Purpose Shared: Resignation to inspiration!

Photo Credit: Daniel Scotton

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"The secret sauce for any meeting: the agenda doesn’t go to outcome first; you design to quiet the mind and allow people to shift to the present moment to get connected."

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I am jazzed! I just got off Zoom with a new action team of 12. Different locations, different reasons for participating, a common mandate to be revealed. I had 1-1/2 hours to create a container where they could come together and find commonality, in an environment of mutual trust and respect.

This team was one of six formed at the end of an in-person 1-1/2 day retreat, which was amazing: we created resonance in the midst of dissonance. Moved from resignation to inspiration. When people are inspired, they will step up, no matter how busy they are. 

The Convening Tool Kit Worked!

The secret sauce for any meeting: the agenda doesn’t go to outcome first; you design to quiet the mind and allow people to shift to the present moment to get connected.

More secret sauce: a process that focuses on the heart of the matter and gets the purpose and agreements clear, so that people can pay attention and participate fully.

(And, a lot more ideas and learnings to share in another post...)

Outcomes were achieved! Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Common goals and committed action came easily and were the natural outcome of a designed essential conversation.

Whether you are leading a virtual collaboration or a weekly team meeting, an Art of Convening Training adds a powerful skill set to any facilitation or gathering. Learn the secret sauce of great meetings. We would love to work with you!

Craig Neal

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Using Brain Science and the Art of Convening

Photo Credit: Daniel Scotton

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by Rachel Harris

Have you ever thought about how using the Art of Convening impacts your brain? Brain science now shows that your meeting performance and outcomes can be significantly different when you take the time to connect, even in the simplest of ways. Though taking the time to connect can spark the impatience among us, it has been proven that making a personal connection increases meeting performances and retention.

Building on brain science research, CPL applies Art of Convening methodology to incrementally shift the structure of

meetings within organizations, including time for engagement, alignment, and committed action. Neurons in the prefrontal cortex begin to attune between the two or more people present, even when meeting virtually. Oxytocin gets created, which activates not only the brain, but the entire nervous system, bloodstream, and heart, which leads to an elevated capacity to think, collaborate, and innovate.

Learn more about the brain science of convening with CPL. We would love to contribute to your organization resolving a problem or navigating culture change. Call us at 612-920-3039 to schedule your next consult. Follow us on our LinkedIn page to keep up on useful tips and tricks to convene within your organization.

Center for Purposeful Leadership: Connect. Engage. Collaborate.

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Wednesday Wisdom (or Wit) from Heartland

Photo Credit: Craig Neal

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"Reading and writing poetry can exercise that capacity, improving one's ability to better conceptualize the world and communicate it — through presentations or writing — to others."

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HBR Blog Network
The Benefits of Poetry for Professionals
by John Coleman  | November 27, 2012

Wallace Stevens was one of America's greatest poets. The author of "The Emperor of Ice-Cream"and "The Idea of Order at Key West" was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1955 and offered a prestigious faculty position at Harvard University. Stevens turned it down. He didn't want to give up his position as Vice President of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company.

This lyrically inclined insurance executive was far from alone in occupying the intersect of business and poetry. 

Dana Gioia, a poet, Stanford Business School grad, and former General Foods executive, notes that T.S. Eliot spent a decade at Lloyd's Bank of London; and many other poets including James Dickey, A.R. Ammons, and Edmund Clarence Stedman navigated stints in business.

I've written in the past about how business leaders should be readers, but even those of us prone to read avidly often restrict ourselves to contemporary nonfiction or novels. By doing so, we overlook a genre that could be valuable to our personal and professional development: poetry. Here's why we shouldn't.

For one, poetry teaches us to wrestle with and simplify complexity. Harman Industries founder Sidney Harman once told The New York Times, "I used to tell my senior staff to get me poets as managers. Poets are our original systems thinkers. They look at our most complex environments and they reduce the complexity to something they begin to understand." Emily Dickinson, for example, masterfully simplified complex topics with poems like "Because I could not stop for Death," and many poets are similarly adept. Business leaders live in multifaceted, dynamic environments. Their challenge is to take that chaos and make it meaningful and understandable. Reading and writing poetry can exercise that capacity, improving one's ability to better conceptualize the world and communicate it — through presentations or writing — to others.

