Stone Circles

Nynke July 15th, 2007

This is from an email forwarded to me. I liked it terribly, so I thought to just forward it via my blog. Apparently it’s from a Jewish joke book. Thank you, Cindy Weinstein!

Customer Service Rep (CS Rep): Yes, Ma’am, how can I help you today?
Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install LOVE. Can you guide me through the process?
CS Rep: Yes, I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready to install now. What do I do first?
CS Rep: The first step is to open your HEART. Have you located your HEART ma’am?
Customer: Yes I have, but there are several other programs running right now. Is it okay to install while they are running?
CS Rep: What programs are running ma’am?
Customer: Let’s see, I have PAST-HURT.EXE , LOW-ESTEEM.EXE, GRUDGE.EXE, and RESENTMENT.EXE running right now.
CS Rep: No problem. LOVE will gradually erase PAST-HURT.EXE from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. LOVE will eventually overwrite LOW-ESTEEM.EXE with a module of its own called HIGH-ESTEEM.EXE. However, you have to completely turn off GRUDGE.EXE and RESENTMENT.EXE. Those programs prevent LOVE from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ma’am?
Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?
CS Rep: My pleasure. Go to your Start menu and invoke FORGIVENESS.EXE. Do this as many times as necessary until GRUDGE.EXE and RESENTMENT.EXE have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done. LOVE has started installing itself automatically. Is that normal?
CS Rep: Yes. You should receive a message that says it will reinstall for the life of your HEART. Do you see that message?
Customer: Yes I do. Is it completely installed?
CS Rep: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other HEARTS in order to get the upgrades.
Customer: Oops. I have an error message already. What should I do?
CS Rep: What does the message say?
Customer: It says “ERROR 412 - PROGRAM NOT RUNNING ON INTERNAL COMPONENTS.” What does that mean?
CS Rep: Don’t worry that’s a common problem. It means that the LOVE program is set up to run on external HEARTS but has not yet been run on your HEART. It is one of those complicated programming things, but in non-technical terms it means you have to “LOVE” your own machine before it can “LOVE” others.
Customer: So what should I do?
CS Rep: Can you pull down the directory called “SELF-ACCEPTANCE”?
Customer: Yes, I have it.
CS Rep: Excellent. You’re getting good at this.
Customer: Thank you.
CS Rep: You’re welcome. Click on the following files and then copy them to the “MY HEART” directory: FORGIVE-SELF.DOC, REALIZE-WORTH.TXT,and ACKNOWLEDGE-LIMITATIONS.DOC. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching any faulty programming. Also, you need to delete VERBALLY-SELF-CRITIC.EXE from all directories, and then empty your recycle bin afterwards to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My HEART is filling up with new files. SMILE.MPG is playing on my monitor right now and it shows that PEACE.EXE, and CONTENTMENT.EXE are copying themselves all over my HEART. Is this normal?
CS Rep: Sometimes. For others it takes a while, but eventually everything gets downloaded at the proper time. So, LOVE is installed and running. You should be able to handle it from here. One more thing before I go . . .
Customer: Yes?
CS Rep: LOVE is freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everybody you meet. They will in turn share it with other people and they will return some similarly cool modules back to you.
Customer: I will. Thanks for your help. By the way, what’s your name?
CS Rep: You can call me the Divine Cardiologist, also known as The Great Physician, but most call me God(dess). Most people feel that all they need is an annual checkup to stay heart-healthy, but the manufacturer (Me) suggests a schedule of daily maintenance for maximum efficiency. Put another way, keep in touch.

driver, Installing, love

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Nynke June 9th, 2007

What is the difference?

A magician manipulates to get others to do what he or she wants others to do. A magical self loves, respects, provides choices and asks self, life and others.

A magician fools him or herself into believing they and their perceptions are “right” and “real”. A magical self will not, in Virginia Satir’s words, be defined by other people’s limited perceptions.

A magician serves him or herself, and that is where it stops, for they will “sell” that as if that serves life and others. A magical self also serves him or herself first, and doesn’t stop there. He or she then serves life and others.

