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Mentoring Moment: The Art of Animating

11/3/2014

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A recent mentoring conversation with a beginner in the art of facilitation prompted this post of things that I think about when I facilitate.   I love the expression that my French friends use "to animate".  A facilitator's role can range from being more of a mediator working invisibly to being more of an animator applying one's unique, dynamic energy to create a container for participants to discover their role as heroes of the unfolding experience.  An effective facilitator of a meeting- keeping focus/time, moderating participation and achieving objectives - falls somewhere in the middle.  

Each person brings uniqueness to the role; each situation invites different ways of being. Building capacity for facilitation is a practice.  The art is knowing what is optimal for the context and having the flexibility to improvise across the spectrum in the moment!
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1. A Learner's Mindset

Facilitation is a skill. Skills are best practiced over time with a learning approach.  I like to identify the one or two skills that I want to focus on in an event that I am facilitating.  Knowing what I want to practice heightens my attention, then I practice it and solicit feedback on that specific task as well as generally so that I develop deeper awareness of both strengths and weaknesses.  Culturally, some people focus too much on strengths and others too much on weaknesses.  

True self awareness sees both as they are.  Hone your strengths and grow your skills around your weaknesses.  Even as you become more experienced, seek feedback as if you were beginner.  Meng's book on Google's program for emotional intelligence development, Search Inside Yourself, provides useful tools to cultivate these skills.  


2. The Prep/Setup

Attending to the physical space is one of those invisible acts that yields great benefits. Here are prompts: 
  • how will the physical space support the intended flow of the event?
  • what will people be looking at (your back/peoples' backs or everyone's faces)
  • how does the space support or inhibit engagement/participation?
  • how will people feel in the space? 
  • what is the shape of the table (e.g. in mediation, we prefer round whenever possible to get over the "idea" of sides), how are the chairs arranged (e.g. if no round table, we seat "opposing parties" on the same side of the table to physically remove an adversarial stance).  

Preparing the flow of an event is crucial.  When I create an experience for people, I consider: 
  • how will people engage with convener, facilitator and each other? 
  • what will be everyone's first shared experience?
  • how does the agenda fit with and/or respond to the people in the room? 
  • what support will people need to fully engage (trust building, food, bio breaks, reflection time, social interaction to enhance/solidify content, scaffolded experience)? 
  • how flexible is the schedule to accommodate the unpredictable?
  • how can we design the flow to yield the desired participant experience?
  • what design of processes/methods will yield the desired outcomes for the event?

Designing what methods/processes to apply is an art and craft that benefits from experimentation, success, failure, spontaneous adaptation, curiosity and flexibility.  

For discussion on these topics, I suggest browsing the Changemaker Bootcamp Watercooler: "space physics", "group physics" and "designing engagement." 


3. The Start

Creating a container that begins with a clear start and a conscious close is powerful. The start creates our first shared experience, it sets the tone and supports shared understanding about our goals (Outcomes), what we'll do to get there (Agenda) and how we would like to engage with each other (what people often refer to as group agreements/ground rules, though I call party favors, see below.)  

I like to ask people as they introduce themselves to answer the question: "what do you hope to get out of today?" and record responses on a flip chart.  This participant generated list sets shared expectations from the outset, serves as a guide for me. and provides a reference to check at the close.  

The Ariel Group proposes a 4 question check in that asks: How are you feeling? What percentage are you present? What is keeping you from being 100% present? What do you hope to get out of ____? and closing with a round of "Aha Moments".   


How are you feeling?  
What percent are you present? 
What's keeping you from being 100% present?  
What do you hope to get out of ______?
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Eugene Eric Kim offers excellent insights on The Art of the Start when creating containers for collaboration and provides more in depth resources for building capacity to facilitate collaboration at Faster Than 20.


4. The Container 

I follow these key points from Angeles Arrien to create a container whether it is a design/product workshop for creative problem solving or a mediation to resolve a conflict. 

A) What will people need to maintain sufficiency?

What do people need to be fully present and engaged?  Attending to this means orienting people to the space (logistically, e.g. bathrooms, fire exits, etc), to the day (e.g. bio breaks, etc) and to the content (e.g. schedule, etc).  It necessitates understanding what "safety" people need to participate fully; often called group agreements (or ground rules), I prefer to call these "Party Favors." I share my basic list then invite people to add any others that they need to participate fully in the experience. 

My basic list includes: 
  • cultivate curiosity (ask questions, allow emergence, think different)
  • radical respect (courage to speak, humility to listen)
  • build on the ideas of others (encourage WILD ideas, have fun)
  
B) What can be used to facilitate shared understanding?

When I address shared understanding, I think about it both as something verbal and something visual. Having someone who can be a "scribe" to record notes, or better yet, a visual notetaker, who can make beautiful picture-filled notes, helps participants know that they have been heard. 

The main areas that I attend to for shared understanding that include a visual component: 
  1. Why we are here: Goals/Outcomes  
  2. Where we are going: Agenda
  3. Perspectives: document what people say, ideas shared, draw pictures to create shared meaning
  4. Artifacts: If one does a good job of taking notes during an event, then these become artifacts for future conversations. 

C) Host Different Points of View

We are increasingly in environments of preference-philia- a homogeneity that diminishes our capacity to host different points of view.  Here are a couple of tips/tools for supporting the expression of diverse views. 

  1. Conversational Justice: when developing an exercise, time structured segments that require each person to participate and that afford each person the same amount of time to participate can provide conversational justice.  This forces participation by quieter people and limits the time of people who might tend to dominate a discussion.
      
  2. Participatory Engagement: engaging people who might be reluctant to speak in a larger group can be done by breaking into smaller groups that enable more participation. Alternatively, an activity in silence ensures that everyone participates or providing everyone with sticky notes and asking questions of a large group but each person has to answer on a sticky note.

  3. Lateral Decision Making: adopting approaches to differing views that allow everyone to look in the same direction at the same time can be powerful.  Edward De Bono's Six Thinking Hats introduces this model that works effectively and efficiently for inclusive, participatory discussions.  See under "Read More" for a version of this method that I adapted and applied for clinical decisions.

