Top 25 news stories that didn't make the News in 2012

This list is worth reading.  Many of the stories have important implications for Change Agents! Click the symbol to check it out.

'Time Banks' Help Spaniards Weather Financial Crisis

 

With the financial systems in the balance, people are looking for all sorts of alternatives to get the services they need.

Time banks are where people exchange time instead of money. Work and hour and someone works for you for an hour. It doesn't have to be the same person.  For example, I could earn an hour by tutoring math to person A and then consume that hour by getting housekeeping services from person D.

Everything is done on a gifting basis, so there is no tax involved.

It is making life possible for the people in economically ravaged Spain:
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/22/161380937/time-banks-help-spaniards-weather-financial-crisis

It is available in Austin:
http://www.austintimeexchange.org/

It is a great idea!

What services can you trade?

Change Agent: Framework Steps 5 & 6

5. How do you read the map?

You will probably be creating new things and working with new ideas, so there is no road map. You are in undiscovered country. Here are a few tips for navigation.

Seek out others with similar visions and ask their advice. You will likely find allies and co-creators to collaborate with as you activate your vision.

Have I mentioned how important it is to share your vision with others? The key to success is that your vision must be contagious! The projects you choose should naturally gain followers. You in turn have a responsibility to those that follow you.  True leaders serve!

Focus on learning everything you can about those you serve. They will show you the way by their actions more than their words. People naturally want to support and encourage you. That support needs to be in the form of taking actions that are measurable.

Build data collection into your processes. Most web sites have analytics built in or available as a plug-in option. Save as much data as you can reasonably collect because you typically do not know what the questions will be in the future. Collecting the raw data (even when it initially seems pointless) allows you to have data to mine for the answers you do not even know how to ask today.

It is important to return to your vision and think about it often. That keeps you focused on the true point. Sometimes you are so busy innovating, iterating, pivoting and managing the Everyday that you lose track of what or where it is you were going in the first place. 

Sometimes quietly contemplating your vision allows you uncover refinements. Make sure you include time for reflection – maybe not daily but certainly weekly.

6. Keep it going!

You will be repeating steps 3, 4 and 5 a lot. You will be repeating the whole framework, too. This is natural in the process of validated learning. Write a plan to follow. Use a pencil and have a big eraser. This is the first step toward non-attachment. Plans need to evolve, boundaries change and the envelope gets pushed. It is what visionaries such as you do! When you accomplish the first chunk, celebrate! Then move on to the next chunk.

As more of your work gets done, it is natural for progress to accelerate. Additionally, if you are co-creating, accretion (the growing together of separate things or processes) tends to happen, as if by magic.

As your vision refines, it begins to seem natural, more play than work. Tom Jones, a prolific singer/songwriter since the 1960s, made the comment that he has not worked since 1962. He wasn’t joking.

In conclusion, here are the signs of a healthy cycle of action as you activate your vision:

·         The Vision is refined as you learn more

·         Strategy is driven by vision and iteration

·         Tactics pivot constantly

Coming next

A case study on a person with a personal vision that is literally out of this world! Chunks of his vision include founding nearly 2 dozen companies, colleges and foundations. Better yet, we share a vision for large organizations.

Change Agent: Framework, Steps 3 & 4

3. Path to activating the vision

The first project toward your personal vision that you developed in part 1 is (and should be) too big to accomplish all at once. The path to activating the vision starts by breaking it down into smaller pieces. Then you need to develop a strategy.

There seems to be a law of nature called the 80/20 rule. It manifests in a lot of different areas…80 % of your progress comes from 20% of your effort.  20% of your portfolio yields 80% of your profit. 80% of your fun comes from 20% of your leisure time.  20% of your “friends” cause 80% of your grief. Study this phenomenon in your own life.

Chunking is learning to solve problems by leveraging this rule. If you face a project that is incomprehensibly large and complex, break it down into smaller tasks.  One of them (usually a 20% piece) is the key. Discover it. If that chunk is still to large/complex, break that chunk into pieces. Find the key part or chunk. Rinse/repeat until you have a key piece that constitutes a small enough chunk to handle.

If the chunk is will be something that you show the world, it is what Agile terms a minimum viable product (MVP). Your project might create an MVP or it might only be part of one. If the key chunk of the project proves not to be doable, you have just saved an enormous amount of research time. If it proves workable, you have created a plan for accomplishing your goal!

Next, develop a strategy to implement that key chunk. A strategy is how advantages in resources are to be exploited against vulnerabilities in barriers to reach objectives. Notice that strategies contain several elements, objective(s), advantages, resources, barriers, and vulnerabilities. Your objective is to create (activate or manifest) the key chunk.  Barriers are the obstacles that prevent the key chunk from manifesting. Advantages and resources are the tools that you can apply to the vulnerabilities in the barriers that prevent the objective from becoming reality.

