30 August 2006

Le Provence & Decision-making

The trip to Provence was wonderful...great people, great conversations, great weather, great food. Unfortunately, I caught some kind of flu and ended up in bed with a very high fever for 5 days.
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The big discussions were about decision-making processes inside the organization and the cost of those decisions due to lack of due diligence regarding decisions. This is something we're going to explore further because it is becoming a global discussion.

I am off to Portugal on Friday - some work, and lots of play. Back on 24th of September.

16 August 2006

Blogger has been Googled!

I've just discovered that this new beta-Blogger now works with Google accounts. Check out the Blogger Buzz blog for all the details.

Currently, you have to open a separate blog from your existing one. You can merge them later. I opened one to play with it - have a look.

In Provence until end of August

I am joining some very interesting people in Provence until the end of the month. Many of the conversations and discussions will define how I plan out my travel and teaching schedule for next year. I will also be spending some time with dear friends and reconnecting.

Since I am not traveling with my laptop, I probably will not be posting until the end of the month...but, who knows!

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

13 August 2006

Identity & Ego Bandwidth

We suffer from the illusion that our egos are entitled to to more bandwidth than our authentic selves. In this false picture, we continually repaint ourselves, building up layers of old paint that actually cover the beauty of who we are.

We only have to start removing those old layers of paint to reveal the real material. How? Find the right kind of removal substance, appropriate tools, and take the time to do it right. Sounds so easy, huh? What do we do once that surface is clean and prepped? Most of us will just start painting it again.

What is the real difference between your ego and your authentic self?

6 August 2006

Graziela - My Apprentice is Here!

Several months ago, a young woman from Brazil contacted me about studying and working with me. At first, I thought, "Do I have the time for this?" Then she made the trip to Amsterdam so that we could spend time learning about each other. She impressed me with her daring, her thoughtfulness and her desire to learn about my core work and methodologies.

Graziela Di Giorgi started working with me mid-July. She has focused my attention on bringing all those products to life that have been sitting on the shelf for a long time. We agreed that the best way for her to learn about innovation practices was to engage with each methodology through its different products.
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She began learning about Applied Connective Dynamics by building her manifesto for The Evolutionary Brand Called M.E. - My Emergence. For the past three weeks, our studio has been filled with discussions about core human values, vision thinking, and the roles these play in the life choices we make that shape our future. Her astute questioning process has opened my mind to looking at this in a completely new way. When you develop something and work with it as an essential part of life, you become de-sensitized to its nuances. Basically, I take for granted much of the way that people engage with BCME.

I now see a new way to present the idea of values. If I lead with choices, people immediately grasp the importance of being informed about how we make choices. Armed with this new perspective, I am re-shaping and visualizing the material so that it’s inviting and easier to work out your personal content.

Going though this whole exercise with Graziela in such a step by step, personal way has helped me to see that BCME is about personal innovation. We’re all so focused on innovation for our businesses and organizations that we forget that the easiest way to understand and learn how to do something is to make it personal.

So, thanks, Graziela. Let’s continue down this path and see where it leads us. You started out immediately making some key contributions.