When people say, "None of our societal systems are working. We need to DO something!," there is often this huge PAUSE. I call this pause the "Giant Comma." This giant comma sits between the recognition or desire to do something different and the actual action. As in: "We have to do something. COMMA. Now what?"
The recognition of the need for action is relatively easy. It's the "Now What?" that gives us trouble.
Examples of the Giant Comma Syndrome range from the Katrina aftermath to gas prices, from war to the housing crisis, from unemployment to the environment, from poverty to corporate greed. Because these issues are all systemic--that is, the underlying contributors to each of these issues cut across all sectors of society--the "Now What?" requires the whole system to address them.
This is where the pause of the Giant Comma quickly becomes a period. Because the solutions require whole-system collaboration, the statement becomes simply, "We have to do something." Period. We might act by blaming, fighting, or punishing the perceived victims or the perpetrators, but in terms of creating lasting solutions, we just don't have that good a track record.
We have trouble with the "Now What?" because, frankly, we're not all that good at collaborating. How could we be? We don't have much practice at it as a society. We seem to have been good at it when we realized that we could better survive if there were some that hunted and some that gathered, but after that, our ability to collaborate pretty much went downhill, from what I can tell.
Since about the hunter-gatherer time, we've been conditioned to do things INDEPENDENTLY. There's nothing wrong with independent action, per se. The trouble we find ourselves in now is that we are trying to work independently in an interdependent world. We are trying to assemble a coherent world using a handful of pieces from different puzzle boxes, all with different pictures on them. Blindfolded. With one hand tied behind our back.
Because we run up against our own collaborative incompetence, we do what is comfortable. We do nothing. We blame. We fight. We punish. If we're lucky and inspired, we "fix" one part of the problem in one sector by relocating it elsewhere. Like the boy with his finger in the dike, one leak gets plugged and four others emerge.
It would be far easier, I think, just to acknowledge that none of us knows the answer. And, cheaper, too! Here's the thing: None of our elected officials, corporations, government agencies, churches, educators, hospitals, experts, wealthy or poor residents, average "Joe's"--know the answer. None of us can reasonably be expected to understand the whole ball of wax. None of us are exclusively responsible for figuring it out. None have the influence or authority of over all parts of the system.
If we acknowledge this, we can refocus our energy from blaming and fighting to uniting and figuring this thing out together. You know, collaborate. Even if we're not that good at it yet. What choice do we have? We're about to "independent" ourselves right into extinction.
HERE'S THE REALLY GOOD NEWS: There is a "Now What?" ready to roll that can get us started.
It's worked in the "old" world of independent action, so it can meet us where we are in our collaborative infancy. And, it has been producing whole-system collaborative action for over 2 decades, so it can serve as a bridge to deliver us from this world to a better one. It engages everyone. From every walk of life. It offers:
1. A systemic methodology and an integrated strategy that involves relevant stakeholders in taking responsibility for action across all sectors of society.
2. A mechanism for leveraging local action in communities toward national policy change.
3. A national Network of trained practitioners who are ready, willing, and able to execute the strategy at a moment’s notice.
4. A global track record of success in most of the world’s cultures—hundreds of examples, widely documented.
If you would like to learn more, please email me at nancy@futuresearch.net. I'm just like you. I can't do it alone, either.
June 10, 2008
June 5, 2008
Standing is an Action Verb!
I stand for being the one who engages humanity to create a world that is prosperous for all. While I am committing myself to "being the one," YOU are the one the world needs.
You are the one who will bring something no one else has to the table. And, we need that, whatever it is. I know this because it’s going to TAKE us all to create prosperity for all, and I know you have something no one else does. That’s all I need to know that makes you someone I want to stand with and for.
Speaking of “Standing,” I think of “standing” as an action verb. At first blush, ’standing’ seems so passive. You know, like I’m standing-here-waiting-for-someone-else-to-do-something kind of thing. I say that standing for prosperity for all means action. As someone who has been working tirelessly to launch a national, community-based action strategy to create prosperity for all, I have seen enough studies, heard enough talk, read enough books that say that creating a world that works for all is necessary for our very survival. These are all wonderful things that are vital for creating awareness about the systemic nature of our most pressing global challenges. But, alas, white papers, panel discussions, and books don’t change systems. PEOPLE change systems. People in collaborative action change systems. I say that we will create a world that works for all by engaging all in the work.
If I had money to put where my mouth is, so to speak, I’d do that. I don’t. I have something better. I have a concrete, ready-to-roll way to engage hundreds of people from all walks of life in concrete collaborative action to create prosperity for all that I know is worth asking you to stand for.
For now, I just want to extend an invitation to you and to humanity in general to rise to our potential now. The time is now. When we look out into the world, it is easy to see that the systems and structures we put in place in simpler times don’ t work in the ones we find ourselves in now. We don’t need to destroy the ones that no longer work, we just need to create new ones that do. That is what I’m inviting you into.
It is not useful to sugar-coat the situation nor is it useful to paint a hopeless picture of doom. Yes, there are many wonderful things going on in the world, bringing new structures and ideas into our lives that tap into our natural human quest for peaceful abundance. And, there are many things that have kept us from reaching our collective highest potential, while we hang on to old structures that simply don’t work anymore. There simply isn’t a single societal structure or system that works to create and sustain abundant living for all. There is just no other way to put it.
We can do better than this.
We were BORN to do better than this, and I invite us each to start, right now, in earnest.
Take my hand and join those of us who are ready and willing to build this grand bridge to our new abundant world. Please leave a comment and contact me if you want to engage!
You are the one who will bring something no one else has to the table. And, we need that, whatever it is. I know this because it’s going to TAKE us all to create prosperity for all, and I know you have something no one else does. That’s all I need to know that makes you someone I want to stand with and for.
Speaking of “Standing,” I think of “standing” as an action verb. At first blush, ’standing’ seems so passive. You know, like I’m standing-here-waiting-for-someone-else-to-do-something kind of thing. I say that standing for prosperity for all means action. As someone who has been working tirelessly to launch a national, community-based action strategy to create prosperity for all, I have seen enough studies, heard enough talk, read enough books that say that creating a world that works for all is necessary for our very survival. These are all wonderful things that are vital for creating awareness about the systemic nature of our most pressing global challenges. But, alas, white papers, panel discussions, and books don’t change systems. PEOPLE change systems. People in collaborative action change systems. I say that we will create a world that works for all by engaging all in the work.
If I had money to put where my mouth is, so to speak, I’d do that. I don’t. I have something better. I have a concrete, ready-to-roll way to engage hundreds of people from all walks of life in concrete collaborative action to create prosperity for all that I know is worth asking you to stand for.
For now, I just want to extend an invitation to you and to humanity in general to rise to our potential now. The time is now. When we look out into the world, it is easy to see that the systems and structures we put in place in simpler times don’ t work in the ones we find ourselves in now. We don’t need to destroy the ones that no longer work, we just need to create new ones that do. That is what I’m inviting you into.
It is not useful to sugar-coat the situation nor is it useful to paint a hopeless picture of doom. Yes, there are many wonderful things going on in the world, bringing new structures and ideas into our lives that tap into our natural human quest for peaceful abundance. And, there are many things that have kept us from reaching our collective highest potential, while we hang on to old structures that simply don’t work anymore. There simply isn’t a single societal structure or system that works to create and sustain abundant living for all. There is just no other way to put it.
We can do better than this.
We were BORN to do better than this, and I invite us each to start, right now, in earnest.
Take my hand and join those of us who are ready and willing to build this grand bridge to our new abundant world. Please leave a comment and contact me if you want to engage!
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