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MSc in Holistic Science Schumacher College, The Old Postern, Dartington, Devon TQ9 6EA, UK

ChangeLAB in Action

Workbook in Creativity from the Edge of Chaos By Anne Solgaard

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ChangeLAB in Action

CHANGELAB IN ACTION 1

Foreword 5

Acknowledgements 6

1. FROM BACK THERE TO SOMEWHERE AROUND HERE 7

Introduction 7

Motivation 8

Context 10 Opening the door 10 Confronting the Beast 11 Cash is king! 12 Time is money! 12 Nature is our prerogative… 13 Towards a Sustainable Future 13 New Opportunities 15

Target audience 15

Drivers 16

Boundaries 17

Scope 17

The ChangeLAB 17

2. PLATFORM FOR CHANGELAB 18 Change at a Glance 18

From Reductionist to Holistic Science 19 Two Paradigm, One World 19 Goethe and Science 20 Thinking 22 Different ways of Knowing 22 Perception & Cognition 23 To Live is to Know 24 A New Kind of Science 24 Gaia Theory 25

Launching into the Edge of Chaos 26 Chaos, Eros & Gaia 26 Chaos Theory of Wholeness 26 Organisations as Complex Adaptive Systems 28 Peak performance at the Edge of Chaos 29 A Chaordic Reality 30 Networks for Change 32

Creativity for a Desirable Future 33 Creativity as a Concept 35 Creative Leadership 36

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Worldview for Creativity & Innovation 37 Designing the Future 38

Creativity & Experience of Time 40

3. MOVEMENT MAPS OF MIND, HEART, & BODY 42 Deep Ecology 42 U-Process 45 Five Rhythms 46

4. THE CHANGELAB APPROACH 48

A Primer to Workshop Facilitation 48 Group Formation 48 Three Modes of Facilitation 49 The Workshop 49 Evaluation and feedback 51

Modes and Activities 51 Acting & Improvisation 52 Breath 52 Chanting & Voice 53 Co-creation 53 Comfort Zones 54 Connecting with Nature 55 Dance 56 Dialogue 56 Journaling – a Personal Dialogue 59 Letting go… 60 Listening 60 Scenarios & foresight 61 Sound 62 Stillness 63 Story Telling 63 Time – Experience and Reinvention 63 Visuals: Drawing, Doodling, Painting, Photography & Sketching 64 Writing 65

EXERCISES PREPARED FOR THE SIGDAL WORKSHOP 67 Exercise 1 - Opening Circle with Ice Breakers* 67 Exercise 2 - Open Spaces and Connections 67 Exercise 3 - Personal and Collective Visioning* 68 Exercise 4 - Six Thinking Hats* 69 Exercise 5 - Remarkable Ideas & Purple Cows 70 Exercise 6 - Me, I and my commitment 70 Exercise 7 – Dialogue* 71 Exercise 8 - Developing an Action Plan 72 Exercise 9 - Before we embark on the last stretch…* 72 Exercise 10 - Harvesting 73 Exercise 11 - Closing circle* 73

5. THE SIGDAL WORKSHOP, 3 – 5 AUGUST, 2007 74

Towards a College of Holistic Science in Norway 74 Background 74 Workshop Summary 74 Framework & Process 75

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Methodology 75 Justification of Approach 76 The Workshop & the Vision 77 Annotated Agenda by Activity 78 Feedback from Participants 79 Participant Reflections on Creativity & Time 82 Personal Reflections 84

6. TOWARDS A NEW PILGRIMAGE 86 Next Steps 86

GLOSSARY 87

APPENDIX 89

Appendix 1 – Workshop Invitation Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 2 – Agenda (as it happened) Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 3 – Workshop Summary by Session Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 4 - Moment-to-Moment Reflection Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 5 - Participant list for Sigdal workshop 3 - 5 August Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 6 – Prior Informed Consent Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 8 – Presentation: Setting the Stage Error! Bookmark not defined.

REFERENCES 90

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Dartington - Oslo, 2007

Dedicated to my grandmother, Edit Solgaard, who once hoped I would become a priest, and last summer concluded that my work for a more sustainable future, vitality and healthy living is contributing

to the same end… Thank you for your loving prayers!

Foreword

A tribute to transformations Embracing inspiration, insight, initiative and action.

Authenticity and presence in the eternal now. Companions for an emergent future. Strength! What is life but a creative expression of change? Continuous

Nothing more to say… except come along, lets walk this road, together!

Anne Solgaard Oslo, 26 August 2007

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Acknowledgements I also want to dedicate this paper to my parents, Sidsel & Torfinn Solgaard, for being such excellent role models of the chaordic reality. They early taught me to appreciate the two faces of Janus, the diety of doors and transitions, facing past & future, chaos & order, yet unquestionably present on the edge. I am grateful for their support, for believing in me, and for encouraging me to go on long after I had lost faith in my own abilities. I owe thanks to many people for inspiring me to embark on this journey and for being there during the twist and turns along the way. It has been an incredible process that started long before Schumacher. I trust you know who you are. However, I want to mention a few. First of all I thank James Lovelock for painting an absolutely horrific picture of the future. Without him, I would not have understood how destructive fear is. Equal thanks to Satish Kumar for speaking to the need for being the change and walking the path of compassion. Long live the optimist! I want to thank all participants in the Sigdal workshop Aug. 3-5, 2007. Thanks for letting me work with you for three magnificent days, and for making me ever more convinced that there is scope for a centre or college of holistic science in Norway. I especially want to thank Dino Karabeg, Øyvind Sørbøden, Tor Næss for high-jacking me at Schumacher last March, and Gunnar Tellness for trusting me with the workshop, opening his home, and interesting discussions about Nature, Culture & Health. Also, the cover page illustration is made by Jarl-Hugo Låstad, and was published in Samspillet Natur-Kultur-Helse NaKuHel-konseptet i teori og praksis (the Nature-Culture-Health Connection) in 2003. I am grateful to Gunnar Tellnes for allowing me to use it here. Thanks to Bob Willard, Cynthia King, Alastair Fuad-Luke & Bjørn Borgen for heartening conversations, references, corrections, and input. And also to Susannah Darling Khan for helping me to rediscover my own rhythm through dance. And thanks to all the MSc’s 2006 / 2007, helpers and short course participants for sharing a fantastic time at Schumacher and beyond. Particular thanks to Ben Brangwyn, Alex Hanley, Li An Phoa, Erin Scott, Azul Thomé & Nigel Topping for friendship, open hearts, critical comments, and ongoing discussion and dialogue, may life allow them to continue. Finally a “mega” thanks my supervisor James Gray-Donald at Plymouth University, and to Stephan Harding & Brian Goodwin for guiding me through an incredible universe of knowledge, for constructive feedback and open doors.

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1. From back there to somewhere around here

introduction, motivation, context, target audience, drivers, boundaries, scope, the change lab.

Introduction Welcome to a journey about the dynamics of creativity. In this paper, which I call a workbook, I will look at the source of creativity both as a cosmic phenomenon born out of chaos as well as a response to and expression of different ways of knowing. I will address creativity from a perspective of holistic science; henceforth my attention is on convergent and multifaceted approaches in quest of insight and momentum to foster creativity for individuals in groups. The paper has three distinct sections. In chapter one I will give an account of the perspective from which the paper is written. This includes a brief account of my reading of our modern day ecological crisis, and the hitches of perceptions I see associated with this. Having set the stage, I will in chapter two look at underpinning concepts and frameworks for an emergent scientific approach to value and explore the unpredictable nature of creativity. I will take the reader from an account of traditional science via an appreciation of divers knowing via the edge of chaos and to ideas of designing the future as it emerges. The theory prepares the ground for the practical approaches to fostering movement of mind, heart and body. In chapter three I highlight three movement maps to bring about change that manifest in day-to-day life. In chapter four it is all about unlashing, exploring, testing, trying. I present a myriad of design and ideas that can hep in unlashing creativity. There is no size fits all, and some approaches may work for one person, where as others will work for several groups. This is also the nature of chapter four. The fifth chapter is meant to demonstrate an amalgamation of the theoretical and practical aspects, however as it often is when we try to combine one and two to get three, the result is something very different. This time it became five. An incredible workshop where little went according to plan, and the input, recommendations and commitments far exceeded expectations. Go figure – that’s creativity in action! Finally, finally, finally, the circle will reach some sort of completion. I bring you back to the objective and to the heart of lessons learned, for me to me, and perhaps also to you?

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Motivation The whole globe is shook up, so what are you going to do when things are falling apart?

You’re either going to become more fundamentalist and try to hold things together, or you’re going to forsake the old ambitions and goals and live life as an experiment, making it up as you go along.

- Pema Chödrön A Chinese proverb goes; “Change is the only constant”. This is a thought that seems to contradict the founding ethos of our western civilisation. We have learned to believe in the notion of ownership, and deluded ourselves into thinking that we can have control over our lives, the past, the future, as well as of nature. We have grown accustomed to seeing ourselves as separate from nature, and that we as mankind is her master. Natural resources exist for our economic benefit, and have interest as long as they contribute to economic wellbeing. Change does not fit into this picture. However, with desire to control and a perception of Earth as a machine, rather than a living self-organising complex system, we have suppressed our innate ability to be creative, flexible and adaptable team players on Planet Earth. In our quest for control and predictability there is little room for emergence and self-organisation. This is further enforced by our awareness of the difference between yours and mine, whilst undermining any notion of us and our. I contend these are all symptoms of a culture on the verge of despair. My impulse for this workbook was triggered by a desire to spur resilience to change, encourage creativity to tackle the environmental and social challenges in a new way, whilst looking to nature to be our teacher for a proactive energetic present and a more sustainable tomorrow. I have prepared this primer as a way to gain some clarity and depth in working with creativity for a more sustainable future. Having worked with policies and mechanisms to foster more sustainable consumption and production patters for many years, I have become increasingly more impatient with the lip-service, the empty words and apathy that people including myself, often feel with regards to being an effective change agent. It seems the human mind enjoys repeating familiar patterns of thinking; this means that we easily fall victims of our habitual ways perceptions, assumptions and thinking. I consider that the dominant culture in our part of the world does not encourage or trust insight that is brought about through the sensory, the intuitive or feelings. I believe this leaves us poorer in knowledge, wisdom and experiences. Elisabeth Sahtouris says that nature is conservative when things are going well and radically creative when it is challenged1, it is time for humankind to break out of our minds and into other realms of knowing to move towards our inherent, but somewhat suppressed, radical creativity. As I pointed to above, the situation on planet Earth has never been more serious, and as Einstein said almost 100 years ago; we cannot solve problems with the same kind of thinking that brought it about. I see only one possible approach for being an effective change agent at this time of rapid and unpredictable change, and this is to foster preparedness, creativity, and curiosity for different ways of coming to knowing. Our culture might be fragmented and experienced as shallow, but nature, of which we are part, can help us relearn creativity and to see how everything is an aspect of a greater whole, interconnected and interdependent through the web of life. I contend that by looking to the ecosystem for guidance, we will be given the conceptual framework and inspiration needed to work towards a more sustainable future. In the words of David Peat;

“I am writing to discuss Creativity and its importance for society. I believe that we need a new creative response to the sorts of issues which face governments, institutions, organisations and individuals

today. My premise is that the Newtonian world view, which for so long dominated science, has led to the assumption that nature and society can always be viewed objectively and that any problems which

1 Sahtouris, E.(Aug. 2006) Seven Reasons Why I Remain an Optimist. Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness. No.11 June p.35

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arise can be predicted in their course and in some way controlled… I would like to contrast (this) with the new paradigms that are emerging from the study of chaotic, sensitive and non-linear systems. Prediction often becomes impossible for such systems and, while they remain deterministic, their

extreme sensitivity makes, in many cases, any form of control is out of the question.”2 More than twelve centuries ago, a Tibetan prophecy arose speaking of a time of great danger, conflict and disruption – a time of apocalypse. Joanna Macy points out that the Tibetan Buddhist speaks of this evolution as coming through in our time. There are similar prophesies from several indigenous groups across the word such as the Kogi Indians of Columbia, and the Mayas of the Amazon.3 I do not need to search for proof of prophecies; it is enough to open the daily newspaper to see that we are in a time of turmoil and change. If not apocalypse, there is most definitely a great deal of upheaval both in geopolitics and for individuals. The same sources talk about responses of compassion and insight. My objective with this workbook is no less than to help prepare myself and others to become warriors for change. To get ready to work with compassion and insight to assist in facilitating a shift towards, as Ervin Lazlo articulate, breakthrough rather than breakdown and apocalypse. We can think of this as “Shambhala Warriors” in the words of Joanna Macy,4 or “Warriors of Light” as Paulo Coelho says.5 Peter Russell, De Quincey and Jung talks about a shift in consciousness as the overriding factor in bringing about a more sustainable future. Their insight has been an inspiration and important grounding for this primer. I hope that one day we will proudly be able to join Thomas Homer-Dixon saying,

“They weren’t surprised by surprise; they were comfortable with extraordinary uncertainty; and they intuitively understood that resilience in the face of constant change demands constant creativity –

especially when it comes to fining new ways of using the materials and tools at hand to solve pressing problems.”6

Gandhi tells us to be the change, to live the change, and walk the change. Satish Kumar, Programme Director at Schumacher illustrated Gandhis’ commitment to being the change in a little story about a little boy who ate too much sugar. His mother brought him to Gandhi so that Gandhi could tell him to stop eating sugar. Gandhi told them to return the next day, upon when Gandhi told the boy to stop eating sugar. The mother got confused, wondering why Gandhi could not have said this the day before. Gandhi responded; “yesterday I was still eating sugar”….7 My desire is to live the change I perceive necessary. With this workbook I wish to bring attention to some possible approaches to making change manifest itself through creativity in my life and through my work. The extended ambition is to help others to access new ways of generating new ideas, or gain insights to approaches for a more desirable future as individuals, in dialog with others and with Gaia. I wish to contribute to building acceptance and resilience to continuous change by letting go of the idea of predetermined outcomes, but rather bring energy into making the process as energetic and balanced as possible. If I can do this, I am confident I can help bring about a more harmonious today, whilst contributing to a more sustainable tomorrow.

2 Peat.D.F (1989) Comment on Chaos Creativity Research Journal 1, 131. http://www.paricenter.com/library/papers/peat03.php 3 Alan Ereira's documentary, 'From the Heart of the World - The Elder Brothers' Warning'. & Russell, P (1990) White Hole in Time. www.peterussell.com 4 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press. 5 http://www.paulocoelhoblog.com/warrioroflight/ 6 Homer-Dixon, T. (n.a.) The Upside of Down – Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization. http://aspocanada.ca/images/stories/pdfs/upside_down.pdf (Search April 2007) 7 Satish Kumar from fire-site chat Schumacher College, January 2007.

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Context “Every few hundred years in western history there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short

decades, societies – its worldviews, its basic values, its societal and political structures, its arts, its key institutions – rearranges itself. And the people born then cannot even imagine a world in which their

grandparents lived and into which their own parents were born. We are currently living through such a transformation”8

- Peter Drucker, Post Capitalist Society.

Opening the door We are in a time of unprecedented global change and upheaval. In the past year the challenge of climate change has moved from the periphery of political awareness to an issue of concern for citizens, governments and business’ worldwide. The awareness may be attributed to the release of the Stern Review and the recent 4th assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as well as a the release of the Al Gore movie an ‘Inconvenient truth’, and a series of other international, regional and national efforts to address climate change and energy resources in particular. These endeavours coupled with visible signs of change in ecosystems, weather patterns, natural resources and a rapid decline in biodiversity have made climate change into an undeniable challenge. It is no longer a question whether climate change is a reality or not, the subject is what to do about it, and how to tackle the imminent problems swiftly to safeguard against catastrophic consequences for future generations. The IPCC has established consensus in the scientific community that climate change is attributed to human activities as well as to natural cycles and that carbon emissions have already pushed up global temperatures by half a degree Celsius. The Panel note that a temperature rise of 0.2’C is projected for the next two decades. The IPCC confirms that there is a 50% chance that average global temperatures could rise by five degrees Celsius by the end of this century.9 Conservative estimates expressed both by the IPCC and the Stern Review show that to stabilize temperatures at manageable levels, emissions would need to plateau in the next 10-20 years and fall between 1% and 3% annually after that. As the global economy and activity is projected to grow, this would mean a net reduction in emissions by about two thirds of current emission levels by 2050. Estimates show that we are currently at 430ppm CO2e in the atmosphere. Based on this, Stern outlines trajectories for stabilizing at 450ppm CO2e and at 550ppm CO2e, highlighting that the latter is the most realistic scenario. The review projects this will give a temperature increase of 2-4 degrees Celsius by 2050 depending on global feedback loops, tipping points and the responses of sinks and sources.10 The main message from the Stern Review is that climate change is “the biggest market failure the world has ever seen”. Based on this, Stern proposes three main approaches: “carbon pricing, technology policy, and removal of barriers to behavioural change”. Stern calculates that mitigation against climate change today will cost approximately of 1% of global GDP, whereas adaptation to the climate catastrophe tomorrow will be up to 20 – 30 times more expensive.11 Stern asserts that extreme 8 Drucker as quoted in Ray, H.P. & Anderson, S.R. (2000) The Cultural Creatives – how 50 Million People Are Changing the World. New York: Three Rivers Press p. 315 9 IPCC (2007) Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Summary for Policymakers. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change & Stern, R. et. al. (2006) STERN REVIEW: The Economics of Climate Change 10 Ibid. 11 Stern Review (2006) The Economics of Climate Change Executive Summary

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weather could reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) of economic output by 3% with a one-degree temperature increase. If temperatures rise by five degrees Celsius, the Review notes that 10% of global output could be lost with greatest impact on the poorest countries. Stern says that in the worst case global consumption per head would fall 20%.12 Since its release, several scientific voices have uttered that the projections by the IPCC are unrealistically low. Scientist such as Stephan Harding, Peter Bunyard and reports from the Hadley Centre point to the fact that the baseline estimates for the reports from IPPC and Stern fail to include the unpredictable dynamics of the biological sinks and sources for CO2 such as a more rapid deforestation rate of the Amazon, melting of the Greenland ice and the Siberian tundra and ensuing expansion of the boreal forest. These factors may contribute to reducing the earths’ ability to self regulate, setting off positive feedback loops that manifest though more severe impacts of climate change triggered by surpassing so-called tipping points for ecosystems.13 At first hand, this could leave at least 200 million people displaced. However, further temperature increase will lead drought and declining crop yields in many parts of the world, and up to 40% of species could face extinction.14 But the consequences may be even more far-reaching, and climate change is, only a symptom of the real challenge; namely the way we think.

Confronting the Beast “The single most important problem facing the world today is our misguided focus on

identifying the single most important problem”.15 - Jared Diamond

I consider that the primary challenge for humankind is one of perception and worldview. Climate change, population growth, dwindling freshwater resources, destruction of habitats and diminishing biodiversity, desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, waning resources of fossil fuels and with that a looming energy crisis are all problems that have been brought about as a result of an anthropocentric and mechanistic worldview prompting unsustainable consumption and production patterns. Since early days, the impetus for humankind, and particularly for, as Wolfgang Sachs calls it, the Euro-Atlantic civilization, has been one of seeing himself as the ruler and master of nature. This was enforced with the introduction of the Cartesian worldview in the 16th century and further impelled by industrialisation during the 18th and 19th century. Mechanisation meant efficiency, predictability, control and quantifiable outcomes.16 Addressing the quantifiable rather than the qualitative, gave rise to a culture of piecemeal approaches in policymaking as well as in economic activity. Pieces can be measured, whereas the whole is not easily quantifiable. Insight to the dynamics of the whole along the notion of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, is lost in any attempt to count and calculate individual components. I will come back to this in Chapter 2. First, I will bring forward some reflections on how our perception of value is expressed through three seemingly quantifiable entities; money, time and natural resources.

12 Stern Review (2006) The Economics of Climate Change. Executive Summary. p. xviii 13 Harding, S. Discussions & Lectures Schumacher College 2007. Bunyard, P discussion with MSc students at Schumacher College February 2007. Met Office Hadley Centre http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/ 14 http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/models/modeldata.html 15 Diamond, J (2005) Collapse. London: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 498 16 Sachs, W. & Santarius, T. Eds (2007) Fair Future – Resource Conflicts, Security & Global Justice. London: Zed Books. Diamond, J (2005) Collapse. London: Penguin Books Ltd. & Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books

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Cash is king! The saying goes; ‘Cash is king!’ And to be the king we need to trade, exchange and acquire wealth. The more money exchanged, the more transactions regardless of what, the better. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) records all of these expenditures and earnings, and the value is accounted for simply by adding up the numbers. This means that an oil-spill, a traffic accident or traded toxic substances are recorded as expenditures and therefore help the national economy to grow. The very make-up of the economy promotes consumption regardless of cost to the environment, to communities, or to the social fabric. Hence, the heart of the problem is that our fossil fuel economy rewards and perpetuates what Herman Daly calls’ “uneconomic growth”.17 To add insult to injury our deep-seated appreciation for numbers has brought about a rebound effect of initially better or more sustainable consumer choices. A rebound effect is typically triggered when individuals feel that their consumer choice is significantly better and thus justifies doing more of the same; hence increasing the overall levels of consumption and nullifying or exceeding efficiency gains.18 So not only are we trapped in a consumer culture, but once we try to vote with our wallets, we easily fall into the same spell of doing more for less just because we can, and believe we need it. We are constantly told that our happiness and our wealth is one, so we work more, earn more, spend more, but do not ever seem to reach promised satisfaction. We buy green, fair and ethical. But the issue is still the same; we are caught up in a numbers game.19 In March 2007, The Ecologist reported that a survey by Churchill Home Insurance found that “on average women buy 14 items each year… which will never be worn.”20

Time is money! Benjamin Franklin coined the term “time is money” in 1748.21 The tragedy of our age is that we believe it to be true. This shapes the way we think and the way we relate to one another. What is scarce is valuable, prompting predictability and efficiency, so that we can get more with less, do less for more, always counting, continuously aiming to meet demands of shorter timeframes. Hence, the link between time and money reflecting a fragmented culture.22 The emphasis is on quantity, and the quality of processes and experiences seems secondary, leaving us alienated from authentic relationships and developments. Before the Cartesian split, the reformation and industrialisation, Francesco Patrarcha in the 14th century talked about time as an expression of everything money could not buy. To him, time was an agency for life and subsistence.23 As Jay Griffiths say, “Time-is-money is a lie, don’t buy it!”24

17 Daly, H. E. & Cobb. J.B. (1994) For Our Common Good – redirecting the economy toward community, the environment, and a sustainable future. Boston: Beacon Press 18 Green & Difiglio (2000) Energy efficiency and consumption – the rebound effect. Energy Policy, Vol 28, Issue 6-7 & Hetwich, E. (2005) “Consumption and the Rebound Effect: An Industrial Ecology Perspective.” Journal of Industrial Ecology Vol 9, Nr 1-2. pp 85-98 19 Juniper, T. (2007) How many light bulbs does it take to change a planet? 95 ways to save planet earth. London: Quercus & WBCSD Eco-systems Issue Brief (June 2005) http://www.wbcsd.org/includes/getTarget.asp?type=d&id=MTU4MjE 20 The Ecologist (March 2007) p. 66 www.theecologist.org 21 Berg-Eriksen, T. (1999) Tidens Historie. Oslo: J.M Stenersens Forlag A.S. p. 110 22 Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books 23 Berg-Eriksen, T. (1999) Tidens Historie. Oslo: J.M Stenersens Forlag A.S. (1999) p. 110 24 Griffiths, J.(1999) Pip Pip – a sidewise look at time. London: HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

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Nature is our prerogative… “… the greatest inequalities stem from those who pursue excess, not from those who are driven by

necessity. One does not become a tyrant to stop feeling cold”. - Aristotle, 329 BC

The third heritage of the Euro-Atlantic culture is our notion of how nature is there for us to manage and use for our own good. This is the very embodiment of the anthropocentric and mechanistic worldview. We have only recently begun to discover that we have been drawing on finite natural resources, which have brought about an awareness of the tight coupling between monetary value, time and natural resources. In this there seem to be little room for seeing the intrinsic value of ecosystems, or that of individual creatures such as birds and bees, or elements like rocks and lakes. We can see traces of mans desire to control nature as far back as 2000 BC. Among other scriptures, it is a feature in the biblical creation story in Genesis where Eva is persuaded by the snake to eat of the forbidden tree of wisdom and talks Adam into eating the same fruit. With this they gained insight to distinctions of good and bad, order and chaos. In this story, the garden was viewed as tamed ‘ordered’ nature, whereas the world outside was wilderness and ‘chaos’. As Eva had gone against the word of God, it was now Adam or Mans task to tame her, as he also had to tame the wilderness into new gardens. Eva represented temptation and chaos as lack of control, and Adam became the agent of orderly and structured change to bring humanity back to the garden. We can see how this has tainted our worldview and desire for control, ordered linear thinking. 25 The Judo-Christian tradition was the cultural backdrop for the Euro-Atlantic civilisation, and its values have been propagated throughout the world by way of colonisation, and later through political and economic activity.26 Natural resources are the lifeblood of the economy. In Fair Future Wolfgang Sachs describes how Chinese companies are becoming extremely expansive in Africa.The world’s fastest growing economy working with the ‘forgotten continent’ that has been left behind by the world economy for decades. The Chinese companies are buying copper mines, farmland, and forest and bringing the raw materials back to China for manufacturing. Mirroring colonial economies of the past, and unfortunately for the African economy, very little money is fed back into, or circulates through the local economies of Africa. The Chinese are following a model of economic development inherited from Europe, except more extreme due to technological advancement allowing for physical scale to be larger and time scales to be shorter. This is an example of how a paradigm, and not necessary a people or race, has lead to unequal ecological exchange, exploitation and division between peoples and nations. I consider that the concept of ‘natural resources’ is detrimental. It suggests that something is there for another, namely nature exist for mankind. I consider this the chief flaw of our civilisation.27

Towards a Sustainable Future In 1987, the Bruntland Commission defined sustainable development as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs“.28 Since then, sustainable development has proved to be a moving target, a concept that is inserted in multiple contexts and interpreted differently by various people depending on background and culture. In this workbook I treat the notion of a desirable and sustainable future as an objective companies, organisations and societies should strive towards; it is a vision but not a place, nor a set of quantifiable 25 Merchant, C (2000) Open Evening Schumacher College. Captain Productions 26 Sachs, W. & Santarius, T. Eds (2007) Fair Future – Resource Conflicts, Security & Global Justice. London: Zed Books. 27 ibid. 28 WCED (1987) Our Common Future. New York: UN p. 43

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targets. I infer that a sustainable future is about bringing about a future where the intrinsic value of all living beings is taken into account in the shaping of initiatives, processes and actions both at the local and global level. This means, as Arne Næss says, to be guided by a personal “ecosophy” or sense of belonging as a foundation for perceptions, insights and actions. I contend that a society wide appreciation of the intrinsic value of life will be a shape sifter in the way our civilisation perceives and act on desirable lifestyles, production standards and governance.29 A case in point: In January 2006, the New Economics Foundation with Friends of the Earth published the “Happy Planet Index”(HPI), which demonstrates that there are multiple ways of achieving wellbeing. The report brings attention to the importance of the interrelated nature of social networks, local culture, environmental health, and political and economic stability as key factors for human and planetary wellbeing.30 William McDonough, an American eco-architect guru consider that a sustainable world is “a delightful, safe and healthy world with clean water and renewable power, economically equitably, ecologically and elegantly enjoyed”.31 John Ehrenfeld describes sustainability as “the possibility that we all flourish forever”.32 Ehrenfeld is referring to all living beings, the natural environment and humans alike. Ervin Laszlo says that we are in a so-called “decision window”, where social and environmental problems challenge the status quo. He concludes that depending on how countries and citizens respond we will experience a breakdown or breakthrough in the coming years. Laszlo considers that a breakdown is imminent unless there is a shift in thinking and lifestyles, and unless the “economic, political, and ecological dimensions of society stabilise in a non-conflictual and sustainable mode”.33 Aligning the idea of creative change for a sustainable future with the traditional thinking of business and organisations is complex. Smith & Yanowitz forward that new “mental models for thinking about... business and new ways to reach across internal and external boundaries” are needed. They note, “the concept of sustainable development shakes up existing industrial habits of thinking and doing, and spurs people to fresh solutions”, in other words; foster creativity.34 Creative leadership for sustainable development operates at the crossroads between several disciplines. Frans Johannson says, “The intersection is a place where we must leave many of our preconceived notions behind. There is logic to intersectional ideas, but the logic is not obvious”.35 I deduce that change for a more sustainable future is best facilitated through ideation, creativity, dialogues, learning and transformation, coupled by a high degree of operacy,36 inspired by co-creation and so-called virtuous cycles for sustainable innovation that help demonstrate how change has been initiated elsewhere.37 I believe such a shift will only be possible if it draws on the creative resources of individuals and stakeholders across civilizations and communities. In other words, initiatives and ideas for change and transformation must come from citizens; whilst governments should provide favourable

29 Harding, S. (n.a.) What is Deep Ecology? Through experience, deep questioning and deep commitment emerges deep ecology. Resurgence 185 30 NEF (2006) The Happy Planet Index – an index of human well-being and environmental impact. 31 David, Kemker, “Earthkeeper Hero: William McDonough” /online/, /cited July 8, 2004/ my hero website, April 20, 2004. www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=McDonough_Update_04> 32 John Ehrenfeld, “Tomorrow’s Challenges,” presentation given at York University’s Sustainable Enterprise Academy, May 3-5, 2003, Kimberly Ontario 33 Laszlo, E. (2006) The Chaos Point – the World at the Crossroads. London: Piatkus Books Ltd. p. 11 34 Senge, P. et. al.(1999) The dance of change: The challenges of sustaining momentum in learning organisations, London/NY: Nicholas Brearley, p 530 35 Johansson, F. (2004) The Medici Effect – Breakthrough insights at the intersection of ideas, concepts & cultures. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 36 Operacy is a term invented by de Bono which refers to the skills of doing De Bono, E. (1982) Edward de Bono’s thinking course. London: MICA Management Resources p. 62 37 Manzini, E. & Jégou, F. (2003) Sustainable Everyday . Scenarios of Urban Life. Milano: Edizioni Ambiente

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frameworks and business act as frontrunners in the imminent revamping of local and global trends and processes, thus all stakeholders need to take part and drive this process together.

