finance),how to make a difference (specifically philanthropy – as co-founder of donor education leader, Inspired Legacies, as well as social entrepreneurship coach and advisor)methods of collaboration (facilitation of small groups and in the tech world designing online community spaces with game dynamics). Art Brock | Kevin A.
The World Cafe Community - Hosting Conversations about Questions that Matter The New Organization Model: Learning at Scale - John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison - John Hagel III and John Seely Brown by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison | 6:03 PM March 11, 2009 In recent posts we’ve described a massive institutional transformation that will occur as part of the big shift: the move from institutions designed for scalable efficiency to institutions designed for scalable learning. The core questions we all need to address are: who will drive this transformation? Who will be the agents of change? Used to be institutional leaders were the only ones who could change institutions. Now we have a new infrastructure, a digital infrastructure creating near-constant disruption. They wield this power from two directions: as customers and as talent. The less obvious part has to do with talent. That’s because a rapid rate of innovation cannot be programmed from above. In fact, in a time of recession, individuals will feel even more pressure to improve their talent, and will therefore intensify their pressure on institutions.
Thrivable - Thrivable Unlocking the passion of the Explorer About the Shift Index We developed the Shift Index to help executives understand and take advantage of the long-term forces of change shaping the US economy. The Shift Index tracks 25 metrics across more than 40 years. For more information, please go to www.deloitte.com/us/shiftindex Executive Summary In a world of uncertainty and mounting performance pressure, organizations face a significant challenge. While much work has been done to understand and improve employee engagement, employee engagement is no longer enough. We must figure out how to thrive—and not simply survive—in this new uncertainty, and we believe that individuals with worker passion will be the key. While passion of the Explorer is easy to find in the worlds of online gaming and extreme sports, it is largely absent in the corporate environment. This report is meant to start the discussion around worker passion—and we welcome your thoughts, questions, and partnership as we continue to study this important topic.
How to Bring the Core to the Edge - John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison - John Hagel III and John Seely Brown by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison | 6:10 PM February 6, 2009 As the deep forces underlying the big shift accelerate the world around us, many people feel a certain helplessness. Are markets, industries, and even whole economies descending into chaos? Recent financial market turmoil only heightens the fear. Are sudden and nonlinear shifts outrunning our ability to make sense of a chaotic world? Chaos is always frightening. We believe there is a sense-making pattern that can help us understand how change takes place in the economy. To see what we mean, let’s begin by defining our terms. The “edge” takes many forms. Edges also occur at the firm and individual levels. Why are edges so important? The edges and the core are not independent domains. However, while the incentives to connect are strong, significant barriers make knowledge flows between the edge and the core problematic. What’s the best way for companies to participate in this dynamic?
What would it take for us to thrive ? Solutions - Foster Gamble What is thrivability? On personal, institutional, and global scales we’re often told that sustainability is our ultimate goal. Universally defined, sustainability aims to ‘meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ This is undeniably a noble mission, but when push comes to shove, does sustainable development have what it takes to engage society with the appropriate tools to tackle the pressing challenges we face? An increasing number of people are recognizing that it does not, that efforts should be made to better capture our potential to not merely sustain or survive, but to thrive into the future. This, in essence, is exactly what thrivability aims to do. To properly understand thrivability, it is helpful to take a deeper look into the modern sustainability discourse, and why it has been falling short of its intended goals. 1. 2. 3. Thrivability: The New Frontier of Socio-Ecological Development Thrivability builds on itself. Regenerating Living Systems
A Solution to School District Budget Cuts - Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn - Clayton Christensen by Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn | 10:08 AM June 17, 2009 In the May 29, 2009 article, “L.A. Unified School District cancels bulk of summer school programs,” the Los Angeles Times reported that because of the state’s budget woes, L.A. Although this saves costs in the short run, it creates big problems on a few fronts. Simple and mindless cuts like this often don’t make sense. Policymakers no doubt will be quick to point to various barriers to doing this–from teacher requirements and student-teacher ratio caps in California to the many agencies that would need to sign off to this and are poised to block it. But the reality is there is no reason to deny hundreds of thousands of children and their families the learning and child-care opportunities they need and hurt the state in the process by contributing toward the dropout crisis and impairing the future workforce. Punishing the students for the state’s mistakes is unfair.