Social Networks and Racial Equity

Connecting people who don’t usually talk is an overlooked way of creating change. Donella Meadows, who was a wise teacher of how to change systems, wrote: “Missing information flows is one of the most common causes of system malfunction. Adding or restoring information can be a powerful intervention, usually much easier and cheaper than rebuilding physical… Read more

Expanding the Benefits of Networked Work

What began as exasperation with dysfunctional organizations and boring meetings became a quest to discover what is possible with collaborative, networked work. My discovery process has led me to see that collaborative learning is what we can put at the center of how we work. We need a way to see how our individual work connects with larger… Read more

Working as an Ecosystem

While much of the focus at the national level in the U.S. is on hyper-partisanship and polarization, a less heralded story is the growing rise of collaborative networks that allow many people and organizations to work effectively on common goals. As Tom Atlee summarized here, these networks include multiple sectors (public, private, and civil society)… Read more

Conditions to Catalyze a Network

My obsession of late is foraging wild mushrooms…something about the weather conditions in late summer have made this a spectacular year for mushrooms here in southern New Hampshire. The woods are full of mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. I only know one edible species – black trumpets. Every time I go for a walk… Read more

Strengthening Community Connections in Meeting Design

“The essential challenge is to transform the isolation and self-interest within our communities into connectedness and caring for the whole.” – Peter Block One promising area for reconnecting people in communities is the Farm to School movement. Communities across the country are implementing initiatives to increase the amount of local food served in school cafeterias,… Read more