New Opportunities “At the most basic level we have to reconsider how we feed ourselves; how we warm and cool

ourselves – in short, how we receive and use energy; how we use and look after water; where we live and work; how we transport ourselves; how we use, save and recycle materials; how we work with

others across the world; how we treat the other animals and plants with which we share the planet; and above all how we think: not just as produces or as consumer, but as real, creative, imaginative,

resourceful people.” - Sir Crispin Tickell, Director of Policy Foresight Programme

University of Oxford38 As suggested, meeting the ecological challenges of our time will certainly mean a shift in the way we think, and in the way we respond to change and unrest. Thus it is important to identify how creativity, innovation and new opportunities may be harnessed in the process of transformation. I see the current gust of attention on climate change as an opportunity for working together to create the future we truly desire. To bring about a sustainable future on Planet Earth, our efforts need to be based on reverence for all living beings by fostering improved quality of life through a paradigm of wholeness, harmony and cooperation rather than fragmentation, self-interest and competition. A serious response to, for example, climate change will not only mean a more simple low impact lifestyle, but that citizens in communities, business and governments join hands to move towards a zero emission society. The net effect of communal effort can be mutual gains manifested as cleaner air, water and soils, stronger social structures, as well as improved efficiency through closed loop systems and local economies contributing to economic wellbeing. I believe this will reshape the way we go about our day-to-day lives, and have a profound psychological impact on the western mind. We may for example need to move from an individualistic centred society towards one of community, move away from a life measured in quantities to one of qualities. Fritjof Capra says “the great challenge of our time is to create sustainable communities, i.e. social and cultural environments in which we can satisfy our needs and aspirations without diminishing the chance of future generation”.39 In other words, sustainability put into practice.

Target audience This booklet is prepared as a resource guide for my own facilitation practice. It is my hope that it may also be an inspiration for anyone who seeks to encourage creative processes in groups drawing on perspectives of Deep Ecology to mobilise action for a more sustainable future. Having said this, chapter one to four is aimed a group called cultural creatives40, and who may have some former experience with facilitation but wish to explore and promote strategies for unlashing creativity with groups and individuals by encouraging a closer relationship between the human soul and the ecosystem. I consider the cultural creatives is a group who are willing to cut ties with conventional ways of thinking, knowing and working, whishing to respond to challenges at hand by designing a new and more desirable future. The cultural creatives are not confined to one sector, hence below I list key drivers for all conventional stakeholders. 38 Tickell, C. (2007) The Human Impact. Resurgence No 243 July/August 2007 pp. 20-21 39 Capra, F (1997) Web of Life – a new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo p. 4 40 Cultural creatives is a term coined by Paul H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson in their book The Cultural Creatives – how 50 Million People Are Changing the World. New York: Three Rivers Press. Also used by: Florida, R. (2002) The Rise of the Creative Class. And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community & everyday life. New York: Basic Books

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Chapter five, the workshop report and reflections from the Sigdal workshop is primarily for my own learning as well as the report will be of interest for the participants in the workshop as an account of the ideation process of working towards a college of holistic science in Norway. Finally, chapter six, the recommendations and next steps aim to be relevant for all the abovementioned audiences.

Drivers I consider that the main driver for any group to embark on a process to unleash creativity is their living in a time dominated by fast changes and unrest coupled with their desire to contribute to change for a more sustainable future. In more concrete terms I see creative change initiatives blossom particularly within communities and organisations. I believe this surge is prompted by a social need for working in companionship with others, triggered by disillusionment with modern individualistic centred lifestyles and the stress that comes with it. Initiatives such as the Transition Town movement in the UK, and the Pachamama Alliance are two examples of this.41 For governments, the main diver for change of policies aiming to foster more sustainable development is prompted by scientific findings illustrating the ecological and social crisis we are up against. However, this information alone will not call for a response to engage in a creative process. As I consider governments to be inherently conservative hierarchical structures, I see little scope for engaging in processes seeking to untie creative potential unless individuals within the organisations initiate it.42 The image of drivers for creative change is somewhat different in the corporate sector. Based on a review of literature in creativity, management and design for sustainability, I recognise broad external and internal drivers for working with creativity for a more sustainable future. In the past year, it seems the increased awareness around climate change and unsustainable consumption and production patterns have contributed to rising social expectations for sustainable innovation. This prompts external drivers such as consumers demand, a public relations crisis, more stringent regulations, as well as increased awareness around threats and overall market conditions. Moreover, internal drivers that may prompt a creative process for sustainability may include the individual team/organisational members passion, this is particularly compelling if the individual is the founder or manager. A breakdown in internal communications and lack of cooperation between organisational units may be an instigator for broader process. New innovation and a desire to optimise and profit from know solutions that do not yet have a natural place or function within the organisation seems to be a powerful instigator for creative processes as a way to identify new markets or enhance a new brand. Finally the process may be instigated by identified bottom up benefits, as a by-product of good business management, and the fact that sustainability makes business sense.43

41 Their websites are respectively: http://www.transitiontowns.org/ & http://www.pachamama.org/. Please see further references for networks and organisations in chapters 2 and 3. 42 I base my opinion on experience working with national ministries and an intergovernmental organisation for a period of five years, and having had to relate to or work with numerous governments and government agencies from around the world. 43 Willard, B. (2005) The Next Sustainability Wave – building boardroom buy-in. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishes

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Boundaries The booklet provides an overview of approaches that I feel are relevant for the seeking creative solutions for a sustainable future. It is not exhaustive, and I have merely made a selection of approaches. There are boundaries due to time and resource limitations. I will not go into details about traditional change management approaches as this ground is already well covered. Nor does this paper address the use of information technology for creative processes and dialogues which include of the use of virtual networks for dialogues such as Wiki technology, blogs and interactive websites. These processes are rich and will feed into my future practice. The booklet draws together many different disciples and thinkers who have already crossed disciplines primarily drawing authors who work in the intersection between ecology, philosophy, spirituality and creativity. This is not an in-depth guide to facilitation or organisational theory. It is meant as an entry point for facilitators to push their own boundaries, be creative and then follow-up with processes that excite them and their groups.

Scope This is a workbook to promote receptiveness to change in organisations and businesses by unlashing creativity to bring about a more sustainable and desirable future. It is clear that acting on and integrating sustainability concepts into business and organisations requires giving attention both to technological, economic, social and cultural issues. I contend that addressing all these aspects individually, or with a narrow mindset will have limited value. In order to foster appropriate and holistic change, the process needs to be founded on a notion of receptiveness to change and a desire to engage in a continuous unfolding creative process. It seems that the greatest challenge before us is to facilitate a shift in perceptions and values of individuals and the functioning dynamics and underpinning paradigms of governments and organisations. Change through strategic dialogue with each other and nature around us, whilst engaging in different ways of seeking new insight and ideas seems to me to be a fundamental response.

The ChangeLAB The ChangeLAB, or Change Laboratory, is a personal notion I have of taking, giving and finding space to free creativity and foster ideation for individuals in groups. It can be a physical room, but does not have to be. It can be constructed within the boundaries of a workshop, as was my objective for the Sigdal workshop. Hence, ChangeLAB is a mindset intended to allow for a creative process in meeting with nature, anywhere. My dream may be to establish a physical space for a Change Laboratory, it could be by way of a college of holistic science in Norway, or it might be something else. But the ChangeLAB exists in me already, and it is about identifying and working with a platform and approach to allow creativity to unfold as a child of a dynamic process of living change in a meeting with nature around us, and the movement within.

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2. Platform for ChangeLAB change at a glance, from reductionist to holistic science, launching into the edge of chaos, creativity for a desirable future, creativity and experience of

time.

Change at a Glance “Where there is no change, no growth, there is stagnation. But where there is action,

then the potential of the world is realised. Then it grows and blossoms.” – R.A. Schwartz

Change and transformation is an ever-present quality of life. It manifests itself in different ways and brings about unlike strains and challenges depending on its quality. I will here look at the scientific approaches and theories that I feel give a language as well as framework for understanding the dynamics of change and its relation to creativity. In a world where the dominant scientific paradigm promotes the idea of stability and linearity, change and unpredictability is experienced as threatening. However, as I will look at, seeing the world through lenses of holistic science, change and transformation is simply an inherent dynamic of a living world in which creativity is what helps us cope and or bring about transformation for desirable emergent futures. Johanna Macy says “we do not need to protect ourselves from change, for our very nature is change… our ‘going to pieces’, however uncomfortable a process, can open us up to new perceptions, new data, new responses…”44 I am inspired by Norie Huddle’s story of the caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly, and see this as a beacon for my own journey and a beautiful metaphor for our changing world. Elisabeth Sahtouris writes,

“After consuming hundreds of times its own weight daily as it munches its way through its ecosystem, the bloated caterpillar forms its chrysalis. Inside its new biological entities called imaginal discs arise, at fist destroyed by its immune system. But as they grow more in number and begin to link up, they begin

to survive. Eventually the caterpillar’s immune system fails, its body goes into meltdown and the imaginal discs become the cells that build the butterfly from the spent materials that had held the

blueprint for the butterfly all along.”45

44 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press p. 22 – 23. 45 Sahtouris, E. (2000) Earthdance – Living Systems in Evolution. Lincoln: iUniveristy Press Inc. p. 364-5

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From Reductionist to Holistic Science “What a strange machine man is! You fill him with bread, wine, fish and radishes,

and out come sight, laughter and dreams”. - Nikos Kazantzakis46

Two Paradigm, One World Holistic Science represents a different paradigm from conventional science in that it addresses interconnections and relationships rather than linear functions and isolated measurable parts. I have prepared the figure above to illustrate some core differences between the two approaches to science. I consider that both hold elements and insights that are beneficial in the grand scheme of things. However, it is my view that reductionist science is limited in its approach mainly because it draws primarily on rational thinking coupled with an infatuation for analysing and identifying connections between parts, hence, taking what I would like to call, a one-dimensional systems view. The meaning of the word system comes from the Greek ‘synhistanai’, which means to place together.47 The Gnostics and the philosophers of the Antique era spoke to approaches, as for example the notion of self-organisation, interdependency, and application of dialogues, that have resurfaced with modern day Holistic science. This also held impetus during the renaissance with Neo-Platonism, but were brought to silence during the reformation by Descartes followed by Burke and others who propagated for a mechanistic, reductionist approach to science, and with that the Cartesian worldview was born.48 Based on the literature, I infer that a reductionist Cartesian science gave rise to an impulse to divide and conquer, and propagated deconstruction and specialisation to attain clarity and to employ critical thinking to analyse and gain understanding. This approach works well with isolated mechanical like systems, but has its clear limitations when dealing with living organisms, cultural phenomenon, ecosystems and dynamics where human beings are involved as for example an organisation. The problem with a mechanistic approach to ecosystems and organisations, is that life is inherently unpredictable and creative.49 In mechanistic thinking the whole equals the sum of its parts, if this was 46 As quoted in Roth, G (1997) Sweat your Prayers – Movement as Spiritual Practice. Dublin: Newleaf. p. 60 47 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo. p. 27 48 Bortoft, H. (2000) Open Evening at Schumacher College. Captain Production. Authors notes from lectures with Bortoft H. & Goodwin, B. Schumacher College, Autumn 2006 49 Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books. Authors notes from lectures with Goodwin, B. & Harding, S. Schumacher College, Autumn 2006.

Figure 1. Reductionist & Holistic Worldview -Authors notes, Schumacher, Autumn 2006

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true, the emergence of life by way of an embryo would for example be impossible. From a holistic science point of view, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Moreover, it is understood that change in a part affect the overall dynamics of the whole. Bortoft points out that the whole is reflected in the part and hence it is possible to understand the whole only through the part, and not vice versa.50 He asserts that the whole cannot be understood in isolation from the parts. The part is an integral part of the whole, just like the whole encompasses the part. The part and the whole exist both independent and inter-dependent of one another as if each aspect represents a whole in the part. This diverges from the Cartesian view where the supposition is that we can understand the whole by connecting the parts. The idea is that by stepping away from the parts we would eventually get a coherent view of the whole, and vice-versa, everything and everyone is only piece in the great machinery of the world, hence giving rise to a fragmented culture of specialisation with an appreciation for the quantifiable.51 In a holistic perspective, the whole is continuously evolving and unfolding as if independent of time, matter and space. Bortoft say, “In a moment of intuitive perception, the universal is seen within the particular, so the particular instance is seen as a living manifestation of the universal”.52 Gregory Batson pointed out that to work with the full implications of this we need to think anew, which is what actually Goethe did.53

Goethe and Science “It is not easy for us to grasp the vast, the super colossal, in nature;

we have lenses to magnify tiny objects but not to make things smaller.” - Goethe

Born in Germany in 1749, Goethe has been important in pointing the way for resurgence of a science of qualities. In early years, Spinoza, the Gnostics as well as the thinkers of Antiquity inspired his development. As he gained experience and maturity, nature and his relationships became his primary teachers and sources of wisdom.54 Goethe spoke to the notion of being in nature, and to be part of nature to understand and create like her, not to copy nature, but to assimilate and live as an expression of nature of which we are part.55 Goethe argued that the Newtonian science by applying single or isolated experiments forced nature into artificial contexts seeking abstract unity. In contrast, Goethe sought an “empathic unity” with nature by relying on what he called an “objective intuition” that he would bring forth whilst in nature,

50 Bortoft, H. (1996) The Wholeness of nature. Goethe’s Way of Science. Barrington: Lindisfarne Press 51 Goodwin, B (2007) & Authors notes from lectures with H. Bortoft Schumacher College, September 2006 52 Bortoft, H. (1996) The Wholeness of nature. Goethe’s Way of Science. Barrington: Lindisfarne Press p. 22 53 Batson, G (1972) Steps to an Ecology of Mind. San Francisco Chandler 54 Sverre Dahl writes about Goethe in Berg Eriksen, T (Ed.) (1998) Vestens Tenkere – Bind II Fra Descartes til Nietzshe. Oslo: Aschehoug pp 321- 334. 55 Ibid.

Interconnected parts becoming a whole?

Figure 2. Parts & Whole

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participating with the phenomenon and letting it reveal itself to him. He said that the best way to understand another living being or organism was to participate or interact through, for example, observation, stillness and drawing, giving rise to a process in which the observer and the observed would become one, distinct, yet not separable.56 Bortoft talked about how science was lead astray by the idea of being empirical, factual and objective. Nothing has ever been objective, and as Goethe pointed out, it is impossible to make a separation between the observer and the observed. Goethe presented a way of science that is in sharp contrast with the Cartesian perspective which saw the universe as a machine, wherein the role of humans was to impose order and use nature as a resource for their own good.57 Thus, with Goethe it became clear that we are talking about two kinds of sciences, one addressing shallow, or one-dimensional systems of quantifiable entities, and a holistic science of qualities within which there is place for the quantifiable.58 Tarnas conclude that Goethe led a “nature philosophy movement that strove to unite empirical observation and spiritual intuition into science of nature more revealing than Newton’s, a science capable of grasping natures organic archetypical forms.”59 Goethe’s approach is concrete and relies on all senses in describing or visualising a phenomenon. Holdrege say that Goethe was looking for ways of becoming a “transparent instrument of knowing”.60 Goethe talked about applying theory in his observation of plants. In Greek, the word theory and theatre comes from the same root, ‘theoria’, and it means ‘seeing’.61 Bortoft contend that Goethean science facilitate a holistic mode of consciousness, he says, “Instead of being verbal, analytical, sequential, and logical, this mode is non-verbal, holistic, non-linear and intuitive. It emphasises the sensory and perceptual instead of the rational categories of the action mode. It is based on taking in rather than manipulating the environment.”62 Goethean science prompts us to seek understanding of the whole of the phenomenon through a deep appreciation of the parts. Goethe suggest that the idea or phenomenon, i.e. a tree, will reveal itself and a deeper understanding will emerge in the imagination when assisted by sensory activities such as drawing, observation and visualisation.63 The idea of wholeness is related to Goethes’ notion of an “Urphenomenon” as a symbolic phenomenon and ultimate concept of life.64 He describes the ‘urphenomenon’ as the inherent purpose and life-force, a quality he called “Steigerung” perhaps best translated as ‘qualitative rising’ in English. This stands in sharp contrast to Darwins theory of evolution which describe a mechanical process of natural selection prompted from outside organism. For Goethe the expression of the ‘urphenomenon’ is manifested through a qualitative rising to achieve self-realisation, the desire of coming into being which spurs continuous evolution and growth, or as he called it, a metamorphosis.65

56 Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books. & Reason, P. & Goodwin, B. (1999) Towards a Science of Qualities in Organisations – lessons from complexity theory and post-modern biology. Concepts and Transformation 4:3, 1999. pp 281 – 317 John Benjamins Publishing Co p. 293 57 Pratt, V. Et. Al. (2000) Environment and Philosophy. London: Routledge. & Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Framingo. p. 19 58 Bortoft, H (1999) Open Evening. Schumacher College. Captain Productions 59 Tarnas, R. (1991) The passions of the western mind: Understanding the ideas that have shaped our worldview. London: Pimlico, Random House. p. 378 60 Holdrege, C. (n.a.) Doing Goethean Science. The Nature Institute p. 31 61 Bortoft, H. (1996) The Wholeness of nature. Goethe’s Way of Science. Barrington: Lindisfarne Press p. 59 62 As quoted in Schilling, S. (2005) The Haunted City. Dissertation MSc in Holistic Science. Schumacher College p. 20 63 Bortoft, H. (1996) The Wholeness of nature. Goethe’s Way of Science. Barrington: Lindisfarne Press 64 Ibid. p. 34 65 Sverre Dahl writes about Goethe in Berg Eriksen, T (Ed.) (1998) Vestens Tenkere – Bind II Fra Descartes til Nietzshe. Oslo: Aschehoug pp 321- 334.

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Thinking “To find our calling is to find the intersection between our own deep gladness

and the world’s deep hunger” - Fredrick Buechner

Descartes gave us the axiom, “I think therefore I am”, and Galileo told us that feelings, intuition, and sensory experiences such as pleasure, pain were “secondary qualities”, whereas “primary qualities” were the quantifiable aspects such as “mass, position, velocity, and momentum”.66 I feel it absurd that thought, and particularly rational thought, is acclaimed of greater importance than other ways of knowing. In many cultural traditions, including Native American, Chinese and Indian medicine thought is connected to the element air. In a metaphorical sense it is as if modern society seeks to ground herself through the element of air, whereas it might have been more reasonable to seek grounding through our senses which are seen as connected to earth. Bohm points out that thought has become indispensable as we cling to what we know and object to the unknown. He says, “we are irrational because we have given thought supreme importance.”67 He concludes, “Thinking is the movement of memory, which is experienced, knowledge store in the brain.”68 Parallel to this, Tolle argue that we are addicted to thinking because we are identified with it. We derive our sense of self from the context and activity of our minds. Somehow we seem to believe that we would cease to exist if we stopped thinking.69

Different ways of Knowing Jung did groundbreaking work articulating the innate ability of human beings to gain knowledge in different ways. As a psychotherapist, Jung recognised that too much thinking was frequently what brought his patients into trouble. He often encouraged his patients to engage in drawing, and saw that many of them drew mandalas. Mandala comes from Sanskrit, and means circle. In Tibetan Buddhist tradition a mandala is a round object used in meditation practice. Jung explored these further using mandalas to foster insight and access his patients’ expressions of archetypes.70 He also began to draw mandalas himself, and became aware that in order to understand or gain new insight, humans need to access: emotions, senses, the intuitive and thought. If one of these four significantly overshadow the others, psychological imbalance and illness can develop. Thus, Jungs mandala is a good illustration of how holistic ‘being’ requires holistic knowing, thus the need for seeking insight and challenging our perception in different ways.71 Otto Scharmer says, “At the root of the ecological divide is the separation between the senses and the self.” He is referring to the aesthetics dimension of the ecological crisis. Scharmer notes, “The term “aesthetics” comes from the Greek word aistesis, “sensual sensing”; it means activating all our senses. Unless we rediscover our senses as gateways to the living field around us, we will never resolve the environmental crisis”. Scharmer concludes, “Just as the social divide reflects the loss of the other on an

66 Reason, P. & Goodwin, B. (1999) Towards a Science of Qualities in Organisations – lessons from complexity theory and post-modern biology. Concepts and Transformation 4:3, 1999. pp 281 – 317 John Benjamins Publishing Co p. 291 & 67 Krishnamurti, J & Bohm, D. (1985) The ending of time – Thirteen Dialogues Between Krishnamurti & Bohm. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. p. 62 68 Ibid. p. 67 69 Tolle, E. (1999) The Power of Now – a guide to spiritual enlightenment. New World Library. Novato: California p.18 70 Bierman, H (1992) Symbol Leksikon (Original title: Knaurs Lexikon der Symbole Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th.Knaur Nachfolger, Munchen 1989) Oslo: J.W. Cappelen Forlag A.S. 71 Harding, S (2006) Animate Earth – Science, Intuition & Gaia. Dartington: Greenbooks

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interpersonal level, the ecological crisis reflects the loss of the senses as gateways into the living fields of nature. People often fill the void left by the loss of the senses with consumption – which in turn deepens the exterior manifestation of the ecological crisis”.72 With the figure below, I wish to bring attention to four equally important ways of knowing, at the same time as pointing out the essence of holistic science; namely that the part is a manifestation of the whole, whilst the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.73 I consider we can only embrace this fully in our lives by accessing the four ways of knowing. Marion Woodman promotes this approach in the training courses offered by her foundation (Box 1).

Perception & Cognition Perception and cognition determine how we understand and experience the world around us, and are essential premises for creativity. I believe many of us think of consciousness as the quality of cognition held by an individual. However, consciousness comes from the Latin root con-sire which means knowing together, hence consciousness is first and foremost a social phenomenon.74 I consider consciousness to be the product of individual cognition, which is interpretation and construal nourished by perception. Gregory Batson noted that a man could see several bats in an inkblot “if he is bat mined”.75 Hence, we see the world by interpreting. Our perception and interpretation of the world might be wrong, but we will nevertheless experience what we perceive as real, and in turn this will have an effect on the world we are living in. Patrick Harper says; “our primary mode or perception is imaginative. We simultaneously see and transform the world.”76 Abram says, “perception is a direct exchange between the organism and its world”. He contends that the Gaia hypothesis demands a type of sensing which goes beyond perception of the physical and the Cartesian epistemology. Abram notes, “perception is simply the communion and deep communication between our organic intelligence and the creativity [of the living biosphere] that surround us”.77 William Blake says, “We are lead to believe a lie, when we see with and not through the eye.”78 Chopra consider that our understanding of the world around us is limited by our perception, and as a result we

72 Scharmer, O. C. (2007) Theory-U: Leading from the future as it emerges – the social technology of presencing. Cambridge: Massachusetts. p. 100 73 Bortoft, H. (1996) The Wholeness of nature. Goethe’s Way of Science. Barrington: Lindisfarne Press 74 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo. p. 283 75 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press. p. 69. 76 Harper, P. (1994) Daimonic Reality – A fieldguide to the otherworld. Ravensdale; Pine Winds Press p. 88 77 Abram, D. (n.a.) The Perceptual Implications of Gaia. pp. 85 & 89 78 As quoted by Chopra, D (2005) Schumacher Lecture. Captain Productions

Box 1 Marion Woodman Foundation The foundation contends, “Psyche and some are inseparable, and must be worked on together to become conscious.” The foundation offers a range of programmes seeking embodiment of soul, and draws on C.G. Jung understanding of the psyche, whilst working with dreams and acknowledging on the wisdom of the body. Woodman has been a pioneer in working to awaken the feminine consciousness. The work incorporate exploration of “dreams, movement, voice, masks, paining, general creative expression and ritual.”