A magician believes him or herself to be the only one in the universe, or even the father or mother of the universe. A magical self knows (can hear and see) everybody has a magical self and respects and loves all magical selves.

A magician seeks followers and admiration. A magical self does not need followers, yet knows every human system has leaders, followers and rebels. He or she supports self, life and others for bringing their own beautiful magical selves out. No magical self, no soul spark, was, is or will ever be a “waste of time”.

A magician plays mindgames to subjugate and rule life and others. He or she crosses swords with everything that doesn’t believe in the method (projection, spells) he or she uses. A magical self plays mindgames to bring joy to self, life, and others. He or she uses whatever works for that without crossing swords on methods used, because methods aren’t real anyway.

A magician attacks by “inflicting help” under the guise of an “expansive idealism”. A magical self protects his or herself from magicians cunningly, yet without cruelty.

A magician doesn’t need teachers or to learn anything. A magical self finds his or her teachers mirrored all around him or her, even in magicians, and will continue to learn more ways that work for creating Joy.

What more? …

joy, magical selves, magicians

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Nynke January 2nd, 2007

Two years ago, at European Consultants camp during the Satir session on sculpting practices, we cross trained and gained and expressed what I believe to be an important lesson. Practising the Satir stances as an essential ingredient to the sculpt we would build we encountered a situation where we clearly felt superrational as “coverup” for “blaming”. Yup. Sometimes “superrational” is “hidden blaming”.

Have you ever had something explained to you in great detail, with intonations suggesting it is the umpht time this is being explained to you, perhaps even accompanied by words or stances and intonations that “apparently you can’t hold this simple information so I am now going to pump it into you”. The rythmic way it is done in, tells its true tale.

Likely results: being distracted by the covert part in the message, we could not focus on the intake of the message we were presented with, that which we were are supposed to know, the overt part of the message.

Perhaps it was worse. Not being able to focus on the details we were supposed to take in and that now drone us by with their staccato rhythm and additional waves, we may have received yet another blow of treason: Our inability to focus under these conditions may have been used as a killer by for instance, a teacher, “Are you *that* stupid??? That now that I am drumming this into you, you won’t even understand (my perspective)??? And we all know kids are cruel, so that may have delivered a follow up by getting teased, perhaps even bullied. Even by who we believed was our best friend …

Perhaps it was even worse than that. What if we were a bright kid, that was quite the curious person, and trusting the authorities in whose care we were placed (darn, it’s one of those early illusions we create!), we freely asked away. And what if some grown-ups, those teachers, those authorities we trusted, felt uncomfortable not having enough answers? What if these authorities were afraid of our capability of asking good questions that made them think and doubt what they already believed to be real, which includes their “natural” authority? What if they were afraid of loosing their authority stance with us, and with the others? Afraid of our disapproval?

Perhaps the kiddies in our class room were already forgetting, while we were still collecting and kept gathering awarenesses up until we were twelve. Still, their empaths were still on when we got our “treatment”. Because they know how we felt. Yet they did not wish to know. They wished to forget. So they externalized their co-experienced esteem vanishing point, and projected it on us, the first experiencers in this collective story. To kill their own esteem getting killed, they teased and bullied us (in)to death (dancers). There, all gone. What happens to another, doesn’t happen to us (another one of those illusions), so we are better persons than the other (yet another illusion illusion) and our illusions more important (and thus right!).

This latter one is a painful one in my experience. Where people around us are killing their emotional intelligence and connections for a collective denial. Group think at its worst. A collective weaving of fears that create illusions on Earth that people have bought into in order to feel better about themselves, and to find justification in for mankind’s (un)balanced actions at the expense of others.

What if our best friend merely aligned for self-preservation with a bully. Please be our friend’s friend and understand he acted out of fear. Inclusion in a group for self preservation is a known human folly. In separation we can avoid reality. The price we pay is making ourselves dependent on “stronger peers” and “authorities” for constant approval, then having to forget about having chosen this strategy a.s.a.p., off course.