  4. Scaffold the Experience: easing people into sharing their views through a staged process can help people to feel comfortable when an issue may be threatening. One effective model that I have used starts with:
  • me (silent/my perspective) 
  • me with you (silent/I look at what you wrote)
  • me (silent/reflect on my perspective informed by seeing yours)
  • you with me (silent/I look at what your wrote and ask/build on it)
  • us (engage in dialogue openly)

D) Hold the Creative Tension 

In addition to hosting different views, one needs to be able to sit with the views in opposition- to lean into the uncertain space.  In a world that rushes to solutions, the facilitator's role is to allow a solution to elude long enough for great ideas to emerge.  This may mean: Sit in the Messiness.  Change the Frame.  Go for a Walk in Nature.  Visit a Toy Store.  Think Different. Most of all, cultivate the capacity for uncertainty. 

At the 2008 World Forum on Facing Violence: Justice, Ethics & Conflict Resolution, Mark Gerzon promised to "Keep it warm, but not too hot;" his book, Leading through Conflict is a favorite resource on building this capacity to hold the creative tension.  

Another favorite is John O'Neil's Leadership Aikido. Building this capacity takes practice.  Each person's journey is unique. I shared insights from my learnings building this capacity for mediation in Passive Participation in Conflict and a chapter on clinical ethics mediation. 



5. The Close

Whether it is a check out, sharing "aha moments" or "jazz hands" moments, or making commitments to action, the act of consciously closing the container strengthens the power of the space created.  



6. The Learning Loop

For the facilitator, the end comes after the learning loop.  At the beginning, we set out our learning goals.  At the end, we need to get feedback on our practice. 

I prefer to do a learning loop by:
  • learner shares what went well
  • learner shares what could be done differently next time 
  • peers:  external people can share their perspectives, ideally in a feedback sandwich:
    positive - growth opportunity - positive.  Feedback needs to include concrete examples fand specific explanations of why it was positive and/or a growth opportunity. 
  • participant group (probably via email): provide feedback
  • learner integrates self-assessment and feedback into a refined understanding of his/her abilities
  • learner identifies new skills for revised learning goals at next experience

Facilitation requires practice of skills as well as the process.  By evaluating participants' feedback and achieved outcomes, a facilitator can assess whether the methods selected were appropriate for the participant's experience and if the process yielded the desired outcomes.  (double learning loop)


On a learning loop note, I would love to hear from you about whether this post is helpful.  Comments, questions and additional resources welcome!  
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Integrity by Design for Appropriate Health Care Technology: TEDxBarcelonaChange

1/5/2013

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Let's harness the power of 21st Century technology 
to assure the quality, reliability and safety of 
health care devices for everyone, everywhere...



On April 3, 2013, I gave my first TEDx: Integrity by Design at TEDxBarcelonaChange: Positive Disruption in Global Health
part of TEDxChange sponsored by the Gates Foundation

Join us as we build integrity by design to positively disrupt global health: http://www.integritybydesign.org

It was a humbling and brilliant experience. I am grateful to the #TEDxBarcelona team who hosted an outstanding, fun event and to my fellow TEDx speakers who inspired everyone! (Full speaker line up here: http://ow.ly/kAldv )

Thanks to our outstanding organizers Aurelie Salvaire Perrine Musset Johanna, rockstar coach Florian Mueck & the #TEDxBarcelonaChange team!  Very special thanks for ubuntu from my community whose contributions were invaluable. 
Let's positively disrupt the status quo! 
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Macroscope Mastermind: The Macroscope Labs Playhouse

13/8/2012

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One of my favorite prototypes from the Macroscope Labs was a tool to organize all of the "activities" one engages in the workplace of the future.  Play. Projects. Ideas. Prototypes. Work. Creative.  The distinctions blur. 
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Macroscope Labs Playhouse
~ producing the future, one play at a time ~


We tossed around the idea that Macroscope Labs would be a theatrical playhouse.  In our mL playhouse,  ideas and projects that we incubated would come to life similar to a play.  Each play has a particular stage of development (from open mike to post production).  Much like a summerstock playhouse, our role might vary on each play, from scriptwriter to actor to set designer to costumer to producer- depending upon what was needed to get the job done or to grow our learning edge.  Each activity requires something different and invites an unique blend of creative collaborators. 

Open Mike

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Idea in incubation: 

you talk about the idea to see whether it gains traction, whether you still like it after a few pitches, what responses you get.  it may be an idea you want to hand off 

Staged Reading

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Idea in exploration:

you find someone else who wants to build with you and you want to see whether its viable.  you delve in to explore what next

Off Off Broadway

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Idea in pilot:

you decide to give it a quick prototype- rough and dirty. You want learning and feedback. Test to decide whether to investment more time and money

Main Stage

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Full steam

you've got money in it and you want a tony. get the best cast/crew, rehearse and execute. everyday is a new day on the stage. 

Post production

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 Wind down:

Close elegantly & move on. Review, learn, celebrate. This may mean the show goes on tour, hand off to new team or document conclusion. Alls well that ends well. 

7 steps:

     1.  Inventory ALL of your projects 
                  - one idea/project per post it
                  - sub-projects for one job = separate post-its
                  - suggestion: color code by theme or by paid/unpaid

     2. Organize the post-its according to the stage of development
                  - follow the stages noted above, I sometimes include an off broadway (between off-off and main stage)


     3. Notice where there is a high concentration of post-its 
                    - the distribution will help you see where you are spending time and energy 
                    - is this distribution congruent with your current needs or are you currently stressed
                    - if self-employed on project work, do you have an appropriate distribution of paid idea/projects
                    - if you have a lead role in more than 2-3 projects on the main stage, you might need a cardio stress test  

     4. Identify what is your role on the projects
                  - is it your idea? are you rallying the team?  are you a first follower? are you the broadcaster? 
                  - does the role play to your strengths? are you on your learning edge?
                  - how does the team on this project feel for you?

     5. Notice your roles
                  - are they always the same? do you feel more energized in some than others?
                  - are you building your craft/skills in each of the different roles?
                  - who do you want to be your mentor for each role?  

    6. Identify all of your current collaborators (cast & crew)
                  - put each by the respective project and identify their role on the project                 
                  - are all of the roles that need to be filled to complete the project full?
                  - is the team well aligned to deliver based on their skill strengths?
                  - what skills do you need to complement your role/skills to get this project to fly?
                  - where can you find people who are smarter than you are at this? do you know them already? 