- Source: http://www.mwoodmanfoundation.org/ Figure 3. Holistic Science

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create our realities through what we perceive to be true. During a presentation at Schumacher a few years ago, Chopra said, “the world exists in us, we do not exist in the world. We manufacture our lives; it is all about perception, how we see and how we choose to see. Creativity is dreams and we are dreams, we are stardust!”79 I conclude with Goethe, Jung, Abram and Chopra that the world is a discontinuity, experienced and continuously unfolding through the senses.

To Live is to Know The Santiago theory of cognition developed by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela argues that the ‘knower’ is an active and integrated part of the world, they conclude that “to live is to know”.80 Like Chopra suggested, they consider we condition the world through our existence as we also are shaped by the world, but they take this further with the concept of ‘autopoesis’, the essence of the Santiago theory.81 Autopoesis refers to self-creation, a form of cognition that brings forth the world. The Santiago theory suggests, “Living systems are cognitive systems, and living as a process is a process of cognition. This statement is valid for all organisms, with or without a nervous system”.82 Maturana says; “cognition is not a representation of an independently existing world, but rather a continual bringing forth of a world through the process of living”.83 I consider that Maturana and Varelas’ concept of autopoesis has parallels to Goethe’s notion of an ‘urphenomenon’, which is as we saw, internally motivated by a longing for self-realisation continuously bringing forth the phenomenon of the living organism through the process of living.

A New Kind of Science Russian born Physicist, Ilya Prigogine formulated the theory of dissipative structures that addresses the dynamics of self-organisation. His theory shows that feedback loops are an essential dynamics for all living organisms. Feedback loops may lead to instabilities in which self-amplifying feedback give rise to new structures and emergent dynamics of ever-increasing complexity that in some miraculous way brings order out of chaos.84 Prigogine talked about chemical reactions, but his findings have been important in generating understanding of self-organisation and the relationship between order and chaos in other disciplines. Many consider that the work of Ilya Prigogine provides a bridge between natural and social sciences.85 Capra notes, “His vision was the coexistence of structure and change, of stillness and motion”. He quotes Prigogine:

“Every great period of science has led to some model of nature. For classical science it was the clock; for nineteenth-century science, the period of the industrial revolution, it was the engine running down.

What will be the symbol for us? What we have in mind may perhaps be expressed by a reference to sculpture, from Indian or pre-Columbian art to our time. In some of the most beautiful manifestation of

sculpture, be it the dancing Shiva or in the miniature temples of Guerrero, there appears very clearly the search for a junction between stillness and motion, time arrested and time passing. We believe that

this confrontation will give our period its uniqueness.”86

79 Chopra, D (2005) Schumacher Lecture. Captain Productions 80 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo p 260 81 Maturana H. & Varela F. (1987) The tree of Knowledge: Biological Toots of Human Understanding. London: Shambhala Publications, Inc. 82 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo p. 262 83 As quoted in Premauer Marroquin, J.M. (2004) Goethean Science and Drawing as means of connecting the self to the world. Dissertation submitted for MSc in Holistic Science. Schumacher College 84 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo. 179 85 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prigogine 86 As quoted in Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo. p. 175

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As Prigogine pointed out, life cannot exist on dynamic quality alone, it has no staying power and it would mean utter chaos. Static patterns on the other hand can be paralysing, and lifeless. In Ilya Robet Prisig points out, “Dynamic Quality, the quality of freedom, creates the world in which we live, these patterns of static quality, the quality of order, preserve our world. Neither static nor dynamic quality can survive without the other.”87 Nature is self-organising, only humans seem to live with the illusion of being able to impose structure and control. As pointed to above, each system is a whole, as well as part of the whole. Or as Arthur Koshler would say, ‘every system is a ‘holon’ - that is, it is both a whole and its own right comprised of subsystems, and simultaneously an integral part of a larger system. Thus ‘holons’ form ‘nested hierarchies’, systems within systems, circuits within circuits, fields within fields”.88 Open system self-stabilise and self-regulate by way of a continual flow of matter, energy and information. They evolve in complexity as they may evolve, adapt, fall apart and reorganise themselves. This is creativity played out in natural systems, emerging from a chaotic reality, and a function of feedback guiding relationships, which is how life on earth has evolved, ever changing and self-organising by way of emergence.89 Gaia theory has been important in helping us to understand the underpinning dynamics of feedbacks in complex systems.

Gaia Theory The Gaia Theory was developed by James Lovelock. It presents Gaia, Planet Earth, as a self-bounded, self-generating and self-perpetuating system. It is autopoetic. And with this, Lovelock has shown that self-organisation is a property of the biosphere. Gaia Theory is founded on complexity, and suggests that it might be more effective to look at the context of a problem rather than the problem itself. This is the only way we can understand the dynamics of phenomenon.90 Tickell reminds us that already by 1785 within the Western tradition, a Geologist James Hutton already had written about the Earth as a self-regulating system. Around the turn of last century the Russian physicist “Vladimir Vernandsky saw the functioning of the biosphere as a geological force, moving, processing and recycling billions of tons of surface materials every year.”91 Finally, James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis developed the Gaia Hypothesis addressing the Earth as a self-regulating living organism. The author William Golding suggested it be called Gaia, named after the Greek goddess of the earth.92 Acceptance of the Gaia hypothesis and later Gaia Theory, represented a fundamentally new paradigm and different approach to understanding the complexities of Planet Earth that puts reductionist science to the test. As a consequence there may be an imminent shift in scientific paradigm underway, challenging values as well as perceptions.93 Abram speaks to this shift in perception promoted by the Gaia Hypothesis, stating, “The entire range of living matter on Earth, from whales to viruses, and from oaks to algae, could be regarded as constituting a single living entity, capable of manipulating the Earth’s atmosphere to suit its overall needs and endowed with faculties and powers far beyond those of its constituent parts.”94

87 Prisig, R.M. (1991) Lila – An Inquiry into Morals. London: Black Swan p. 146 88 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press.p. 42 & Bortoft, H. (1996) The Wholeness of nature. Goethe’s Way of Science. Barrington: Lindisfarne Press 89 Harding & Goodwin, Authors’ notes from lectures Schumacher College 2006 - 2007 90 Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers 91 Tickell, C. (2007) The Human Impact. Resurgence No 243 July/August 2007 pp. 20-21 92 Harding, S (2006) Animate Earth – Science, Intuition & Gaia. Dartington: Greenbooks 93 Ibid. 94 As quoted in Abram, D. (n.a.) The Perceptual Implications of Gaia p. 75

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Launching into the Edge of Chaos

Chaos, Eros & Gaia In Greek mythology, Chaos was considered the source of creation and creativity. Dimitriov says, “from this space the universe was born.”95 Hesiod speaks to the Orphic trinity of Chaos, Gaia and Eros. Chaos represents the cosmic source of initiative and new life that keeps us alert and ready to act. Gaia is matter, the form of the universe and living sprit of the physical world. Finally, Eros represents the creative impulse, relationship and the spiritual medium connecting Chaos and Gaia.96 This trinity illustrates both emergent and transformational qualities reflected in the web of relationships and networks that influence and bring about the movement within and through living organisms. Anima Mundi – or the soul of the world, is the ancient Greeks’ name for Gaia. Harding quotes Plato noting: “This world is indeed a living being supplied with soul and intelligence… a single visible entity, containing all other living entities.” Harding says that for the Ancient Greeks, “Anima Mundi was feminine, and permeated every aspect of the material universe.”97 In our modern fast paced lifestyles focusing on quantities we seem to have lost a sense of the soul of the world. By bringing our attention into reconnecting with the creativity in nature around us, we may also reconnect with the soul of the world. Goodwin concludes, “with the convergence of nature and culture in biology we may be seeing a return of the soul of the world through living nature, and form as an expression of Eros, of creative relationships.”98 Briggs and Peat note, “Making a pact with chaos gives us the possibility of living not as controllers of nature but as creative participators.”99 However, chaos is in every sense a double edge sword. Chaos is the change-maker that brings us creativity, but also exposes us to qualities of the troubling trickster. Chaos is a destroyer and creator, a shaman and a wizard. “He is Hermes the shape-shifter, Prometheus the fire bringer, Dionysus the God of intoxication and destruction.”100 We may need courage as well as faith to engage fully with the mist of this source of life and creativity.

Chaos Theory of Wholeness French physicist and philosopher Jules-Henri Poincaré is a key theorist who has developed the chaos theory of wholeness. He made his scientific discoveries at the end of the 19th century in a quest to make the mechanistic approach more comprehensive. Poincaré conceptualised the difference between chaotic wholeness (i.e. a weather system) and symbolic wholeness (i.e. the ying-yang symbol). But it was only in 1964 when the meteorologist Edward Lorenz managed to map the chaotic patterns of weather in the so-called Lorenz attractor that the chaos theory gained widespread interest.101 Lorenz identified the concept of a strange attractor, cause unpredictability within a system, and the root of creativity. Based on his findings, Lorenz asserted “..that small changes in the initial conditions can lead to unpredictable consequences even though everything in the system is causally connected in a perfectly deterministic way.” He went further with a now famous metaphor that “a butterfly flapping its wings in Iowa [can] lead, via the strange dynamics of the weather, to a typhoon in Indonesia.”102 Hence it is impossible to predict the consequences of a small disturbance which is a signature of

95 Dimitrow, V. www.zulenet.com/vladimirdimitrow/pages/complexthink.htm (Search March 2007) 96 Abraham, R. H. (1994) Chaos, Gaia & Eros – A Chaos Pioneer Uncovers the Three Great Streams of history. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 2 97 Harding, S. (2006) Animate Earth. Dartington: Green Books. p. 24 98 Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books 99 Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 8 100 Ibid pp. 9 - 10 101 Ibid. pp.150 – 157 102 Reason, P. & Goodwin, B. (1999) Towards a Science of Qualities in Organisations – lessons from complexity theory and post-modern biology. John Benjamins Publishing Co. Concepts and Transformation 4:3, 1999. pp 283

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deterministic chaos. Lorenz looked at weather patterns, but as we know, most natural processes are at least as complex as the weather, and life itself is fundamentally unpredictable.103 I conclude that the Lorenz attractor makes it perceptible that every individual has a distinguished and potentially enormous influence in the entangled feedback loops of life. Peat & Briggs notes, “although we may not have power of controller in the traditional sense, we all possess the ‘butterfly power’ of subtle influence”.104 Chaos addresses systems in transformation. These are identified as “bifurcation points” or points of departure. Changes are amplified through feedback loops, which may link with other fluctuations until they interconnect and create.105 Negative feedback loops resist change where as positive feedback loops promote change.106 When several positive feedback loops couple together this can have unimaginable effects on the environment and can manifest in the so-called ‘butterfly effect’ where a butterfly flapping its wings can effectuate a tornado at the other side of the world. This is also a real challenge with climate change, we do not know at what point or in what way positive feedback loops may couple and manifest in disastrous consequences. Coupling of feedback loops of weather patterns is an example of self-organising chaotic systems. The creative expression that rises from chaos emerges into form is a dynamic we can see both in nature and when people work together. Interestingly, it seems chaos calls for stillness and periods of incubation to muster energy for strange attractors and creative movement through self-organisation and new ideas. We can learn a lot about the fluctuating pulses of chaos by looking to the patterns of living systems around us. Examples of such patterns are a forest, an ant colony, or closer to home, the dynamic character of our bodies. It is important to see them as dynamic patterns and not to try to capture a snapshot of them, or merely treat them as objects of study. These patterns are evolving subjects.107 The Psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski called chaos ‘positive disintegration’, equating this process to dying, whereas Erwin Laszlo calls it ‘exploratory self-reorganisation’.108 Chaos is not only about unpredictability and possibility, but also about paradoxes and ambiguity. It seems our main responsibility is simply to accept these open gaps and not to seek order and predictability in what cannot be controlled. In this way chaos can be the best teacher in letting go; accepting that what is or will be, simply is, even if we cannot understand it. We will never know everything, and the missing hole will always be a missing piece of information. Briggs and Peat say,

“Chaos theory teaches us that we are always a part of the problem and that particular tensions and dislocations always unfold from the entire system rather than from some defective “part”. Envisioning

an issue as a purely mechanical problem to be solved may bring temporary relief of symptoms, but chaos suggest that in the long run it could be more effective to look at the overall context in which a

particular problem manifest itself.”109 Chaos teaches us to let go, to accept limits and to celebrate the mystery and magic of emergent properties and synergies and synchronicities that manifest themselves through relationships. This calls for faith and hope to remain grounded. I contend that, life is chaos, chaos is nature, and the order of the universe is chaos. The best we can do is to learn to go with the “flow” so the speak, is to accept 103 Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, pp. 31 – 34 104 Ibid. pp. 37 & 161 105 Ibid. p. 14-15 106 Harding, S. Lectures Schumacher College, October 2006 107 Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books 108 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press. p. 45. 109 Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 161

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that change is inevitable as it is the only thing we know for sure will happen. Our biggest mistake is therefore to hold on to an idea of a determinable predictable future instead of learning to live in harmony with an emergent future.

Organisations as Complex Adaptive Systems The best in art and life comes from a centre something urgent and powerful

an ideal or emotion that insists on its being. From that instance a shape emerges and creates its structure out of passion.

If you begin with a structure, you have to make up the passion, and that is very hard to do. - Roger Rosenblatt & adopted by Meg Wheatley

In organisations there is normally a framework of order for how people work and operate. However, obviously no day is the same due to fluctuations for the individual, external influences, even the weather may affect the workings of a day. Stacey and Shaw contend complexity theory is relevant for organisations as they are “non-linear, network feedback systems and it therefore follows logically the fundamental properties of such systems should apply to organisations.”110 More specifically, they label organisations as complex adaptive systems. Pascale et. al. note, “A complex adaptive system is formally defined as a system of interdependent agents that act in parallel, develop “models” as to how things work in their environment, and most importantly, refined those models though learning and adaptation.”111

Box 2. “The Complexity and Management Centre at the Business School of the University of Hertfordshire was set up in 1995 to create links between academic work and organizational practice using a complexity perspective, in which the inevitable paradoxes and ambiguities of organizational life are not finally resolved but held in creative tension.” Patricia Shaw, Douglas Griffin & Ralph Stacey have published several books on the topic of complexity theory and emergence within organisations.112 They bring attention to how individuals in an organisation or a team cope with the reality of uncertainty and emergent processes as they create futures together. They take a participatory approach where dialogues, role-play and action enquiry are some approaches propagated in the work of the centre.113 The Pari Center for New Learning is Directed by F. David Peat, and is dedicated to the principle of “spirit of place”, seeking to foster an interdisciplinary approach linking science, the arts, ethics and spirituality to place. The Pari Centre takes an approach of simplicity and “gentle action” which means to allow an action to flow “from the whole of a situation rather than being imposed from outside”. Pari looks at natural systems, organisations and social dynamics, “through the lenses of chaos and complexity theory”, to promote a recognition of how control futile as there will always be missing information which inhibits the predictability often looked for by organizations and policies.114

110 The Complexity and Management Centre at the Business School of the University of Hertfordshire http://perseus.herts.ac.uk/uhinfo/prospectus/faculty_bs/uhbs/research/complexity-and-management-centre/complexity-and-management-centre_home.cfm 111 Pascale, R.T. et. al. (2000) Surfing the Edge of Chaos – The laws of nature and the laws of business. New York: Three Rivers Press p. 5 112 The Complexity and Management Centre at the Business School of the University of Hertfordshire http://perseus.herts.ac.uk/uhinfo/prospectus/faculty_bs/uhbs/research/complexity-and-management-centre/complexity-and-management-centre_home.cfm 113 Stacey, R, Griffin, D. & Shaw, P. (2000) Complexity and Management: Fad or radical challenge to systems thinking?, London: Routledge 114 Pari Center http://www.paricenter.com/center/ & www.fdavidpeat.com

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Complexity theory is based on the notion that everything is related to everything else. Nature is understood as a complex network of nested systems in which humans play an integral part of the whole. The relationship between the parts and the whole is a dynamic and ever-changing process. As discussed above, it is impossible to predict the behaviour of complex systems, but we may identify dominant patterns within the dynamic relation between the parts, and between the parts and the whole. Complex systems, such as a healthy organisation, apply a holistic process in their work and have a richness of interconnections that gives rise to unpredictability and physical intricacy.115 The Lorenz attractor illustrates the natural process of creativity by showing how complex system is an iterative process wherein the consequences of the ever changing convergent and divergent patterns emerge, leading to fluctuations between order and chaos giving rise to dynamism, conversation, movement and engagement.116 Scholars in creativity, such as de Bono, Amabile and Michalko, have explored this process, though using a very different language. A core aspect of creativity is to move from prediction to exploration. Experience has taught us that prediction is unreliable within a complex system, but we may work with the forces of the system to move towards desirable emergent futures. Emergence is an underlying dynamics of iteration that facilitates co-creation. It is as if the whole reveals it self and continuously unfolds through a process of self-differencing117 wherein the system or organism changes in order to remain itself.118

Peak performance at the Edge of Chaos

Order and chaos live together, and are in optimal harmony at the edge of chaos. It is also here that chaos dissolves order and unpredictability is at its greatest giving rise to creativity and emergent change. Goodwin notes that life itself is at its most creative and dynamic at this edge.119 The edge of chaos is a state with just enough order to give rise to patterns, but not so much as to slow their adaptation and learning. Dimitrow says, “chaos involves all the spectrum of potential dynamic orders that might emerge; therefore, it is opposite to disorder. Chaotic dynamics of life’s manifestation are impregnated with creativity. To ‘improve’ or ‘fix’ chaos, with an absurd intent to turn it into order, means to eradicate its creative potential and thus kill the life.120” Evolutionary Biologist Stuart Kauffman tested the dynamics of autopoetic networks of living organisms and came to the conclusion that the optimum stage for the unfolding of life was at the edge of chaos because the chaotic regime brings too much instability, and in the regime of order there would be too little activity. Capra notes, “Kauffman’s central hypothesis is that living systems exists in that boundary region near the ‘edge of chaos’… because these may be best able to coordinate complex and flexible behaviour, best able to adapt and evolve.”121

Based on the above arguments it seems that a very good strategy for organisations to aim for is performance and operation at the edge of chaos that gives rise to changing yet adaptive patterns of behaviour. Goodwin and Reason speaks to this notion, and argue that edge of chaos can help an 115 Reason, P. & Goodwin, B. (1999) Towards a Science of Qualities in Organisations – lessons from complexity theory and post-modern biology. Concepts and Transformation 4:3, 1999. pp 281 – 317 John Benjamins Publishing Co. p. 287 116 Ibid. p. 288 117 Self-differencing is a terms used by Henry Bortoft to describe the process of an organism is a state of constant emergence and change in order to remain itself. This can be exemplified with the continuous process of cell division, growth and death in our bodies in order for our organism to remain intact and itself. Bortoft, H. Authors’ note from lectures Schumacher College, Autumn 2006. 118 Bortoft, H. Authors’ note from lectures Schumacher College, Autumn 2006. 119 Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books 120 Dimitrow, V. www.zulenet.com/vladimirdimitrow/pages/complexthink.htm 121 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo. p. 198

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organisation realise its inherent strength by unlashing creative potential, whilst its individuals and teams learn to be active participants in an unpredictable world. 122 Goodwin and Reason put forward six principles of complex emergent wholes applied to social and organisational life. The culmination of the principles is that complex adaptive systems are emergent and self-organising, ever changing in synchronicity with time and space. 123 Contrary to a common desire for equilibrium in our society, a state of equilibrium is not a favoured quality for a complex adaptive system as it means reduced resilience to change. On the contrary, the optimal for creative adaptation and development is the edge of chaos from where the emergent and self-organising qualities evolve.124 These principles are fundamental to understand and construct a creative process. By recognising the nature of complex systems we will be better equipped to face the social and organisational challenges presented to us, such as climate change and environmental degradation. The caveat is that the greatest challenge is to change the way we think in order to holistically understand these complex systems. With the approaches suggested in chapter 4, I wish to help foster dynamic situations for individuals within groups that generate acceptance to working towards and at this edge of chaos. This requires resilience, flexibility and not the least, an open heart.

A Chaordic Reality Stacy and Shaw have done pioneering work looking at organisations as complex adaptive systems. They have identified three broad types of organisational behaviour; stable equilibrium, unstable behaviour, and bounded instability. The systems correspond with the phases of chaos, chaord and control. The term Chaord125 is a combination of the words order and chaos representing a state of self-organisation, adaptive and emergent properties within a given framework. I see it as equivalent to the edge of chaos, in other words the phase where chaos and order meet, bringing about original and potentially constructive dynamics and synergies. A stable equilibrium is often experienced as rigid and paralysing for employees, as they commonly find they have little room for taking initiative. Organisations of order may function, but are rarely thriving. On the flipside, many organisational cultures may find this dynamic compelling as it follows old school management style and is perceived as safe and predictable. However, when change happens in such systems it is experienced as highly disruptive, and what is more, change will commonly be prompted from the outside. On the other end of the spectrum, unstable behaviour may play out as chaotic and destabilising for employees. Many may experience great levels of anxiety and conflict is more likely to erupt. Escalation of unstable behaviour may be subject to further bifurcation as a consequence of emergent shadow structures and anarchic behaviour.126 Internal change occurs continuously in systems of unstable behaviour. Nevertheless change imposed from the outside may be experienced as troublesome, and may cause breakdown as the system is already saturated with fluctuations from within. Finally, a system of bounded instability is to be found in the chaordic spectrum. Goodwin and Reason along with Stacey, Shaw and Wheatley speak to how the combination of the qualities of chaos and order brings about optimal conditions for a dynamic system in which there is space for employees

122 Reason, P. & Goodwin, B. (1999) Towards a Science of Qualities in Organisations – lessons from complexity theory and post-modern biology. Concepts and Transformation 4:3, 1999. pp 281 – 317 John Benjamins Publishing Co. 123 Ibid. 124 Pascale, R.T. et. al. (2000) Surfing the Edge of Chaos – The laws of nature and the laws of business. New York: Three Rivers Press p. 5 125 Chaord & Chaordic are registered trademarks of The Chaordic Commons. http://www.chaordic.org/legal.html 126 I.e. subgroups, in society this may be expressed as emergence of an underground culture or a black marked economy

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to take initiative. This system is flexible within, yet bounded in quality, thus giving the basis for a nurturing and creative milieu. The internal dynamic quality of the system also makes it adaptable and receptive to change both from within as well as to change prompted from outside.127 I contend that bounded instability gives the optimal conditions for organisations to work in accordance with a vision and dynamics of the future as it emerges.128

I consider that a chaordic state is a state of bounded instability which is highly conducive to creativity and innovation in that it gives room for ideation and new patters yet provides a firm frame of reference for the innovation process. Organisational change experts such as Margaret Wheatly, Peter Senge and Otto Scharmer speaks to application of complexity and chaos though self-organisation, autocatalytic and non-linear adaptive systems as the dominant approaches in change management for a more sustainable future. They voice that systems of bounded instability arise and thrive at the edge of chaos.129

127 Reason, P. & Goodwin, B. (1999), Wheatly, M. J. (2005) Finding our Way - leadership for an uncertain time. San Fransisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 128 Scharmer, O. C. (2007) Theory-U: Leading from the future as it emerges – the social technology of presencing. Cambridge: Massachusetts. p. 100 129 Wheatly, M. J.(2005) Finding our Way - leadership for an uncertain time. San Fransisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. & Stacey, R, Griffin & Shaw (2000) Complexity and Management: Fad or radical challenge to systems thinking?, London: Routledge

© Charodic Commons

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Box 3. Examples of Chaordic Network Organisations The organization the Chaordic Commons seeks to work with and foster application of new concepts of organization that result in “more equitable sharing of power and wealth, improved health, and greater compatibility with the human spirit and biosphere.” This is a web based chaordic membership based voluntary capacity building network organization promoting new ways of thinking, leading transformative organizational or institutional change, learning and action.130 Peter Senge is the founding chairman of the Society for Organisational Learning (SoL). A non-for profit, intentional learning community and member-governed society composed of organisations, individuals, and local SoL communities around the world. SoL aim to serve as a space in which “individuals and institutions can create together that which they cannot create alone.”131 Otto Scharmer, the man who articulated the U-Theory, is one of the academic beacons of SoL. Pioneers of Change seeks to foster “understanding, capacities and relationships needed by younger practitioners committed to stepping forward and creating the change they want to see in the world.” The core principles of Pioneers are: “Be yourself, Do what Matters, Start now, Engage with others, Never stop asking questions.”132

The analysis above point to the benefits for an organisation in drawing on the dynamics of the edge of chaos to optimise resilience to change and harness creative potential. In the practical component of this dissertation I seek to promote experiential knowledge of how creativity is born from chaos, thus aiming to bring a group to the edge of chaos without moving too far into the realm of the chaotic.

Networks for Change Margaret Wheatly speaks to the need for working with networks within and between communities to bring about change.133 Formentini looks at signals of change highlighting a trend of moving from an individually focused society to one of community.134 She contends that this may translate into stronger networks, and improved ability to cooperate to bring about sustainable solutions, describing a way of working that is not unlike the dynamics that can be witnessed for the emerging transition town movement in the UK.135 This is about collective creativity, energised by the insight of individuals. Bottom up, network-based approaches seem to have the ability to mobilise for significant flow of ideas and processes. According to the Catalan sociologist Castelles, the network is the most ancient form of social organisations. He suggests they are structures without a centre, connected and interrelated, yet each aspect is a flexible in relation to and autonomous of network. The emergence of networks as a construct of society has been reinforced by new information and communication technologies, and is now a crucial element in modern-day social structures.136 Capra asserts that networks “have become one of the most prominent social phenomena of our time… and a critical source of power”.137 The kind of globalisation we have seen in the past decades is closely linked with the rise of the network 130 Chaordic Commons http://www.chaordic.org/ 131 Society for Organisational Learning http://www.solonline.org/ 132 Pioneers of Change http://pioneersofchange.net/ 133 Wheatly, M. J. (2005) Finding our Way - leadership for an uncertain time. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 134 Formentini, A. (2005) Signal of Change in the Transition towards sustainability – bottom-up innovation cases for the creative society. PhD Industrial Design and Mulitmedia Communication. Politechnico di Milano. INDACO Department 135 Transition Network (2007) Transition Initiatives in the UK and Ireland - becoming a Transition Town / City / District / Village / Community & www.transitiontowns.org, www.transitionculture.org, www.carbonrationing.org.uk, www.cred-uk.org 136 Castelles, M. (1996) The rise of the network society. Oxford: Blackwell 137 Carpa, F. (2002) The Hidden Connections. A Science for sustainable living. London: Harper Collins.