Poetry can also help users develop a more acute sense of empathy. In the poem "Celestial Music,"for example, Louise Glück explores her feelings on heaven and mortality by seeing the issue through the eyes of a friend, and many poets focus intensely on understanding the people around them. In January of 2006, the Poetry Foundation released a landmark study, "Poetry in America,"outlining trends in reading poetry and characteristics of poetry readers. The number one thematic benefit poetry users cited was "understanding" — of the world, the self, and others. They were even found to be more sociable than their non-poetry-using counterparts. And bevies of new research show that reading fiction and poetry more broadly develops empathy. Raymond Mar, for example, has conducted studies showing fiction reading is essential to developing empathy in young children (PDF) and empathy and theory of mind in adults (PDF). The program in Medical Humanities & Arts (PDF) even included poetry in their curriculum as a way of enhancing empathy and compassion in doctors, and the intense empathy developed by so many poets is a skill essential to those who occupy executive suites and regularly need to understand the feelings and motivations of board members, colleagues, customers, suppliers, community members, and employees.

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"As [I rose] in business ... I felt I had an enormous advantage over my colleagues because I had a background in imagination, in language and in literature."

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Reading and writing poetry also develops creativity. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, the aforementioned Dana Gioia says, "As [I rose] in business ... I felt I had an enormous advantage over my colleagues because I had a background in imagination, in language and in literature." Noting that the Greek root for poetry means "maker," Dana emphasizes that senior executives need not just quantitative skills but "qualitative and creative" skills and "creative judgment," and feels reading and writing poetry is a route to developing those capabilities. Indeed, poetry may be an even better tool for developing creativity than conventional fiction. Clare Morgan, in her book What Poetry Brings to Business, cites a study showing that poems caused readers to generate nearly twice as many alternative meanings as "stories," and poetry readers further developed greater "self-monitoring" strategies that enhanced the efficacy of their thinking processes. These creative capabilities can help executives keep their organizations entrepreneurial, draw imaginative solutions, and navigate disruptive environments where data alone are insufficient to make progress.

Finally, poetry can teach us to infuse life with beauty and meaning. A challenge in modern management can be to keep ourselves and our colleagues invested with wonder and purpose. AsSimon Sinek and others have documented, the best companies and people never lose a sense of why they do what they do. Neither do poets. In her Nobel lecture "The Poet and the World," Wislawa Szymborska writes:

The world — whatever we might think when terrified by its vastness and our own impotence ... is astonishing ...

Granted, in daily speech, where we don't stop to consider every word, we all use phrases like "the ordinary world," "ordinary life," "the ordinary course of events" ... But in the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone's existence in this world.

What if we professionals cultivated a similar outlook? We might find our colleagues more hopeful and purposeful and our work revitalized with more surprise, meaning, and beauty.

Poetry isn't a one-size-fits-all solution to every business problem. There are plenty of business leaders who've never read poetry and have been wholly successful. But to those open to it, reading and writing poetry can be a valuable component of leadership development.

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Wednesday Wisdom (or Wit) from Heartland

Photo Credit: Craig Neal

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Innovation Anyone? 
The word innovation derives from the Latin word innovates, which is the noun form of innovare "to renew or change," stemming from in—"into" + novus—"new". 

Heartland programs are often considered an innovation or imagination super-boost. 

How are you allowing time for your imagination and innate innovation to emerge?

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.
Albert Einstein

Going forward, we are convinced, the world increasingly will be divided between high imagination-enabling countries, which encourage and enable the imagination and extras of their people, and low imagination-enabling countries, which suppress or simply fail to develop their people’s creative capacities and abilities to spark new ideas, start up new industries and nurture the own “extra.”  America has been the world’s leading high imagination-enabling country and now it needs to become hyper-high-imagination-enabling society.  
That Used to Be Us by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum, 2011

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"US employers rate creativity/innovation among the top five skill that will increase in importance over."

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that next five years, and stimulating innovation/creativity and enabling entrepreneurship is among the top 10 challenges of U.S. CEO’s.
Ready to Innovate New York: Conference Board, 2008

Increasingly in the twenty-first century, what you know is far less important than what you can do with what you know.  The interest in and ability to create new knowledge to solve new problems is the single most important skill that all students must master today.  All successful innovators have mastered the ability to learn on their own “in the moment” and then apply that knowledge in new ways.
Creating Innovators by Tony Wagner, 2012

This is our generations Sputnik moment…We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially in clean energy technology –an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people…In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives, it’s how we make a living.  We need to outinnovate, outeducate and outbuild the rest of the world.
2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama

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Wednesday Wisdom (or Wit) from Heartland

Photo Credit: Craig Neal

A friend sent this link not long ago. It's a light touch to a serious subject.