     7. Fail often, early. Learn. Dive in or move ON!
                  - what is the next action step?  Put that onto whatever project software you use. i like wunderlist and asana*
                  - identify an end point for each stage, so that you know... when to stop and assess? 
                  - check out my 5*5 method posts for a systematic approach to move from idea incubation to explore/pilot 

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Attract the Best Cast & Crew .... and enable excellence in their performance

  • Hire people who are smarter than you are
  • Communicate the vision 
               - on stage, that is a script & blocking,** what does your idea need?
  • Allow the vision to live in dialogue with the creative genius of the team
  • Trust the team to do their magic (you hired people who are smarter than you are)

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IN ACTION: how it looks on the wall.  

You can create your own paper version for your wall.  A digital version,as below, is available for download as well.  You can play with this digital version in powerpoint: import the .png, create text boxes for each of your projects, lasso/copy the people and group each person with a name and move it around until it works for you.  If you have photoshop, it'll be even easier. 

Most of all, have fun! 

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macroscope-playhouse-share.png
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*these are two services that i have used and liked. i have no financial, professional or personal connection to either company. people are very particular about their project management software, enjoy whatever one works best for you to get things done!

** Ingmar Bergman and Creative Leadership by Bo Gyllenpalm, the most influential book I read in 2011. (apologies, I know that it is out of print and have asked Bo to consider republishing it as I find it more relevant than ever).

Dedicated to all those on the journey to be the change through creative lifestyle design, particularly the lovely Joep Kuijper,  Seb Paquet on a 100 day journey into creative economy and Jean Russell, life explorer of creative engagement.  May your project management always allow room for passionate play, creative inspiration and hacking!  

Thought Contributors: Idea developed in collaboration with the enchanting creative  Eddie Harran at a time when I was fascinated by Bo Gyllenpalm's book on the stage leadership of creative director, Ingmar Bergman: what better role model than someone who pulled career best performances from cast/crew night after night for years and imagine, he never returned to the theater after the curtain went up on opening night.).  The creative innovator and the person who turned me onto the power of Mastermind ever-inspiring Do More Great Work guru Michael Bungay Stanier of Box of Crayons.  Digital to wall/post-its thanks to the effervescent creative Loretta Rae. 

Mash it up. Hack it. Please share your hacks! 

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SE 101: Overview of Posts on Social Enterprise

5/8/2012

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SE 101: What is a SocEnt? What is Social Enterprise?

What does social enterprise mean?  How do I get engaged?

Cool Projects

Cool SocEnt Projects: On My Radar
Leveraging the Private Sector for Social Impact
Ecosystem supporters for Social Enterprise and Social Change
Tech for Good
Next Edu Paradigms


Changemakers

Innovators and Funders of Social Change
Get the Buzz on Changemakers
Changemakers as Jobseekers



Special thanks to social impact catalyst Amy Chou for keeping SocEnt 101 Resources on Ideas that Impact up to date as of Jan 1, 2014.
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CB 101: Overview of  Capacity Building for Changemakers

4/8/2012

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Lead: Sustainable Leadership Development.... resources for expanding Leadership Capacity

Expand .... resources for expanding leadership skills & toolbox


Lead Well and be change ...... resources to promote being well and well being

Being change ... resources for community building for engaging change....
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5<5: Blogs

3/8/2012

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This post is one in a series of 5<5 posts that document pilot/prototype projects with the format 5 things that I wish someone had told me before I started in <5% of the time spent on the project.   


"I love beginnings; beginnings are full of possibility." 
- Elie Wiesel at World Forum on Facing Violence, 2008

Over the past few years, I started many blogs.  Each had an unique focus, different purpose and varying communities. 

Key learnings: 
  • Blogs are like gardens; they require tending if you want them to flourish.
  • Generate short posts.  
  • Post at consistent time intervals so that readers/visitors know what to expect.  Here is a rough guide: daily or at least one post every 4-6 days (build following), 2 weeks (create community), once a month (stay connected) or once in awhile (personal). 
  • Be on the channel of your desired audience.  Share your blog post on Twitter/FB/G+ with an interest/location hashtags to reach new people. Requiring people to get out of their regular routine to engage decreases likelihood of engagement.  
  • Engage others and build a community to coproduce a blog is ideal to keep content fresh, dynamic, diverse, frequent.
  • If you want people to see your blog, you need to help them find you.  Include links to others blogs/people on your blog, share your posts on other channels (G+, FB, LinkedIn, etc) and make it easy for other people to share your posts.
  • Invite guest bloggers.
  • Link a post to G+ for comments can be an effective way  to enable comments on your post while concurrently extending its reach. (HT @ZenMoments)
  • Blog writing is different. See post: Rapid Fire for details.
  • Keep the interface clean and simple. Turn off the noise, let the reader focus.
  • There are color schemes that make reading easier, use them. 
  • Don't plan too much up front.  Let it emerge.  See how the traction goes with readers/public.
  • Discussion of sensitive topics may be challenging given the text nature of the blogosphere, where nuance can be lost. 

Blog Technical Assessments:
  • Blogger was easy when there were no alternatives.
  • Squarespace features/tools were fantastic, but it is expensive per site.  Provided sophisticated entry for novice.  Not sure that tools/widgets are keeping up with the times and their customer service/support was dodgy considering how expensive it was/is. 
  • Posterous is a simple, clean interface. 
  • Tumblr makes blogging/posting fun, though navigating setting up themes/adding comment capability via disqus takes extra time/expertise.
  • WordPress, tried three times to use this platform and find it a fail for my own sites.  However, I have participated on multiple projects that use WordPress effectively, and as a writer on those efforts, I have found it easy to use.  Getting over the set up, design/plugin process and maintenance is key barrier to entry.
  • Weebly, use it to host both sites and blog and find it useful.  I fear the day that I ever try to leave, since it is all drag/drop widgets, I am not sure how portable it is, but for now, it'll work.
  • Ning could have been great, but required people to be on it and if it's not already part of their work flow, it's not likely to gain traction and traffic.
  • Google Sites is OK for projects, not flexible for website portal and not 'sticky' for community engagement.