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society. Cyberspace is used to generate and diffuse information and brings people together independent of geography and culture. Networks can be a powerful way to structure and organise society and cooperation, but should not be mistaken for the energy or the motivation that can drive a process forward. I conclude, networks are simply a construct or dynamic that can foster outreach, involvement and mobilise action, but they are not in themselves the action. I have included a few examples of interesting network-supporting organisations that aim to support community action for a more sustainable future (Box 4.) Box 4. Margaret Wheatly co-funded the Berkana Institute, which endeavour to connect and support leaders around the world to enhance emergence of nurturing networks to strengthen communities by “working with the wisdom and wealth already present in its people, traditions and environment.” The Berkana institute organises so-called learning journeys where the objective is to be immersed different learning context to enable lateral and radically different thinking patterns. The idea is to enable a deep questioning of prevailing worldviews and to encourage virtuous cycles of innovation by bringing attention to how pioneering leaders and communities are already creating the change they wish to see in the world.138 The Pachamama Alliance is inspired by the way of life and wisdom of indigenous people of South America, work with the notion that our modern worldview is a "dream" and have urged us, for the sake of all life, to "change the dream of the North." They seek to facilitate this change through symposiums and training efforts of individuals to become change agents to “awake the dreamer”.139 The UK organization Be The Change in the UK works with the alliance and promotes a similar mindset yet injecting more of the European ethos. Both initiatives seek to prompt change for a more sustainable future through creativity, dialogue and individual initiative.140 The Shambhala Institute is an international network of people, projects, and programs actively engaged in the organizational and societal challenges of our time. The Institute seeks to foster movement and activity towards more enlightened communities to facilitate a more sustainable future. They do this by creating powerful environments of learning, dialogue, practice, and community.141

Creativity for a Desirable Future "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond

measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your

playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to

make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are

liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

As discussed above, Greek mythology sees creativity as a child of chaos, as an emergent property of adapting and responding to unpredictability and change.142 Dimitrow equate the creative process to coming out of a silent emptiness similar to that of being in the eye of a tornado;

138 Berkana Institute http://www.berkana.org/ 139 Pachamama Alliance http://www.pachamama.org/ 140 Be the Change http://www.bethechange.org.uk/ 141 http://www.shambhalainstitute.org/about.html 142 Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books

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“at the core of our inspired wholeness; it has spontaneity and power.”… “It is like leaving ourselves in the hands of the existence, in the hands of the unlimited self-organising impetus, which finds and

expression through our skills, through our emotions, intelligence and spirit. As if our bodies cease to be only ours. As if our feelings and thoughts start to resonate with a rhythm different than the rhythm

of the everyday life, and our whole nature begins to follow what the existence ‘longs’ for, and to transform, almost unnoticeably, into a silent watcher of our own unfurling creativity.”143

The Indian concept of Maya is about the ‘magic of creative power’ by which the world is created in the divine play of Brahman. They myriad of forms which we can see are brought into being, Capra says “by the divine actor and magician, and the dynamic force of the play is karma, which literally means action.”144 The psychiatrist David Schainberg point out that mental illness occurs when the self becomes to rigid and without the ability to respond creatively to the world. 145 Whereas Margaret Wheatly concludes, “You cannot be creative if you refuse to be confused”.146 Briggs and Peat summarise the about the inhibitions many of us experience with regards to expressing our creativity, and point to the connection with chaos theory;

“We lose it in our obsessions with control and power; in our fear of mistakes; in the constricted grip of our egos; in our fetish with remaining with within comfort zones; in our continuous pursuit of repetitive or merely stimulating pressure; in our restricting our lives to the containers of what other people think;

in our adherence to the apparent safety of closed orders; and in our deep-seated belief that the individual exist in an irreducible opposition to others and the world ‘outside’ of self”… “Chaos theory

teaches that when our psychological perspective shifts - through moments of amplification and bifurcation – our degrees of freedom expand and we experience being and truth. We are then creative.

And our true self lies there.”147 Receptiveness to change requires faith in creativity and an ability to trust the unspoken through intuition, senses and feelings. These elements are the key means of expression to ride the wave of transformation and gain lessons in life from the future as it emerges. The creative process is a process of surrender; it starts in darkness, and pulses gradually in leaps from there. Creativity is fused by the magic of emergence. It is about allowing for something to come into being of its own accord: a blink within time, when something new comes into view. We do not know whether it was there before and we just did not pay attention, or whether it arose from anew. But we do know that the new is undeniably there, perhaps fragile, maybe strong, nevertheless unquestionably present. Joseph Campbell summarises, “follow your bliss and doors will open where there were no doors before.”148 Some contend that creativity flourishes with freedom of constraints from experience and expertise because experts often have preconceived notions of boundaries, procedures and possibilities. Henceforth, processes that requires creative input may benefit from participation from non-experts and individuals who have no former experience in the given area. This view promotes the idea of work-swap and co-creation with multidisciplinary project teams. Creativity demands non-judgement and acceptance of mistakes. Allowing events to unfold, whilst letting go of control and preconceived ideas of direction

143 Dimitrow, V. www.zulenet.com/vladimirdimitrow/pages/complexthink.htm 144 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Framingo. p. 283 145 Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 29 146 Margaret Wheatly www.megwheatly.com 147 Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 29 148 As quoted in Cameron, J (1994) The Artist’s Way – a course in discovering and recovering your creative self. London: Pan Macmillan Ltd. p. 194.

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and course of action.149 Following on from this, ambiguity is an essential aspect of the creative process as it leaves us open to different interpretations helping us to not get stuck in any one pattern of approaches.150 Krishnamurti and Chopra conclude that creativity comes from uncertainty. Chopra contend that the more we do not know, the more creative we are. As we are living in highly uncertain times we can only hope this will spur infuse of collective creativity.151

Creativity as a Concept “A remarkable gift, creativity. No other aspect of the human psyche is so powerful. It can exist unused

for many years and then, with the right encouragement, creativity can be expressed, improving our lives and the lives of everyone around us.”

– Diane Elsy Creativity is something novel that has a potential to become useful. I am interested in the process to facilitate creativity, and not the notion of creativity as such. I believe that individual and group creativity can be triggered and expressed in myriads of ways. Thus, to me creativity is not about artistic expression or work, but about the ability to manifest a novel idea or process, whereas innovation is about bringing this expression into being. In a developmental view, creativity is commonly defined as ideas that are novel and have potential value. De Bono affirms that constructive creative ideas are those that are logical in hindsight. Creativity plays an important role in the collection of information, forming a hypothesis, developing new ideas, and in building on initial proposals. De Bono says that “at the simplest level ‘creative’ means bringing into being something that was not there before”.152 Amabile suggests that in business “to be creative, an idea must also be appropriate and actionable”, thus “creative thinking refers to how people approach problems and solutions – their capacity to put existing ideas together in new combinations”.153 Building on this, Frans Johansson assert, “creative ideas are new… [and] valuable”, and that “innovative ideas are realized”.154 Csikszentmihalyi sees a close relationship between vision and creativity. He proposes that creativity is “the process by which new objects and new ways of doing things come into being”.155 Indeed, vision is a key motivating factor for creativity, and is paramount in working towards a more sustainable future. Creative achievements seem to be connected with having a vision, which may be impelled by, as Amabile emphasises, the intrinsic motivation of individuals.156 Rickards point out that intrinsic motivation is often enforced through extrinsic motivation fostered by way of creative leadership.157 I consider that a vision that prompts creative ideas promotes flow. Csikszentmihalyi notes “flow occurs

149 De Bono, E. (1992) Serious Creativity. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, Amabile, T.M., (Sept.-Oct. 1998) How to kill creativity. Harvard Business Review, p. 77-87.& Johansson, F. (2004) The Medici Effect – Breakthrough insights at the intersection of ideas, concepts & cultures. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 150 Goodwin, B. (2007) Nature’s Due – healing our fragmented culture. Edinburgh: Floris Books 151 Krishnamurti, J & Bohm, D. (1985) The ending of time – Thirteen Dialogues Between Krishnamurti & Bohm. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd & Chopra, D. (2005) Schumacher Lecture. Captain Productions. 152 De Bono, E., (1992) Serious Creativity. London: Harper Collins Publishers 153 Amabile, T.M., (Sept.-Oct. 1998) How to kill creativity. Harvard Business Review, p. 77-87 154 Johansson, F. (2004) The Medici Effect – Breakthrough insights at the intersection of ideas, concepts & cultures. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, pp 14-15 155 Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2003) Good Business – Leadership, flow and the making of meaning. London: Hodder & Stoughton p. 148 156 Amabile, T.M., (Sept.-Oct. 1998) How to kill creativity. Harvard Business Review, p. 77-87 157 Rickards, T. (1991) ‘Innovation and creativity: Woods, trees and pathways’. R&D Management. Vol 21 No 2, pp 97-108.

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when both challenges and skills are high and equal to each other.”158 A vision is a process of sharing aspirations, and arguably an essential element in creative leadership. The Natural Step has developed ain interesting framework for business (Box 5.). Box 5. The Natural Step is an international non-for profit organization seeking to propel a commitment and competence in sustainability by using “the Natural Step Framework as a systems approach for dialogue and decision making”, assisting business an organizations to contribute to more sustainable practices and civilizations. The organization has developed a four step conditions for sustainability to be adopted by all stakeholders in society. The Natural Step illustrate these conditions as follows159:

Underpinning this plan, the organisation suggests various elements for organisational change and involvement for sustainability, which resonate with the creative leadership literature. In summary, the elements include a focus on personal motivation, establishing an open system of change, which could help “revitalising the capacity of groups to think together”. Their approach is to work towards consensus building whilst promoting a culture of “yes-and” rather than “no-but”. They seek to build on the insight and creativity of organisational partners as well as drawing on the strengths within professional network.160

Creative Leadership Leading and working at the edge of chaos requires bold leadership, or as Richards says, creative leadership.161 The creativity assists evolution of novel content, whereas leadership is about facilitating constructive processes. Senge takes a broad stance to leadership seeing it as “the capacity of a human community to shape its future, and specifically to sustain the significant processes of change required to do so”. He draws on Peter Drucker’s statement that “Leadership is Vision”, noting that “leadership actually grows from the capacity to hold creative tension, the energy generated when people articulate a vision and tell the truth about current reality”.162 It is a fact that some organisations

158 Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2003) Good Business – Leadership, flow and the making of meaning. London: Hodder & Stoughton, p. 47 159 http://www.naturalstep.org/com/What%5Fis%5Fsustainability/ 160 Bradbury, H., (2003) Catalysing action and organisational change – the role of personal and group (re)vitalisation in sustainability initiatives. In Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi – designing the future of business through nature, genius and compassion. Waage, S. Ed. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing Ltd 161 Rickards T. & Moger, S. (1999) ‘The development of benign structures: Towards a framework for understanding exceptional performance in project teams’. International Journal of New Product Development & Innovation Management, Vol 1 No 2, pp 141-154. 162 Flaherty, J.E.(1999) Shaping the Managerial Mind – Peter Drucker. How the world’s foremost management thinker crafted the essentials of business success p.16

Figure 3: The Natural Step Framework ©

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perform better than others. Performance depends on the functioning of synergies between leadership, vision, and the human capital of the organisation. Fussler et. al summarises “Performance depends on how the organisation releases the full potential of its people and enhances their cooperation and alignment with the vision and the priorities defined by the leadership”, in other words empowerment. They continue, “It implies a notion that in responding to the challenges of sustainable development and corporate citizenship no one has all the answers. In order to make progress, the creativity of each individual must be stimulated and nurtured.”163 Rickards and Moger suggest; “creative leadership are activities that encourage the creativity of others”.164 Thus, creative leadership may be understood as taking on the role of a facilitator, coach or mentor in implementing systematic approaches to support continuous originality and inventiveness within an organisation. Based on this, I regard creative leadership as a function to support and thrust innovations acted upon by individuals within the organisation.

Worldview for Creativity & Innovation Schumpeter points out the importance of entrepreneurial creativity and innovation as a “source of new problem solutions”.165 He says; “Innovation is the implementation of a technical or organisational novelty166, not just invention or development. A creative entrepreneur is an entrepreneur who speeds along the process of creative destruction in his search of new fields of activity. There are technical, organisational, institutional and social innovations”.167 Schumpeter links the nature of capitalism to the need for innovation, a dynamic that he calls ‘creative destruction’. This brings me back to a discussion of different paradigm and underpinning worldviews. Schumpeter says, “Capitalism, then, is by nature a form or method of economic change… The fundamental impulse that sets and keeps the capitalist engine in motion comes from the new consumers, goods, the new methods of production or transportation, the new markets, the new forms of industrial organization that capitalist enterprise creates.”168 Schumpeter speaks to an anthropocentric worldview where the creative process and innovations are perpetuated by the dynamics of economic growth, and in this process, old structures or seemingly unrelated aspects are overseen or destroyed. Charles Edquist builds on this when define innovation as “new creations of economic significance.”169 Lafferty and Ruud say about innovation that it “refers primarily to change that enhances competitive advantage within and among European firms. Such advantage can be measured in terms of increased marked shares, gross earnings, profit margins, number of patents, etc.”170 Schumpeter makes a valid point, with a Cartesian worldview innovations may lead to creative destruction in quest for generating economic growth, on the other hand, innovations can also be

163 Fussler C. Ed. (2004) Raising the Bar – Creating Value with the United Nations Global Compact. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing Ltd, p. 93 164 Rickards T. & Moger, S. (1999) ‘The development of benign structures: Towards a framework for understanding exceptional performance in project teams’. International Journal of New Product Development & Innovation Management, Vol 1 No 2, pp 141-154. 165 Schumpeter, J.A. (1934) The theory of economic development: An inquiry into profits, capital, credit, interest, and the business cycles. Cambridge (MA) 166 Neuerung, in German, which has been translated into English as ‘innovation’. 167 Schumpeter, J.A. (1939) Business cycles: A theoretical, historical, and statistical analysis of the capitalist process. New York: McGraw-Hill 168 Schumpeter, J.A. (orig. pub. 1942) Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York: Harper (1975) pp. 82-85 169 Edquist, C. (1997) System of innovation approaches – their emergence and characteristics in Charles Edquist (ed.) Systems of innovation. Technologies, Institutions and Organisations. London and Washington: Pinter 170 Lafferty, W.M. & Ruud, A. (2004) Green innovation policy in Norway. How can it be evaluated? ProSus Working Paper no 1/04. Oslo: ProSus, University of Oslo

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essential in bringing about sustainable development. I believe that by taking an holistic and biocentric worldview creativity leading to innovations are key in helping us shape a more sustainable future, as it should follow that development and innovations are founded on ecological principles hence changing the nature of economic activity. Sustainable development not only ask for the ability to combine, and construct new concepts, ideas and implement change through innovation, it relies on it

Designing the Future Some day, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity,

we shall harness the energies of love. - Teilhard de Chardin

Edward de Bono and Michalko refer to creativity as a process of design.171 As pointed to above, I believe we can design more sustainable business concepts and operations to deliver output that contribute to the wellbeing of Planet Earth and with that the living beings that inhabit it. We have proven that we are able to design unsustainable societies, products and thoughts, and I am therefore convinced we can also design more sustainable ones. This is what Einstein referred to when he noted that the problems of the world cannot be solved by the same kind of thinking that created them. The challenge simply, or perhaps not so simply, is to find, trust and work with new approaches to redesign the way we think, create and respond to change. For this creativity is imminent. UNEP identify that Design for Sustainability (DfS) implies that business “incorporate environmental and social factors into product development throughout the life cycle of the product, throughout the supply-chain, and with respect to their socio-economic surroundings.”172 Formentini says, “design activities that encourage radical innovation oriented towards sustainability, steering the development of social-technical systems towards low material and energy intensity and high regenerative potential”.173 I deduce that design for sustainability has the potential of being based on sociological rather than technological structures. To me, this gives an indication of what a shift towards a more sustainable society and business practices should hold. It is not enough to redesign existing products and services, to design more energy efficient processes, or even to foster a shift consumption patterns towards more environmentally friendly products when our basic worldview is unsound. Design for sustainability is about facilitating a shift in thinking, and to make better frameworks for useful products and services coupled with appropriate behaviour and lifestyles.174 Society and our daily lives seem to be dictated by ever increasing complexity, in which design plays a role both as a strategic approach and possibly as a practical framework for new and better solutions. Thackara says, “our complex systems have been shaped more and more by people who live within them: this global design attitude stems from the trend of ‘collaborative innovation’, in which designers are having to evolve from being the individual authors of objects, or buildings, to being the facilitators of change among large groups of people”.175 Addressing the dynamics of complex systems with design

171 De Bono, E.,(1992) Serious Creativity. London: Harper Collins Publishers & Michalko, M. (2001) Cracking Creativity – the secrets of creative genius. Berkley: The Speed Press 172 UNEP (2006) Design for Sustainability – A practical approach for developing countries. Paris: UNEP p. 16 173 Formentini, A. (2005) Signal of Change in the Transition towards sustainability – bottom-up innovation cases for the creative society. PhD Industrial Design and Mulitmedia Communication. Politechnico di Milano. INDACO Department. p.87 174 Alakeson, V. & Sherwin, C. (2004) Innovation for sustainable development a Forum for the Future report, Brezet, H. & Hemel, C.G. van(1997) UNEP Eco-design Manual. Ecodesign a promising approach to sustainable production and consumption. Paris: UNEP, Charter M. Tishner U.(eds.) (2001) Sustainable Solutions: developing products and services for the future. UK: Greenleaf Publishing. 175 Thackara, J. (2005) In the bubble. Designing a complex world. Cambridge: MIT Press

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can be reinforced by visions of desirable futures through processes of co-design, or for extensive initiatives, engaging in a process of foresight drawing on scenarios or other techniques.176 Designers may apply approaches that are necessary to bring about change. I consider that tools developed thus far to facilitate corporate sustainability mainly address the environmental, economic and social dimensions within a reductionist mechanistic paradigm. To facilitate a meaningful shift towards more sustainable practices, a holistic approach energised by the creative flow of individuals within a group is called for. Appudurai has identified four types of competencies that need to be developed to work towards a more sustainable future in an integrated and all encompassing manner. These include developing phenomenological faculties to ‘see’ problems.177 Secondly, gain technological know-how to identify solutions. Thirdly, to incorporate sociological aspects to understand how and why, and finally to access and explore creativity to identify, develop and act on new ideas. These competencies go alongside the processes of observation, re-elaboration, and dissemination. Appudurai call this the “international cultural flows”.178 The late John Tillman Lyle, was a pioneer in ecological sound design, primarily addressing landscape and land use. His approach allowed for emergence of optimal solutions for the overall system he was working with. Lyle spoke to the need for combining creative and visionary qualities with an analytical mode. He considered that a designer must have a capacity for complexity, and an ability to draw on and apply information from multiple arenas. Thus, foresight is a key aspect of design as it means drawing on information at hand, whilst envisioning a desirable future and designing the process of how to get there and communicate this in a clear fashion. He says: “Only the creative side can intuitively grasp complex situations, can leap into the future and its possibilities, and, by imagining what might be, can pose hypothesis, questions, images, and goals.”179 The process of design is a learning process, constantly searching, testing, proposing, disposing and proposing again. A constructive design process, and in my view, a creative process is dependent on clear understanding of context and defined systems boundaries. Edward de Bono speaks about this as designing creative thinking from a ‘fixed point’.180 As should be clear by now, a design approach as outlined by Lyle, founded on complexity is different from that of a systems view in that the process addresses relationships, seeking to bring forth dynamics and capabilities drawing on synergies, enabling one plus one to become three. The systems approach, on the other hand, looks at the linkages between different elements of the equation, hence, one plus one will be never be more than two, and often less. A traditional systems view is often based on intricate models to enable forecasting economic, environmental or social dynamics. These possibly divergent approaches are extremely valuable as to identify specific qualities and dynamics of systems and as input for shaping plausible scenarios for desirable futures. Unfortunately, systems approaches such as life cycle assessment, costing and inventory prove to have limited value if the data and models are not seen in a broader context. Sinclair and his colleagues address these dynamics in their modelling of material flows.181

176 Please see Ch. 4. 177 As discussed above in the section on Perception. 178 Appadurai, A. (1996) Modernity at Large. Cultural dimensions of globalisation. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press 179 Tillman Lyle, J. (n.a) Design for Human Ecosystems – Landscape, Land Use & Natural Resources. Washington D.C.: Island Press p. 127 180 De Bono, E., (1992) Serious Creativity. London: Harper Collins Publishers 181 Tillman Lyle, J. (n.a) Design for Human Ecosystems – Landscape, Land Use & Natural Resources. Washington D.C.: Island Press & Sinclair, P. et. al. (2005) “Towards an Integrated Regional Materials Flow Accounting Model.” Journal of Industrial Ecology Vol 9, Nr 1-2. pp 69 - 84

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Based on the above, as illustrated in figure 4, I contend that when designing from premises of a bio-centric worldview while taking an holistic approach drawing on the principles of complexity theory, we can bring forward a dynamic creative process initiated at the edge of chaos helping us to foster solutions for more a desirable future. Some may think there is a paradox between design and creativity from the edge of chaos. However, I consider that the design approach discussed above is instrumental in enabling the creative process to happen, and is not a mechanism for planning and control.

Creativity & Experience of Time

“Time is an invention. So much creativity is happening in the simple reason that we have withdrawn ourselves from the past and future. Our whole energy remains blocked in either past or in the future –

when you withdraw all your energy from the past and future a tremendous explosion happens, that explosion is creativity.”

- Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Experiences of time are relevant when seeking insight about unlashing creativity. Systems’ thinking works with linear or exponential relationships and is preoccupied with prediction that is modelled on data and patterns that proved true in the past. Effectively this promotes a strategy of walking backwards into the future, in other words, to prepare for the future with fragmented data of the past in hand. I consider this brings about a notion of time that puts us in a mental relationship with a tomorrow that, more often than not, never comes. In contrast, complexity theory is concerned with the present as it recognises that the future is inherently unpredictable as strange attractors that create variable behavioural patterns influence it. As I pointed out above, even tiny perturbations in the process of self-organisation at present can have enormous impact on the development of a process. In this perspective, a linear method to work towards goals in the future seems not only futile, but also a waste of time and energy.182 The most sensible approach is to be grounded in the present moment in relation to an emergent future.183 After all, the presence of the eternal now is all we ever have. Different circumstances determine whether people feel time as a shopping basket filled to the brim, or whether they are ‘one’ with the moment and the activity they engage in. We have become accustomed to relating to the linear time of the clock, Cronos. The clock gained impetus from the 16th century onwards with mechanisation of society. In some sense it adds a practical frame of reference in society. But clock time is not sensitive to movements in nature, nor as a steward of experiences or to foster creativity; for this I believe we need a notion of round time. I deduce that round time is phenomenological and fractal, allowing for different sensory experiences and forms of knowledge to 182 Dimitrow, V. (search March 2007) www.zulenet.com/vladimirdimitrow/pages/complexthink.htm 183 Scharmer, O. C. (2007) Theory-U: Leading from the future as it emerges – the social technology of presencing. Cambridge: Massachusetts. p. 100

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emerge.184 Only this can allow our experience of time to expand and become in tune with our internal rhythm and sense the flow of life around us, in the now, yet through the fractal quality of time, the now subtly eco that which was and what is to come. We experience this directly in music, but also Goethe gives us this quality of time through his phenomenology of plants.185 Briggs and Peat note, “Time expresses itself in the subtly changing tempos that are like water moving in a rock-littered mountain stream; time curls, spills, separates, flows around, obstacles, merges, pools quietly, slips forward, flashes with light and darkness”.186 Several authors point out that ‘time-out’ or time away from a problem can act as an incubator for creativity. On the flip side, the same authors encourage engaging in ‘quick time’ of brief encounters of activities, shifting between different input to seek inspiration and insight from where least expected.187 Howard Grubber notes that highly creative individuals often make use of a “network of enterprises” that feed of each other.188 Thus, so-called creative individuals are able to harvest the synergies between various activities, allowing them to manifest or come into view by themselves rather than to control, letting each idea or insight evolve in accordance with its own time. Every human being has different experiences of time. Based on the literature and conversations I have had with people, it seems as if creativity along with an inspirational communion with nature around us is connected to a sense of timelessness, or what Jay Griffiths call ‘wild time’. She says,

“Just as the human need for wilderness becomes more acute with increasing development and a cockroaching population; so our need for wild time gets greater as the encroaching cluck shunts its

way across the mind. If we lose wilderness, we lose the visible picture of wild time; the future will never know the time of now and fire, time which thinks in grandeur like an ancient tree, which moves in

passages of structure like a mountain which knows the long white wait of a waterfall, running so fast and falling so slowly.”189

This notion of a wild time of timelessness, explored in communion with wilderness, goes to the heart of the type of time experience I believe are essential for brining about a greater of connection with nature around us and our innate organic creativity along with a renewed sense of authentic life expression. I hope that some of the approaches in chapter four can help bring about an experience of time in wild and wild in time. Timeless!

184 Griffiths, J.(1999) Pip Pip – a sidewise look at time. London: HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. & Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. 125-133 185 Holdrege, C. (n.a.) Doing Goethean Science. The Nature Institute 186 Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, p. 131 187 De Bono, E (1992), Briggs & Peat, F.D.(1999), Ceserani, J.(2003) Big Ideas – Putting the Zest into Creativity and Innovation at Work. London: Kogan Page 188 As quoted in Briggs, J & Peat, F.D. (1999) Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, p. 140 189 Griffiths, J.(1999) Pip Pip – a sidewise look at time. London: HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. p. 289.

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3. Movement Maps of Mind, Heart, & Body deep ecology, u-process, five rhythms

“Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in rhythms. A human being is just like

that, energy, waves, patterns, rhythms. Nothing more. Nothing less. A dance.”190 - Gabrielle Roth

Movement is the essence of life and an expression of creativity. Life in movement unravels creativity. Creativity expressed through movement brings life. The triangle is complete. I have looked at three “maps” for movement, and the movement I am speaking to, is movement of perception in order to muster compassion, motivation, insight and creativity to bring about change for a more sustainable future, as it emerges. I call the approaches below for movement maps, as they present an entry point to a projected passage of practice and techniques to waken insight by combining various modes of coming to knowing. Moreover, I see Goethean science, as discussed in chapter 2, as a key approach to access and explore the sensory abilities of participants in seminars, and is fundamental in attaining a deeper understanding of the interconnections and interdependency of all life, actions and processes. However, as I have already brought attention to Goethe, I only mention him here as his way of science that I consider to be an embedded aspect of the movement maps in chapter 3 as well as the more specific techniques and designs suggested in chapter 4. I will first look at the Deep Ecology movement that was initiated by Arne Næss. Second, I will give a short account of the U-Process as articulated by Otto Scharmer, and finally the 5Rhythms movement map by Gabrielle Roth. The activities suggested in chapter four puts spotlight on promising expressions and ideas to feed into the movement of perception as observed below.

Deep Ecology Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your

actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.

