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| Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2010 Story: Where Possibility Resides "Be so good they can't ignore you." - Jerry Dunn Storytelling is one of leadership's best kept secrets. Peter Block says: "Storytelling plays a noble and historic role in our lives and in society. Stories can give us a narrative to guide and instruct us. They are crucial to knowing who we are. They provide a sense of identity. Some stories, however, become the limitation to creating anything new. We need to distinguish between the stories that give meaning to our lives and help us find our voice, and those that limit our possibility. The stories that are useful and fulfilling are the ones tha are metaphors, signposts, parables and inspiration for the fullest expression of our humanity. They are communal teaching stories." Stories are not "right" or "wrong". They are not fact - each of us has our own interpretation because we tell the story through our own lens. In "Systems Thinking", story telling becomes one of the factors in understanding problems, issues and potential solutions. Each of the "characters" talks about what is happening from "the place in which they (uniquely) stand". The story unfolds as assumptions emerge, and hypotheses are disclosed. These theories are logically consistent - but not linear. When combined, they are a series of thoughts from many vantage points and recurring patterns. They are the foundations of possibility. This story-telling process is also known as "model building", a powerful learning tool - especially for teams. As Peter Senge says: At the heart of the art of (...systems thinking) storytelling is one question: How did we (through our internal thinking, our processes, our practices and our procedures) contribute to or create the circumstances (good or bad) that we face now? Leaders: Listen for the stories. Talk story. Ask questions to understand the thoughts, assumptions, mental models and systems at play in the circumstance. Do not just solve the problem... Hmmmmm.... See you Thursday afternoon! Maggie |
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
12.12.10
The Power of Story
13.9.10
Belonging In Community Doesn't Just Happen - Does It?
So, How Do You Belong in A Community?
At the Meet and Greet, many of you talked about wanting to know our Community more intimately - more than the average citizen.
I wondered how we should start exploring our environnent..... so let's begin with some things to think about...and a citizenship challenge... (Do you remember who said, "Challenge me...make me uncomfortable!")
Here goes: I’d like you to think about the meaning of “COMMUNITY”.
How would you define it?
Let's expand on that. What about:
What makes Thunder Bay a Community, and how do we know that we belong here?
We'll explore that question more at the Retreat.
Back to Roots
The word “community” has old roots from an Indo-European based “mei”, meaning “change” or “exchange”. Mei joined “com”, meaning “with”. The combined word became “kommein”, or “shared by all”.
The idea of “change or exchange, shared by all” is close to the meaning of community today. Community building is a core strategy for sharing the burdens and benefits of change and exchange.
Leading Community
In leadership terms, we will be exploring the ways that communities transform and shift from what they used to be, to what they can become. We will be thinking about the structure and dynamics of belonging. We will need ideas from diverse backgrounds and disciplines and translate them into simple, structured actions.
As Peter Block says: “We must be willing to trade problems for possibilities.”
In other words, community and citizenship don’t just happen by chance. Neither does citizenship, the privilege of belonging to a certain community. Informal citizenship is easier than formal citizenship, isn’t it?
The Canadian Citizenship Test
Here’s a sample of the questions from the Government of Canada’s website.
Time requirement: 30 minutes.
In order to become a Canadian citizen, you must demonstrate a basic knowledge of Canada by passing a multiple choice test.
All the questions found on the citizenship test are based on information provided in the citizenship study guide Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.
You will be required to successfully answer questions on the following topics:
· The rights and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen (including the right to vote in elections, the right to run for elected office in Canada and voting procedures)
· Canada’s government and social, cultural and political history
· Canada’s geography
How many of these Citizenship Questions can you answer correctly?
1. Name two key documents that contain our rights and freedoms.
2. Identify four (4) rights that Canadians enjoy.
3. Name four (4) fundamental freedoms that Canadians enjoy?
4. What is meant by the equality of women and men?
5. What are some examples of taking responsibility for yourself and your family?
6. Who were the founding peoples of Canada?
7. Who are the Métis?
8. What does the word “Inuit” mean?
9. What is meant by the term “responsible government”?
10. Who was Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine?
11. What did the Canadian Pacific Railway symbolize?
12. What does Confederation mean?
13. What is the significance of the discovery of insulin by Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best?
14. What does it mean to say that Canada is a constitutional monarchy?
15. What are the three branches of government?
16. What is the difference between the role of the Queen and that of the Prime Minister?
17. What is the highest honour that Canadians can receive?
18. When you go to vote on election day, what do you do?
19. Who is entitled to vote in Canadian federal elections?
20. After an election, which party forms the government?
21. Who is your Member of Parliament?
22. What are the three levels of government?
23. What is the role of the courts in Canada?
24. Name two Canadian symbols.
25. What provinces are sometimes referred to as the Atlantic Provinces?
All the answers can be found in the citizenship study guide Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. Go to: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/cit-sample.asp
Did you ace the test or struggle? Tell us...