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How do we value collectively crafted knowledge? [Full Post]

31/3/2012

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Links Within This Publication:
Gathering '11
Edward Harran 
Breakthrough to Cures 
award for innovative ideas related to collaboration
highlighted the design thinking approach 
inside the game
Arthur Brock  
MetaCurrency Project 
Jerry Michaelski
MetaCurrency Collabathon 
Michel Bauwens 
P2P Foundation
Mark Frazier
Eli Gothill 
#punkmoney
Ecosystem Diplomat post

*Thought Contributors:  
Edward Harran, Jay Standish, Jerry Michaelski, Arthur Brock , Eric Harris Braun, Michel Bauwens, Eli Gothill, Alban Leveau-Vallier, Jay Standish, Jean Russell, Seb Paquet, Simon Huber, Elleke Landeweer, Graham Leicester, Dominik Wind, Sharad Jain, Helene Finidori, Mark Frazier, Mushin Schilling, Daniel Hires, Bobby Fishkin, Lauren Higgins, David Hodgson, Jessica Margolin, Jordan Greenhall, participants of the MetaCurrency Collab session, participants of the Breakthrough to Cures game, participants of the Next Edge (and its various offshoots) and if I am missing you, so pls ping me!  
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Fieldnotes of an Ecosystem Diplomat [1 of TBD]

2/3/2012

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On the learning journey, I served as an Ecosystem Diplomat- an essential but as yet unrecognized diplomatic service.  If traditional diplomats are servants of their governments, then an ecosystem diplomat* serves our global interest in the advancement of knowledge and fulfills her/her duties through learning, pollinating ideas and connecting people. 

In the last century, we discovered vast amounts of knowledge and with advances of technology, the pace is accelerating.  To demonstrate one's competence with a subject and to push the frontiers of knowledge to ever deeper levels, expertise was essential.  This depth remains essential, and a complementary role is emerging that bridges between the silos of expertise and looks at the spaces-in-between as a boundary spanner** or knowmad, as Edward Harran's  discussed in his TEDxBrisbane talk: Knowmads. 

An ecosystem diplomat focuses on the learning edges of knowledge.  Traveling between and among what is established and what is far off mainstream radars. Ecosystem diplomats learn with experts in their areas of unknown and bring humility, curiosity and credibility to encounters.  As quick studies of diverse disciplines, an ecosystem diplomat can rapidly grasp the meta-aspects of a field or issue while also understanding the granular elements and challenges; she spots lateral applications, recognizes patterns and expands the expert's thinking by listening and infusing insights from completely different fields of study.  Ecosystem diplomats do not pretend to be experts, rather their skillful questions invite an expert back to their beginner's mind and reveal to the expert a view of his/her problem from 'outside the discipline.'  Because of their multi-disciplinary travels, ecosystem diplomats offer relevant ideas and dissonant approaches that stimulate, challenge and enrich the work of experts and expand domain/region specific knowledge. 

As global travel is increasingly accessible, technology like smartphones and the internet enable a kind of proximity and multi-national corporations overtake the nation-state, the ecosystem diplomat becomes an agent of our global human interest that transcends geo-political boundaries. The nation-state serves an important function for managing societies on a local scale and traditional diplomats fulfill a vital role as conduits for connecting and bridging local interests with those of other nations.  An ecosystem diplomat engages in this way around knowledge, and like traditional diplomats needs to have capacity to adapt in diverse situations, to be at ease in many cultures and to blend in with the ability to both be a part and to observe. An ecosystem diplomat is a road warrior, bridge builder and barricade buster. This work is rigorous, requires discipline and thrives from intrinsic motivation, a love of ideas, people and learning.  It is hard work though personally rewarding and hopefully, the benefits to others is exponential.  

Subsequent accounts of this learning journey will reveal concrete examples of this pollination of ideas and people across disciplines and geographies.  It was my most frequent source of shared learning and tangible value.  The irony is the absence of someone to sponsor and fund a vital role, like the ecosystem diplomat.  While traditionally diplomats, academics and corporate business development professionals might fulfill this role, there were benefits of being an unaffiliated learner. There was no threat of competition or other economic and geo-political bases for hostility and fear.  Removing the filter of a specific discipline, particular country/region, particular institution (academic or corporation) facilitated the ability to advance knowledge without the burden of conflicting interests. This open flow of knowledge allowed for deeper learning that enriched all sides.  If we want to accelerate learning for global human benefit, the opportunity to formalize this role and fund this niche is essential.

What if there were an Ecosystem Diplomatic Corps:  Who will fund the needs of the emerging global commons like an Ecosystem Diplomatic Corps? To whom would the Ecosystem Diplomatic Corps be accountable and how? 


Stay tuned for more Field notes from the Ecosystem Diplomat, including: 
- A Snapshot of the Ecosystem Diplomat in Action
- Tools for the Ecosystem Diplomatic Corps
- What Every Ecosystem Diplomat Can't Leave Home Without... 
- and more field notes: What do you want to know more about? 

Thought Contributors*** Edward Harran, Mushin Schilling, Alban Leveau-Vallier, Jay Standish,  Christine Egger, Lee Ryan, Seb Paquet, and many others (please ping me if I missed you).

*Hat tip to Edward Harran from whom I discovered the term "ecosystem diplomat."  Please consider being a micro-patron for Eddie's next learning journey in San Francisco. 

**Hat tip to Seb Paquet from whom I learned the term "boundary spanner"

***Thought Contributors have participated in the evolution of the ideas expressed in this post. I am prototyping a new method of attributing collectively crafted ideas. To learn more, see the post on Hacking Attribution: Thought Contributors.

#b03 Day 3: I am participating in a pledge to blog daily during March initiated by Steve Hopkins of the Squiggly Line blog. Follow the daily work of all participants on twitter under #b03 
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Learning Journey Tools Requested {idea post}

1/3/2012

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As I begin a series of posts that "report" from an 18 month learning journey, I wonder: are there tools for structuring the output from a learning journey?

Each learning journey seems tailored to the participant(s) and designed for specific purposes.  Wouldn't it be awesome if there were a commons toolbox for designing learning journeyers.  With templates of designs previously used for various purposes that could be recycled, reused and repurposed depending upon one's journey objectives.  This template DIY approach enables an emergent curriculum while integrating robust design that would confer credibility on the learning journey. 