- Mahatma Gandhi Deep ecology is about action. It is about finding a motivation and drive to live in balance with the ecosystem and to oppose and resist any initiative that contradicts or inhibits ecological harmony, or that fails to recognize the intrinsic value of non-human life. This is why Deep Ecology is as much of a movement as a philosophy. “Arne Næss and George Sessions devised the Deep Ecology platform, also known as the eight points of the Deep Ecology movement.” A group attending a course in Deep Ecology at Schumacher College in 1995 prepared the version below (Box 6.).191

190 Roth, G.(1997) Sweat your Prayers – Movement as Spiritual Practice. Dublin: Newleaf. p.xxvii 191 Harding, S. (n.a.) What is Deep Ecology? Through experience, deep questioning and deep commitment emerges deep ecology. Resurgence 185

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Box 6. Deep Ecology Platform: An Alternative 1. All life has value in itself, independent of its usefulness to humans. 2. Richness and diversity contribute to life’s well-being and have value in themselves. 3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs in a responsible way. 4. The impact of humans in the world is excessive and rapidly getting worse. 5. Human lifestyles and population are key elements of this impact. 6. The diversity of life, including cultures, can flourish only with reduced human impact. 7. Basic ideological, political, economic and technological structures must therefore change. 8. Those who accept the foregoing points have an obligation to participate in implementing the necessary changes and to do so peacefully and democratically.

Arne Næss draws his inspiration from the Norwegian mountains, and the teachings of Spinoza and Gandhi have had a major influence in his work. He has written most of his books in the cottage Tvergastein at Hallingskarvet. Arne Næss coined the term in the 1970s, and arrived at Deep Ecology as an approach to seeking ecological wisdom, which he thought could not be gained through ecology or science alone. Deep Ecology takes a bio-centric worldview in that it recognises the interdependence and intrinsic value of all life forms.

Harding says, “Deep ecology seeks to develop [ecological wisdom] by focusing on deep experience, deep questioning and deep commitment. These constitute and interconnected system. Each gives rise to and supports the other, whilst the entire system is, what Næss would call, an ecosophy: an evolving but consistent philosophy of being, thinking and acting in the world, that embodies ecological wisdom

and harmony”.192

From a Deep Ecology point of view, we should protect nature as an act of loving, nurtured by a sense of belonging, and not as a duty. This is what Arne Næss calls our “ecological self”, a form of self-realization.193 Næss says about ecological self that it is, “where the self to be realised extends further and further beyond the separate ego and includes more and more of the phenomenal world”.194 Arne Næss equates self-realisation to a way of being in the world, developing a relationship with the ecosystem, and by identifying recognizing ones place in the world. It is not about realisation of ego, but about a realisation of ones calling and to live in accordance with what gives life meaning. He quotes Gandhi talking about his passion in work;

192 Harding, S. (n.a.) What is Deep Ecology? Through deep experience, deep questioning and deep commitment emerges deep ecology. Resurgence issue 185 http://www.resurgence.org/resurgence/185/harding185.htm 193 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press. p.46 194 As quoted in Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press p. 191.

Figure 5. Deep Ecology

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“What I want to achieve – what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years – is self-realization, to see God face to face, to attain Moksha (Liberation). I live and move and have my being in pursuit of that goal. All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political

field, are directed to this same end.”195

Joanna Macy says Deep Ecology questions the “fundamental premises of the industrial growth society. It challenges the assumptions, embedded in much Judeo-Christian and Marxist thought, that humans are the crown of creation and the ultimate measure of value.” 196 The values of Deep Ecology are not new, but framework drafted by Arne Næss was. Deep ecology is consistent with wisdom traditions that go far back in human history such as Buddhism, Spirituality of Christian mystics and Native American traditions.197 Also, Albert Schweitzer expressed ideals of Deep Ecology. He insisted “we are ethical only when all life is sacred to us, including the lives of plants and animals as well as that of our fellows”.198 Box 7. Joanna Macy describe a global shift in awareness and activism as “the Great Turning”, a turning that is manifesting in three dimensions that are mutually reinforcing. which are: “1) actions to slow the damage to Earth and its beings; 2) analysis of structural causes and creation of structural alternatives; and 3) a fundamental shift in world view and values.”199 She state that the biggest threat to action and change is our numbness that we accept and live with in order to avoid the pain of gaining a deep understanding of the challenges at hand. Hence, Macy advocates that an important part of engaging in work for a more sustainable future is to invite, accept, and work through the pain, fears and suffering to enable action and change. Pain and join are tightly coupled. She suggests the following process:

“Acknowledging our pain for the world. Validating it as a wholesome response to the present crisis.

Letting ourselves experience this pain. Being able to express it to others.

Recognise how widely it is shared by others. Recognise that it is not “crazy” but that it springs from our caring and connectedness”.200

Næss expresses that deep experiences are spontaneous and happen when the individual least expects it. It is about experiencing a sensory connection with that of another living being such as a tree, a river or an animal. David Abram describes deep experiences in communion with the ecosystem poetically in Spell of the Sensuous.201 Næss put forward that availing ourselves to experiencing the connection and interplay between human and non human life leads to a recognition of the intrinsic value of all life followed by a desire to protect life, non-human and human-life alike, in short this is a process of self-realization, and expanded sense of the ecological self. He says,

“Care flows naturally if the ‘self’ is widened and deepened so that protection of the free Nature is felt and conceived as protection of ourselves… just as we need no morals to make us breath... [so] if your ‘self’ in the wide sense embraces another being, you without feeling any moral exhortation to

show care… you care for yourself without feeling any moral pressure to do it… If reality is like it is experienced by the ecological self, or behaviour naturally and beautifully follows norms of strict

environmental ethics.”202

195 As quoted in Næss, A (1995) Deep Ecology for the 21st Century. George Sessions (Ed) Shambhala 196 Macy, J.(1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press p. 64 & 46 197 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Framingo p. 7 198 Tillman Lyle, J. (n.a.) Design for Human Ecosystems – Landscape, Land Use & Natural Resources. Washington D.C.: Island Press p. 139 199 Macy, J. & Brown, M.Y.(1998) Coming Back to Life – Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers. p. 17 200 Ibid. p. 92 201 Abram, D (1996) Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage Books 202 As quoted in Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo p. 12

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The assumption is that by identifying with, whilst also recognising the intrinsic value of all beings, we want ‘to do the right thing’. Our ecological self is like a notion of selfhood, it is dynamic in that it involves choice and presence with subjects within an ecosystem. An ecological self is also sensitive to the interdependencies and interconnections inherent in the ecosystem, as Macy says, “be they hunted whales or homeless humans or the planet itself.”203 It is clear that when substantial group of people engage in a process and awareness of the ecosophy, Deep Ecology will lead to a paradigm shift in worldview and bring about different way of understanding our role as human beings on planet earth.204 I consider the idea of ecological self an essential premise to feel a desire for life, and henceforth to enable creativity to foster ideas and solutions for a better future. John Milton (Box 8) has developed a type of wilderness journey very much based on the principles of Deep Ecology. The nature quest fed into the shaping of the U-Processes, which is the next movement map to look at. Box. 8. Nature Quests John Milton has developed twelve principles based on ancient wisdom traditions and particularly Native American Indian tradition. He created the Nature Quest to help individuals to connect with their inner and environment and the reality in which they live. His work is used as an example of a deep enquiring process in the book “Presence” authored by Peter Senge et. al.205 Milton teaches sensing and experiencing the living world through opening of the heart. John Milton draws extensively on the practices of meditation, Qi gong, Tai Chi and wilderness skills as well as techniques for transforming blocked emotions and with that his nature quest may be powerful approach to unlashing personal creativity and flow.206 Gøran Gennvi says about the Nature Quest that “if you choose to trust: the natural world will bring you profound peace, self-respect and revelation your authentic self.”207 Building on this, Gennvi has developed WiLD (Wisdom, Innovation, Leadership & Dialogue) based in Sweden. His objective is to contribute to sustainable practices within business and communities.208

U-Process Otto Scharmer gives an inspiring account of the U-process in his two books the Theory-U and Presence. What Scharmer is talking about is not new, but it is novel as an approach for organisational learning within business. I see clear parallels in Scharmers' work to work of Arne Næss as well as Gandhis' thinking. Scharmer brings in elements from Goethean Science to the U process, and also some interesting parallels to the Five Rhythms movement map by Gabrielle Roth that I will attend to below. Scharmer speaks to the importance of shifting the way we see the world, and take notice of how we relate to our surroundings, as this is key for how we create in our lives. Scharmer talks about our "blind spot," which are the centre from where we operate that we tend to ignore, they henceforth prevent us in being fully present in bringing about desirable systemic changes in business and society today.209 In the book Presence, which came out in 2005, Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty

203 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press p. 192 204 Capra, F. (1997) Web of Life – A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Framingo p. 11 205Senge, P.,et. al.(2004) Presence – human purpose and the filed of the future. Cambridge: Society for Organisational Learning (SOL) 206 John Milton www.johnmilton.org (Search April. 2007) 207 Genvi, G (2007) A powerful awareness training in nature. www.naturakademin.se 208 Natur Akademin www.naturakademin.se 209 Scharmer, O. C. (2007) Theory-U: Leading from the future as it emerges – the social technology of presencing. Cambridge: Massachusetts.

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Sue Flowers develop a learning cycle based on one’s ability to sense and realize emerging futures. This effort results in the culmination and exploration of the U-process.210 Building on this, the "U" methodology “of leading profound change is expanded and deepened in Theory U.” The U-process is designed to be teaching us to connect with our “essential Self in the realm of presencing”. And recognising and seeing our blind spots is key in this effort. The term presencing, coined by Scharmer, combines the present with sensing. “Scharmer endeavour to have prepared a holistic methodology that enables learning “from the future as it emerges”. I believe this in turn can bring insights that help us realise desirable sustainable futures.211 Please see the diagram below to see a possible movement map of heart and mind.

Scharmer goes through various levels of change, teaches listening skills and addresses the importance of interweaving and working through and open heart, mind, and will in order to bring forth one’s authentic. Hence, Scharmer addresses the need for going through a process of inner work in order to awaken the internal calling to facilitate and foster deep change.

Box 9. Five movements of presencing:212 ü Co-Initiating: Listen to others and to what life call you to do ü Co-Sensing: Go to places of most potential and listen with your heart and mind wide open ü Co-Presencing: Retreat and reflect, allow the inner knowing to emerge ü Co-creating: Prototype a microcosm of the new to explore the future by doing ü Co-Evolving: Grow innovation ecosystems by seeing and acting from the emerging whole.

Five Rhythms Dance can be a journey for the body and soul to meet different elements of oneself and the world around. In this way, I consider dance by way of the five rythms can be a sensory supplement to Goethean science and Deep Ecology to work towards an ecological sense of self through deep experience followed by deep commitment. The five rhythms are flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical and stillness. Please see the rhythm map below for further description, and also seeing how it links to different ways of experiencing emotions to bring about creative expression. Through the rhythms we may explore different archetypes explored by Jung. Gabrielle Roth says,

“In the rhythm of flowing we receive the feminine teachings, in staccato we explore the masculine, and in chaos we integrate the two. Lyrical is the rhythm of self-realisation, in which we experience our most

expansive and liberated self. In stillness, we contemplate the mystery that infuse every aspect of the universe – including the deepest of our own souls.”213

210 Senge. P. et. al. (2004) Presence – human purpose and the filed of the future. Cambridge: Society for Organisational Learning (SOL) 211 http://www.solonline.org/theoryu/ & www.ottoscharmer.com 212 Society for Organisational Learning http://www.solonline.org/presencing/ (Search July 2007) 213 Roth, G (1997) Sweat your Prayers – Movement as Spiritual Practice. Dublin: Newleaf. p. 43 We can see parallels in Gabrielle Roth’s map of the five rhythms to the ancient medicine wheels working with the energies of the different parts of the planet…

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The focal point of this workbook is on creativity from chaos, and chaos also plays an important role in the five rhythms. As in cosmos and embedded in the dynamics of change, the rhythm of chaos represents fusion, shape shifting, letting go and welcoming anew. And there is more, Roth says, “Dancing chaos ground the mind in the body and releases everything that blocks you from your intuition... Intuition is chaotic. If you are afraid of chaos it is hard to access your intuition. Chaos is about rearranging and release in order to create.” 214 It teaches us to move in the unknown, to die and to rise again. Chaos can help us to accept life as a process, continuous moving, shifting, flowing, rearranging through the wild and the timeless. To be in the rhythm of chaos means to be a seeker, and a quest for integration of the masculine and feminine, light and dark, past and future. Seeking patterns, themes, whilst welcoming the unforeseeable influence of the strange attractors.215 Gabrielle Roth describes the five-rhythm movement map, “In flowing we learn how to be sensitive to the flow of our unique energy, to flow it and be true to it and

to ground that energy in our bodies and in the body of the Great Mother, earth herself. In staccato we learn how to organise our energy, to focus and direct it, to listen to our hearts and honour our need to express our feelings. In chaos we learn how to dive below the surface, logical min to the intuitive mind; how to get in touch with our whims, our impulses, our spontaneous, poetic intelligence, and free them

to move through our bodies and hearts.”216

Box 10. The 5 Rhythms Map by Gabrielle Roth - F low ing – ear th (east) feeling, grounding, Gaia, feminine, sowing, initiation, sensual, yin, taking

in, being part of a tribe. - Stacca to – f i re (west) sensing, action, Eros, masculine, boundaries, consuming, yang, letting go,

action, doing, freedom fighter, part of a community. - Chaos – water (south) a meeting of masculine and feminine energy, intuitive, letting go,

creativity, service. - Lyr ica l – a i r (nor th) thought, mythos, realise we are part of a process, nothing is fixed everything

is flow, detachments and self-realisation. Process of deightment, seek truth about ourselves and our mission on this planet.

- St i l lness – who le (un iverse) communion, quiet in order to understand the process we have just been through. Alchemy!

Dance has taught me that there is no way out but through. The School of movement medicine has developed a programme to “release participants from unconscious and limiting patterns and allow the natural authority of the soul to take over the leadership of our lives”. Ya’Acov and Susannah Darling Khan say “There is a dancer inside each of us who is in touch with a deep trust in the creative process of life. Movement medicine brings us back to this core”. The five rhythms works with the premise of no dogma, no right or wrongs, but is a call to pay attention and bring emotions into movement, express the sensuous and remember our ability to create.217 Let’s dance!

214 Ibid. p. 118 215 Ibid. p. 118-119 216 Ibid. p. 118-119 217 School of Movement Medicine http://www.5rhythmsuk.com/

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4. The ChangeLAB Approach

a primer to workshop facilitation, modes and activities, exercises prepared for the sigdal workshop

Whatever you can do or dream you can do, being it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic. Begin it now! - Goethe

One of my intentions with this guide is to point to an array of approaches for triggering the senses as well as seeking at different ways of coming to new insights than the thought processes we have become accustomed to. I maintain that to foster a shift in our assumptions and perceptions that follow from these, we need to expand our approach to cognition. In this chapter I will address a multitude of techniques and practise that echo theories from chapter two, but may or may not be reflected in the movements maps discussed in chapter three. This is an exploratory chapter that has been written as an emergent source of ideas to inspire explorative workshop designs. The last part of the chapter gives an account of the exercises prepared for the Sigdal workshop. However, no one entry in this chapter is complete, it s a chapter of intentions and beginnings, and it is up to the adventurous reader to take whatever touches a nerve further. After all this is what creativity from the edge of chaos is all about, so here you are, on the edge… Welcome!

A Primer to Workshop Facilitation I believe that the group is the art form of the future… In our present culture, as I see it, the main need

is for a form that can enable human beings to share their perception and attention… we obviously cannot confront this tangled world alone... it takes no great insights to realise that we have no choice

but to think together, ponder together, in group and communities. The question is how to do this. How do we come together and think and hear each other in order to touch, or be touched, by the

intelligence we need. - Jacob Needleman, Author & Philosopher, 1997

To me, facilitation is about holding space. It is about being present, foster team effort, whilst encouraging creative expression and participation from all members of the group. Groups form, they take on a personality, continuously shifting yet aspects may be stabile.

Group Formation My observation is that people open up more easily in groups where they do not work or do not know each other from before. Hence, when the group has been working together for a while there is a tendency to close, and to no longer share as much within the group as a whole. At this point members are inclined to connect and work in smaller teams, and disregard the rest. This is part of a normal group forming processes, and is commonly illustrated by the Tuckman model of group formation.218 Tuckman describe how all groups go through an initial honeymoon period of getting to know one another, the initial shape of the group. He calls this the phase of forming. This is typically followed by a time of s torming, dominated by emergent subgroups and looming bicker and conflict. After the storm, groups move into a phase of norming, during which time it adapts to a modus operandi that 218 Macy, B.A. (2006) Successful Strategic Change, San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

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may not be optimal, but that is at least workable. Many groups never move beyond norming, and keep alternating between the phases of storming and norming. However, groups that manage to transcend the conflicts and structuring processes, move into the phase of per forming, a dynamic phase of action and implementation of group mandate and ideas. Performing brings the group to the end of a cycle, and into the phase of mourning. Some authors label this phase as t ransforming, but the essence is the same, the group has completed its mandate and there is time for closing the cycle and progress into a new stage, possibly by reshaping or reorienting the group.219 I consider the Tuckman model to be a good illustration of group formation processes, but it should by no means be understood as a static model. In real life each phase may arise at different points and sometimes phases may coexist and entangle in mysterious ways. This is part of the reason why I chose to see groups as complex adaptive systems220, but Tuckman nevertheless gives interesting insight about the dynamics within the system as such.

Three Modes of Facilitation Moving from one common interpretation of group formation, I will list three modes of facilitation outlined by Mackewn drawing on Heron. First, Heron addresses the h ierarch ica l mode, which is what I would like to call old paradigm facilitation. It is based on a manner of control where the facilitator directs and manages the process by exercising power over and doing things for the group. As the hierarchal approach has shaped much learning and thinking in today’s society, I believe it is not uncommon for facilitators to fall back on this mode when faced with challenging group dynamics. The second facilitator mode is the co-operat ive , which reveals a perception of shared responsibility in the learning process, whilst allowing the members of the group to be more self-directing as well as collaborative in their interaction. The third type of facilitation is the autonomous mode, where the facilitators’ role is merely to hold the space, guide and give freedom to members of the group to do things their own way. Obviously, these three modes do not exist in isolation, nor are they the only modes there are. However, I find they indicate some general characteristics of different modes facilitators may find themselves in depending on their own dynamic and the mood of the group they are working with. The tips below are meant as general pointers to enable tuning into the needs of any group and to go with the flow of ever changing demands.221

The Workshop When preparing a workshop, I find it important to apply different approaches and tools to keep shifting the energy of the group along with focus. Going from artistic to more logically inclined activities whilst moving between working as individuals, as teams or in plenary, can foster this. Groups respond differently to the changing dynamic and forms of engagement. Macy recommend to allow for a communal resting or movement period accompanied by southing music, a meditation in nature, or maybe a drawing exercise, or slow time in solitude to jot down a few thoughts about what went on over lunch.222 Working from a holistic perspective, I believe it is always favourable to work in nature if possible. In the textboxes please find a few tips I find useful when facilitating (Box 11 & 12).

219 Macy, B.A. (2006) Successful Strategic Change, San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers & MacKewn, J. (2006) Facilitation Skills Workshop, Module 1. Bath University. 220 As discussed in Ch. 3 221 MacKewn, J. (2007) Facilitation Skills Workshop, Module 3. Bath University. 222 Macy, J & Brown, M.Y. (1998) Coming Back to Life – Practices to Reconnect our Lives, Our World. Berkeley: New Society Publishes

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Box 11. You the Facilitator…223 Be present & authentic! Use first names. Don’t try to fake it – know your stuff!! Maintain eye contact with everyone. Focus on the process not the content – trust the resources within the group. Pay attention to individuals as much as the dynamics of the whole. Encourage participation from everyone, but respect and allow silence. Organise, connect and summarise ideas and information. Be mindful of outcomes – aim for commitment and follow-up. Humour! Laugh at yourself, and with the group. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Be a facilitator – not a performer Know what you say - and make sure people you rely on get your message. Ask someone to help you with timekeeping and group herding. Delegate as much as you can, especially practical aspects.

Moreover, I find it productive to have a clear plan of my approach to different segments of the workshop. For this I have prepared the following lists of reminders: Box 12. Workshop Segments Getting Started Create a relaxing atmosphere Greet participants individually Clarify logistics, ground rules and timetable including punctual running of the workshop. Working with

the talking stick etc. (NB. Remember to delegate responsibility for practical aspects) Secure agreement to the workshop agenda – ask what people expect from the workshop Help participants to focus by clarifying purpose, objectives and potential desirable outcome.

Dedicate the work and outcome of the workshop to a certain cause (agree on focus) Have people introduce themselves. The Workshop Have all participants check in to the workshop to take the pulse of how participants are feeling etc.

this can for example be a sound, word, gesture, or a drawing. Emphasize that active listening is active participation. Encourage spontaneity, curiosity and an open attitude. Balance between individual work, in pairs, small groups and in plenary. Closing the Workshop Feedback & evaluation – prepare ahead… and collect BFORE the closing circle. Closing circle should be a time to honour the time spent together, and to share parting thoughts

and ideas. Follow-up by email or Internet resources, workshops etc. etc. Regardless what form follow-up is

key!!! - Inspired and adapted from J. Macy & M. Brown (1998)

223 Authors’ notes August 2007 & adaptation from Justice, T. & Jamieson, D.W (1999) The Facilitators Fieldbook. New York: American Management Association p. 122.

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Evaluation and feedback “Examine my worlds the way a goldsmith examines gold.

Don’t just take my word because it is my word” - The Buddha224

As everything in life is part of a process, the end of a workshop is an opportunity to get input for the next steps of the journey. I recommend asking for feedback and evaluation towards the end, but not so close to the end that people have not time to actually give input. To get appropriate feedback, it is always good to allow for some time in the program for people to respond. Remember, the feedback is for you, as well as it may function as a process tool for participants to consider their experience, input and possible follow-up. I recommend that this process be orchestrated prior to the closing circle to ensure that the closing circle is experienced as a true closing. I find it most constructive to ask for individual feedback, whilst also giving the participants an opportunity to be anonymous. This is because many people may not want to give authentic and uncensored response if they have to say it directly or if they need to share their thoughts with the whole group. Thus, it seems written individual feedback is sensible. As participants may have different energy levels, patience and time available towards the end of the workshop, I prefer using a feedback from that give room for a combination of open questions and predefined questions where the participant simply have to respond with a value. But there are a there are as many ways to collect feedback as there are people in this world, the main thing is that you make an effort to collect it, it is your chance to be better, and the participants chance to digest the workshop process and perhaps formulate possible intentions for follow-up.225

Modes and Activities “Do you have the discipline to be a free spirit?”

- Gabrielle Roth The approaches listed in alphabetical order below, are all just that; approaches. Each represents a huge potential in freeing creativity. They are different characters, and I go into different levels of depth. Some activities are focused on individuals and others on groups as a whole. It is the way it is. Work in progress and lots of potential! I merely seek to point out opportunities, and do not endeavour to give an exhaustive list, or a comprehensive exploration if each one. It is simply an attempt to open windows of possible modes unlashing creativity founded on a bio-centric worldview by seeing the world “as if for the first time”, and thereby bring about movement of mind, heart and body… 226

224 as quoted Kongtrul, D.(2005) It’s up to you – the practice of self-reflection on the Buddhist path. London: Shambhala p. 128 225 Please see Appendix 7 feedback form from Sigdal workshop as an example.. For further reading about workshop facilitation I can recommend: Sibbet, D (2005) Best Practices for Facilitation. Facilitation Guide Series. San Francisco: The Grove, Biech, E (2005) Training for Dummies. Hoboken: Wiley Publishing, Inc. & from Justice, T. & Jamieson, D.W (1999) The Facilitators Fieldbook. New York: American Management Association 226 London, P. (September 2006) Open Evening Schumacher College. Captain Productions

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Acting & Improvisation “Improvisation is the life blood of creative endeavour”

- Ben Elton227 Interactive theatre and improvisation is a form of experiential learning that challenges the senses and can be highly effective in helping us to see issues and challenges from different perspectives. Through role-play or theatre we are given the opportunity to highlight specific elements of a situation, to work with future scenarios as well as to take on roles of another and henceforth learn more about how a counterpart may experience or understand a situation. Interactive theatre and improvisation generate processes where individuals and groups engage to actively explore how they experience the world physically, intuitively, intellectually and emotionally. In recent years, acting has become increasingly more important as an interactive tool both for organizational learning as well as for unlashing creative potential in groups and individuals. Role-play may be introduced in many different facets; below I only mentioned two activities that are more aimed at the individual than a group process. I suggest more exercises and processes be orchestrated around specific issues and aspects relevant to particular groups. Act iv i t ies : ü Who are your heroes? See if you can allow yourself to play the role of your own hero for a few

moments (or even a day). How does it feel? Any insights about yourself and the roles you play?228

ü Who are you? Work with a partner keep asking that same question of who are you? Do this in three sessions wherein each person has three minutes each time to answer who they are. How does the monologues emerge? Any new insights?229

Breath To live means to breathe. Breathing is like a wave beating against the shore for then to retreat and do the whole movement over again with different molecules of water. A continuous flow of exchange, change and interaction. In the same way, the rhythm of our breath is an agent for exchange and is in itself changeable and fluctuating upon the demands of our bodies. The in and out breath are of equal importance. It is like birth and death, the circle of life, complimentary and interdependent. To allow for renewal something has to give. In our relationship with the circle of life, we tend to pay more attention to renewal and growth than to letting go, and in the same way we tend to pay more attention to our in-breath than the out-breath. We take in, absorb information, knowledge, we renew ourselves, we hold on, and we hold our breath. Breathing out is just supposed to happen, and it is, but often not completely, and often not offering the full release our bodies call for. Letting go seems difficult in many situations, as we tend to want things to remain the same. Predictability and order makes us feel safe and is prompting us to hold on, and on, and on. We are accustomed to accumulate as a way of securing ourselves, not recognising that this inability to let go is in it self an obstacle for a healthy tomorrow. If our breath is not released completely, it is equally difficult to take in new, to regenerate our cells for life and to live fully in the moment. Breathing out gives freedom. And as a wave, we too have to take in, and let go against the shore. As breath is life, and life is creative. Breath in. Breath out… 227 Elton, B. (1999) Inconceivable. London: Black Swan Press. p. 320 228 Inspired by conversation with Bjørn Moan, August 2007. 229 This exercise was introduced by Peter Russell during the Science & Spirituality Course January 2007. Schumacher College.

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Act iv i ty : ü Hold the breath for as long as you can. This makes you aware of the need for letting go, and

also taking in new. Life is a process; it is like breathing, in and out in a continuous yet changeable movement in flow.