COMMENTS: Go to www.xowhat.blogspot.com . Scroll down to the end of this article. Click on “Comment”. Write as much or as little as you like. If you're a first time blogger, just jump in!
What are your reactions to “belonging to community” and the Citizenship quiz.?
Yours in Leadership and in Community
Maggie
Yolibeth’s story about her Citizenship Ceremony will be in next week’s blog.
At the Meet and Greet, many of you talked about wanting to know our Community more intimately - more than the average citizen.
I wondered how we should start exploring our environnent..... so let's begin with some things to think about...and a citizenship challenge... (Do you remember who said, "Challenge me...make me uncomfortable!")
 |
| Nature is the ultimate metaphor for "belonging in community". Photo by Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2010 |
Here goes: I’d like you to think about the meaning of “COMMUNITY”.
How would you define it?
Words like… “place”, “people”, “connection”, “home and family”, “neighbourhoods”, "nationality" ... ?
What makes Thunder Bay a Community, and how do we know that we belong here?
We'll explore that question more at the Retreat.
Back to Roots
The word “community” has old roots from an Indo-European based “mei”, meaning “change” or “exchange”. Mei joined “com”, meaning “with”. The combined word became “kommein”, or “shared by all”.
The idea of “change or exchange, shared by all” is close to the meaning of community today. Community building is a core strategy for sharing the burdens and benefits of change and exchange.
Leading Community
In leadership terms, we will be exploring the ways that communities transform and shift from what they used to be, to what they can become. We will be thinking about the structure and dynamics of belonging. We will need ideas from diverse backgrounds and disciplines and translate them into simple, structured actions.
As Peter Block says: “We must be willing to trade problems for possibilities.”
- “How do we create community? "
- "How do we create a future that doesn’t only get better, but is of a different nature than the one we now experience? "
- "How do we create a community where all people feel they belong?”
Let’s Start Here: Belonging in Community - Citizenship
In other words, community and citizenship don’t just happen by chance. Neither does citizenship, the privilege of belonging to a certain community. Informal citizenship is easier than formal citizenship, isn’t it?
So here is a challenge for you…
Belonging in Community: Can You Pass the Test?
If you are Canadian born and bred, you most likely haven’t thought about trying to pass the Canadian Citizenship Test. We take our citizenship for granted. This is your chance to explore the requirements to officially “belong” to the Canadian Community.
An Alumnus from last year’s LTB class, Yolibeth Mejias de Pernia,
aced the actual Government test with a 100% mark. Could you?
(Yolibeth’s full story next week!)
She says: "Venezuelan by birth, Canadian by choice," I made Canada my country of choice for Permanent Residency. I have worked hard to build my future in this great country. Becoming a Citizen of Canada is one of the most important steps I have ever taken in my life. I thank god I became Canadian... after all these years of waiting and hoping... it end ups with a great feeling... although I've passed my citizenship test in 2008 but believe it or not I'm still feeling great and proud of this achievement which changed my live to the best."
The Canadian Citizenship Test
Here’s a sample of the questions from the Government of Canada’s website.
Time requirement: 30 minutes.
In order to become a Canadian citizen, you must demonstrate a basic knowledge of Canada by passing a multiple choice test.
All the questions found on the citizenship test are based on information provided in the citizenship study guide Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.
You will be required to successfully answer questions on the following topics:
· The rights and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen (including the right to vote in elections, the right to run for elected office in Canada and voting procedures)
· Canada’s government and social, cultural and political history
· Canada’s geography
How many of these Citizenship Questions can you answer correctly?
1. Name two key documents that contain our rights and freedoms.
2. Identify four (4) rights that Canadians enjoy.
3. Name four (4) fundamental freedoms that Canadians enjoy?
4. What is meant by the equality of women and men?
5. What are some examples of taking responsibility for yourself and your family?
6. Who were the founding peoples of Canada?
7. Who are the Métis?
8. What does the word “Inuit” mean?
9. What is meant by the term “responsible government”?
10. Who was Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine?
11. What did the Canadian Pacific Railway symbolize?
12. What does Confederation mean?
13. What is the significance of the discovery of insulin by Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best?
14. What does it mean to say that Canada is a constitutional monarchy?
15. What are the three branches of government?
16. What is the difference between the role of the Queen and that of the Prime Minister?
17. What is the highest honour that Canadians can receive?
18. When you go to vote on election day, what do you do?
19. Who is entitled to vote in Canadian federal elections?
20. After an election, which party forms the government?
21. Who is your Member of Parliament?
22. What are the three levels of government?
23. What is the role of the courts in Canada?
24. Name two Canadian symbols.
25. What provinces are sometimes referred to as the Atlantic Provinces?
All the answers can be found in the citizenship study guide Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. Go to: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/cit-sample.asp
Did you ace the test or struggle? Tell us...