…

Saddam Hussein was officially executed. He was hanged. The official release by camera did not include some things that can be found on Saddam’s execution video available on the web. Some guards ridicule a man about to be hanged. I could consider that unnecessary cruel and hence inhumane and focus on potential effects this movie can have on the communities and collectives weaving the contemporary illusionary tapestry. Or, I could focus on likely underlying “universal” processes, to cross train and gain understanding of such cruelty …

Healthy griefwork includes our emotional intelligence, and we can move on.

Or I could do neither and focus on business-as-usual. Going superrational gives me a first way out to denial: I was not there myself, so perhaps the video was fabricated. Yes, it must have been, for our soldiers would never do such a thing. Not worth any further investigation. ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz …

And, I could fold it all-in-one. If my attraction to, stake in, or attachment to, a particular problem is large enough, and if I have trained myself including dancing self awareness on such issues, I can safely use my super rational for verification and validation practices, and facilitate undoing of not fitting perceptions for the purpose of truly seeing and understanding what is happening and having and making responsible congruent choices.

Assume that video on Hoessein on the web is not a fabrication, and the whole sandbox thing has expanded to include the entire Earth, and childhood movies are repeating itself with lots of people sleepwalking in it? Of course that’s a scary thought!

Particular associations in personal stories do not necessarily involve a treachourous teacher. Our personal movies may feature parents, an older brother or sister, or a partner. Even best friends now and then do it. And we project this movie pattern too on occasion. I know I (have) play(ed) a role in these movies. Otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this article. I also play(ed) a lot with (alternative) strategies for making much more interesting and joyful movies.

Wake Up!

Great Illusions of Freedom cause isolation and separation. Wake up from living in lala land and try some reality (even when you believe nothing exists). We are all in(ter)dependent on Earth, and we need not fight each other. We need no approval or disapproval from any group gestalt or individual to exist, or to preserve ourselves. Illusions. Nobody knows the right way anyway and nobody is stupid. And we’re all responsible for the collective projections and how we interact with our selves, life, and others in the Great Movie named Life on Earth.

Try these Five Freedom Illusions. In my experience, this movie delivers much better results on Earth!

To See and Hear what is here
instead of what should be, was or will be.

To Say what one feels and thinks
instead of what one should

To Feel what one feels instead of what one ought

To Ask for what one wants,
instead of always waiting for permission.

To Take Risks in one’s own behalf,
instead of choosing to be only ’secure’ and not rocking the boat.

– Virginia Satir

To support the projection of this movie in your life, you can order the Satir 5 freedoms as poster here

five freedoms, Satir sculpting, Satir stances

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Nynke August 20th, 2006

For our new webhosting company-in-formation, I am bubbling about the benefits of blogging. I’ve been blogging and trying out several tools over the past few years (5 different blogs!). The writing folded in in itself. These are some “things” I noticed.

Blogging relaxes and reduces stress

When I write an entry, I don’t have to carry that what I have written about, inside me. It helps me to “let-go” of some things. I noticed this effect through a looking-glass, when it was enhanced by Willem setting up back-ups to back-up our server. My blog has truly become my journal. By blogging, I give myself a powerful form of self-expression, and through that expression I can gain clarity, release, and relief. And sometimes that takes me rewriting an entry several times.

Blogging supports self-reflection, setting intent and proper discernment

By blogging I can actually see and better understand what I need and want, my hopes and wishes, and how I truly feel. That helps me create the space for myself to practice the five freedoms.

If a blog contains an event calendar, and most blogs do, it can help keep things organised

And even if a calendar is not available, journaling about what I want to do and manifest for a single day, a season, a project, a year, or this lifetime, helps me to actually manifest things in the now. Purposeful blog entries serve me as “development stories” by extracting archive cards of “things to do” from an entry or by giving me clues for an open ended plan for getting me to a desired state. Like agile development of my own life’s path!

A blog can help focus

Writing a blog entry co-creates more personal awareness for me, and therefore more focus on issues that are really important to me.

