Foundation and Capital Voices

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I have found foundation representatives here at netsquared. However, I have not heard from them publicly. I think foundation representatives have a lot to offer to emerging nonprofits and technologists as they are trying to gain clarity and grow. Similarly VC folks have wisdom and questions that can help prime projects for receiving funding and building viable business models.

Also, I would like to see more nonprofits and technologists putting pressure on foundations to consider expanding program support beyond granting to blended offerings of loans and other investment tools that support emerging social purpose organizations and projects.

We need to be surfacing the resources we each have, acknowledging our own needs, and sharing together to make more and more good things happen.

Resources Lost

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Still here at netsquared. Looking around at the audience in this economic sustainability session…and I think we are not capturing the resources that are in the room. When someone is sitting not far from me that is with pledgebank, and yet we aren’t talking about pledging…or Bring Light, who sponsored the event, doesn’t get to share how they work…these 21 projects need to hear about tools in the room that they don’t know about.

Here is a project–what can each person in the room bring to it to move it forward? And what collectively do we as a group think would be most valuable from that.

Interesting question from the moderator: he asserts that some nonprofits simply suck. One of the panelists retorted that the trick about that subjective judgment is WHO gets to make that call. I wonder how valuable even figuring that out is! When talking about services that cost a certain amount to be able to do–and that cost is fairly unrelated to number served. Grassroots.org for example has a certain cost that doesn’t. I imagine, increase significantly whether they serve 5000 or 7500. It isn’t worth the sorting process which becomes a trade-off–the value of being an open provider gets compromised by being some judgment making organization.

This is one of the values I really appreciate about Catalytic Communities. They share projects from any community leaders who have innovative solutions. Those leaders get to decide what is innovative. I think that can really resonate for people who are skeptical of the power aspect of subjectively choosing who gets in and who gets out.

Thriving with Complexity

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From simplistic thinking to embracing complexity…writes Dave Pollard.

He states:

There are ten things to remember about complex adaptive systems (which include all social and ecological systems):

  • It is impossible to know ‘enough’ about such systems to prescribe blanket ‘solutions’ to ‘problems’ in such systems: There are too many variables. A one size answer never fits all in such systems.
  • The wisdom of crowds is essential to even a basic understanding of such systems: The more people involved in understanding, thinking about, and making decisions about such systems, the more likely those decisions are to be effective….
  • Such systems are unpredictable: Because there are so many variables, many of them unknown, it is folly to even attempt to predict what will happen, even in the short term….
  • Many of the variables in such systems are uncontrollable…
  • In such systems, prevention is difficult but better than a cure after the fact…Prevention requires imagination, and unfortunately we live in a world (especially true in large organizations, where imagination is actively discouraged) of terrible imaginative poverty….
  • In such systems there are no ‘best practices’ or ‘best policies’: Every situation in complex adaptive systems is unique. Trust the people closest to that situation to know what to do, don’t try to impose some practice that worked well in some completely different context (though telling a story about that practice might help those closest to the situation decide whether it could be adapted to their situation)….
  • In such systems, great models can spread but they usually can’t be scaled… If you don’t understand why this almost always fails, re-read Small is Beautiful.
  • There is a tendency for those working in such systems to presume ‘learned helplessness’ of customers and employees: …And failure to engage customers and employees in co-producing the product is a tragic waste of great opportunity. The key is knowing how to engage them: Not through passive questionnaires or surveys, but through conversations, stories, and presenting the ‘problem’ to them so they can help you appreciate it better and then address it….
  • In such systems, genuine decentralization is almost always a good idea: That means pushing out real authority along with responsibility….
  • In such systems, networks outperform hierarchies: This is a corollary of the other nine tenets of complex adaptive systems. Information, ideas and working models spread faster and more effectively peer-to-peer than up and down hierarchies.

Networks. Adaptive Systems.

Listen. Learn network theory. Go read Valdis Krebs white papers, and understand how power works in networks, and how smart communities work. Then grab Linked. And wait, there is more. On top of that add some understanding of incentives and acknowledgment. Now you have basic tools for creating healthy flowing adaptive systems. It isn’t enough. It is a great start.

Let us weave these networks to deal with the complexity around us, moving, flowing, growing. Let us thrive together.

Listen. Trust. Flourish.

Growing Leaders

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Who is a leader? Who is not a leader? What qualities do nurturing leaders hold?

Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible — the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family. Virginia Satir

I don’t think leaders are people who tell other people what to do. I think they are much more nurturing than that. To me, a great leader is someone who maximizes the abilities and actions of those around them. They aren’t focused on problems or on overcoming problems. They focus on bringing out the absolute best in the people around them, so that the whole team can use their talents to achieve something wonderful together.