Bill Carson has an excellent blog on the topic of strategies.

4. Taking steps along the way.

Start using the now to concentrate on making the identified key chunk a reality. You are now on the path to accomplishing your vision!

Sometimes, you find that there is a difficult obstacle on the path. Focus your effort toward overcoming that obstacle. Occasionally, the issue proves to be insurmountable. It is best to find it as early as possible.

-          You discovered it early, so you have not wasted effort. You have certainly learned something about your vision!

-          Small failures are OK; in fact they tend to provide valuable lessons.

-          This experience gives you valuable knowledge to find an alternate path toward your vision.

-          In some cases, you may need to adjust/reset your vision.

There are some Agile concepts that can be applied to these outcomes.  If some obstacle proves to be insurmountable, you need to pivot.  That means going back to step 1 and rethinking the first project. Pivoting means that you keep one foot firmly planted (i.e. you retain your vision) and move in a different direction with the other foot (i.e. change the project or pick a completely different one).

The second concept is iteration. If executing your strategy produced only got you part of the results that you intended, make small, fast improvements. You share the results of your work with others and seek their feedback. At some point, the improvements will be good enough to declare success.

You might find that what you have accomplished is good enough to allow you to move on to the next step. Caution: Only you have the complete vision.  Feedback is important but only you know if you have accomplished enough to move on. You will know if future steps will satisfy the negative feedback or if you need to continue making iterations until this step in the project is complete.

Introduction to Change Agent: Framework, Part 1

The last two posts introduced you to the Change Agent: Foundation and one of its peers, the Change Agent: Vision. I shared my personal Vision. Here are a few examples of other Visions:

     Pro Futuris is Baylor University’s Vision for the next 10 years
     Helping Baby Boomers change their lives through career design
     Amnesty International

The next few posts introduce you to the 6 steps in Change Agent: Framework for Activating Change. This provides you with a process for turning your Vision into reality!

I am also pulling down the June 18 post. Things I have learned in the last few weeks make the material in it out of date.

1. Set sail toward your vision

First, are you living your vision? This is being true to the idea of being the change you want to see in the world.
·         If the answer is no, you know what needs to be done.
·         The answer is most likely maybe. That is OK. You see opportunities for improvement.
·         If you want to change the world, change yourself first!

Visualize your Vision as a complete success. This may actually take some time. Record it in a way that is best for you. It may be written and it may be a drawing. It might be some other media but it needs to be in a form you can access easily and often. Before proceeding to any sort of planning, it is important to know what your vision looks like in its fully realized form.

Next, choose a project to make your Vision reality. This project should create a key element in the process of making your Vision into reality. Part 3 of the Change Agent: Foundation is about creating strategy with goals and taking actions that implement your project.

It is important to get others excited about your Vision. Strong emotions and gratitude validate your efforts. Expect naysayers. There are always reactionaries in the World that want to avoid change, even if it kills them like Harry Randall Truman. He refused to leave his home at the foot of Mount Saint Helens. Let people like that be footnotes in history, not destroyers of your Vision!

2. Now

Focus on what you can do now.  Be fully immersed in the task at hand now. The only changes you can affect are the changes happening now. If you are in a conversation with another person, be fully present. Being distracted subtly tells that other person the distraction is more important. Focusing on the task at hand now is a key to consistently doing your best.

What happened in the past cannot be changed. The past has presented you with the set of options and consequences that are before you now. If the set of options is not enough, you can spend your now searching for or creating other options.

You can only choose options in the present. That is what makes it so powerful.

The future has not happened yet. You have the option to spend your now planning what you are going to do in the future. The action of planning will affect the options and consequences of your future now. Until recently, preparing for the future was a valid use of your time. Things now change so rapidly that you should be creating options for your future rather than simply preparing for it. Preparation assumes that some aspects of the future are predictable. Adaptability is the new wealth.

 

Introduction to Visions

 A vision provides a beacon to guide our way. It is not a set of laws so much as a set of ideals. Vision is immensely valuable in times when the obvious path is not clear. It is a guidepost to keep us from losing our way.

Visions need to respect the boundaries of nature and humanity. The vision needs to be flexible enough that an unforeseen change causes a pivot in strategies or tactics, not a reversal of the vision. Finally, it needs to be flexible enough to be refined as wisdom that accumulates.

There is a series of 5 visions in the Change Agent: Foundation that range in scope from individual to global. For now, let’s examine the Individual Vision.

Individual Vision

I am not going to try to give you a personal vision – in fact, my personal mantra is “One size fits none”. I want to stimulate you to create a vision that is right for you. Some people will need more than one vision. Personal visions do have some common characteristics, though.