A blog forms routine and habitual self (reflection)

By taking time for myself to blog, I can feel the gain from doing something specifically for myself. And what I write about regularly (re)appears in other contexts of my life as I have that time I have spent on myself in my inner backpack, and everywhere I journey to. And when I blog and when I don’t are all tell-tale signs of my choreography and path. It makes me a dead give-away.

A blog provides the freedom to fold time

I can write an entry now, I don’t have to write one tomorrow, or the day after. I can pick it up in a week, in a month. I can even choose to skip a season or two. It is my blog!

Blog entries create records for tracking arcs of a life’s path

Writing entries, I record my experiences, dreams, ideas, hopes and wishes, thoughts and more, for reflecting on past, now, and future. I am telling my story to myself.

Blogging supports understanding and acceptance of self, life, and others

As Virginia Satir said, “Because I reflect on all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. And by so doing, I can love me and be friendly with all my parts. I am Okay. ” Whether I re-read my journal or not, I already gain benefits from writing down my story. I am writing about how I see and experience life.

Comparing and exploring life times by blog entry

Retrospecting using my blog entries, I increase my awareness of the past and transform lessons I learned, to support a happier future for myself, life, and others.

A blog is an alarm clock for counting tyrant moves

As I journal the times of my life, certain things can keep re-appearing. I can gather some idea of what is working in my life and what is not. With this externalized memory in hand it is much easier to see patterns, changes, and shifts. I ask myself what Jerry taught me to ask, “What do I want to keep or change in, or remove from my back pack?“. Works for me!

Putting it all together, with my blog I track my personal growth and 5 freedoms. My blog is a wonderful tool that increases my understanding of myself and the context(s) I appear in. Being some kind of externally mirrored memory, it can be a real Treasure Trove for me.

That’s my personal blogging experience.
Now what about other blogs?
Other types of Journals?
On the web I’ve come across blogs about dreams, family, health, diets, hobbies, travel, and much more … Even for doing serious business. With a more business type blog you can track appointments, meetings, finances, or log data.

No matter what the blog tracks and records,
the insights and power it can give are amazing!

And Rick Brenner wrote about Working Journals

benefits, blogging, journal, memory, tracking

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Nynke July 9th, 2006

Our human ability to model “reality” seems amazing. And our thinking extensions seem to deliver way beyond expectations. Verrry reuseful for creating gestalts, be those collective or individual.

If the systems we wish to create are to be more fully human or woolly mammoth, we need to self-organize in more fully humane or woolly mammothy systems to cocreate those systems. Our metaphor could also be something like:

• Spinal column, bones, teeth, tusks, nails, anus, rectum, colon, prostate gland, blood, skills, abilities and space — together being capability for building cells (integrity skeleton)
• Pelvic girdle, kidneys, bladder, all liquids (blood, lymph, gastric juice, sperm), regulation (female) cycles (awakening)
• Lower back, abdomen, digestive system, stomach, liver, spleen, gallbladder, autonomic nervous system (richness)
• Heart, upper back, thorax and thoracic cavity, lower lungs, blood, circulatory system, skin, shaggy coats (appreciations)
• Neck, throat, jaw, ears, voice, trachea, bronchial system, upper lungs, esophagus, arms (expressing our selves)
• Face, eyes, ears, nose, trunk, sinuses, cerebellum, central nervous system (balancing act)
• Cerebrum ((w)holeness)

After millenia of (re)writing history we can retrospect on retrospectives and on events leading first to post mortems, and then to retrospectives.

Why did we abandon “post mortems” in IT worlds, only to replace those with “retrospectives”?

Because death related words made it hard to market post mortems while learning from mistakes was considered essential for growth, we determined to take Fear of Death into account:

“… Fear of death seems a more common fear in our contemporary times, than it appears to have been in the past. This may have to do with our succesful health care system and increased life span. Paradoxically, these successes seem to lul many people into a sleepy denial about whether Death is going to happen to them (too). Death only happens on TV and computer screens, and the actors or toon game figures get up after the scene was taken …”

And do I appreciate all involved (including my self) that gave their time, energy and not-knowing to effectively facilitate ourselves and others learning from mistakes for transformation and renewal of systems?