Follow the Frog

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You don't have to go to the ends of the Earth to save the rainforest. Just Follow the Frog! The Rainforest Alliance is a nonprofit conservation organization that holds Charity Navigator's highest rating of Four Stars.

What's behind the green frog seal? Only farms that meet rigorous sustainability criteria earn the right to use the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. These criteria address all of the three pillars of sustainability -- environmental protection, social equity and economic viability -- and farms are evaluated by independent, third-party auditors. Learn more about Rainforest Alliance Certificationand its impacts.

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Wednesday Wisdom (or Wit) from Heartland

Photo Credit: Craig Neal

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There are many ways to consider beginning a new year. The article below offers creative and generative ideas to consider.

5 Ways to Begin Designing Your Life in 2013

TIM BROWN, CEO at IDEO

Great designers don’t just do design, they live design. Like them, we can learn how to practice design thinking principles both at work and at home.

As you start designing your life in 2013, here are five ways to begin:

1. Be optimistic, collaborative, and generative.

There’s something wonderfully gratifying about creating something new, whether it’s an award-winning design or a home-cooked meal.

2. Think of life as a prototype.

Conduct experiments, make discoveries, change as needed. Any process can be re-examined and tweaked. Look for opportunities to turn a process into a project with a tangible outcome. 

3. Don't ask "what?" ask "why?"

Instead of accepting a given constraint, ask whether this is the right problem to be solving.

4. Demand divergent options.

Don’t settle for the first good idea that comes to mind or seize on the first promising solution presented to you. Explore divergent options—and then set a deadline so you know when to move on.

5. Once a day, deeply observe the ordinary.

Make it a rule that at least once a day you will stop and take a second look at some ordinary situation that you would normally look at only once (or not at all). Get out in the world and be inspired by people.

Happy designing!

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Craig and Nils: The AoC Book Launch in Denmark

Photo Credit: Craig Neal

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Mødekunst: Meeting Art

The Art of Convening book launch in Denmark

24-27 september

Trip agenda:

click here

Craig has arrived in Denmark and is staying with friends and colleagues Nils and Annelise Stahlschmidt.

Thank you to the Danish Pionerer Group and to Gyldendal ASA for making this happen!

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Convening and Thanksgiving

Photo credit: Craig Neal

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"I know that the experience of being with the people closest to me will move me, one way or another, and I need to know during this powerful time, clearly, who I am and how I want to be with them."

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by Cindy Wold

I'll be hosting the Thanksgiving dinner at my house again this year. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! I love the delicious food, the connection, expressions of gratitude, leftovers for days afterward (or sometimes weeks) and of course the people. As I move into this time of year, the Art of Convening reminds me that gathering my family and friends requires more preparation than just buying the food, planning the menu, cleaning/decorating the house and confirming the guests. It is now that I am accutely aware of the "inner game" of convening.

I've learned over time that when my family and long-time friends show up in my environment, so do the memories (some fond, some not so fond), old conflicts, celebrations, hurts, confusion or chaos I may have experienced with them - whether I'm consciously aware of it or not. While the Art of Convening was initially developed to help organizational leaders have more effective meetings, I have learned that the same principles that are effective in a work or organizational context are also effective when gathering family and friends - and possibly much more necessary for cutting through the clutter of our history.

I've experienced first hand how much the inner game of convening can make or break a gathering of those closest to me, more than any other preparation. Now is when I see the value of keeping a regular (or, more likely in my case, irregular) practice of exploring who I am. I go for walks alone, meditate, and reflect on myself - quietly revealing what I'm ready to discover. This kind of practice is the center of the convening wheel, At the Heart of the Matter. I'm doing this because I know that the experience of being with the people closest to me will move me, one way or another, and I need to know during this powerful time, clearly, who I am and how I want to be with them.

I remember the gathering disasters in the past (some not so distant) - either tense politeness or explosive arguments - when I carried invisible (I thought) resentments, expectations or hurts just under the surface of my awareness. Those failures help me realize how much I need to reflect on my intention for our Thanksgiving gathering. I know this is important.

When I have brought to my awareness all of the intentions or motives I can think of for my gathering, both good and not so good (showing off, getting even, reliving the past, controlling outcomes, having fun), I can consciously choose to set aside anything that might sabotage my gathering and choose to keep intentions that are in line with who and how I want to be. I like to concentrate particularly on the desire for authentic engagement with my guests. This is the practice of Clarifying Intent. I don't need to know exactly why it works. I know from experience that when I do this clarification, it makes a difference in me and others in my gathering - intention has substance that is perceived and acted upon.