ü Once aware of the breath, and the importance of finding balance in taking in and letting go put on some flowing music, and start moving with the breath.230

Chanting & Voice Singing or chanting can be powerful approaches for freeing ones breath and to release creative flow. To hear our own voice can make us feel more exposed and self-conscious. For many the use of voice means to step outside their comfort zone, and can thus be powerful in getting in touch with response mechanisms and sides of ourselves that we are less familiar with. For others, voice is a natural way of accessing intuitive and sensory faculties. Chanting may be initiated with a tone from a singing bowl, followed by a meditation or medley of chants alone or with a group. Many enjoy chanting assisted by the beat of a drum. When we let go of ingrained ideas about the sound of our voice, tune and melodies can emerge naturally into a beautiful painting of sound. Act iv i ty : ü Play with your voice by adding tone to your out-breath. ü Listen to the sound of a Tibetan singing bowl, and seek to mimic its sound. ü Pay attention to the sounds around you, pick out one note and seek to resonate with it by

humming its vibe. ü Identify one of your favourite songs, pay attention to the tone and melody. As you listen

carefully, try to breath with the song through your voice. Close your eyes if you wish.

Co-creation The last couple of years there has been a move away from addressing the functionality of a product or process to actually involving users in the design process in order to more accurately respond to user needs, wants and perceptions. This is a process called co-design, co-creation or user driven innovation, and is a process that puts the users direct experience with the product, process or service at the user at the heart of the design process. It is a win-win process in which users, designers and producers work together to come up with optimal solutions. I feel co-creation offers an exiting platform for identify workable team based solutions for a better future.231 All teamwork and teambuilding is essentially about co-creation. Co-operations such as Philips, Unilever and Procter & Gamble have for example invited prospective consumers to take part in the design process by organising product panels and open stakeholder processes. Co-creation can also be facilitated by way of the Internet. For example, a few years ago, the BMW posted a toolkit on their website to enable customers to develop and submit new ideas to the car manufacturer. Fifteen individuals were later invited to the engineering department to participate in the design process, to give further input, and some of their ideas have now reached the prototype. Similarly, the game developer Westwood Studios has a dedicated department where customers feed ideas for new products.232 Manzini calls this “co-production of value”, referring to how users respond 230 Inspired by G. Roth 5 Rhythm practice. Roth, G (1997) Sweat your Prayers – Movement as Spiritual Practice. Dublin: Newleaf, p. 110 231 Santers, E. B. (2002) From User-Centred to Participatory Design Approaches. In Design and the Social Sciences J. Frascara (Ed). Taylor & Francis Books. 232 Economist, the (12-18 March, 2005) The rise of the creative consumer.

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directly to their challenges by conceiving and implementing solutions themselves. This subject-actor paradigm goes beyond the restricted role of consumers, and gives power to the capabilities and potential of a more flexible business structure applying the power of customers to the product development process.233 Act iv i t ies : ü The “prosecutors’ dilemma” is an effective way of scrutinising a product or process to prepare

for co-creation and new insights. Group get together and looks at a product to decide what can be changed or altered.234 Ask the group to apply black hat thinking235, or a strong critical voice.

ü Divide the group into teams of 5-7 people. Ask each team to come develop a concept note for a major event (define). The first task is to identify the feeling guest should leave the event with, and what main experiences would like bring about, finally the teams bring their attention to practical aspects.

Comfort Zones “If there are two courses of action, you should take the third”

- Jewish proverb Every individual has formed habits, routine and modus operandi that they find safe and free from hardship. Habits and routine can give a sense of control and often have a place be effective in dealing with chores of day-to-day living. However, habits and not conducive to brining about new ideas and can also make us change averse. Hence, to stretch our ‘muscles and stamina’ for creativity, it is important to challenge our comfort zones both as individuals and in terms of group dynamics.236 The Buddhist speaks to the need for letting go of ego by focusing on how we may be of service to others. Kongtrül say that, “with less self-importance, life becomes very straightforward and simple”.237 By bringing our intention to contributing to the wellbeing of the commons (a team, an organisation, a network, or society as a whole), we will simultaneously improve the quality of life for ourselves. Simplifying our lives means having a clear intention of purpose manifested in the way we live our life and direct our mind.238 I believe that insecurity and a threatened ego breath bickering and selfish shortsighted action. Letting go of attachment to outcome, opens up for mindfulness and presence in any situation that is essential for creative flow. When we remove ego from a situation we can also free ourselves to move beyond our habits, and customary comfort zones. In a sense, allowing creativity to blossom in a group context means to let go of ego to embrace the unknown. But at the same time make sure not to push the boundaries so far out that participants get truly scared. Hence, it is important to bring about a dynamic shifting in and out, between and within zones of comfort.

233 Manzini, E. Jegou F. (2003) Sustainable Everyday. Scenarios of Urban Life. Milano: Edizioni Ambiente. Other interesting sources include: Ceserani, J. (2003) Big Ideas – putting the zest into creativity and innovation at work. London: Kogan Page Ltd., Robinson, A.G. & Schroeder, D.M (2004) Ideas are Free – how the idea revolution is liberating people and transforming organizations. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, King, C. (2005) Creating Partnerships – Unlashing Collaborative Power in the Workplace. Santa Barbara: The Wisdom Way. 234 This idea was given to me by Joe Michalef, a colleague from MA in Creativity and Innovation at the University of Malta. 235 Please see Exercise 4 for an introduction about the Six Thinking Hats by Dr. Edward de Bono. 236 Ceserani, J. (2003) Big Ideas – putting the zest into creativity and innovation at work. London: Kogan Page Ltd., De Bono, E. (1992) Serious Creativity. London: HarperCollinsPublishers & Michalko, M. (2001) Cracking Creativity – the secrets of creative genius. Berkley: The speed press 237 Kongtrul, D. (2005) It’s up to you – the practice of self-reflection on the Buddhist path. London: Shambhala p. 102 238 Ibid. p.102

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Act iv i t ies : ü Sketch a make a map of what makes you feel comfortable and what you need to be happy. Now

turn the page around, and draw out a situation or influences that could shatter your world. Draw yourself in a situation where this happen. Take a few minutes to reflect on how this would feel.

ü Brainstorm alone. Make a list of elements that make you feel uncomfortable. Make a pledge to engage with at least one of those things within a defined period of time.

ü Clothing is often used as a shell to communicate who we are or who we want to be. To challenge this, ask participants to wear a white sheet or coat for the first two days of a workshop. On the third day give paint their overcoat with colours reflecting their moods, inspiration and aspirations.

Connecting with Nature I have talked about the importance of connecting with nature to access our innate creativity above. Human beings are nature, and we are part of the ecosystem, however over the past couple of centuries we have become increasingly alienated from the web of nature of which we are part. Several of the exercises below seek to re-energise human connection with the natural world. However, here is one of the more direct approaches. Being in wilderness in order to gain new perspectives, peace and serenity. The quest is to get into a mental space in which inspiration can be gained and to see situations and an issue with new eyes. Otto Scharmer talks about how there are two ways of learning. Learning from the past and learning from the emergent future. Act iv i ty : ü Find a place outside where you can sit undisturbed. Identify something around you with witch

you would like to engage in a silent dialogue (i.e. a flower, tree, lake, rock, landscape). When you know what to engage with, close your eyes and start your conversation. Stay in stillness for some time, and at least five minutes. Try not to control or manufacture the conversation with this other. How does it feel? Does your “counterpart” communicate back to you? Are you gaining any new insights from your stillness?

ü To train sensory awareness and to accept assistance from another whilst living with the whims of the moment, Joanna Macy prepared the Mirror walk. It promotes a deep ecology perspective, seeing our interrelatedness with the ecosystem. Questions for discussion may include: What feeling arose from being guided, or guiding? What surprised you? What did you learn? What new insights did you gain for the healing of our planet?

Box 13. The Mirror Walk “Forming pairs, people take turns being guided with eyes closed, in silence. Deprived of sight, they have the chance now to use their own senses with more curiosity and wonder than usual, and to experience trusting another person with their safety. Their partners, guiding them by the hand or arm, offer them various sensory experiences – a flower or leaf to smell, the texture of grass or tree trunk, the sound of birds or children playing- all the while without words. The tempo is relaxed, allowing time to fully register each encounter. Every so often, the guide adjusts his partner’s hand, as if aiming a camera, and says, “Open your eyes and look in the mirror.” The ones being guided open their eyes for a moment or two, and take in the sight.”239

239 Macy, J. & Brown, M.Y.(1998) Coming Back to Life – Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers. p. 88

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Dance “God respects us when we work, but loves us when we dance”

- Old Sufi Saying240 Movement and dance may be experienced as foreign and challenging in a workshop setting by many. In our modern day lives we are not accustomed to express, and communicate through our bodies, but rely mainly on words, images and sound. I contend that we often suppress the sensuous abilities of our bodies. Dance is about expression, and not about looking pretty or being good. But for many it represents a challenge far beyond the boundaries of any plausible comfort zone. And because of this, if the initial hurdles and prejudices against movement can be curtailed, the benefits of using dance, as part of a creative process, it may be even more potent than other media. The key in dance is to exercise the ability to let go, encouraging the ability of being a witness to oneself and to the world. Dance is about connecting the body, soul and heart, and is not about passing judgement or about doing right or wrong. In dance there may be flow, boundaries, disruption, confusion or silence. And whatever expression comes out, is the right one in that moment. Act iv i t ies : ü Holding hands, silence, put on music, and start walking slowly around to the music. See what

emerges. One person initiates a move, and the rest will follow, the second person over initiates another move and again everyone repeats… everyone will have to give their one move and everyone will have to mimic this as a offering in return. Stillness is also an expression. The group walks slowly in circle or back and forth when none is giving their movement. The facilitators’ role is to keep the continuous flow of moves, repetitions gests and moves given and repeated.

ü Based in the 5-rhythm practice of Gabrielle Roth. Dance to the four elements earth, fire, water & air, closing circle with a tribute to stillness coming back to self.241

Dialogue The concept of Dialogue is inspired from the Greeks, and it means, “talking through”. It was established as a way to exchange ideas without an objective of changing the others point of view. Dialogue is facilitated to deepen understanding and broaden perspectives. Bohm & Krishnamurti speak to the importance of learning how to listen well to foster an effective dialogue or a stream of communication. However, they recognise there is a complexity in listening, as it is difficult to listen without having an attachment to the outcome.242 It is an added complication that our society endorses competition rather than cooperation and hence listening is often not a well-exercised skill. Socrates (470-399 BC) was a proponent of developing listening and reasoning skills. He introduced what was to be known as maieutic inquiry from the Greek word maieutikos, which means ‘midwifery’. Socrates based his approach on the axiom that “unexamined life is not worth living”. There are three components making a Socratic inquiry happen; the inquirer, the object of inquiry, and the process of inquiry. Dimitrow note that “the practical application of maieutic inquiry lies in the symbiosis of personal

240 as quoted in Roth, G (1997) Sweat your Prayers – Movement as Spiritual Practice. Dublin: Newleaf. p. 11 241 Simplified and adapted from an exercise taught by Susannah & Yakov Darling Kahn at the 5R movement medicine workshop, Devon UK, March 2007. 242 Krishnamurti, J & Bohm, D. (1985) The Ending of Time – Thirteen Dialogues Between Krishnamurti & Bohm. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. p. 76

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with social, of ‘subjective’ with ‘objective’, of ‘internal’ with ‘external’, etc.”243 The Pythagorean School (520BC) provided the basis for the Socratic inquiry process. The school addressed the process of gaining new insights and creativity through inspiration, authenticity with a process, object or situation seeing ultimate truths and finally exercising the ability ask profound questions to gain insight to self and phenomena.244 Open dialogue allows for emergence of ideas and understanding in the space between individuals. I see parallels and that there are important lessons to be learned in terms of setting boundaries yet remaining open in the dialogue in the getting to yes approach promoted by Fisher with the Harvard Business School. The getting to yes approach is about going into a negotiation with clear intentions of attaining a mutual gain for both parties, by shying away from bargaining positions and bring clarity of interests. The idea is that when focus is on the interest, there is greater likelihood of reaching an optimal solution. However, what I find particularly interesting to bring into a dialogue from the ‘getting to yes approach’ is the notion of BATNA. A BATNA represents the best alternative to a negotiated agreement. It is commonly not expressed as it represents a fallback position and is the alternative that either party will opt for if the negotiations fail to meet interests. In this way the BATNA represents boundaries. A dialogue is typically not stating individual boundaries, but ground rules for what is within the scope of the dialogue and what is irrelevant for the purpose of the desired process.245 The basic rule of dialogues are; one speaker at the time, no arguments, no interruptions and engagement in careful listening. Dialogues are improved as participants develop an appreciation for the mystery of unfolding meaning. A dialogue is often most effective when focused on an important question that can generate meaningful inquiry.246 Please see section about Listening below.

World Café as a Framework for Dialogue: A World Café is a conversation tool in which an informal welcoming café setting is constructed in order to facilitate a dynamic flowing collaborative dialogue. The imagination is the main limitation for the possible variations and structures for a world café. Some key elements for a constructive world café include having a clear purpose of the dialogue, and that the questions explored are the core questions for the participants. It provides an opportunity to connect diverse perspectives and gives a good setting for new ideas to emerge as a significance of synergies between partakers. Another element of the world café is that the participants are free to move and partake in conversations in accordance with their interest. Whole Systems Associates specify, “the café is built on the assumption that people already have within them the wisdom and creativity to confront even the most difficult challenges. Given the appropriate context and focus, it is possible to access and use this deeper knowledge about what’s important”.247

243 Dimitrow, V. (Search March 2007) www.zulenet.com/vladimirdimitrow/pages/complexthink.htm 244 Dimitrow, V. (Search March 2007) www.zulenet.com/vladimirdimitrow/pages/complexthink.htm 245 Fisher, R. & Ury, W (1992 2nd ed.) Getting to Yes – Negotiating an agreement without giving in. London: Random House & Isaacs, W. (1999) Dialogue and the art of thinking together. A pioneering approach to communicating in business and in life. New York: Doubleday - Random House, Inc. 246 Michalko, M (2001) Cracking Creativity – the secrets of creative genius. Berkley: Ten Speed Press p. 256., Bohm, D. & Peat, D.F (2000 2nd ed.) Science, Order & Creativity. Cornwall: Routledge please also see Conklin, J (2006) Dialogue Mapping – Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems Chichester: Wiley 247 Whole Systems Associates (2002) The World Café Presents… a quick reference guide for putting conversations to work… www.theworldcafe.com & Brown, J. (2005) the World Café – Shaping our Futures Through Conversations that Matter. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

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Box 14. Café Conversations

- Agree on café etiquette (ground rules) - Four to five people per table

- Each table has a host - Two or three rounds of conversation (20 – 30 min each)

- Key questions guide the discussions - Encourage note taking, drawings and/or doodling

- Ideas, questions and themes will likely connect between the different conversations

- After several café conversations, initiate a plenary conversation to summarise and share experiences

Elements for Café Etiquette

- Focus on what matters - Contribute with your thinking - Speak your mind and heart

- Listen to understand - Link and connect ideas

- Listen together for insights and questions - Play, doodle, draw, and write on the tablecloths

- Have fun and show respect for others! Adapted from © Whole Systems Associates (2002) The World Café Presents:

a quick reference guide for putting conversations to work…

Open Space Technology (OST) OST is a technique that can be good when working with a very large group that needs to interact with both issues and dynamics of high complexity. It is a form of chaordic dialogue arranged around the issues that are brought up in the group at the time of the open space meeting. The way it works is that individuals post topics on a prepared notice board and individuals convene with those who are interested in discussing the same topic. Typically three sessions are organised, and participants rotate after each session. The only law in OST is “if at anytime during our time together you discover that you are neither learning nor contributing, use your two feet and move on”. Harrison Owen the inventor of OST says,

“The only way to bring an Open Space gathering to its knees is to attempt to control it. It may, therefore, turn out that the one thing we always wanted (control) is not only unavailable, but

unnecessary. After all, if order is for free we could afford being out of control and love it. Emergent order appears in Open Space when the conditions for self-organization are met. Perhaps we can now

relax, and stop working so hard.”248 Act iv i ty : ü Joanna Macy introduces the exercise the council of all beings. This is a process in which

participants take on roles as different beings and entities to engage in dialogue to express and share their concern for planet earth. In their role, each being tell the truth about how they see what is happening to their world and seek strength in shared experiences to move beyond

248 Open Space http://www.openspaceworld.com/brief_history.htm (Search August 2007)

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despair. As I find the exercise particularly powerful I have included an adapted version in the textbox below.249

Box 15. The Council of All Beings 1. The mourning for something we have had to let go of. In this phase strong feelings of anger and grief

may well up. It can be helpful to ask the participants to bring an object that can symbolise what they are mourning about.

2. The remembering our ancestors, and our connections thought history and how we are part of and continuously influenced by the elements (earth, air, fire & water). The knowledge is within us, harnessing the intellect, imagination and intuition will help participants play out this stage. Body movement, sound, or a guided visualisation on aspects called in can also prove effective. This may be framed as a journey through time.

3. The participants speak on behalf of other life forms; this is the culmination of the council of all beings. This is a way to acknowledge and commune with other beings on planet earth with we are interconnected with and who are deeply affected by our actions. It is not necessary for participants to have in depth knowledge about the life form they are speaking on behalf of. According to Macy, participants should choose, or rather let themselves be chosen to speak up, through the sensory and intuitive. Hence, a meditation, or moment of silence may be appropriate as a preamble. After this, participants will prepare and create a mask, and if desired a full costume, to help transform into the life form they will represent.

Once the council of all being commence, prayers, drumming, chanting, as well as native American rituals such as calling in four directions and smudging of sage or cedar might be effect full to create a conducive and meditative space for deep knowing, listening and sharing. It is recommended that a talking stick or other appropriate object be used to bring attention to the speaker. Macy concludes, “Participants in the ritual invoke the powers within themselves that they want strengthened. These bowers are available to us all because they inhere in the web of life … that web is what we are.”250 Desired outcome: Building and recognising relationship with other beings, processes and elements on planet earth. Develop an intuition and deeper sense of connectedness and move towards new insights to approaches responding to the needs of planet earth rather than the human race alone.

Journaling – a Personal Dialogue Journaling is for many an important help in venting thoughts, ideas as well as recording emergent insights. For me, journaling is a way of understanding my own journey, to bring order to clutter in my brain and a simple technique to access my creative flow. Journaling can also be a good support at any time during a workshop. Choose a word, theme or phrase, something that emerged in the previous process have everyone in the group relax and take a pen to spill out their feedback and feelings about the issue. Just write, no thinking, the purpose is to release constraints by inner judges and preconceived notions of what is good to write or not. Whatever comes is the right thing to write. It may also be helpful to set off journaling by giving a first sentence that participants have to complete. I do not think it is advisable to expect participants to talk about or read from their journals, but you may of course ask whether someone would like to share. It is important that participants feel as free an unconstrained as possible to allow their inner voice to speak freely through the journaling. This is intended as a process to clarifying thinking for the individual, and participants will often share what they feel may be beneficial insights for the overall group. However, whilst the technique is aimed at individual processes, the creative process for the group often benefit

249 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press p. 198 - 205 250 Ibid. 205.

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greatly from improved individual clarity and awareness. Well functioning tams of groups are made up of individuals that thrive together. Act iv i t ies : ü Ask participants to bring a new notebook and spiritual text that speak to their heart and soul.

Invite everyone will read their text, and to express what it evokes in them. After each person have presented their text, you may suggest that that the text be inserted in the notebook and that everyone spends a few minutes to write down their intentions and wishes for the use of the notebook, as well as what main issues they would like work with in the coming week. You may bring attention to the power of daily journal writing. Cameron suggests a good way to free creative energy is to write three pages worth of whatever every morning before doing anything else. I have personally found this a good help in clearing the mind and enable focus for whatever I truly want and need to work with.251

Letting go… Holding on is about claiming ownership to the past and the future. Letting go can only happen in the present, and it is the act of detachment to a time that is not now that truly frees our ability to welcome change with creativity. Act iv i ty : ü Arrange the group around a cycle of tables with paint, paintbrushes and big sheets of papers.

Ask the participants to start paining a picture with their emotions as the only reference. No judgement. After 1 minute of painting the sheets are circulated clockwise, and the participants continue painting for one minute on their neighbours paining. After one minute, the painting is circulated again, and so on.252

Listening The ability to be present is a condition for good listen skill. Listening enables us to engage with the authentic meaning of the words of another, and is an essential ability in order to gain new insight both for an individual and for a group. I consider that without effective listening consensus, co-creation and synergic creative energies within a group cannot be triggered. Listening has many forms and expressions from the personal and introspective to the gregarious. Creativity can sprout by intense listening to our own pulse, the energy of nature around us, and by being acutely present in a conversation with another or a group. Listening brings insight, insight facilitates change, and change can be challenging, or was it the other way around...

251 Adapted from Roth, G (1997) Sweat your Prayers – Movement as Spiritual Practice. Dublin: Newleaf p. 110 – 111 & the writing log idea expressed in Cameron, J (1994) The Artist’s Way – a course in discovering and recovering your creative self. London: Pan Macmillan Ltd. 252 Adopted from an activity facilitated by Azul Thomé at Schumacher College November 2006.

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Box 16. Tips for Listening253 Work with a talking stick Look at the speaker Listen to yourself as you speak Speak your truth Trust your intuition Listen for underlying assumptions Listen to yourself as you speak Suspend judgement Ask questions Allow silence to happen!!!

Act iv i ty : ü Organise a role-play of where the participants interrupt each other intentionally. This can be

an effective icebreaker as a reminder engaged listening. ü Initiate the fishbowl technique (please see textbox)

Box 17. The Fishbowl Technique “Place five or six cushions in the middle of the room in a circle, within a larger circle of chairs. Voluntaries sit on the cushions, leaving one empty, and begin a dialogue on a selected topic. After about five minutes, when the conversation is well underway, the empty cushion becomes available for anyone from the outer circle… and someone in the centre… moves back to the outer circle, vacating a cushion for someone else. People continue to join the inner circle, and leave after speaking, until a sense of resolution is reached, or the allotted time is up.”254

Scenarios & foresight It can be quiet inspiring and powerful to envisage desirable, futures by way of scenarios. Scenarios are designed ignited with ideals and possibilities and can thus be an effective mechanism to pick up on and promote trends and choices towards a more sustainable future. Scenarios may play a central role in co-creation activities or applied in a broader context as a starting point for a social and community design process in which designers act as facilitators. Manzini and Jegou note that “to make scenarios means to detect promising signals and identify how they could turn into reality”.255 Similarly, the Hudson Institute defines scenarios as “attempts to describe in some detail a hypothetical sequence of events that could lead plausibly to the situation envisaged”.256 Drawing up scenarios is best facilitated as a team effort as complexities of the envisaged future should be accounted for. For this reason every single aspect of the scenario development is likely to evoke a lot of discussion, hence it is important that enough time be allowed. Scenarios may be particularly potent as part of a foresighting process. FOREN define foresight as “systematic, participatory, future intelligence gathering and medium-to-long

253 Inspired by Joanna Macy, David Bohm, David Peat & World Café. 254 Macy, J. & Brown, M.Y.(1998) Coming Back to Life – Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers. p. 77 255 Manzini, E. & Jégou, F. (2003) Sustainable Everyday. Scenarios of Urban Life. Milano: Edizioni Ambiente 256 The Year 2000 A Framework for Speculation on the Next Thirty-Three Years By Herman Kahn and Anthony J. Wiener with contributions from other staff members of the Hudson Institute, Introduction by Daniel Bell, The Macmillan Company, New York, N.Y. Collier-Macmillan Limited, London, 1967, pp. 262-264; © Hudson Institute

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term vision building process aimed at present-day decisions and mobilizing joint actions”.257 The idea behind the process is that developing and clarifying perceptions of desirable futures enhances the chance of achieving a future that is partially or completely line with the envisaged. Thus, foresight can be an aid for helping organisations to formulate a clear systematic long-term strategy for action.

Box 18. 10 steps to Scenarios Step 1. Identify the focal issue or decision What does the concept of sustainable enterprise hold? Step 2. Selection of Leading Indicators and Signposts Step 3. Key Forces in the Local Environment Step 4. Driving Forces Step 5. Rank by Importance and Uncertainty Step 6 Selecting Scenario Logics Step 7. Fleshing out the Scenarios Step 8. Implications (Carry out SWOT analysis258) Step 9. Selection of Leading Indicators and Signposts Step 10. Additional Considerations for Creating Scenarios

- Adapted from Schwartz259

Sound Macy quotes the Zen poet Thich Nhat Hanh who says, “What we need most to do (for the healing of our world) is to hear within us the sounds of the Earth crying.”260 Sound generates movement; movement is change that gives resonance with our heartbeat. Our heartbeat brings flow to our breath of life. In this way, new insight may spring from rhythm and sound. So what can be more natural then, but to let the music play to give new flow for our breath, and a rhythmic beat to ignite our inspiration. Music brings forward a different language as a basis for movement of thought, body and senses. Sound and music is key for gaining new perspectives. Act iv i t ies : ü Prepare a medley of songs. Invite participants to contemplate a theme for a few minutes and

then let the music play. ü Invite participants to engage with the music by moving and breathing with the music. ü Restart the music, and ask participants to bring out their notebooks to record their associations

in writing or as visual images such as doodles, pencil drawings or a non-figurative display of colours.

257 FOREN-A guide to regional foresight (EU: 2001) 258 A SWOT analysis prompts an overview of scenario (or project) related Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats 259 Schwartz, P. (1998) The Art of the Long View – Planning for the future in an uncertain world. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. pp. 242-244. Other interesting sources on scenarios work include: Lindgren, M. & Brandhold, H. (2003) Scenario Planning – the link between future and strategy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, Van der Heijden, K. (2005 2nd ed.) Scenarios – the art of the strategic conversation. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. & Van der Heijden, K. et. al. (2002) The Sixth Sense – Accelerating Organizational Learning with Scenarios. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 260 As quoted in Macy, J. & Brown, M.Y.(1998) Coming Back to Life – Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers. p. 91

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Stillness Silence, stillness and pause are essential for rejuvenation. Creativity is an ongoing process seems to be helped by un-focusing, but taking time out to do other things or to simply engage in stillness. Every session or workshop may be initiated with a brief period of silence to bring the intention and energy of participants into the workshop. To be in our bodies and in the moment gives a feeling of grounded ness, and can be important in unlashing creative potential. Meditation can be effective in learning to still the stream of disturbing thoughts in our minds. However, honouring the need for stillness in a group may be facilitated by simply inviting the group to sit in silence for a minute at the beginning or end of a session. If you want to spend more time with stillness, here is a brief initiation to encourage stillness of mind and body. Act iv i t ies : ü Listening to self. What does your body have to tell you? What images occur, where does your

energy flow? Invite stillness into the depths of your soul. Communing with the land within oneself. Silent meditations. Coming back to self. Peace!

ü Observing expressions. Enjoy a day (hours) in silence to observe the rhythm of nature and the rhythm of the self’s need for chatter and distractions from being present in the now. On words should be used this day, emotions, thoughts, senses and the intuition may be explored through movement, music, drawing, painting or other artwork.