Yes!

And I am not to forget I was as convinced of learning to move forward in balanced ways, as I am now of actually looking where I wish to move forward to. Could be quite healthy in a fast changing world and not knowing everything to begin with. I am not replacing retrospectives, I intend to explicitly add vision forming.

When causing a standing wave into the future,
we also cause a standing wave into the past …
… and vv

In retrospectives emphasis is on past,
in vision forming emphasis is on future.

It is not unthinkable that in some future, explicit vision forming strategies will no longer serve systems as they can now.

Healthy integrated more fully human systems need neither retrospectives nor vision forming as separate choreographies. These become implicit on-going dances. Integrating a diversity of points of view (observer positions) supports healthy systems to not overlook needs of self, life, or others.

www.openspaceworld.org
www.openspaceworld.com
www.openspaceworldmap.org
International Open Space Technology Training

crystal ball gazing, future, open space, vision forming

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Nynke July 8th, 2006

Phil Stubbington wrote in WMMM - The Woolly Mammoth Maturity Model:

My ten-cents take on it (the Woolly Mammoth Migration Map as metaphor for Corporate Growth) so far is:-

• Tusks - downright aggressive behaviour
• Trunks - a tendency to hoover or suck up other smaller animals
• Shaggy Coats - behaviour or clothing completely inappropriate to its surroundings. For example, use of corporate colours that clash terribly

Thoughts?

Yes, I have some unserious serious thoughts, and some questions.

We seem now at a time and space where Woolly Mammoths are conscious of themselves in their purest manifestation as an extinct animal on Earth. All aspects of executive managements become visible and balanced: Tusks, Trunks and Shaggy Coats. Their tasks and order are determined and can be manifested in full maturity, expanding to fit the known universe of mammothkind.

The Woolly Mammoth Light can illuminate in full glory all corners of the Earth (AAAArgh It’s those darn cubes again! Once and for all: The Earth resembles a sphere and has no corners!!!). All facets of the Light radiate from the centre of all mammoths that were, are and will be. They speak to us, so we may hear them and keep them in our hearts.

We can gather around this Living Light and it shares with us, equally, while remaining forever and unchangeable. With an invisible, yet experiential link, like an umbillical cord, we have been/are/will be all connected with the Woolly Mammoth principle.

Like the way this great being was/is/will be brought forth from mysterious life, so is our executive management, our IT, our consciousness and that what was/is/will be brought forth from our ancient ironic core safely carried within.

Corporate life is becoming aware and conscious of its many different forms, as well as its own gestalt. It is this joy of recognition that we can experience as happiness, in harmony with Infinity and Beyond …
Life, its parts, including Tusks, Trunks and Shaggy Coats, includes us too, mere mortal managers, architects and in(ter)dependent consultants!

At the hights of our thinking and feeling, we can catch a glimpse and experience the fullness of this truth. And as mere human mortals we can experience a rude awakening, perhaps even cruel.

Downright aggressive behaviour, tendencies to hoover or suck up other smaller animals, and behaviour or clothing completely inappropriate to its surroundings like the use of corporate colours that clash terribly, all of that includes us for we are a part of it.

We realize that all the awfulness, all that disrupts, all that can affect life and others, that is us too and what are we to do now?

Woolly Mammoths maturing to become Stegodons — Large with long, straight tusks — or American mastodons — living in North America with shaggy coats — can give us mere mortals struggle and pain when gaining such knowledge.

How does growth of extensions manifest in us, how do we struggle, and what can we learn from the pain we feel?

Is our growth of tusk, trunk, and coat a gradual gain of wisdom and knowledge on our path from Moeritherium to new contemporary extinct forms, quite unnoticeable, like spiritual growth to maturity which seems relatively easy compared to this?

Can we influence it?
Can we make it go faster?
And when we approach a new maturity phase, do we leave behind old forms?
Is the order in which our form changes - the causalities - determining the problems that touch our hearts?
What is corporate growth anyway?

