Fund Thrivable.org kick-off

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After three years of exploration and network building, writing and discussion, planning and processing, Thrivable.org is just about ready for kick-off. We will have a soft launch to our friends and collaborators this month (August) and will run a pilot for three to six months.

While I have self-funded the development until this point, the work is for the commons. And if it is to be our shared organization and movement, then it must expand beyond my effort and my funds. We own this work together.

Are you willing to make a commitment to becoming thrivable? Buy me a virtual cup of coffee to keep me alert on this effort.

Have you already felt the effects of my work and the emergence of thrivable? Pay it forward for others.

My sincere gratitude for your faith in this emerging idea and project. Thank you for your commitment to a better world for all.

Philanthropy – field changing

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This is extracted from a note I sent out to Leaders engaged with Inspired Legacies:

The theme for my trip seemed to be democratization of philanthropy and knowledge sharing across internet sites and organizational silos.

Tracy and I met up and joined Leif and Eric Utne along with several of my friends for dinner. Eric is doing some amazing work bringing multi-generational folks together for salons. See Utne Reader or Earthcouncils.org. He met up with Peggy from Wiser Earth to talk about adding a layer to Wiser that would enable peer standard form peer feedback across multiple criteria – rate the nonprofits based on your experience with them. It could be something to watch regarding donor attention.

This all flowed very smoothly into a conversation with Christine Egger from SocialActions (a tool that brings together actions from over 30 sites to be redistributed across the net). Christine is quite a thinker, and we had felt like we were path sisters when I met her in May. We want to have an event and produce a book/report/catalog with the aim of catalyzing philanthropy as gentle compassion (more than money and more than just an act of doing). We discussed transformative philanthropy, thrivability, moving from giving to sharing, and much more.

4 years ago there was a Giving conference in Chicago. Christine and I want to do something of a follow up on that. Much progress has been made, and we want to assemble the players for the next stage of the co-evolution. I will keep you posted. The event is tentatively planned for April. See what Christine had to say.

Finally, as I find more and more people in philanthropy on twitter, I also discover better and better information. Just yesterday one of my followers (from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation) linked me to an awesome report which includes about 70% of the trends I have been paying attention to in the field of philanthropy. I strongly encourage at least a perusal of this important report.

The report called Intentional Innovation: How Getting More Systematic about Innovation Could Improve Philanthropy and Increase Social Impact, calls to the importance and value of thinking and using more systematically about innovation in the work of philanthropy and nonprofit sector.

Through this study, the Kellogg Foundation, working with Clohesy Consulting and the Monitor Group, learned some concepts for helping change the way the social sector thinks about innovation.
ttp://www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=94&CID=6&ItemID=5001167&NID=85&LanguageID=0

Next, the same contact, Stephanie McAuliffe, also shared a bunch of pdfs about network weaving, strategy, social media etc.

I also was pointed to change.org blog — “In Defense of Raising Money” Very cool post discovered by my fellow Chicagoan and brilliant change agent, Nathanial Whittmore.

It is very exciting to see the convergence emerging, and there is no better time than now to shift gears for uplift in the philanthropic sector. Thank you for your part of this effort! Please share your articles, links, insights, and intentions!

New Activists, Cheating, and Millenials

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Several links out folks.

1. New Activists article in ODE is fabulous.

2.Cheat Neutral is brilliant with video.

3. Blogging conversation between thrivability (my other blog) and gifthub about making change and millenials.

Don’t finish that!

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I have the sense that there are lots of people doing really great work…but they want to get it to a finished point before sharing it. Really? Sure about that?

In the age of participatory, nay, collaborative culture, as soon as something is finished it can’t be collaborative. If you want other people pitching in to make an idea work, software better, or actions more impactful…don’t dictate what should happen and push out what has been finished. Open with curiosity. Share vision and motivation…share ideas as rough sketches for group discussion. Collaboration doesn’t work as well if comes off as “I made this, now will you implement it?” *

Collaboration works better as “I had an idea, what would you do…? or would you help me figure out…?” And it can really work well with a bit of acknowledgment like, “You are such a whiz kid at x, and I was working on this idea related to that….could you help me think it through?” or “You are so well connected in z neighborhood/network, I would like to vision there. How do you think that could work?” So I encourage those of us in collaboration to stop finishing things. Let documents come alive–living documents invite collaboration… Let ideas and actions live.

*This worked better in pyramidal structures where authority or perceived authority can push things to happen. In collaborative culture, work is accomplished by attraction–the pull of an idea, person, thing, or vision. And the key to get in the door of collaboration is invitation. Don’t invite people to a party that is finished.

Collaborative Organization

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For now, see the image…I had a delightful insight this morning…and I will get around to explaining it. This is the placeholder for now. 🙂

Collaborative Network image

It might be no surprise that organizations can collaborate this way. Many already do. However, what I see collective intelligence efforts doing creates the hub and spoke network shape. Being intentional about creating collaborative organization at face to face events and collaborations seems valuable to me. Furthermore, processes like Open Space, to a great degree, enable this form of collaborative organization. However, until we deeply celebrate the roll of butterflies and bees….we aren’t truly capturing the intelligence between sessions in a powerful, useful way.

More to come…

Leadership is so last century…

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I was having a delightful conversation with the amazing and insightful Jack Ricchiuto last night. Whenever I speak with him, I feel compelled to take fastidious notes because the gems of wisdom pour from him as if he was Rumpelstiltskin weaving gold from hay. He spoke of moving from leadership of individuals to the small group as the core essential unit. And it struck me immediately as very insightful…I was so ready for that nugget of wisdom!