Story Telling We are living stories. Our lives are a continuous unfolding of parallel and enabled stories. Early history was passed on to the next generations through story telling. In modern day of age we are again reminded about the power of oral traditions and to exercise the imagination not only through the written word or the eye as we do when we watch a movie, but also to reenergise the art of imaginative listening. I suggest that story telling be given a central role in any workshop about creativity. Ideas are rooted in the intersection between practical life and our imagination. This is where stories become a potentially powerful spark off. Act iv i ty : ü Arrange the group in a circle. Invite participants to tell brief (i.e. 3-minutes) stories capturing

one message for example a story about co-creation, communal action, success or failure. ü Find an image you feel illustrate something you would like to communicate and dialogue about

with the group. Ask the group to observe and experience the image to start developing a relevant story they can share with the group. See what emerges.

Time – Experience and Reinvention In our fast past paced society we seem want to put as much as we can into our day. Our success is measured in quantity and breath of achievements rather than quality and depth. We are conditioned to understand time as a linear entity rather than an expression of evolution and its many aspects. We have become accustomed to appreciating qualities of life as fast and ordered, rather than deep and wild, advancing a one-dimensional society before one of diversity and multifarious natures. I consider that our understanding and expression of time plays a key role in shaping our ability to address and find solutions to the prevailing environmental crisis. Working with our relationship to time is a way to strengthen our sense of belonging and evoke feelings of responsibility and empowerment to act with present an on behalf of future generations. When we are caught up in everyday life we often feel like we want to escape time, but an escape will only temporarily reduce our stress because what is

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problematic is our perception and experience of time, not time itself. Hence, we need to become friends with time, and seek ways of experiencing the richness and fullness of time in all its facets connecting us to the past, present and future. Jay Griffith points out the similarity between our need for wilderness and the need for wild time. We control our lives and wild is something that needs to be tamed.261 However, as creativity is born at that edge of chaos, I consider that our relationship to time also dictate our ability to be creative. If we only live in fast and ordered time, creativity cannot blossom. We need the wild, we need unruliness, and most of all we need to welcome the wild time within ourselves. Act iv i t ies : ü Stop wearing a wristwatch. ü Program yourself to wake-up without an alarm. ü Prepare a guided mediation aiming to help the participants to visualise and experience possible

scenarios for the future.262 ü Joanna Macy has designed an exercise to invoke a close association with beings of past, present

and future; she calls this to engage in “evolutionary remembering”.263 This can be initiated as individual written work followed by the fishbowl technique (see above) where the participants take on the role of separate ‘time beings’, and the fishbowl holds the meeting. It is important to allow enough time for everyone to be in the fishbowl.264

ü Invite the group swap chairs with someone at the other side of the room. Take a notebook and write down some “wild” activities that they enjoy doing but may not have engaged in for a while. Reflect on the sense of time associated with these activities. Invite participants to share their notes with two other people, and identify three “wild” activities that could be done together whilst still in the workshop.265

ü Summon the group to co-create a collage about wild time. Discuss and reflect on the work afterwards.

ü Engage participants in preparing a time experience log over the course of a few days where they record different experiences of time.

Visuals: Drawing, Doodling, Painting, Photography & Sketching “Practising Goethean approach to science involves heightened methodological awareness and sensitivity to the

way we engage in the phenomenal world. We need to overcome our habit of viewing the world in terms of objects…”

- Craig Holdrege266 I find visual arts to be an effective way to approach a challenge to recognize and bring the unconscious, sensuous, intuitive and emotional aspects into view. The idea is to engage in visuals to discover underlying or unexpressed aspects that may reveal itself or be provoked by the image. The assumption is that the individual may gain greater insight and develop a better understanding of themselves and the way they relate to the people and the world around them. For this reason, visual 261 Griffiths, J.(1999) Pip Pip – a sidewise look at time. London: HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 262 Joanna Macy has developed a potentially powerful meditation and group exercise addressing this theme. Please see Macy, J & Brown, M.Y. (1998) Coming Back to Life – Practices to Reconnect our Lives, Our World. Berkeley: New Society Publishers pp. 142-143 263 Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press p. 215. 264 Adapted from Macy, J. (1991) World as Lover, World as Self. Berkley: Parallax Press p. 206 - 219 265 This activity should not be initiated on the last day of a workshop unless it is a group that will continue working together in the coming weeks. 266 Holdrege, C. (n.a.) Doing Goethean Science. The Nature Institute

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arts are a much-favoured medium in certain branches of psychotherapy such as gestalt therapy, art therapy. Art therapist Vaccaro stated, “If I ask a question, they tell me very little. But if I say, make a drawing of your family, sometimes they say a lot more”.267 It is also a favoured way of gaining a deeper understanding of the subconscious, realms of the emotional and unarticulated in Jungian psychology, also called analytical psychology. In short, Jungian psychology aim to foster an integration of the underlying forces for human behaviour by applied phenomenology based on artwork, dreams, folklore and mythology.268 Moreover, Both Goethe and Steiner were strong proponents of working with visual medium, and particularly drawing, to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of the subject, as supposed to an object, such as for example a plant, an animal or a place. Goethe says;

“People should talk less and draw more. Personally, I would like to renounce speech altogether and, like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say visually.”269

Act iv i t ies : ü Take a digital camera (digital as you can then dispose of the photos after) with you outside and

shoot anything you see. Just go mad! When you come home download the photos on your computer. What was your journey? What did you see? What caught your attention? This exercise may also be done with a group. Discuss the findings?

ü Go outside with pen and paper and find a quiet place. See what catches your attention and start drawing. What do you see? How does the subject of your attention reveal itself to you? There is no rush. Ideally try to come back to the same spot every day for a week. How does your relationship with the subject evolve?

ü I like to work with doodling by drawing out issues or problems as matchstick figures. The intent is to see the relationship between different elements in a problem or dilemma, and not to pay too much attention to the drawing itself. This can be played out as an isolated scene to go into specific aspects, or a cartoon with a sequence of events depicting a process. The intent is to bring new insight and understanding, to see the situation from a new perspective assisted by figures instead of words. Use this approach in short time sequences or as part of a longer process. It can also be developed into a more elaborate painting or drawing exercise working with layers whilst adding colour. I suggest not spend too much time on any one aspect. It is not about making the drawings look pretty, but about creating an expression to see an idea, situation or process from the outside in order to bring about new perspectives to a seemingly closed set of circumstances. The intent is to draw without thinking and censoring to avoid getting caught up in presentation as this easily detach us from intuitive and emotional ways of knowing.

Writing For most people in academia and in our verbal thinking type culture, the written word is associated with delivering expected outcomes; it is our conventional way of communicating and working with the development of thought. The greatest protagonist for understanding the world by engaging with it through observation and drawing is one of the greatest writers the world has seen. I am talking about Goethe. 270 He accessed his creativity in writing through the sensory, but also, wring became cleansing process for him helping him to be in tune with his senses and the intuitive. Hence, as for so many

267 Beeson, Ed. (2006). "Picture of Hope". Herald News. December 5, 2006 268 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Gustav_Jung (Search July 2007) 269 As quoted in Premauer Marroquin, J.M. (2004) Goethean Science and Drawing as means of connecting the self to the world. Dissertation submitted for MSc in Holistic Science. Schumacher College p. 21 270 Please see a discussion of Goethe and Goethean Science in Ch. 2.

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things in life, it is not about either or but both and.271 However, writing may of course also be a creative endeavour, and a tool that may help us to understand and see the world in new ways by accessing our intuition, feelings and senses in the writing process. I consider there are at least three major obstacles to engaging in a creative change process and I have experienced them through reluctance to writing in particular. Otto Scharmer address them as the “three enemies of change”, they include judgement, cynicisms and fear.272 In the book, The Artist Way, Julia Cameron has developed a 12-week programme for discovering and coming back to ones creative self through questioning, visualisation and writing. The idea is to shift habitual patters of assumptions, perceptions affecting behaviour and reactions by gaining insight to established patterns, challenge comfort zones and seek exposure to new experiences.273 Cameron developed a program largely involving writing, to help break down creative blockages, which she assert is a “form of self-destruction”. Cameron says, “Creativity requires fait. Fait requires that we relinquish control. This is frightening, and we resist it.”274 Act iv i t ies : ü Identify a concept or notion that interest you. Giver yourself five minutes to write 100 words

about this concept. Not more, not less, only 100. ü Bring a journal with you to a quiet spot outdoors. Find something that attracts your attention.

Start describing and exploring this phenomenon with your words. Write down what you see, feel and intuit. Don’t judge yourself. What associations appear? Allow yourself to let the phenomenon take you on a journey of in your own words.

ü Engage in daily journaling… your call, and your freedom!

271 Sverre Dahl writes about Goethe in Berg Eriksen, T (Ed.) (1998) Vestens Tenkere – Bind II Fra Descartes til Nietzshe. Oslo: Aschehoug pp 321- 334. 272 Scharmer, O. C. (2007) Theory-U: Leading from the future as it emerges – the social technology of presencing. Cambridge: Massachusetts. p. 100 (2007) p. 42 – 43 273 Cameron, J (1994) The Artist’s Way – a course in discovering and recovering your creative self. London: Pan Macmillan Ltd. 274 Ibid. p. 193

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Exercises prepared for the Sigdal workshop Exercises marked by a star * were tested during the workshop. Commentary and reflections to this and the overall programme are included in Chapter 5 and in Appendix 6 which is a personal log written at the time as the facilitator.

Exercise 1 - Opening Circle with Ice Breakers* - Time estimate: 1 hour Objective: Develop a jovial, playful and open atmosphere Give the group 5 minutes to collect themselves (variation of Ex. 9 – before we begin) to figure out what they want to say and how they want to present themselves. Encourage a colourful artistic presentation, whilst drawing on available means. Sitting in a circle, everyone present himself or herself by name, profession, why they are there, what they want to contribute, and what they wish to take back from the workshop. At the end of their presentation each participant should give three statements of which 2 are true and one is false. Everyone else should guess which one is right and not. Alternatives: 1. Participants are asked to bring one object about which they have a personal story to tell that relates to their business dream, organisation or to their idea of a business venture in a sustainable community. 2. Participants are asked to take 3 minutes to make a drawing, song, mime, poem, or write a description of their notion of a business venture in a sustainable community. Each participant will be asked to present this along with a brief introduction about themselves. 3. Participants are asked to find out at least ten things about at least ten people in the group. They need to present these ten things after the enquiry. The exercise can be a good way to move the attention away from self to the group. Desired outcome: Participants feel like they are part of a team rather than a group of individuals.

Exercise 2 - Open Spaces and Connections275 - Time estimate: 15 min Objective: Bring attention to emergence and self-organisation 2.1. Participants walk around the room in silence, focusing on the open spaces between them. Not looking at faces, not addressing the bodies, only focusing on the space between. Go faster then slower, fluctuate the pace. This exercise may be assisted with drumming or music. 2.2. Now ask everyone to stand still for a moment. Look around the room see who are close to them. What do they notice? How do they feel? Choose a partner, someone to observe. Do not

275 Inspired by Macy & Brown exercise: The Milling please see Macy, J & Brown, M.Y. (1998) Coming Back to Life – Practices to Reconnect our Lives, Our World. Berkeley: New Society Publishes. p. 94 - 98

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inform this person that he or she will be observed. Look at how this person relate to the world around standing sensing feeling. Ask everyone to start moving again, but now focusing on the space around the person they observe. What happens? How do they feel? Do they manage to move? 2.3. Pause for a moment. Ask participants to close their eyes for a moment. Take a deep breath and prepare for one-to-one encounters. Let the milling continue but now ask participants to move from one to another with offering gestures, a greeting, a word. Every single individual should have devoted attention. Each meeting is only about 15seconds and then both move on to the next person. Let this evolve for about 3 minutes. Notice what happens? How do you feel? What emotions and senses arise? How do you experience time? How do you experience the space? How do you feel in your body? 2.4. Ask everyone to gather in a cycle to discuss the experience. Use a talking stick to structure the discussion most people will likely have a lot to say alternatively and dependent on the size of the group, ask participants to gather in groups of 4 to share the experience. Desired outcome: Awareness of free energy in open spaces, and fluidity that comes from this. The possible stuckness when focusing on only one being or object. How everything may feel cluttered just because we are out of control because we are seeking control and predictability with a situation or a being.

Exercise 3 - Personal and Collective Visioning* - Time estimate: 2 hours 40 minutes

Objective: Facilitate a divergent process to foster idea generation

2.1. 15 minutes

Gathering the group, getting started, introduction and questions

2.2. 40 minutes in the forest (weather dependent):

Free yourself from all preconceived notions of holistic science, educational models, what’s possible, your own work, the shoulds and the haves and the buts and the ifs… and seek to get in touch with a deep intuitive feeling of what your idea for a college of holistic science looks like. Please go to a place in the forest with your notebook. You may write, draw, or create a model with elements you find there. Your ideas do not have to be practical but need to feel right even if they may not be feasible at this point. I only ask that you do not judge yourself. What is a college of Holistic Science for you?

2.2. 30 minutes

Work in groups of threes (outdoor or inside, depending on the weather). Discuss your flavour of a potential college and sense of ideas with two other people. Together, find a way to present your vision of a college. Do you have a shared vision? Please prepare a few notes and a drawing expressing how the three of you will engage with your vision whilst in Sigdal.

2.3. 1 hour 15 minutes (I had originally estimated 20 minutes)

Debriefing & Discussion

Desired outcome: Open Pandora’s box to display the wealth of exiting and vibrant ideas. To think the unthinkable, and say the unsayable…

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Exercise 4 - Six Thinking Hats* - Time estimate: 1 hour 45 minutes (Presentation: 15 min & Exercise: 1h 30 min) Objective: Foster a mode of parallel thinking to identify the “landscape”, facts, alternative ideas, challenges and opportunities. The Six Thinking Hats, by Dr. Edward de Bono, are a convenient way of putting Parallel Thinking into practice - this is very different from argument. The hats and colours are designed to make Parallel Thinking a practical process that can be remembered and easily put to use. The Six Hats method therefore releases us from the argumentative mode as it helps participants to lay out all views side by side in parallel and then to design a way forward. With the Six Hats method it is possible to separate the different aspects of thinking instead of trying to do everything at once. By asking a person to put on a hat or take a hat off it is possible to acquire an easy, polite way to encourage thinkers to apply each thinking process with equal effort, rather than being stuck in one mode all the time. The Six Hats method separates ego from performance. If someone does not like an idea, then they are not going to spend much time thinking of the benefits or good points of that idea. With the Six Hats, however, the thinker can be specifically asked to give, for example, a yellow hat response. This is a challenge to the thinker who will not want to appear unable to perform this way. This results in a thinker arriving at a position where he or she may change their mind. Because the Six Hats quickly becomes a neutral game, the method provides a very convenient way to switch thinking or to ask for a certain type of thinking. The Six Thinking Hats method is practical and effective both on an individual and on a group level. On an individual level, it encourages focus and directs the thinker towards a broad exploration of the issue under discussion. On a group level, it encourages teamwork and facilitates the elimination of conflict by means of parallel thinking.276

Sequence: White, Red, Green, Blue, Black, Yellow, Blue, and Red. Desired outcome: Clarity on main aspects to address when shaping an action plan

276 De Bono, E (1985) Six Thinking Hats. London: Penguin Group

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Exercise 5 - Remarkable Ideas & Purple Cows - Time estimate: 1 hour 15 minutes Objective: Generate ideas and approaches to develop a remarkable college with regards to a) scope & curriculum b) organizational model & network c) deliverables & economy To bring out remarkable elements and traits from projects and activities is what makes a project worthwhile and thus also sustainable. Seth Godin calls this “purple cows”. In an idea generation process, quantity is more important than quality, and censoring, conclusions, and fear. Here we need courage, humour, along with intellectual, emotional and sensory risk taking. Hence, in this exercise the ability to suspend judgment is key. However, when examining the possible success of products and deliverables, a fulcrum of innovation can be developed by way of scrutinizing the questions “Is it going to be successful? Is it worth doing? Is this person able to champion the project?"277 NB: Outside if weather permits. 5.1. Divide the group into teams of 3 people. Each group will agree on a means expression - i.e. movement, sculpture, drawing, theatre, chanting, writing - and preferably integrating sensory experiences gained in meeting with other living or non-living beings (trees, insects, rocks, wind, sun) in this exploration phase. Each group should find a way to express (not necessarily articulate) at least 2 crazy, uncensored and possibly remarkable ideas about: a) scope & curriculum b) organizational model & network c) deliverables & economy. Time: 30 min 5.2. All teams will join to embark on a rotation ideation process. One participant will start by presenting one idea, the next person in the group will build on this idea, and so on. When it seems difficult to build further on an initial idea. The group will examine the prospect with the three above listed questions to identify the ‘fulcrum of innovation’. This exercise does not call for detailed discussions, rather that participants take an open, curious and collaborative attitude to the ideas presented. Please aim for approx 7 - 10 min (ideation and scrutiny) pr idea. The team will repeat this process until all team members have had a chance to initiate at least one idea. Session will be facilitated and a recorder will be appointed. Time: 45 min Alternatively do 5.2 in teams and then add a plenary component. 5.3. All teams present their core ideas to the whole group. Participants are kindly asked to please hand in their notes from this ideation process. Desired Outcome: Unlash new & inspirational ideas for a potential college initiation.

Exercise 6 - Me, I and my commitment - Time estimate: 1 hour 30 minutes

277 Godin, S. (2004) Free Prize Inside – The Next Big Marketing Idea. New York: Portfolio Penguin Group Inc.p. 70

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Objective: Identify a sense of personal commitment NB: this exercise was prepared as a response to the turn of events during the dialogue session of the workshop. Ask each participant to go to a separate place in nature allowing some time of meditative silence. After some time please identify 5 pieces or elements in the nature around you that in some way or another may be an expression of your sense of the project. Play uncensored and undirected with the pieces or elements in your minds or in real terms. Assign number from 1 to 5 to each element or piece and ask yourself the following five questions whilst touching or looking at the element or piece with the corresponding number (make a photo):

1. What gives meaning to my life? 2. What am I fervent or zealous about? In other words, what makes me tick? 3. In what way may this project become an expression of my inner passion? 4. Is there one specific initiative I would like to champion within the context of this

project? 5. Who would I like to work with to ensure that this could happen?

I recommend that the responses and troughs be captured by note taking, mind map or drawing. The selection of the elements or pieces as well as the assignment of numbers should be intuitive. Working with the elements might we a way of grounding the question to the natural environment as well as to bring the attention away from the logical realms of our well trained brains and to apply sensory faculties of our bodies. The exercise needs to be followed up by a conversation or bohmian dialogue. This exercise may also be done with movement. For movement it would be best if it were a group that is already accustomed to work with movement expression and that it is something that is done in a communal space, accompanied with note taking or drawing, followed by a conversation or bohmian dialogue. Desired outcome: Clarity with regards to personal commitment (at this stage)

Exercise 7 – Dialogue* Objective: Facilitate a process to deepen and collect the scope of ideas & activities.

- The dialogue may be recorder in an electronic mind-map. A dialogue is forum for interaction to encourage exchange and exploration of ideas without an objective of changing the others point of view. A dialogue is meant to be a open forum to help deepen understanding and broaden perspectives. Active listening by all members is key to a good dialogue. Only one person is meant speak at the time and the facilitator should only interrupt this person if he or she does not keep to the agreed topic for scrutiny, or if the contribution is too lengthy. It is helpful to set ground rules for the group before engaging in a dialogue. For more about dialogues please see the description above. Desired outcome: Uncover prevailing ideas, connections and emergent trends of interest within the group.

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Exercise 8 - Developing an Action Plan - Time estimate: 2 hours (formal – but informally as long as the groups feel they need…) Objective: To nurture practical recommendations and workable prospects by drawing on commitment and passions expressed by teams. The aim is to generate clear recommendations followed by already expressed commitment and / or passions. In this way, the final recommendations should build on expressed passion from within rather than notions of obligation or smartness. The focus should be on agreements, practical action, and feasible suggestions. Unrealistic proposals will be put aside for now, but can still be part of the overall vision. Process:

1. Ground-rules, recorder, presentation, format, deliverables, indicators

2. Describe the task for which recommendations are needed (strategic goals, decisions, priorities…)

3. Agree on a framework (one team one area or every one focus on everything?)

4. Ask each team to create 3-5 actionable recommendations in order of priority. Make sure someone is accountable, and timeframe is recorded. Seek agreement within working groups (team focus – synthesis on discussion so far)

5. Post flipcharts & reports (Saturday evening)

6. Discussion (Sunday morning)

7. Circle agreements and decide on recommendations using consensus or voting.

Desired outcome: Crisp action plan(s) stating task, core objectives, persons in charge, and timeframe.

Exercise 9 - Before we embark on the last stretch…* - Time estimate: 4 min Objective: Stillness 8.1. Ask everyone to take 1 min to write down any thought they may have that is taking them away from the present moment. No one will have to share what is on the note, the note is written merely so that they know they can “pick-up” where they left of before they came into to the workshop. This is a technique to help the mind relax with the idea that we are here now and that other pressing obligations will be attended to in due course. Advise the participants that if they have a reoccurring thought that is not willing to go away, they may resolve to write a new note. 8.2. - 1 min silence. Desired outcome: Focus and presence in the now.

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Exercise 10 - Harvesting Objective: Work towards and ensure a common understanding of vision and way forward ü Revisioning: Revisit Mission, Visions & Plans (need large sheet of paper) ü Next steps… ü What can we do? ü What can I do? ü Pledges: Make a pledge to take at least one action to move towards the vision (anything is

possible with commitment and action) Desired outcome: A clear focus and commitment to the project.

Exercise 11 - Closing circle* - Time estimate: 1 hour Objective: A free space to honour the time together and bring forth aspects, ideas and issues participants want to share or contemplate. This may be a time to share intentions, pledges and plans, or simply a time to share a moment in silence. The end of the closing circle can be a good moment to share information about available resources, forthcoming actions as well as to distribute an updated list of participants to encourage follow-up.278 Desired outcome: A sense of closure.

278 Adopted from the closing circle process at Schumacher College

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5. The Sigdal Workshop, 3 – 5 August, 2007

Towards a College of Holistic Science in Norway

background, workshop summary, framework & process, methodology, justification of approach, the workshop & the vision, agenda, feedback,

reflections on creativity & time, personal reflections I hear and I forget

I see and I remember I do and I understand

- Chinese Proverb

Background The workshop came about as a result of discussions with three members of NaCuHeal that attended a course at Schumacher College March 2007. They were contemplating the idea of establishing a NaCuHeal college in Norway, and came to Schumacher to get inspiration and input for taking the thoughts further. NaCuHeal is a foundation with a national network of centres that aim to contribute to wellbeing and health by encouraging as well as facilitating cultural activities and recreation in nature.279 After much conversation we decided to organise this workshop as a way to spur engagement, initiative and seek further input to kick off a process for initiating a college of holistic science in Norway. This idea had been brewing within various organisations and groups for some time, and it seemed as if the time was ripe to act and put ideas and initiative to the test. For me, the workshop was a good opportunity to carry out the practical component of my dissertation to test out several of the concepts and exercises I was developing as part of this endeavour.280

Workshop Summary The workshop brought together eighteen people, of whom sixteen participated in the workshop, myself included. Participants came from multiple backgrounds and not everyone was already involved or familiar with the work of NaCuHeal. The participants were carefully selected as potential key people in helping realise a college of holistic science in Norway.281 The main recommendations from the workshop included that the college should be developed incrementally as an emergent, flexible network of interdependent ever-evolving learning organizations. This would likely look much like a chaordic organisational structure. Moreover, the organisation should respect and draw on local resources, knowledge and traditions at all stages of its operations and development. The ecosystem is to be regarded as the main teacher for “whole living” within the college. And finally, the grand vision is for the college to contribute to the development of a holistic model of education in Norway. Participants singled out four main areas of action for the next twelve months. This included scrutiny of aspects pertaining to economics and finance, communications, networks and structure. Working groups were formed in each one of these topic areas. It was agreed that the task force would as much as

279 http://www.nacuheal.org/ & http://www.nakuhel.no/ 280 Please see Appendix 1 – Workshop Invitation 281 Please see the Participant-list Appendix 5 & Letter of Prior Informed Consent Appendix 6. To safeguard that I could report from the workshop in this paper, all participants were asked to complete a form of prior informed consent during the opening circle.

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possible draw on input from students, and to draw on and explore possible synergies with ongoing projects and initiatives. As a first step the team will meet in October to draw up an initial communications strategy including formulating a crisp mission to guide the first phase of the project.282

Framework & Process The intent with the workshop was twofold: first to test my own ability to communicate about creativity as a vehicle to work towards a more sustainable future, and second to test and experience working with the exercises I had developed to spur new ideas and initiative within the group. My primary focus for the workshop was henceforth with the process and initially not with the stated workshop objective to explore ideas for developing a college of holistic science in Norway. However, as I moved into the workshop process, I found it artificial and problematic to separate the two. To secure tangible outcomes and recommendations from the workshop, I found it necessary to put my own objectives for the process aside in favour of generating commitment and potential for implementation. I designed the workshop to give exposure to various aspects of the theory underpinning my dissertation and the exercises I had developed in drawing on these approaches. In particular I sought to trigger holistic perspectives by bringing attention to aspects of Deep Ecology and Goethean Science as a frame of reference. Moreover, as suspended judgement is a key aspect of creativity, it was important for me to bring attention to letting go of preconceived ideas whilst allowing the group dynamics to move, in a metaphorical sense, to the edge of chaos where order is dissolved by chaos and creativity is born yielding potential for new energy and flow. Finally, I wished to facilitate emergent and actionable ideas through a flow of time, as I contend that creativity can only happen with time but cannot be dictated by time. In hindsight I recognise that the workshop design and process did not lend itself to exploring aspects of Deep Ecology, Goethean Science and movement as much as I would have liked it to do. It feels as if I have embarked on a process to understand how to communicate and facilitate for resilience to change through creativity by way of these three aspects, but am very much at the beginning of the journey. A journey that has begun with theory and hopefully will continue as an emergent process of embodied knowledge.283 Below please find an annotated agenda with a commentary of workshop structure, exercises and a reflection of the actual turn of events. But first; to provide a bridge between the theoretical, conceptual and practical aspects of my dissertation I wish to bring some attention to my approach.