The first characteristic is that your vision should be BIG! It should be idealistic and it should get you, personally excited. With vision, the alarm clock snooze button is a useless accessory because working toward your vision gets you out of bed in the morning. If your vision is not a wellspring of interest and energy for you, it is not big enough or personal enough.

This is your intension in the yogic sense, only bigger. It is the idea that helps you focus on the task at hand. You keep coming back to it in a practice. Intention is not a goal but more of a journey. Think of intension as a gift you give yourself. So is your personal vision.

Your vision should also be tempered by your personal abilities and interests. Making the Olympics is not a realistic vision for someone that hates to work out.

For most of us, our vision includes improving some aspect or aspects of the world.  The very first step is changing yourself in the image of your vision. Be the change you want to see in the world. Your vision will somehow involve service to others if it is a viable one.

My personal vision is to help as many people as possible transform into the creative beings that thrive in the environment of today and the future. I hold the image of groups of people surfing the massive waves of change together - not grasping for the quickly disintegrating security of the “used to be”.

There are certain ethical restraints that a vision must have. The boundaries involve personal responsibility which leads to a discussion about the Global Vision. For now, vision should not involve force, fraud or damage to others or nature. In fact, it should be the opposite – uplifting, empowering and creative!

As you share your vision with others and work toward creating it, you will naturally come into contact with others that see your vision too. Their Vision will compliment yours and provide opportunities to work together in co-creation. This is called the law of attraction. As these collaborations grow, Intentional Communities will form around them. Intentional Communities represent another of the 5 Visions.

Your vision should bring you happiness. Being happy allows you to focus on the now without effort. As you live your vision, expressions of joy and gratitude should become a common part of your everyday life. Gratitude acknowledges the gifts that other people and external forces constantly bring to you. It helps others validate their vision. Wouldn’t life be wonderful if everyone you interact with helps elevate your vision because they are elevated by the interaction as well? Make it so!

Coming next:

An overview of the first 2 parts of the Change Agent: Framework for activating change.

Introduction to the Foundation for Change

The Change Agent: Foundation has 3 interconnected parts (peers of the foundation, if you will) Vision, Framework and Tools. These 3 parts allow you to not just survive all the massive change happening all around us, they help you transform into a person or group that activates, embraces and thrives on change.

The Foundation takes the Information Technology concepts of Change Management and Agile development, mixes in my knowledge of history, economics, yoga, philosophy and business to create this interconnected Foundation.

Vision: Where and how do you as an individual fit into the greater community (Global and Universal)?

There are actually 5 levels of visions ranging from personal to global.

Framework: A guide for the actions needed to take to activate the Vision.

There are 6 steps on the path to realizing your visions. Each step is flexible enough to take into account that there is so much change no one can possibly anticipate it all. The Framework makes heavy use of validated learning techniques developed for Agile.

Tools: Specific techniques and technologies that maintain the Vision and Support the Framework.

There are currently 14 tools. That count will surely change as we progress.

 Coming next

An introduction to Vision and developing a Personal Vision.

Almost every aspect of life as we knew it ended in the last decade. A tidal wave of change swept the planet and resistance is futile (even deadly!) You can't swim against this tide.

What is happening now is unprecedented - both in terms of the rate of change and the substance of the changes. Learning to cope with all this change requires a perspective that is not chained to things taught in a university graduate program or learned in a stint of government service. I think most of conventional science and analysis is fixated on increasingly obsolete (or flawed) models of reality.  Most experts will never be able to change their minds fast enough to effectively anticipate and offer reasonable suggestions of how to deal with what I believe is a rapid evolutionary jump in our species.

The convergence and coincidence of driving forces suggest that the conventional change that is growing all around us is at least in part derived from unconventional dynamics. The unusual things that are being reported point to the conclusion that has planet entered into a period of absolutely unprecedented change. We must embrace both the physical and the metaphysical if we wish to survive.

I gather and report information along 2 paths:

1.       Really bad news about how the present system is rapidly coming apart. We could spend time assigning blame (oh, there is a lot of blame to go around) or we can

2.       Explore the rather unconventional proposals for dealing with the situation because the “bad stuff” is outside our control.

The new game is not being played on the old field.

The Change Agent is here to teach you to about ADAPTATION! That means acquiring adaptation skills:

- Setting up early warning signals that detect coming change   Oops, too late for that!

- Understanding what particular changes mean for YOU.

- Prepare for them by altering your behavior and putting new processes in place while there is still time.

- This adds to your flexibility which makes you adaptable.  Adaptability is the new wealth!

I will teach you how to TRANSFORM in the right way! I align myself with VISIONARIES that spend most of their time thinking about the future and the trials that will get us there. Don’t get swept away by the tsunami!