As traditional education is challenged to address a rapidly changing landscape of skills and competencies for 21st Century living and as we see an increasing need to learn and hone new skills/abilities at a rapid pace, the learning journey and alternative curricular approaches are increasing.  I have two friends who are currently fundraising for learning journeys.  Weezie Yancey-Siegel of The Eduventurist Project is fundraising on IndiGoGo and knowmad Edward Harran for Please Help Me Get to San Francisco Pretty Please.  They are both inspiring, passionate social entrepreneurs. 

Here are my experiences with alternative learning and some of the approaches that I took to share my learnings.  

In 2005, I also endeavored on an independent study to deepen my foundation in ethics, conflict resolution and sustainable leadership.  The learning was self-defined, and many of the skills learned were life skills for communication, conflict resolution and leadership yet the tools to assess the learning, competence, fluency with these vital skills was absent.  In 2008, I wrote three papers to accompany talks on the findings and ideas that emerged from that inquiry.  The paper have depth but I did not pursue publishing them in any traditional manner. They are available on my blog: Passive Participation in Conflict, Mind the Gaps and Capacity Building for Inclusive Problem Solving: I + U HALT injustice.

For my recent learning journey, I will write blog posts with the hope that smaller digestible concepts will invite more interaction around the insights and ideas. I may eventually merge the posts together into short topic briefing papers. I have seen others approach independent learning by posting their research proposal, promising to share their reflections and experiences as blog posts along the way, and asking their community to serve as the "dissertation" review board of their blog posts. I opted for offering a reflective, synthesized view of the learnings, but in the moment posts might have yielded more of the discussion and refining of ideas that I have sought.  Perhaps, next time, I'll use a hybrid approach. 

{Idea} Designing a basic toolkit for the self-directed learner could be an invaluable resource.  Design it with corporate HR people who approve the product as credible for a new hire and whose companies would use it for existing employees' professional development for a sustainable revenue source to support a commons toolbox of DIY resources.  

The ideal learning journey toolbox would allow for:
  • self directed curriculum
  • emergent serendipity
  • accountability 
  • credibility/review  
What else would you want to see in it?  What have you used for your learning journeys?  

If you know about resources, please tell me.  I would very much like to have a more rigorous approach to emergent learning!  I have a hunch that I will be taking a deep dive into new subjects every couple of years as a life learner.
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Learning Journey Loopback [1 of #TBD] {wildflower seed}

1/3/2012

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In early 2010, wondering whether there might be a way to bring together my work in health care ethics consultation-mediation with my prior love working in product/service design for e-health ventures (social enterprises before there was a social enterprise sector), I attended Unite for Sight's annual Global Health & Innovation Conference- a fantastic event overflowing with passionate social entrepreneurs doing great work around the world. 

Three questions emerged for deeper exploration:

1. Observation: Multi-stakeholder partnerships will be an increasing necessity to realize desired social impact.  In traditional corporate partnerships, there are lawyers advocating for their respective clients' interests when a partnership is established.  In non-profits, I surmised that failed partnerships meant an abrupt refocus and loss of the impact, since the use of donations for a lawsuit would not align with many non-profit's impact-focused missions.  

Idea: A partnership builder for multi-stakeholder partnerships for social impact would mediate the negotiation among the stakeholders to optimize the interest of the partnership.  The role of a partnership builder would be as advocate and nurturer of the partnership; the partnership builder would check in with the stakeholders to early troubleshoot any potential challenges and at the point of inevitable crisis, the partnership builder would mediate among the stakeholders to facilitate action and resolve disputes. With sufficient experience, a centralized resource, like creative commons for partnerships could be created, where DIY resources tools would exist for people to build their own multi-stakeholder partnerships.  This preventative conflict resolution approach benefits all stakeholders and enhances the likelihood of achieving the desired impact, and would most likely be deemed a worthwhile investment by a funder- whose interest is to see the partnership goals realized. 

Question(s): Would the stakeholders be interested in availing themselves of such a resource if it existed?  What sort of problems, if any, are any of these stakeholders already experiencing? Would it be possible to develop a niche practice for partnership builders?  What tools, skills, capacities would need to be developed to scale and democratize the practice?


2. Observations: In business every decision has implications.  Working at the intersection of meaning and money, the implications of business decisions often involve the targeted social impact.  

Question: Would there be an opportunity to laterally apply some of the relevant tools and learning of health care ethics (clinical and organizational) consultation-mediation in the context of the social enterprise sector? What are the relevant similarities and differences? Is the social enterprise market open and curious to receive this kind of resource or not?  


3. Observation: A large amount of impact investing money is being targeted at the "bottom of the pyramid."  Following the microfinance scandals, we know that sometimes these investor initiatives are not concerned about the interests of the poor.  New health care products and services are being deployed in areas where there are no existing regulatory frameworks to protect the human interests generally, and the vulnerable specifically.  

Question: Would there be an opportunity to work with social entrepreneurs who have health care products and services being deployed in developing markets where there are no regulatory frameworks?  How might we develop robust means to protect the human interests while not stifling innovation? How can people be empowered in the process of gaining access to health care products and services?


I spent 18 months on a learning journey to explore these questions.  The curriculum was emergent.  I determined the course as I went along, followed serendipity and learning opportunities.  I embarked on collaborations with people that persisted, some that failed.  I joined networks, worked on projects and hacked conditions to enable learning.  The learnings, ideas generated, connections made, unexpected discoveries and opportunities identified have iterated in conversations.  Now, I am making them concrete; I will synthesize my learnings from this deep dive inquiry into a series of posts with the aim that the report out encourages others to explore, stimulates discussion and inspires action.  

The topics explored cover multiple disciplines- some may be more or less relevant for the primary focus on this social enterprise focused blog. The timing coincides this month with an invitation and challenge from Steve Hopkins of the Squiggly Line- create a post for 30 days. Steve is one of the insightful, spunky people I met on the journey.  He is making the world epic! Follow him on Twitter (@stevehopkins) and to follow others writing for this challenge, check out  #b03 on Twitter. 


#b03 [Day 1]
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Macroscope Labs 5<5

15/1/2012

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Picture

This post is one in a series of posts that document pilot/prototype projects with the format 5 things that I wish someone had told me before I started in <5% of the time spent on the project.  This post also provides some context around the project, since it was a cornerstone project for me in the second half of 2011. 