Leaders ask: “What is this person’s best qualities, and how can that best serve this effort?”

Extraordinary leaders ask great questions that assume the competency of their team. They are not fault-finders. Leaders give attention to what works and strive to create more of it. That is not to say that great leaders deny difficulties. It takes a certain degree of accepting what is and flexibility to adapt to the environment.

Leaders ask: “What is working here, and how can we model that to achieve success in other areas?”

They seek evidence of progress in small and large ways. While hurdles may arise, a leader offers positive feedback to what is going well. They believe in their team’s ability to be successful to the extent that they assume success is imminent. As if it is already arriving not as possibility but as destiny. For example, they think in the following form: “We are going to put a man on the moon, how are we going to do that?”

Leaders ask: “If we step into the future and achieved our goals, what did we need to do now for things to turn out successfully?”

That doesn’t mean denying that there is hard work to do and complexity to relationships. Great leaders create safe spaces for real heartfelt teamwork and personal discussion. They model connected and genuine conversation showing their care and compassion for their teammates.

Leaders ask: “What can we do here to honor the whole beings with complex lives who are driving this work forward?”

Real leaders, in my mind, don’t strive to be seen as heroes. They give time and opportunity for feedback. They don’t expect themselves or others to be flawless, and they have real curiosity about where there might be room for improvement.

Leaders ask: “What could I be doing better to serve and nurture my team?”

Leaders show they feel accountable to their team and their goals. And when successes, large and small, are achieved, extraordinary leaders share the glory.

Leaders ask: “How can I celebrate the contributions of the team members?”

A debt of gratitude for training received and research done by Tim Hallbom in noticing and developing these key attributes in leaders.

Women and Power

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The thing women have got to learn is that nobody gives you power. You just take it. ~Roseanne Barr

Absolutely Roseanne! Power is not a gift, an object to give from one person to another, power is only visible when being used. Much like an electron, we only see it when we test it. I have long thought that the reason some men have tried to oppress and contain women is because of the power women have. When a woman gives birth to a child, a man gets to be witness to the power and strength that a woman has. In this, he is fearful–fearful that this woman, experiencing such a transformation in her body, proves that she is stronger, more flexible, more persistent, and more resilient than he is. To be a woman is to embody the process of becoming, regardless of whether one begets children or not.

So professionally, she who brings forth the world, she who can bring children into being, should not play coy or suppress her power in some odd attempt to make man feel secure. No, indeed, she should show that in more areas of her life she has the power to bring forth. To bring forth ideas, to bring forth action, to bring forth results with strength, flexibility, resilience, and perseverance. Woman does not need to wait for man to acknowledge her capacity nor her power. Woman proves her power through her action. And she does a disservice to herself if she attempts to do it in the way a man needs to do it. Let the hunter be a hunter. And let the one who brings forth do her best to bring forth.

Here are some of my etiquette tips for women (and all people for that matter) in the post-pomo era:

  • Whoever reaches the door first holds it for the next person (or people) regardless of anyone’s sex or status.
  • When speaking with others, don’t look down. In animal speak this is an act of empowering the more dominant animal. And men come from hunters, they use this amongst themselves. Let them see into your eyes, and they will know the depth and strength of your heart. Chin up! Eyes up! Nose down.
  • Whoever reaches for their money first gets the honor of paying the bill when among equals. When among seniors, let the senior most person decide who pays the bill. When with clients, let the buyer buy the meal (they will pay for it indirectly or directly, why not give them the chance to be gracious and feel generous).
  • Neither hide your body and your beauty nor flaunt it as a manipulation of the hungry hunter. You are yourself and should be proud to be it without needing to demonstrate the power your body holds. They sense it already. Be beautiful for yourself.
  • Smile. It disarms most who would try to hold you back and encourages those around you to be happy.
  • It doesn’t do anyone any good if you are so humble about your power and your talent that you don’t acknowledge it. Temper arrogance with curiousity rather than with self-doubt.
  • Women, generally speaking, intuitively understand the power of community and collaboration. Use it.

Here are some of the qualities that this Caliper study on Women Leaders showed as strengths great female leaders possess:

  • Persuasive
  • Empathetic
  • Flexible
  • Assertive
  • Willing to take risks (and ignore rules)
  • Sociable
  • Learn from adversity
  • Inclusive and team building

Check out the article itself for a more thorough explanation. Thanks to my incredible cousin Kim Olson for the link.