This is still funny ask heck. Take a peek… where do you fudge? (For those unfamiliar with the English colloquialism of “fudge” it means to fake something!) And I love that this link is still alive from 2019. Enjoy!
Category: change
NASA’s Salish Sea in the Snow
I’ve been absent from my blog catch up due to flooding basements and such things. Ah, good intentions.
Today I was led to a stunning photo by NASA of the Salish Sea region – where I spend my time – in the snow. Click in to look at it with more detail. It made me think of you, dear readers (all seven of you!)
We had record breaking cold and snow the last week in December. Seeing it from space was one of those “if I could only look from a new perspective” moments. We need those moments to question what we are doing and want to do. And to just sit in awe of nature.
Speaking of questioning things, Alexandra Samuel‘s remote work newsletter came out today with great reframing questions to consider not just about the return to F2F work, but the very nature of work. It made me want to convene a Strategic Knotworking Session (draft structure description in process to formalize this Liberating Structure here) about work! Worth a read!
Now, back to cleaning up the basement!
Oh dear, were we wrong in 2009: Facebook as a Sustainability Pillar
Conspicuous, but not Consuming | GOOD – Why Facebook is more important to the environment than solar panels.
Reading back to this post I can only feel sadness for the delusions we had about the Internet in the early days. Even as late as 2009. Here is the quote that breaks my heart.
The growth of social networks indicates a fundamental shift in patterns of human behavior. The unsustainable practice of ever-increasing consumption of physical goods, and expressing oneself through what one purchases and displays, is being replaced by increasing consumption of virtual goods through virtual channels. This is good news for the sustainability of our economy.
Patrick Lambe on Against Bestness
In 2008 Patrick Lambe wrote this fabulous blog post challenging our notion of, or perhaps obsession with, bestness. Green Chameleon » Against Bestness
First, I encourage you to read the whole post. It is still spot on resonant. Patrick highlights many of the missteps of trying to focus on all things best: best practices, simplistic taxonomies, etc.
Why do we fall for bestness? For me, it is our own entrained thinking and simply not paying attention to the signals where a focus on best is, at best (haha) is a wrong turn.
Second, I’d love you to share the signals you notice when you (if you ever do) start focusing on bestness instead of the right thing to do right now. (Or some variation.)
In taking a step back from constant work, I’m reflecting on some of my choices with groups and clients and see moments where I have consciously or unconsciously not heard what others offer because I thought I had what was best. Signals? Defensiveness. Interrupting others. Prioritizing the voices that agreed with me.
My antidote? Stick with structures that prevent behavior that I succumbed to now and again. This is probably why I use Liberating Structures, or at the least, consider my process choices based on how much the bring all voices to the work.
Gardner Campbell- network or resonance?
From the forest of forgotten blog post drafts, this one from Gardner Campbel still resonates for me. Gardner Writes » Postscript to symbolism and cognitive resonance
It occurs to me that the metaphor of “network” may be holding me (us?) back. I like to think about social networks, network effects, high-speed networks, and so forth. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) But the metaphor conveys a set of telegraphic connections, criss-crossing lines with nodes at the connection points, add-a-beads, point-to-point contacts and correspondences.
When I think about resonance, something else happens in my brain.
I think about resonance effects, about social resonance environments, about sympathetic vibrations and overtones and timbres and chords. I think about symbolism, and suggestion, about most resembling unlikenesses and most unlike resemblances (the way Milton described the relation of husband and wife in a successful–and happy–marriage). I think about complexity calling to complexity, about models that simultaneously simplify and amplify the power of the original as the models make the original more present, more resonant, to our minds.
As a lover of all things network, I too find myself wondering if I’m the hammer, looking for the proverbial nail. Resonance is a lovely option to add to my repertoire. The question is, what tool am I using for resonance? 🙂 I’ve leave that to your speculation.
Quick Edit: while draft cleaning, this one by Jim Benson “Liberate your Inner Hammer” on form/function weaves into our speculation.
