Thoughts On Thrivability
Postcards from Thrivability Camp: Thriving is Learning
This is part of a series of posts following a gathering in Montreal, in which a diverse group of 15 people spent four days exploring different facets of thrivability. Throughout the Camp, we were almost obsessive about learning. It was extreme. We set learning goals...
Postcards from Thrivability Camp: Advancing the Story
Here’s a small but precious gem from last week’s Thrivability Camp. My co-host Belina Raffy shared some basic rules of improv, one of which was “keep the story moving.” As our group lived out this principle in a variety of playful ways, it struck me that it would make...
Postcards from Thrivability Camp: The Effects of Immersion
“What is possible when we craft organizations as a space for life?” This was the theme of last week’s four-day Thrivability Camp. Within that theme, we wanted to find out: “What happens when we mix together Living Systems Thinking, Applied Improv, the Art of...
Organizational Design: Lessons from the Field (literally!)
If we see an organization as a living ecosystem, what does this mean for organizational design? Are there different principles and practices for shaping organizational structure when we recognize it as being alive? Can it even be designed, or does the structure have...
Unwrapping the Gift Economy
It has become popular to declare that we need to move to a gift economy, in which we share more freely and value community more deeply, and in which our relationships are less often money-based and transactional. Clearly, this is an important and appealing...
The Third Canoe
It was the November gathering of the Thrivability Montreal conversation series. Close to 40 of us had gathered in Kahnawake, a Mohawk territory just outside Montreal. We had the rare privilege of being invited to a local Longhouse to learn about Indigenous...
Using Improv to Save the World
When most of us think about improvisation, we think of theater. We think of acting in a role that isn’t connected with reality. We think of the need to be funny, even silly. At best, it’s frivolous and fun. At worst, it’s anxiety-producing. (“She’s not going to make...
Organizations and the Mindful Practice of Authentic Dialogue
Last week’s Thrivability Montreal was a fantastic gathering, full of energy and important insights. We had gathered to explore the question: What if our organizations were designed to support the mindful practice of authentic dialogue? To offer some context for our...
Six-year-old sage offers hope for humanity (OK, he’s my son, but still…)
I have the best conversations with my kids when they’re supposed to be asleep already. As they’re lying in bed in the darkness, they relax and their minds seem to open up. It’s then that I get a glimpse of their surprising wisdom. And it gives me immense hope for the...
