convening capitalism 3.0 constellations

just returning from amsterdam and berlin. in amsterdam i met a whole bunch of Presencing Institute Community members at the occasion of launching the Dutch edition of “Theory U” and Arthur Zajonc’s book “Meditation”. we had a great event attended by 450 people. We were joined by our friend and violinist Miha Pogacnik (see picture below) at that occasion (and also at a smaller follow on workshop).

What i really loved was the microcosm of society that both events convened: all sectors and systems of society were represented and linked through a generative dialogue.
the next day i had a small group workshop in berlin on capitalism 3.0 with a small group of thought leaders from the Green party, social entrepreneurs, companies, and governmental agencies. again a very interesting microcosm of society. and again a very stimulating discussion about our current situation (2.0) and where we should go (3.0).
i return from these conversations and dialogues somewhat inspired and elevated. i see the response to these events (the organizers of the public event in amsterdam had to turn away hundreds of people who couldn’t get in) as a living proof that there is HUGE untapped potential in society currently for co-sensing and co-creating positive change. how can we better link ourselves to this huge potential? how can this potential better guide our actions? in amsterdam we closed the follow on session (that was attended by 90 people) with a simple exercise: we put everyone in a circle. standing. each of us in the circle represented the currently existing initiatives and projects. then we invited everyone who had formed a NEW idea or initiative to step forward and share that idea. an hour or so later 85 of the 90 had stepped into the circle and shared their emerging idea or future initiative. people then formed small groups with others that had shared related ideas–and we closed the session with some highlights from each of these groups. pretty powerful stuff.

i think there is a real lack of sessions today convening real microcosms of the whole society (that share the practice of effecting social change by shifting the inner place from which people operate). have you seen similar examples lately? what did you notice? how can we design and improve a really good process for doing this–interweaving and deepening the connections of these emerging fields?

Tags: capitalism 3.0

4 Comments to convening capitalism 3.0 constellations

Ralf Lippold
March 15, 2010

Great to hear about what happened in Europe. Interest in change is piling up.

Letting people the room to tell their their story in a wider circle fires the fire of change:-)

The social field is then changing during this opportunities you can really feel it in the air.

Provide the space (not just the physical, also the social) and let the things emerge – you always will be amazed what is possible!

Cheers, Ralf

Michael Bischoff
March 17, 2010

I love hearing about these gatherings that are tapping into our untapped potential for co-sensing and co-creating change. A couple days ago I convened a very small microcosm to sense and create change, using the Presencing process. It was with my 2 small kids. Here’s a 2 minute video of the results:
http://spiritofinstitutions.blogspot.com/2010/03/theory-u-illustrated-with-silly-game.html

George Por
March 19, 2010

> there is a real lack of sessions today convening real microcosms of the whole society

How would a microcosm of the whole society look like? Social technologies that can bring together 1000s of people into envisioning future possibilities abound, e.g. Future Search, Art of Hosting, Appreciative Inquiry, World Cafe, etc. What I think is missing is exactly the “whole society” perspective and capacity. And when we do have that, what I don’t understand is why are we so addicted to capitalism that we can’t even imagine a future without it? see: http://www.community.presencing.com/group/transformingcapitalism/forum/topics/why-are-we-so-addicted-to

ndhct
March 21, 2010

These sessions can and will take place if we make it happen. I recently experienced a powerful Pro-Action Cafe at the Art of Hosting Karlskrona with 80+ youth, where initiative was overflowing. Innovation is in place, we just need to activate the right conversations. I have posted learnings from this event and a talk by Peter Senge on my blog http://ndhct.com/

Leave a comment