(I want to note here that Clarifying Intent is not repressing or forgetting something important just because it might be negative - in fact, while doing this step I bring to mind anything I can think of that is associated with the occasion or the people there - good or bad. It is, rather, remembering and keeping MOST prominent the things that are MOST important.)

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"It goes beyond the invitation itself, into my attitude, appreciation, and conviction that everyone I invite is wanted and needed."

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Because Thanksgiving is a tradition, sometimes we invite certain people because we always have or we think we have to. I realize that in order to convey a wholehearted and generous invitation, I need to do more thinking about the value and precious, unique presence of each person I'm inviting. In the midst of an unresolved conflict or hurt it sometimes doesn't seem possible, but with practice I have learned to acknowledge any lingering bad feelings, set them aside for now, and concentrate on the ways in which a person is a gift in my life. When I do this I realize how much I really do want everyone to show up and contribute their presence to our gathering. This is the inner game of the part of convening called, The Invitation. It goes beyond the invitation itself, into my attitude, appreciation, and conviction that everyone I invite is wanted and needed.

As part of the ongoing invitation, a couple of years ago I started making a small paper placename for each person at the table with a little drawing on each one. I leave the option open for guests to trade places at the table if they'd rather, but having their names there - especially after I've taken the time to write the name and think about each person - provides another opportunity for sincere welcome. 

So, as Thanksgiving gets closer, I am taking the time to prepare my inner game. I don't have to buy, store or cook yet. I just think, contemplate, appreciate and communicate sincerely. This is significant groundwork for my gathering. I hope it will result in a way for us to be together in as good a way as we can - and that's what's important to me.

I'll create another post closer to Thanksgiving with some other ways that the Art of Convening principles influence the way I do Thanksgiving and other family and friend get-togethers. Subscribe to the blog to get an email when a new post is ready.

Comments welcome. How do you pay attention to the inner game during holidays? Are there traditions or challenges you'd like to share? Do you have questions (for Craig, Patricia, or me) about convening during the holidays?

We'd love to hear from you, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Cynthia (Cindy) Wold is a Co-author of "The Art of Convening: Authentic Engagement in Meetings, Gatherings, and Conversations"

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The Chinese Dream

Photo Credit: Craig neal

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I'm savoring wonderful Thought Leader Gathering w/ Helen Wang + the TLG community-- visionaries all!.

Helen's deep reflection on the meaning of a middle class that is larger than the US population, and how to move towards connection and oneness was evocative and provocative.

Thank you, Helen!

More on Helen via her YouTube video.

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Each Voice as Key

Photo credit: Craig neal

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P R I N C I P L E:

Each voice is needed to reveal the authentic wisdom in our engagement.

We often refer to this principle as letting go and let come. We let go of our preconceptions of who the others are in the gathering and we let come the truth, quality, and essence of each. We suspend judgment (certainty) so that we are open to the possibilities of others. We must know, internally, that we, and all the others who are here, belong here. Each is needed and is here to contribute to the potential wisdom and creativity that we want in order to allow for the best possible outcome. There are no mistakes or outisiders in the universe, or in our gathering.

We must know, internally, that we, and all the others who are here, belong here. Each is needed and is here to contribute to the potential wisdom and creativity that we want in order to allow for the best possible outcome. There are no mistakes or outsiders in the universe, or in our gathering.

When we acknowledge that each voice is needed, we recognize that we are gathering the parts of something, just as a gardener gathers tools, seeds, and soil in the creation of a garden. As in a garden, where these necessary elements come togather, it is so in our gatherings: every person contributes by coming together to create something new. We orchestrate the opportunity for each individual to participate, producing a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. When all of the voices are heard, everyone sees and is seen by one another. Authentic engagement has begun, and an organic whole begins to emerge. (93)

This principle lays the foundation for maximizing the capacity for possible outcomes that may surprise even the most savvy and creative facilitator (convener) or manager (way-shower, guide). What has been missing in most meetings is simply this very recognition. Coming at our Team meetings and interactions on a regular basis with colleagues, how can we ignite that spark that dissolves the "I" and bridges to the "We"? Once we let our self-interests and expectations down, it is amazing what happens in the Boardrooms and meeting spaces. A new capacity forms. Granted, there will be moments of noodling through the currents of control, ego, and multiple opinions and views. This is all well and good and can be deftly navigated when the convener and the convening circle is coming from this space of understanding--the understanding that All Voices are Key.

Enjoy a copy of The Art of Convening for 30% off list price! (Offer ends April 7th 2011)

Here's to Hearing All the Voices!

Warmly,

Craig and Patricia

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