Zenergy Blog

Hi all

This guy has been in the news lately.

Here is something from http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/goldbard.pdf that I liked

 a few ideas his work seems to suggest:

• Since we can’t control unpredictable events, we should accept uncertainty and seek to maximize our exposure to serendipity, as by putting ourselves in the way of new ideas.

• Since there is such danger in accepting conclusions based on too little information simply because they confirm our beliefs, we should try to remain aware in the present of what we are doing, paying attention to what actually happens and refraining as far as possible from imposing theories on our experience.

• We should recognize our poor record as a species in predicting the future, that we are much better at doing than knowing. Some things are more predictable than others: we are safe enough in expecting tomorrow’s sunrise to plan on breakfast. We can start noticing which situations are most susceptible to black swans, and when we encounter them, remember how little we truly know so our ignorance doesn’t lead us around by the nose.

Dear Graduates,

You are warmly invited to attend the following Zenergy dialogue event in Auckland.

The Topic: “What do we want from our next government?“ 

This event will be 2 weeks before our central government election on 8 November.

Date: Saturday 18 October 2008
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Location: The Friends (Quakers) Centre - 115 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland, NZ
Contribution: NZ$30 per participant to attend to cover rent, food, tea and coffee and admin.

Led by: Zenergy Master Class participants supported by Dr. Dale Hunter and drawing on Otto Scharmer’s Theory U dialogue method - Leading from the future as it emerges. See www.presencing.com.

Come ready to dialogue with an open heart, open will and open mind: co-presencing, deep-diving and exploring possibilities for the future of our government. 

The event is open to all Zenergy graduates and friends.

RSVP by 15 October to Zenergy or +649 638 7326.

Best regards,
Stephen Thorpe

This book is excellent overview of the movement for social change and how social change occurs and is very encouraging. The book sets out how social activists often believe that their movement is failing, even when it is having the normal processes of success. Moyer shows how activists should stop being burnt out and believing in movement failure when it is often untrue that they are failing that the social change process is just moving through stages.

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In August, Dr. Dale Hunter visited Dublin, Ireland to co-lead a 4-day residential programme for Vofafone Ireland and UK with Liam Forde at The Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in the Wicklow Mountains to the south-west of Dublin. Liam facilitates in Europe and the Middle-East specialising in values-based leadership development. He holds a Zenergy Diploma of Facilitation and is an accredited Zenergy programme leader.

Taking advantage of Dale’s visit Zenergy graduate Ray Murray organised and co-led with Dale a 2-day advanced facilitation training for a Trinity College outreach programme (NIID).

 

For some time in my work with a range of organisations I have been reflecting on the relationship between leadership and cultural change. I have been noticing culture as an emerging force with teams and organisations which can be healthy or destructive. While the effects of culture are felt by all and affect everyone; often what causes the culture to change and develop seems to go unnoticed.

The relationship between leadership development and cultural change

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This highly relevant new book focuses on workplace bullying, is written by Zenergy Diploma graduate Hadyn Olsen, and is published by WAVE Publishing.

Easy to read and learn from, this book is a useful resource for all employers, human resources personnel, group facilitators, team leaders, and workplace managers faced with challenging staff members. It provides a guide not only for dealing with problems but for creating a culture of respect, dignity and safety for workplaces.

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Zenergy’s Stephen Thorpe has had a chapter drawn from his PhD on The Use of Storytelling in Building Online Group Relationships published in the new Handbook of Research on Computer Mediated Communication.

The handbook presents an authoritative collection of research on the implications and social effects computers have on communication.

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Zenergy’s Stephen Thorpe has recently contributed a think-piece on Facilitating effective online participation in e-government to the New Zealand E-government 2007: Progress Towards Transformation report by the State Services Commission. The report was released at the DevCon 2008 conference in Wellington on 19 June. Stephen’s was one of 15 contributions by individuals from various stakeholder groups, who were invited to contribute their views on the future of E-Government in New Zealand. Going forward, the State Services Commission will be exploring how the ideas expressed in these think pieces can be made further visible through engagement with other stakeholders.

Dear Facilitators,What a wonderful feeling of connection and welcome I had at the IAF North American Conference in Atlanta on 9-12 April. The conference was attended by more than 400 facilitators from 26 countries. The theme for the conference was Opportunity, Optimism and Openness. Read all »