In June 2011, Edward Harran and I embarkeded on a 6 month experiment. A deep dive collaboration across the Pacific Ocean. Eddie in Queensland. Kate in San Francisco.  Part mastermind for our personal projects and consulting gigs, part virtual praxis of a future of work digital innovation lab for a globally distributed team and part incubator of ideas. We set off to explore. 

Macroscope, coined by Eddie, reflects the "big picture" - multi/inter-disciplinary, systems perspective that we endeavored to sensemake in our lab.  Mindful. Playful. Creative. Engaged. Curious.  The aim was to make complex simple.  To bring big together with narrow in the sacred space of creative possibility between.  To transform the experience of chaos and mess into something sublime. Ultimately, we wanted to build a place to play with our creative potential and to hold a space that would allow the value of the spaces in between to emerge, unfold, expand...  with a macroscope perspective to unleash the potential for social impact.... and we wanted to live mindfully and productively working in a digitally-mediated global context.

In 6 months, we cogenerated amazing ideas that continue to live in us- expressed from time to time in posts and projects.  We honed a vision for Macroscope Labs* (mL) from future of work ideas, such as the world's first Center for the Emerging _____  and a research proposal to pilot and analyze the innovation value of an Ecosystem Diplomatic Corps (Ecosystem Diplomats explained)... to systems issues that we frame-worked* such as Macroscope Playhouse and Macroscope Compass... to finding a home base for our shared personal narratives as "context chameleons"* and knowmads.  

Eddie brought the knowmads idea fully to life from concept to a brilliant presentation delivered at TEDxBrisbane.  It was an epic achievement and an ideal culmination of our journey together in the Macroscope Labs experiment.


5 Things it Might Help to Know Before You Launch an Experiment About the Future of Work

  • No one will understand what you are doing.  (They'll think you are nuts.) You may not understand what you are doing. (You may wonder if you are crazy)  When it's over, no one, including yourself, will understand what you did or why it mattered. And yet, it is most important that you do it.  Experiments are our learning way into the future. You will learn and the people you work/play with will learn. However, don't expect anyone in the current world of work to understand and/or to value your skills from an experiment about the future of work- now that is nuts!  
          Take home: Don't let the present judge the future.  Let the future judge the past. 

  • While the future is full of possibility, we still live in the present. A lot can happen with alternative, complementary and gift currencies/economies, yet one needs money to live in the present.  TimeBank, for example, still needs about 30% of the value they generate in dollars in order to fund their own operations.  Think about yourself as the TimeBank, make sure that you have enough to cover your basic survival needs in the present before embarking on the future.  Future-focused projects take time to build traction and attract the kind of funding that they need to sustain themselves on an ongoing basis.  Long enough for the present to catch up with that future horizon on which you are operating.  As with any new business, there is a period of time until you have a steady cash flow; likely wise, with a new technology, one has to be adequately prepared to "cross the chasm," the period of time between when an small pocket of early adopters discover and endorse the product until it grows to a steady early market of mainstream users. Think of future-focused projects as both a new business and a new technology and prepare accordingly. Bring extra reserves to cross the chasm between you and the Oasis, it may be like crossing the Sahara.... and that's fun as long as you are prepared!
          Take home: Feet in the present, eye on the future... and mind the Chasm!
  • If you know that you want to leave signposts for others, be sure to have a documentation strategy.  If you want to make things beautiful, be sure to have a designer on your team.  If you want to do things quick and dirty, know how to explain the vision simply and to scaffold the context accessibly, because people may not 'get' the messy version.  If the goals that you have don't align with the skills that you have on the team, then shift the goals to play to the strengths of your team or get the skills. Alignment on this is mission critical. My hunch: skill set for the future worker will be radically different; people will need to know how to communicate simply and effectively in writing, code and drawing. 
          Take home: Know your audience and get the right team- diverse skills sets with varying pockets of depth, 
           what you don't know, you learn rapidly, and eager to do what needs to be done for the project's success. 
 
  • Before you start and along the way, identify a means for you to demonstrate what you learned, what skills you developed, what learning you gained.  When a job/role does not fit in the present, it is hard for people in the present to understand how to interpret what was undertaken.  Some ideas on how to approach that are outlined in a 5*5 Systematic Approach to move from Idea to Pilot and from 5 years ago, I posted a seed {idea post} for the BeWell, WorkWell tool for soft skills development. More recently, a seed {idea post} for a learning journey tool, which would enable people to identify and demonstrate soft skill learning under emergent conditions. 
          Take home: Prepare to document what you are learning at the outset.  Remember to do it along the way! 

  • On the journey to the future, other people will emerge around you who seem to be doing the same thing.  Celebrate that! Celebrate them!  Team up. When possible an open knowledge framework enables you to engage more people and grow more rapidly.  Share your learnings. If they don't want to play, then let it go and celebrate them anyway!  It will take many people trying, many times in order for one team to break through the wall of the present.  Be happy that you are one of those pushing the wall, and be confident that whether you are that one or not, your initiative contributes to launching a new direction.  Those who rise quickly, do so by standing on the shoulders of those who came before.  There are always those who came before.  Find them and learn from them.   Most 'lauded' inventors didn't actually invent what they are known for, they made an vital improvement that took the invention to a new level of market accessibility.  
          Take home: Celebrate others! Open source everything possible. Seek out those who preceded and learn from them.

  • Never underestimate the power of in person

*We had all of these domain names.  My registrations glitched on the renew, and so they are released- all available. Go do something interesting and build on our ideas.  Give us a shout out when you do so that we can amplify your work! 

Thought contributors:  With immense gratitude to and for Eddie Harran,  my brilliant collaborator, awesome ideas instigator, cherished friend, mindful mate and hapatwin.  Thanks to David Hood and the Gathering '11 energy for pulling Eddie and me to Melbourne where we sealed the deal on mL. Never underestimate the power of in person. 
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For Our Children to Thrive: Designing Education for Tomorrow's World

28/9/2010

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Our current education system is designed to teach things you need to know, "just in case."  I watch my 13 year old neighbor's eyes dull from studying algebra in summer school just to prepare for the school year.  This is not the spark of enthusiasm or the hunger of curiosity that she exhibits when we talk about ice cream or facebook. Now, one month in with a "tough" teacher, the joy of summer has gone permanently.  The problem sets have no bearing on anything practical. "When will I ever need this?" She asks me pleadingly.  The kids g-chat to complete their assignments (though I introduced them to googleWave and they like that better).  So much missed opportunity, I wonder when will education embrace the future and prepare students with the life skills to manage information just in time?