So this is why I am thinking this shift is valuable. And I would love to hear your thinking on this issue, since I am still piecing it together.

When we focus on leaders, we put our attention on their role and performance. It is dis-empowering to the other vital players in a group. Each member of a group is important whether they are the nurturers who support the best coming from all or the harvesters which synthesize and bring the gems forward….or the critics who help refine the ideas…or the clown which makes it fun and full of laughter…or any number of other archetypes that come into play. Sometimes these characteristics are multiple in one person, sometimes they are shared across many. However, focusing on the leader dissipates attention away from the system dynamics at play in a group.

For too long we have privileged the voice of the group, the instigator, the dictator… Or worse, we have pretended that the pyramidal structures work with “leaders” at the top rather than collaborators throughout.

And improving the output of the group by working on the leader in particular is like treating your toe pain without considering your whole body (and that if you held a different posture, the pain would go away). Move away from group pain by: focusing on the positive–the strengths of each collaborator, the dream the group has passion for, the small accountable next step of action, and people needed for the collaboration to be fruitful. Jack and his partner have a whole process for it. 🙂

Change–We are it!

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So I know I have been writing mostly about politics and issues lately. I apologize for not being more focused on nurturing. Part of it might be that I am working on the nurturing ideas on the thrivability blog. Part of it might be that I have been doing more than talking lately. And part of it might be that now seems like a critical political time. I promise to get back to nurturing social change in a more targeted sense…but first, this passionate post about Change.

Several posts ago I argued for Gore to be president. And I do love how he is coming forward in the world to strongly and clearly push for change. However, I must accept that he isn’t going for the presidency…so who am I stuck with? I decided against Hillary…over many months, but it was really clear to me when I saw a friend’s facebook “what am I doing” that said “Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton” and it hit me like a lumber truck. Yikes, I DON’T want more of that pattern! So I started looking at this Obama character more. I remembered when he became senator and there was talk years ago that he had the charisma to go for the presidency in 08. And here we are.

I saw more friends jumping on the Obama wagon, and I raised an eyebrow. Really? Hmmm, I wonder why. Then a friend emailed his speech in Atlanta…and I saw the “Yes We Can” video….and I started to wonder. Do we really have a potential candidate that has some morals? Some aspirations for unity and change? Some hope? Really? I dared not hope. But I did start to sign on–Obama became my choice.

But it really struck me hard, and I become convinced last week. Not because of the great winning streak or the videos and media around the guy. No, I became convinced when I spoke with my cousin. She is a precinct captain for Obama. Obviously she is a fan, and her explanation of politics likely biased by her preference. No matter, the story she told me is what moved me. She told of going to an event for Obama a year ago. And while it is usually a white, middle to upper class, college-educated, and older crowd that gets involved in pushing a campaign…she said the people showing up to work towards Obama for president came from many classes, races, and ages. And she said when she went to an event to offer herself as precinct captain, she saw again–a strong turnout from a very mixed audience. She talked about meeting people who had never voted, and they were now–not just registering to vote–they were volunteering to campaign. There is a giant awakening–the grassroots push for change.

And I walked away from that conversation with hope in my heart. Might the mighty sleeping beast of American engagement across race, class, age, sex, and religion be waking up to take back control. Might things have become so astonishingly bad in the last 8-20 years, that we as a country are ready to participate in democracy because we finally recognize we each have skin in the game?

Americans have too long been voting on party lines and against their own self-interest. Republicans have too long been manipulating the polls. It is time to show in great and magnificent numbers that we clearly want change. Let there be no doubt about numbers this year. Let us voice in unison our call and support for major shifting of politics here. Let us shout to the world that we, as a people, want to re-engage in the world as servant leaders for uplift.

Coffee beans and change managment

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A few years ago my brother, Mark Luther, posted something like this on his website. I was so moved; I shared it with my dear, wonderful, and inspired friend, Anne Marie Bellavance. And it has been a theme in our friendship ever since.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up . She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water–the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Inspired Philanthropy

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Today, we release the website for the forthcoming 3rd edition of Inspired Philanthropy. Phil blogged it.

I have been honored to participate in the development of this edition. Also, Tracy has asked that I refer to myself as co-founder of Inspired Legacies, because of my involvement in some of the development, creation, and projects of Inspired Legacies since August of 2005. I am deeply honored by and grateful for this designation!

Now through November 6th, a Donor Diva Challenge, allows anyone who buys Inspired Philanthropy, to designate a free copy to a nonprofit of their choice! Buy the book and give the book to a nonprofit. Give the gift of transformational giving.

And check out the website, not just because I worked so hard on it either! There are loads of resources–exercises and worksheets, the whole appendix! Pdfs, uploaded and available free for you to use!

Also, note, National Philanthropy Day is November 15th!

Honored by Razoo

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A friend pointed me to “A Little Thanks Is In Order to Razoos Top 25 Members“.

I am honored to be celebrated with such change agents and collaborators.

I also must acknowledge that this comes as a result of the connections formed and work done at Omidyar.net community, which transferred over to Razoo, allowing me to connect with many people and immediately jump in to many groups and causes. It was a reputation transfer of sorts. It was certainly not because I have been super active on Razoo. I have been focused full-blast for the last month with a brilliant and valuable project which I will announce tomorrow. (hint, hint)