COMMENTS: Go to www.xowhat.blogspot.com . Scroll down to the end of this article. Click on “Comment”. Write as much or as little as you like. If you're a first time blogger, just jump in!
What are your reactions to “belonging to community” and the Citizenship quiz.?
Yours in Leadership and in Community
Maggie
Yolibeth’s story about her Citizenship Ceremony will be in next week’s blog.
13.10.08
Breakfast? At the Hoito?
Ever Had Breakfast at the Hoito?
That should be, have you ever READ “Breakfast at the Hoito”?
You might find the author of Breakfast at the Hoito, Charles Wilkins, hunkering down to a plateful of pancakes in one of Canada’s most historic restaurants in the Finnish quarter of Thunder Bay, the Hoito. The name is finnish for "care".
Wilkins is an observer of life in our City. His writing reflects the inner workings of a community with spirit, heart and its own share of misfortunes.
As we enter our first “Community Learning Day” on Thursday this week, I would like to quote the 2 final pages of Wilkin’s work, published in 1997. That’s almost a dozen years ago.
“I could discuss the city’s assets at length – good air, sweet summers, all the facilities and parks mentioned earlier on these pages – and could think of other things to say about its liabilities. However, the more I think and talk about the place, the more I am reminded that at the core of any community, there is a knot – a complex amalgam of geography and history and fate, plus any number of unresolved hopes, frustrations and biases, interwoven to the point that only the final shaman could ever begin to decipher them.
Thunder Bay’s knot is perhaps harder to untie than most right now, because we are a city in flux and seeking direction. About the only thing we are sure of, it seems, is that we are not about to find that direction where others have found it in the past, and that we must look somewhere else.
We are reminded by those in the know to remember, above all, that we are a community not of economic indicators, but of human beings…and that for the ultimate sustainability, we must look not to Toronto, Ottawa or beyond – but within.
The notion is attractive.
Others tell us our future lies in the diligent reading of precisely those economic indicators that we have been warned to avoid.
Meanwhile, the land and lake are what they ever were, lending grace and endurance and mystery – and their own, unique measure of direction – to our sense of who we are.”
WICK-ED!
Wicked! It’s almost Hallowe’en...and here's another version of community leadership, with a WICKED slant.
What we are learning about the nature of complex community problems, by Mark Cabaj. Go to:
http://tamarackcommunity.ca/downloads/index/MC_Wicked.pdf
That should be, have you ever READ “Breakfast at the Hoito”?
You might find the author of Breakfast at the Hoito, Charles Wilkins, hunkering down to a plateful of pancakes in one of Canada’s most historic restaurants in the Finnish quarter of Thunder Bay, the Hoito. The name is finnish for "care".
Wilkins is an observer of life in our City. His writing reflects the inner workings of a community with spirit, heart and its own share of misfortunes.
As we enter our first “Community Learning Day” on Thursday this week, I would like to quote the 2 final pages of Wilkin’s work, published in 1997. That’s almost a dozen years ago.
“I could discuss the city’s assets at length – good air, sweet summers, all the facilities and parks mentioned earlier on these pages – and could think of other things to say about its liabilities. However, the more I think and talk about the place, the more I am reminded that at the core of any community, there is a knot – a complex amalgam of geography and history and fate, plus any number of unresolved hopes, frustrations and biases, interwoven to the point that only the final shaman could ever begin to decipher them.
Thunder Bay’s knot is perhaps harder to untie than most right now, because we are a city in flux and seeking direction. About the only thing we are sure of, it seems, is that we are not about to find that direction where others have found it in the past, and that we must look somewhere else.
We are reminded by those in the know to remember, above all, that we are a community not of economic indicators, but of human beings…and that for the ultimate sustainability, we must look not to Toronto, Ottawa or beyond – but within.
The notion is attractive.
Others tell us our future lies in the diligent reading of precisely those economic indicators that we have been warned to avoid.
Meanwhile, the land and lake are what they ever were, lending grace and endurance and mystery – and their own, unique measure of direction – to our sense of who we are.”
What do YOU think? What are the signs of progress...which issues remain? Let's learn more about how leadership affects community...
WICK-ED!
Wicked! It’s almost Hallowe’en...and here's another version of community leadership, with a WICKED slant.
What we are learning about the nature of complex community problems, by Mark Cabaj. Go to:
http://tamarackcommunity.ca/downloads/index/MC_Wicked.pdf
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