Resources

We talk about change as an orderly sequence from past through present and into future. That is not how most people experience change, though. The concept of ‘stretch and fold” is a better mirror for our experience of change in human systems. In this week’s post, Glenda explores the emergent nature and living paradox of transformation in complex systems.

In today’s blog post, Glenda Eoyang shares an experience of personal transformation about seeing the unique miracle that is each person she meets and connecting with that person in humility and sensitive inquiry. She continues to live into that transformation learning more about her own ways of connecting. Now, she invites you to learn from two of the people who helped to set conditions for these new emerging patterns.

Each year at this time, we plan the Adaptive Action Labs (AALabs) for the next year. We consider a number of factors in selecting the topics. What challenges are clients talking about? What questions do we hear from Associates? Which of the AALabs has been successful in the past, and which ones should be put aside for a year or two? Ultimately, after these questions, the anchor we always come back to is this: What topics will best help individuals and groups live out the HSD Vision?

Historically, autumn has been considered the season of harvest. Summer’s stretch transforms water, sunlight, and nutrients to create the bounty of harvest. In autumn’s folding, we celebrate the abundance that will feed us during winter’s resting times. Autumn has been honored in many traditions as a time of thanksgiving for this abundance. A quick perusal of the Internet provided me insights about these kinds of celebrations around the world, at different times, in both the northern and the southern hemispheres.

When Glenda Eoyang, Founder and Executive Director of Human Systems Dynamics Institute, invited me to co-facilitate an HSD Adaption Action Lab focused on transcending racism and “othering,” I immediately said yes for a couple of irresistible reasons.

In re-reading Emergent Strategy, by Adrienne Maree Brown, Royce was reminded of the way fractal behaviors shape patterns at all scales in human systems. In today’s blog, she reviews the HSD Simple Rules and suggests tools that can be used to help frame and live out the fractals Ms. Brown describes.

In HSD, we think about resilience as “capacity to adapt and maintain system functioning in the face of the uncertainty and turbulence of complex change.” In this blog post, Royce explores three important lessons we’ve learned in talking with people about their need for and experiences with resilience in recent times.