This paradox reminds me that I took an HTML programming course in Cupertino about 15 years ago.  We sat through a week long course, learning all of the codes to design web pages.  It made one's eyes dull and head hurt, but, I was able to build first generation websites for small businesses- an early web designer.  Fast forward 15 years, the languages have evolved to HTML 5, and what was C has developed onto C++ or CSS, Java has come (and largely gone as I understand it) and Flash, well, it's future is uncertain with portable apple devices unable to read it.  That is to say, a lot has changed. HTML coding is readily accessible on the internet.  So, would I starting now take a class in HTML 1.0 today?  Of course not, that knowledge wouldn't serve me in any practical way.  So, why aren't we upgrading our education system with the same insights to keep up with the times from the bottom up?  

Google is rapidly paving the way to a future in which everyone will have access to the same knowledge and information.  Google is the ultimate leveler of the playing field.  Success and excellence will be redefined.  The meritocracy will be global.  Excellence will be marked by those with the skills to navigate information effectively.   Success will come to those who have the skills to use the information persuasively.  Opportunities will unfold for those with the skills to use information innovatively.  Capacity to communicate and collaborate across geography, language, culture, discipline will be essential.  Social intelligences will exceed knowledge intelligences in value.  The skill of survival will be the ability to access information 'just in time,' manage it effectively, present it persuasively and to work effectively in a collaborative setting.  

How does the current education system prepare our young people for this reality? 

I was thrilled to see a NY Times article on video games in the classroom for middle school children.  Teaching young people skills for the future includes being able to self-assess, set goals, meet goals, adapt...  To thrive in an environment that is not scripted, but rather where you create the opportunities for yourself. 

A few years ago I posted an idea for the UK's first Social Innovation Camp weekend.  The Be Well, Work Well Credentialing Tool was to create a personal development tool using a 360 framework for trainings in soft skills (ethics, communication, negotiation, mediation, leadership).  I added it onto another idea targeted for at-risk young people. We both wanted to build better tools for capturing and improving valuable skills - communication, collaboration, initiative, tenacity- the ones that matter most in life and workplace success.  We wanted to create a system that would allow people to set goals, work at them, evaluate their progress, get feedback, adapt and meet their goals.  (see Health Month a great app that is doing this for healthy living) While performance portfolios are a staple in the work place (Salesforce a dominant player), these tools to support the learning, developing and honing of these vital skills over time have not been adopted into the pipeline.  Imagine a student graduating from college with a portfolio that reflects their soft skills/social intelligence based upon course-work and club activity since high school.  An employer would be able to assess a person's adaptability and capacity to grow. Until tools to meaningfully evaluate soft skills/social intelligences exist, they will be poorly valued.  As access to knowledge gap flattens, these social intelligence skills will rise in value.  Developing better systems to build, hone, and cultivate excellence in them is essential.

How would you design education to allow today's children to thrive tomorrow?
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99stories ? {idea post}

28/9/2010

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What if the writing community created a resource like 99designs but for stories?

People who need a story for their project or product could submit the proposal.  It would send the proposal to writers until a couple of people accepted the "challenge."  The user would get to choose among the stories provided.  There is a huge writing community over at 750words.com and 99designs.com already has the technical architecture.
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#socentethics {originally on Posterous)

9/6/2010

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SEE Change: SocEntEthics (splash-landing page)

After incubating this idea for awhile, I am jumping in feet first - splash!

For #socentethics, we are designing a method that allows flexible, precise action adaptable to the diverse core values of social enterprises. 

Our aim is to empower social entrepreneurs to act with integrity at every step from start up to scale.  We want your inspired action to calatyze your investors, funders, supporters, and customers so that you can grow your mission to change the world!

Join us in be the change, so that we can SEE the change:

 #Excellence

 #Trustworthiness

 #Humility

 #Integrity

 #Collaboration

#Socialchange

Next steps:

1) Funders/Collaborators: Who should we talk to:

  • Are there funders who want to support building the foundation of integrity in the new marketplace?  We have lots of great intention and a flow of passionate, patient capital- our aim is to maximize the benefit! 
  • Who else is in this space and how can we work together to leverage our expertise & passion?
  • Are there ventures already off the ground that whose market we complement? Please connect us!
2) Partners/Referrals: Please refer social entrepreneurs or social enterprises for crisis consultation and/or to work with us as a case study as we  proto-type the SocEntEthics method

3) Questions/Comments: More posts to follow on the opportunity, the method, and the plan forward... let us know what you want/need to know to get on board with SocEntEthics .... together, we will SEE the change.

About SocEntEthics

empowering social entrepreneurs to act from core values when faced with tough decisions

SocEntEthics, supports social entrepreneurs negotiate the tough decisions inevitable when doing work for the greater good with limited resources.

As a social entrepreneur and a health care ethicist, Kate Michi Ettinger values a concrete, pragmatic approach to ethics.  With SocEntEthics, Kate cross-pollinates her passions for innovation, social enterprise, systems-level analysis, and ethics into a synthesized approach for social enterprise ventures to express their values in their action.  SocEntEthics is developing as L3C (low-profit limited liability corporation), in order to demonstrate by example and learn with its users as a "greater good" venture with a sustainable revenue model.

Our aim is to build a platform that guides SEs through a systematic analysis of a dilemma, allows SEs to share frameworks and strategies for negotiating ethical dilemmas, enables SEs to collaborate on tackling challenging dilemmas of scale/setbacks/geo-political origin, and empowers SEs to identify ways to transcend dilemmas while remaining true to their SE's mission. Re-envisioning ethics in a proactive, integrated approach allows a SE to act with iterative process and moved beyond judgements of right-wrong/good-bad. The SocEntEthics Method asks tough questions and explores uncertain terrain while emphasizing ethical dilemas in their narrative, integrative, collaborative and empathic context.

A robust ethical underpinning is integral to the fabric of social enterprises. SocEntEthics aims to empower social enterprises with the tools, skills and resources to:

  • act in alignment with your core values & social change mission 
  • excel in social change impact without compromising your ideals
  • negotiate tough decisions inherent in social change with integrity and compassion
  • steward your social capital resources with trustworthiness 
See here for more information on: our services, in the news, support our venture.