Strategic Value

gestalt, illumination, maturity, woolly mammoth

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Nynke July 7th, 2006

Traditionally, people make distinctions on maps by drawing lines (By the way, those lines do not appear at the declared “borders” on Earth). Drawing lines on maps creates separate states and countries.

Julius Ceasar who couldn’t be bothered learning about the different tribes and cultures living North of his realm (he kept moving lines in his conquering and assimilation spree until his karma returned to him and he got murdered) called those peoples “the Kelts” without making further distinctions between Angelen, Saxons, Picts, … The Northern tribes themselves didn’t consider such a “togetherness” as Kelts, but thought of themselves in terms of local communities of people, with virtual cultural boundaries. And they were in each other’s hair regularly on a small scale. The Roman threat had them work together on occasion though. Having a common enemy seems to have that effect on human people.

And several religions added to the distinctions made by declaring different races.

What if we were to perceive differences made between “nations” and “races” as essential boundary conditions for growth?

And what if migration is essential for turning spirals around?

I don’t mean physical migration, even though that could be included. I mean spiritual migration. What I mean by that?

• Journeys of the mind
• Passionate emotional adventures
• Aesthetical explorations
• Shopping in each others cultural practices
• …

I believe that diversity between clusters of sorts can create innovations that have made and can make migration and growth of the human mind possible, if we perceive other nations, other communities, other people not our enemies, but instead as gifts to learn from.

Of course, that requires a non-judgemental attitude and not taking things personal.

I do not expect everybody to be able to do that (yet). For that takes letting go of control, stepping in the flow, and “doing the right thing” no matter what others do.

On the other hand, a good “thing” to pack in our backpacks on such journeys may be universal emotions …

boundaries, universal emotions

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Nynke June 25th, 2006

Phil Stubbington writes again. Phil replied by email, “i’m hoping i can find some more time to devote to it this time around, and for it to be a little more focusssed also!”

Happy bloggggging this blogcycle, Phil!

happy

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Nynke June 23rd, 2006

Nakedness is good. Making near nakedness nearly good? If I may believe men, near nakedness can even be better than nakedness and quite exciting.

At the moment, the Dutch seem clearly in the grasp of our national sport on TV. The World Championship Socker, or “voetbal” as we call it. “Voetbal” is pronounced similar to the US english “football”. Difference is, even many women like it.

Well, you know … like the difference between a promise of being served in very short energy bursts making little progress, with loads of people talking about the bursts in between bursts, or being entertained and entertaining for two halves of 45 minutes with ongoing agile energy, with a break of 30 minutes to catch our breaths in.

“Women in Europe know what they want” is the saying. And watching the males and their ways is a part of that, be they voetbal players, or audience. I know I enjoy it.

Before and during a match, the testosterone levels clearly rise. You can even smell it. The men in De Steyn (street I live in) rose to the occasion by preparing thus:

That covers foreplay by daring stunts of men on ladders. The ladies were impressed by their actions, and by the resulting orange street.

During matches, between the two halves, in the 30 minute break, we used to have either short programs, commercials, or a combination of those. This year, 20 minute commercials appeared with world teams taking penalties. The players are ladies and they are scarcely clad. The commentator is on occasion hilarious, like, “this shot was clearly backed” while the audience is being presented a close-up of a bum in lingerie. With all testosterone levels already high from the first half of voetbal, quite fitting. People expect a 30 minute break and prefer naughty humor over endless commercials for 30 minutes.

For some pix of the ladies, you can go here.
The text is in Dutch of course.

And, for your information, the US ladies are playing in pink, and the Dutch ladies in orange. Pink, the color of sugar and spice and all things nice, and orange, the color of awakening to the soft skills in life and Freya!

You should have seen my face and heard my reaction when Star Trek, usually having very short commercial breaks of no more than 5 or 10 minutes, was interrupted by a 20 minute break of another two of those penalty contests. Star Trek is mostly watched over here by younger audiences, and a few nutcases like myself.