Methodology The scope and theoretical underpinning of the workbook, and therefore also the premises and exercises for the workshop were developed based a comprehensive literature review, as reflected and discussed in chapters one to three. To generate feedback and information from participants in the workshop, I prepared a questionnaire asking for qualitative responses including a combination of interview, meaning open questions, and questions using a likert scale. In addition I engaged in conversational interviews with two participants. My primarily mode to generate insight and finings from the workshop was by way of self and group observation recorded in a personal journal. My primary indicators for the journal were: 1. Responsiveness from group. 2. Adherence to workshop agenda. 3. Group dynamics 4. Diversity and quantity of ideas & proposals 5. Quality of ideas (reflected in commitment to process) Commitment to process whilst at Sigdal 6. Commitment and enthusiasm for follow-up activities. 7. Time (experience of and adherence to). 8. Practical aspects proved imperative, this was not intended. 282 Please see Appendix 3 for a compete summary report from the workshop. 283 For more about the workshop process please see my personal reflection pp. and summary of feedback from participants Appendix 4

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Justification of Approach The workshop in Sigdal was intended a test bed for the theoretical component of my dissertation. My objective was to facilitate a holistic creative process drawing on perspectives from complexity theory, whilst endeavouring to embed elements from Deep Ecology, Goethean science and movement as aspects of the exercises. I am fascinated by the idea of creativity being born at the edge of chaos, and wanted to find a way to work with this notion, which I consider is a possibility within any complex system such as a group, organisation or network. I contend that where people are together, complex dynamics of ambiguity and unpredictability are inherent properties. As my objective is to work with creativity to help bring about a more sustainable future, it was important to draw on approaches that encourage more holistic ways of knowing as well as to foster a closer connection with the ecosystem of which we are part. Thus, it was natural to seek out inspiration from perspectives of Deep Ecology, Goethean Science and movement as a foundation to unlash creative potential in groups.284 I felt Deep Ecology was a natural starting point as it outlines a process based on acknowledging a sense of ecological self through deep questioning and experience, wherein the assumption is that this insight prompts a sense of deep commitment for action. I see this as an essential axiom and driving force for personal engagement, providing a framework for bringing about change in awareness manifesting as a u-turn in thinking and actions.285 Moreover, I experience Goethean Science with its emphasis on allowing the phenomenon to reveal itself to the observer - recognising that every part is a manifestation of the whole, brings key insight that may enable and foster new insights, shifts in perceptions and henceforth foster more holistic approaches. Finally, movement, and dance in particular, has always been an essential part of my life. Movement prompts embodiment of feelings, senses and intuitions. Movement seems hampered by an active mind, and for this reason I feel it is a particularly powerful approach in working towards new insights and solutions. Please see figure 6 for an illustration of how I perceive the relationship between unlashing creativity at the edge of chaos, and application of the above-mentioned approaches.

284 I address the theoretical aspects of these perspectives in Ch. 2. Please also see Ch 4 for practical applications within a workshop setting. 285 Harding, S. (n.a.) WHAT IS DEEP ECOLOGY? Through deep experience, deep questioning and deep commitment emerges deep ecology. Resurgence issue 185 http://www.resurgence.org/resurgence/185/harding185.htm

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The Workshop & the Vision When I set off on the journey of my dissertation work, the idea was to find a way to work towards developing a safe space where creative ideas could flourish and connect in synergic relationships with one another whilst fostering resilience to change by way of working with and through emergent networks. One workshop was too short of a time to assess whether a culture for continuous organisational learning has been established. I merely wanted to facilitate a “creative room” for a constructive process with and through the edge of chaos. However, it was interesting that that the objective of establishing a safe space for new and different thinking was a recurring theme during the workshop. Hence, the vision of building a framework for continuous holistic organisational learning may not be such an utopia after all. Please see figure 7.

C u r r e n t s i t u a t i o nC u r r e n t s i t u a t i o n

Cont inuous hol is t ic organisat iona l learn ing C reat ive room - - - the ChangeLAB

Exp lor ing the edge o f chaos, f low and imag inat ion

Order Chaos

*Goethean Science – Seeing 1st Time *Deep Ecology – Questioning – Experience – Commitment

*Movement

Figure 6. Process

Figure 7. ChangeLAB Vision

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Annotated Agenda by Activity Agenda item Objective Outcome / Experience Fr iday 3 August Opening circle w. personal introductions & icebreaking exercise (Ex 1)

Provide a safe space for meeting of heart, soul and minds. Foster an open team jovial team spirit.

Too formal! The exercises may have contributed to moving the group towards a team – but at this point they were still a group of individuals.

Introductory presentation: Framework, concepts and objectives (PowerPoint 1 – Appendix 6)

Provide background information and ensure that all participants were on equal footing about the underlying thinking and intentions.

Interesting questions. Well received by all, but some felt the introduction was an unnecessary as they already held comprehensive insight about most concepts.

Open Spaces & Connections (Ex 2 – text on movement & breath)

Bring attention to the power of emergence and self-organisation

Unfortunately this did not happen.

Saturday 4 August Personal and collective visioning exercises (Ex 3 + text on connecting with nature & scenarios)

Facilitate a divergent process to foster idea generation.

The process proved to be very productive, and it was also greatly appreciated that the individual and group work was done outside. I consider the session might have more focused if I had asked the participants to create coherent scenarios for desirable college futures.

Parallel thinking exercise. Identifying strengths, weaknesses and alternatives. Working with Edward de Bono’s 6 thinking hats (Ex 4)

Foster parallel thinking to identify facts, alternative ideas, challenges and opportunities.

The exercise was well received, and did unintentionally also serve as a framework for short-term commitment and preliminary action plans. The exercise ran longer than anticipated.

Playing with alternatives: Engaging in movement and form in nature to explore potentials and ideas (Ex 5 + text on breath, movement, communing with nature)

Generate ideas and approaches to develop a remarkable college with regards to a) scope & curriculum b) organizational model & network c) deliverables & economy

There was no time. The exercise could have worked very well with the group, but I consider I may have underestimated the time needed.

Bohmian Dialogue to summarise and give feedback on personal process thus far, and prepare the ground for implementation (Ex 7 + text on dialogue & listening)

Facilitate a process to deepen and collect the scope of ideas & activities in order to reveal connections and emergent trends of interest within the group.

The dialogue was not truly a space for conversation, but became a session uncovering personal commitment. I think this was primarily because the core question of the dialogue addressed the personal commitment. Given the time of day and setting I feel this might have worked better facilitated by Ex 6 Me, I and my commitment, which I designed after the workshop.

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Teamwork to develop bold action plans. Presentation and discussion in plenary. Prepare for actual commitment (Ex 8).

To nurture practical recommendations and workable prospects by drawing on commitment and passions expressed by teams. The output should be a list of tasks coupled with core objectives, identifying the persons in charge, and timeframe.

The objectives for this exercise were met by way of an improvisational redesign of the 6 hats exercise. The output was eminent and the group demonstrated a strong personal commitment.

Sunday 5 August Before we embark on the last stretch (Ex 9)

Stillness and focus with the group. The exercise brought focus and attention. I found it conducive to also play some music during this process. Some people wished to share their through recorded in this exercise during the closing circle.

Harvesting (Ex 10). Debriefing, discussion, and conclusions.

There was no time for time for this exercise. However, the objectives were met by way of the restructured 6-hat process.

Closing circle (Ex. 11) A free space to honour the time together and bring forth aspects, ideas and issues participants want to share or contemplate

A wonderful closing ceremony with a true feel of completion to the weekend, and the beginning of an interesting journey for a massive project.

Other Features Meals Organise them as much as possible

as at Schumacher, but in terms of cooking and menus.

The practical arrangements were not well enough planed out. Meals and menus were well received.

Guided morning meditation (Inside) Start off the day with a peaceful mind engage in “non thinking”

Expectations met.

Qi Gong (Outdoors) Add movement to the workshop. Embody and process new insight, ideas and workshop experience.

Expectations met. Facilitated sensory experiences, breathing and gave a feeling of grounding our discussions.

Feedback from Participants Fifteen persons participated in the workshop sessions, myself excluded. I have received feedback forms from thirteen out of fifteen participants. The feedback forms asked for qualitative responses about motivation and follow-up. In the categories pertaining to content and practical aspects, I asked participants to rate the experience on a likert scale from 1 to 5, where 5 was the most favourable.286 Overall, the feedback revealed a great level of consensus in expectations and for how the workshop was received.

Motivation All respondents noted that their expectations were met, though one person thought there would be more time for silence and contemplation, whereas another noted expectations were met but in a different way than anticipated. About 70 % of the respondents joined the workshop with the primary

286 Please see Appendix 7 - Feedback Form for details on questions.

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objective to contribute to ideation and visions towards a college of holistic science in Norway. Most also expressed a key interest in meeting likeminded people whilst spending a weekend surrounded by wilderness. One respondent noted the objective was to learn more about facilitation.

Workshop Process Overall the respondents were positive about the workshop process and results. The respondents were more or less consistent in their assessment of the workshop strengths, referring to a positive dynamic process and the good opportunity for networking and engage in personal dialogue. Some pointed to the different style facilitation as a forte, along with the diversity in exercises and approaches explored. Lack of structure with regards to timekeeping, a deficient realism of visions and proposals were some of the aspects that were regarded as weaknesses of the workshop. One participant also pointed out that the approaches and the proposals had been discussed in during the 1960s, wondering whether we were not just trying to reinvent the wheel. On the whole the exercises were well received and the flux between individual, group and plenary work, varying from indoor to outdoor activities seemed to make for dynamic workshop. However, about 30% of the respondents expressed that they had experienced plenary sessions a bit too longwinded and thought driven. Five respondents explicitly mentioned that they found working with the six thinking hats a useful and interesting practice. Two respondents addressed the value of having included Qi Gong and meditation practice as part of the programme. One person noted that the process was not sufficiently holistic as there was too much emphasis of thinking and logic. However, a majority of participants emphasised the stronghold of creativity reflected both though the process as well as by ideas generated and agreed follow-up activities.

Platform In the section addressing the platform I wished to find out whether or not participants felt that the seven concepts I had identified as central in the process I endeavoured to facilitate. In hindsight I regret that I did not include the concept of movement in the feedback form, but at the time of writing I was thinking that movement was not prevalent enough in the workshop design. Please see the concepts as listed in the table. Two respondents did not compete this category. And some participants did not give feedback on all concepts. Concept Unclear OK New

Insight Interpretation

Holistic Science 1 7 3 Clear but few revelations Deep Ecology 4 6 1 Somewhat unclear Edge of Chaos 2 5 3 Relatively clear - but dissimilar

experience Emergence 1 6 3 Clear but few revelations Goethean Science 6 4 WEAK SPOT!!! Time 2 4 3 Ambiguous Creativity 1 3 7 A constructive workshop…

With these questions I wanted to identify whether the participants felt that the concepts were a) properly addressed and b) whether they felt they had gained new insights. Where participants did not give feedback I have interpreted this as the concept not having been appropriately addressed, or that the respondent did not feel that the concept was relevant for the workshop process. I gave an introduction to the concepts during my presentation Friday evening. On the whole it seems like the respondents think the concepts were relevant, but that they did not necessarily gain new insights. The concept of creativity gained most positive feedback with seven respondents saying they had gained new insights, whereas only one person noted it as unclear. I interpret this as a signal that the patricians experienced the workshop as a constructive, dynamic and productive process. Three people

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say they gained new perspectives about the concepts of holistic science, the edge of chaos and emergence. However, four respondents considered communication had been vague about deep ecology, whereas two people gave this a high score. I consider this may relate to the perceived relevance of the concept within the framework of the workshop. Of all concepts, Goethean Science seems to be most poorly communicated, as more than 50 % of the respondents say that this was unclear. Time stand out as the concept that seem to reflect most dissimilar perceptions and experiences. Three participants say they gained new insights, whereas two say it was unclear, however four participants did not respond to this category at all. Time certainly was an issue during the workshop, and I suspect the responses reveal difference in how the participants relate to time more than what was actually communicated about time.

The way forward All respondents say that the discussions and outcomes of the workshop relate directly with other work and projects they are involved in. And all but one express that they would like to play an active role in following-up on the recommendations from the workshop. Each respondent brings different motivational qualities to the project, so the key here is the fact that the workshop did not discourage people, but seems to have strengthened the inspiration that brought the participants to the workshop in the first place.

Practical aspects Overall the workshop scored very well on practical aspect with an average of three to four for most facets. Here the overall workshop organisation and communal work received top marks from nine out of thirteen. The characteristic with most divergent views pertained to communication during the workshop where some respondents felt communication had been unclear whereas eight participants gave communication a high score. This may reflect two things; a) different expectations with regards to communication or b) some neglect on the part of the facilitator. Activity Dreadful OK Super! Interpretation Overall organisation 4 9 Good sign! Communal work 6 7 Food (meals) 5 7 Social (evening) 4 8 Sleep arrangements 7 5 Accessibility (transport) 8 3 Information (before) 1 8 4 Could have been better! Information (during) 2 3 8 Curious…

Interpretation Overall the workshop format and process seem to have worked very well with the group. It was a group that where already highly inspired when they arrived in Sigdal and in that way likely not so difficult to please. However, it was also a group that have been working with aspects of nature, culture and health for some time and their expectations to workshop deliverables were high. The feedback reflects that overall the process overall was experienced as dynamic and constructive, but that the facilitator likely could have been a more stringent with regards to time and structure. Moreover, even if the exercises on the whole were well received, I consider that the process did not sufficiently reflect, embrace or bring forward a holistic approach. I base this on my personal observations coupled with the fact that the respondents gave a relatively neutral response to the concepts explored as part of the platform.

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Participant Reflections on Creativity & Time I conducted two interview conversations during the workshop where I explored the participants’ relationships to creativity and time. The responses were of different character, and a good illustration of how there are as many perceptions and experiences of creativity and time as there are people, at least…

For Astrid, creativity is expressed as an aptitude to grasp connections between seemingly unrelated subjects, initiatives, and people. In other words, creativity is about building and exploring webs of life, across disciplines and perceived boundaries. She gets a kick from meeting new people and particularly when people have different experiences that broaden her perspectives enabling new ideas and projects. She finds it exiting when ideas are cross-fertilised in new projects as a result of others finding inspiration and possible synergies in initiatives she is involved in. Astrid considers that creativity is a must for being a proactive agent in shaping a desirable future. For her, a desirable future can only be realised through cooperation whilst working with and towards creative solutions. Her mode of creativity is primarily one of recognising opportunities, articulated through networks and by helping others make creative ideas and innovations reality. Astrid experience time as both a process and benchmark which can foster creative action.

- Astrid Green, Participant in the Sigdal Workshop Astrids’ experience of creativity and time nicely reflect the notions of a creative network society as discussed in chapter 2. She has an approach to creativity that has resonance among many of the so-called cultural creatives, which I have addressed as the primary target group for this workbook. This group tend to, more so than others to work and initiate action by way of networks and explores synergies in the meeting with others.287

287 Florida, R. (2002) The Rise of the Creative Class. And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community & everyday life. New York: Basic Books

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Bjørns' involvement is somewhat more philosophical.

Bjørn speaks to the multifarious quality of creativity and time. For Bjørn, a first premise of creativity is holistic, in other words the fact that everything is related to everything else. He seeks to understand the holistic nature of concepts and expressions that may lead to wisdom. He considers that thinking alone is poor and deceptive; hence perception and insight must rely on a broader input than thought and words alone. Creativity entails seeing connections, recognising possible existing and new relationships between different aspects, concepts, ideas, and acting on such basis. A well-exercised creative ability may contribute to deeper and new insights. Bjørn considers that he engages with at least three kinds of creativity, which tentatively could be named fast, deep and emergent creativity. “Fast” creativity seems to be stimulated by intuition, but can feel intensely mental. It is about seeing connections in the moment and responding in the moment. Fast creativity happens in time. Contrary to this, it feels as if “deep” creativity is encouraged by meditation, contemplation and appears to emerge through time, as deep insights that gradually build a greater whole from which deep personal creation can happen. Bjørn expresses that when he engages in song, music and movement, he can both receive such deep insights and create deep expression. This kind of creativity is related to an archaic authentic energy. Thirdly, he experience “emergent” creativity that happens when he lets go of the need for finding a solution, and a new idea or insight strikes as a moment of “eureka”. Emergent creativity happens with time. In moments of creative flow it is as if both time and place disappear. It seems as if creative flow is timeless, wild, and independent of any notion of structure or framework. It is as if the elements just fall into place in an emergent manner as if there is a self-organising dynamics embedded in creative processes. However, as with emergent creativity, time can also be an incubator for creativity. Meetings and conversations with other people inspire Bjørn, especially when they can expose him to different ways of thinking and new ways of seeing the world. Also nature and music are major facets for inspiration, and he finds great comfort and sometimes answers to dilemmas and questions reveal themselves whilst in nature. He perceives change and unpredictability as constructive in a work setting, whereas it may sometimes feel threatening in the intimate emotional realm. He finds it inspiring to see ideas acted upon, and has noticed that things happen in a self-organising emergent manner when he lets go of the process.

- Bjørn Brunstad, Participant in the Sigdal Workshop Bjørn distinguishes between different kinds creativity and connects this to time. With his response I felt that a whole new area of enquiry opened up which I cannot see have been addressed sufficiently or coherently in the literature I have encountered. This conversation left me wanting to dive deeper into this connection I continuously see, intuit and feel between creativity and time.

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Personal Reflections

Flow and V is ion Ideas join hands, and transformed to new.

Created to be destroyed & reshaped for a new day. Synchronicity through time, in time, with time… yes now!

Space for sacred attraction in motion - letting in, and letting go. Open spaces, programme without schedule, what now?

The right people are there, are there, are here… it is our flow. And vision? - Authors’ notes, 4 August 2007

What a weekend! Three days, 18 people together in the Sigdal forest in Norwegian with an objective to seek out prospects and feasibility for establishing a college of Holistic Science in Norway. This was a unique opportunity for me to apply some of the methodologies I had been looking at for my dissertation at Schumacher College. We all know that there is often a disparity between theory and practice, hence it was important for me to test my thinking and knowledge by way of a workshop. And I certainly came back a few lessons that I address below. I have also written a moment-to-moment reflection piece that has been included as Appendix 6. Firstly, I still have lots to learn about trusting embodying facilitation for holistic organisation learning. I recognise that even if I have read, and hopefully understand a great deal about holistic science and applications in organisational learning, it is a whole different ballgame to translate this into a practical workshop. To begin with, my process plans for the workshop were far more ambitious than what proved feasible. Moreover, I caught myself operating through a mind driven processes. It felt as if I quickly slipped back into the “old” safe way of doing things by working primarily with logical and intuitive faculties of the mind. I sought to encourage use sensory and emotional ways of knowing in the workshop, but in light of my initial aspirations, this nevertheless became a minute aspect. Paradoxically, I found it challenging to facilitate exercises where movement was the main aspect, and was glad I could incorporate movement in a different but very dynamic way with Qi Gong. I suspect it will be easier for me to incorporate movement as part of the workshop exercises if there is a next time. During the workshop it became clear to me that to allow for emergence and synergies, it is important to have a defined program to give direction as well as to have a solid pool of exercises to draw from. However, once the workshop is underway, it is the mood and energy of the participants that determine the motions within the workshop. Hence, flexibility, a listening ear and heart seem to be key qualities for a facilitator, and particularly if the aim is to foster creativity for holistic organisational learning. I found it useful to work with exercises that allowed for changing dynamics and shifting between indoor, outdoors, moving from individual, to team work and then back to plenary sessions again. It proved to be a delicate balancing-act to allow enough time for individual ideation, in groups and plenary, whilst ensuring that the process moves on avoiding stagnation and repetitious statements. I consider that the energy within the group and dynamic exchange of ideas were greatly helped by being in a wonderful place in the woods. However, I believe participants would have felt less ‘brain fried’ had I insisted on carrying out exercises incorporating artwork and movement during the workshop. I conclude that facilitation for holistic creative processes ought to fluctuate gently between different ways of knowing, explored individually, in teams and in plenary in order to challenge comfort zones, and to bring about creative synergies between individuals. Only intuition and an ability to sense the mood and energy of the group can help a facilitator gage and respond to the demands for change in modus operandi for the group as a whole as well as individuals within the group. This will never be clear-cut, and someone

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will almost always feel that the timing is off hence it is about listening to the tacit energy flow of the group and to shift the process energy, activity and focus accordingly. The third lesson pertains to communication about the practical aspects of the workshop. Prior to the workshop I had agreed with two people that they would attend to the practical aspects of the workshop. Unfortunately I overestimated their aspiration to take this task into their own hands, and they ended up somewhat confused with regards to what expectations were from my side, something that proved frustrating for my colleagues, and unnecessarily strenuous for me. I failed to communicate clearly and to explicitly agree with my colleagues what their tasks and responsibility were in moment-to-moment fashion prior to and during the workshop. As a consequence, my attention had to go not only to testing out an aspiring holistic approach for unlashing the creative potential within the group, but also to cook, attend to timing of sessions and meals, organise for meals, and facilitate clear up. What suffered was my personal energy balance, along with the time I thought I would have to carry out interviews. Self-organisation has its limits. People are different, and work tasks that need to be carried out should not be left to chance as it may mean a heavier work burden for the person in charge of the overall event. The lesson learned was to ensure that all seemingly minute aspects of the practical organisation of the workshop are explicitly noted as someone’s job. It is (obviously) essential that this person know that the task is his or her responsibility. Once the workshop is underway, it is it is more complicated and energy demanding to delegate tasks and accountability. Fourth lesson is about time keeping. Every session ran longer than I had planned for, and people always needed to be chased back into the sessions again. For the most part, I had a feeling of, as Terry Irwin said “herding cats”. Something that could be a good sign as it might mean that further ideas are exchanged in the breaks, but if time slips too much, it can also be a way of losing the attention of participants. In hindsight, I see that it would have been helpful to ask someone else to take charge of time, and to chase the participant to meet at the agreed time and place. Fifth, facilitation happens at the edge of chaos… in constant flux, drawing on intuition, senses, and tuned to the emotions and moods of the group whilst drawing on defined methodologies and a physical framework of place. Facilitation prompts creativity, impulsivity whilst also demanding rigor. I guess this is what makes facilitation so unbelievably exiting. It asks for hundred percent presence to do it well, and this is also why a facilitator should focus on facilitation and make sure everything that there are people helping to back up and attend to practical and predictable aspects. I believe this is what’s needed to free the facilitator to be a “holistic facilitator”; creative, structures, flexible in and in tune with the ever-changing demands and needs of the group. And to reiterate; as a facilitator one should not endeavour to do everything, but rather delegate as much as possible. As well as taking weight of the shoulders of the facilitator, it spurs engagement, and makes people feel useful.

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6. Towards a New Pilgrimage You cannot discover new lands

until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. - André Gide

The process of preparing this workbook has continuously brought me back to the feeling of being the caterpillar that Norie Huddle talks about. I have eaten my way through the material, the writing, as well as massive amounts of Norwegian goats cheese on rye bread. I am not sure I can face that combination ever again. However, my cells have become emergently stronger, and I hope the butterfly in me which soon will be free from this exhilarating internal journey of transformation will prove to have learned the most essential lesson of all; to embrace change and enjoy being with a process rather than keeping my eyes on the outcome. Only time will tell. We always speak the truths we need to learn ourselves, and this is mine. So to summarise for you, my reader, the key message I want to pas on from this incredible journey is that creativity will flourish only when we allow for uncertainty and change, yet too speedy a processes of transformation brings confusion and unease. So, somehow, the art is to embrace that glorious middle way between chaos and order – the edge of chaos. I hope this workbook, paper, primer or whatever I should call it, can be of assistance in that regard.

Next Steps The paper has revealed several areas that I would like to explore further either conceptually or by way of practical work. As mentioned, the change laboratory I keep referring back to is for me a way of thinking rather than a physical space, hence I seek to bring the ChangeLAB will be with me in my heart and soul, so that I can do like Gandhi said; to live the change I speak. I wish to highlight three avenues I am determined to explore further: ü The obvious next step is that I will seek out opportunities through my work to further explore

how to bring about a closer connection between humans and the ecosystem. As I have highlighted, I believe the Deep Ecology, Goethean science and a broad interpretation of movement has much to offer in this regard.

ü The workshop in Sigdal gave an outline for an interesting pathway of development for a

potential college of holistic science in Norway. If we manage to put this idea into action I see plenty of scope for exploring many, if not all, of the approaches and ideas included in this workbook, though additional scoping might of course be called for.

ü In terms of further conceptual work, I wish to seek opportunities to explore experiences and

perceptions to gain deeper insight to the relationship between time, change and creativity. I have found little about this in the literature, and feel there is scope for a fascinating pilgrimage by listening to and observing the stories of individuals. Would you like to share your story?

Thank you!

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Glossary Some of the words have been discussed in further detail within the text. This glossary is merely meant to provide an overview. The interpretations are my own, yet based on the reading carried out in preparation of this dissertation. Quotations are indicated, but full references have not been provided. Ambigui ty : The act and ability of being open to more than interpretation. Assumpt ions: What is held to be true. Assumptions influence perceptions, how we experience and understand a phenomenon. Chaos: Briggs and Peat address chaos as “underlying interconnectedness that exists in apparently random events.” Chaos gives rise to birth and death, letting go and welcoming anew. It is the cradle of change, unpredictability and creation. Cogni t ion: The process of acquiring knowledge based on experience and perception of thought, intuition, sense or feeling. Concept : According to the Oxford dictionary a concept is “an idea or principle that is concerned with something”. I consider that a concept can represent a core idea; it can be the reason for moving in a certain direction as well as provide the basis for an idea. Ideas are focused approach or practical initiative to put a concept into practice. Consc iousness: Collective or individual awareness of a phenomenon or issue manifested by way of cognition. Creat iv i ty : New thinking, ideas, or phenomenon born out of an unpredictable sequence of events (Edge of Chaos). Deep Ecology: A bio-centric worldview. Sees human beings as part of the ecosystem. Sees the world as a network of interdependent and interconnected phenomena. Addresses the intrinsic value of all living beings. Edge of Chaos: Where order meets chaos and the two feed of each other in a perfect interplay-giving rise to creativity. Eros: Relationship, it is the copulation, the self-organising emergent process that assist the union between the matter (Gaia) and the soul of change (Chaos) fostering creativity. As if Eros is the manifestation of the Edge of Chaos. Ga ia : Ancient Greek feminine principle of matter and earth. James Lovelock named Planet Earth as a self-regulating living organism, Gaia. Hol is t ic : To understand and perceive a part, i.e. a tree, as an expression of the functional whole, i.e. a forest, whilst also recognising the interdependence of the parts. Idea: A thought or a construct that is realised in the cognitive.

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Innovat ion: Something new, a creative concept or idea that is brought into being. An innovation is something that is acted upon and manifested, in does not remain merely as a conceptual possibility. Paradigm: Thomas Kuhn defined it as a constellation of achievements – concepts, values, techniques, etc. – shared by a scientific community and used by that community to define legitimate problems and solutions. Paradigm Shi f t : Kuhn noted that paradigm shifts are changes in that occur in “discontinuous revolutionary breaks.” Percept ion: How we experience and understand a phenomenon is reflected and manifested as our awareness. Sha l low Ecology: Traditional environmentalism. Anthropocentric worldview. Consider humans as the sources of all value, separate and above the natural environment. Humans are managers and orchestrates of sustainable development, and technological innovation is instrumental in this endeavour.

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Appendix Appendix 1 – Workshop Invitation Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 2 – Agenda (as it happened) Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 3 – Workshop Summary by Session Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 4 - Moment-to-Moment Reflection Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 5 - Participant list for Sigdal workshop 3 - 5 August Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 6 – Prior Informed Consent Error! Bookmark not defined.

Appendix 8 – Presentation: Setting the Stage Error! Bookmark not defined.

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