SocEntEthics Team

Ethical dilemmas benefit from multiple perspectives.  As an ethics consulting service, SocEntEthics is building a global team that includes social entrepreneurs, social change agents, artists, integrated leadership experts and ethical expertise.  Together, our team, is designing a SocEntEthics model that can serve as an ethical foundation for any social enterprise venture although our initial focus will be on social enterprises for health.

Team includes: 

  • Kate Michi Ettinger, JD, managing ideator for SocEntEthics consulting team, brings expertise in bioethics, law and conflict resolution combined with product design experience as a social entrepreneur. These lenses shape her perspective in creating this ethical advisory resource for social entrepreneurs.
  • ADVISORY BOARD: Putting together an advisory board to be our external agitators & conscience.  If you are interested or would like to nominate someone, please drop us an email at: info @ [domain] .com
  • CONCEPT CREATORS: Building a network of passionate innovators, social entrepreneurs, social venture investors and multi-inter-cross-disciplinary change agents to help us build the platform & move this forward.   If you are interested or would like to nominate someone, please drop us an email at: info @ [domain] .com
  • TECH & DESIGN Team: Looking for developers, artists & designers to assist us getting this up and running!  If you are interested or would like to nominate someone, please drop us an email at: info @ [domain] .com
We are building our team.  To get involved please follow us on Twitter @socentethics  #socentethics. 



SocEntEthics Services


SocEntEthics is developing an innovative platform for navigating ethical dilemmas and implementing a sustainable approach to our ethics consultation services.  We partner with our clients to deliver an integrated ethics program tailored to your social enterprise venture.

We offer consulting through appointments and drop in office hours to discuss issues you have encountered and those you are facing.


Our consulting services are flexible and may combine any services:

1. SocEntEthics Core Integration
  • SEE Integrated Optimal Action Plan 
  • SEE Decision Impact Audit


2. SocEntEthics Issue Specific & Crisis Consultation
  • Issue Specific/Crisis Consultation


3. SocEntEthics Tools, Skills, Resources
  • Tools
    • SocEntEthics Method
    • SocEntEthics Platform
  • Skills Training
    • Navigating Uncertainty
    • Skillfully Applying the 3Ps (Power, Privilege, Position)
    • Negotiating Values Conflicts
  • Resources


The SocEntEthics Method/Platform  is in development.  At the outset, we will work with 10 social enterprise ventures as case studies.  If your social enterprise would like to partner with SocEntEthics as a case study, please DM us on Twitter with a link to your venture and/or email address. 


Sustainability

Our economic model aims to model the ethos of this endeavor with a fierce commitment to Excellence, radical Transparency, daring Humility, and to challenge the status quo of current assumptions about Integrity, Collaboration and Social Justice.

Our goal is to develop a sustainable revenue stream to support the technology platform and to drive innovative applications for #socentethics. We will measure success by accountability and activity. Our aim is to impact the greater good and redefine ethics --> #socentethics. Ou commitment is to model our message and demonstrate our products.

In order to promote integrity & accountability and to provide high quality services at a lower cost with broad impact, social enterprise ventures who partner with us for consulting services will be invited to release learning from our consulting services that can be provided in a redacted form as case studies.  The redacting process allow clients anonymity including sector and geographic changes while allowing SocEntEthics to leverage its talent for maximal benefit of social enterprises.  


Details

SocEntEthics Core Integration

  • SEE Integrated Optimal Action Plan 
    • Facilitate outcome-focused integrated ethics plan across all levels of SE
    • Provide skills & resources for optimal actions
    • Support SE through implementation
    • Issue-specific consultations
    • Ethics Quality Improvement
      • Deliverables:
        • Integrated Optimal Action Plan
        • Skills & resources to achieve OA
        • Implementation & Crisis Support
        • Outcome Evaluation & QI Planning
  • SEE Decision Impact Audit
    • Facilitate analysis of decision impact on relevant stakeholders
    • Identify strategies for action that align with integrated OA plan
    • Explore alternative options, reasoning, impact, opportunities
      • Deliverables: 
        • Facilitated Decision Impact Discussion
        • Decision Impact Report
2. SocEntEthics Issue Specific & Crisis Consultation

  • Issue Specific/Crisis Consultation
    • Facilitate identification of the issue
    • Identify strategies for action that align with SE values
    • Explore alternative options, reasoning, impact, opportunities
      • Deliverables: 
        • Facilitated Issue Discussion
        • Issue Consult Report
3. SocEntEthics Tools, Skills, Resources

  • Tools
    • SocEntEthics Method
    • SocEntEthics Platform
  • Skills Training
    • Navigating Uncertainty
    • Skillfully Applying the 3Ps (Power, Privilege, Position)
    • Negotiating Values Conflicts
  • Resources
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SE 101: Cool Projects.... Modeling Change: Next Edu Paradigms (5/5)

10/11/2009

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New Educational Paradigms Links on Pearltrees

Education in On my Radar / Social Enterprise: Design, Innovation, Strategy / Mural Institute

"Real learning is the disruptive technology" - IFF Prompt Card


Dynamic Map of Next Education Projects

Important considerations for new paradigm edu:
Occupation of Knowledge TEDxRamallah Munir Fasheh
Schooling the World

Learn about the latest great projects in these two Facebook groups:
Presente (educators looking to bring new/next edu paradigms into the system)
New Educational Paradigms (mostly Gen Y engaging in alternative edu projects)


Programs for changemakers: 
Knowmads, Netherlands
Kaos Pilots, DenmarkMycelium School, USA (see founder Matthew Abrams TEDxNewHaven: 21st Century Education)
Follow a new education activist-in-learning-action: The Eduventurist

Promising Education Initiatives
Transformative Innovation in Education by International Futures Forum
 
TED: 1000 best minds in Technology, Education & Design .... many talks that address issues related to social entrepreneurship
         - See also RSA : Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) "a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress.  Our approach is multi-disciplinary, politically independent and combines cutting edge research and policy development with practical action"

UNU (United Nations University) OpenCourseWare

Social Edge, supported by Skoll Foundation, by Social Entrepreneurs for Social Entrepreneurs 

World University

last updated 1 Jan 2014
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