The younger generation, by mouth of my stepson Remy, declared these ladies not interesting. He stormed in today, giving me a rant about the same interruption in Star Trek yesterday. He prefers ladies in the flesh, not on screen, and ladies he likes better. Less make-up, and more skilled at moving. And not during Star Trek. And since I had shared my raving at it with Fuzzy, I felt triggered to write a blog entry on it and share my opinion.

I found this ladies’ penalty WK in Star Trek not a fitting commercial break.
Not fitting for context, not for likely audience, and not for timing.
Bleerrrrrk.

For some more (Dutch) comments from the younger generation, you can go here.

context, message

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Nynke June 21st, 2006

What?Where?Who?When?Why?How?

In this first step I merely jot down what jumps to mind: words, pix, whatever … and more suggestions from whomever is interested, are more than welcome.

What?

The service would be crystal ball gazing alias vision forming. Much like retrospectives have post mortems as older “alias”.

Sound vision forming requires involving “the right” stakeholders such, that we minimize overlooking needs of self, life, and others.

My role will be distributing the idea and what-iffing its relations for purposes in particular contexts (like by blog entries), asking others if they are parhaps interested in co-building, co-facilitating and co-distributing such a service, or in branching off with it for local contexts. And running such a service from my company Moebius.

My intent is also to create spaces for others to try out facilitating such a service. Perhaps first at local events in sessions. Perhaps (also) in a large(r) group coming together somewheres so we can do “vision forming for vision forming” together, with all that wish to become its co-leaders. My vision is for round tables. No kings, queens, or ghosts from the past involved. ;-).

Where?

At first instance locally. If and when we have nine people being interested in a gathering, let’s go do that! I very much prefer to meet in forest environments. And, if we can’t find something woody with lots of trees, feasible for or easily accessible by all that would like to participate, I’ll adapt and will settle for another natural environment.

Who?

I have a first service description for myself on-line here. Feel free to take it and adapt to your liking for your own purpose and context. Feedback on it is also welcome.

I already have a strategic alliance for this service with Pat Sciacca who is now a SCORE coach, and with Lynne Azpeitia. Being coached by both helps me grow this business service properly. I feel enriched participating in this executive triad. And this time I’m independent and there is no management telling me, “I am allowing this for you”. If management is interested enough to pay for instances of the service, I don’t care what is said or believed the service is allowed for! I do have a hope and a wish that it will be for expansively professional optimistic reasons.

I am very interested in further strategic alliances with any of my esteemed colleagues. If you happen to not be on those pages and you wish to be, or if you do not like the description I have for you on there, please let me know?

When?

Such gatherings seem typical winter work to me.

Most esteemed colleagues, including myself, have a packed summer with professional events, would like to catch their breath in fall, and work on new services in the winter in relaxed ways, happily interrupted by family events like Santa Claus, Christmas and Old and New Year. Let’s not overlook those needs.

Why?

Past and future fertilize the now.

We are mindful to a great extent of our actions and their impact by making ourselves aware of the present impact of past actions. That’s retrospectives: standing waves going back to learn from the past.

Crystal ball gazing would be about receiving standing waves (light) from the future to most effectively move forward with, for anticipating change and for balancing actions during change.

Intent with this strategy and service is to have mission clash less with vision, and more. For example, when “agile developers moving forward” and “executives looking forward” are more connected and aligned for surfing chaos together, introduction of “agile practices” can likely go much smoother and faster in multinational mammoths. Downward spirals can be turned around.

How?

Retrospectives and crystall ball gazing are related in many ways. Exercises used in retrospectives can often fit or be adapted for a vision forming process.

The main differences between the two are audience and amounts of time spent on discovering internal signals and on external signals.

With restrospectives we focus on “negative feedback loops” and then move forward with lessons learned in more stable embodied ways. With crystall ball gazing we focus on “positive feedback loops” and look at where we wish to go and how to get there, knowing what our body (likely) can and can not do (with resources available). With this service we aim to serve desires of upper management and bridge the gap.

Retrospectives and crystal ball gazing serve a different context and different purpose, yet are alike enough for experienced retrospective facilitators to quickly “get it” and get started.

My own hows at the moment?

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crystal ball gazing, retrospectives, vision

• people & systems
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