Hello, again!
In keeping with the concept of dialogues about books that "enliven our
practice, enrich our lives, and quicken our spirits," Marge Schiller,
President of the Positive Change Corps, and I have envisioned a
multi-directional, globally inclusive professional book conversation
(or "club," if you prefer). We're hoping you'll join us. The original
invitation garnered enough responses that we are now ready to move on
to the next steps: 1) choosing time(s) for conversation; b) choosing
books; and c) signing on. The conversations will be a combination of
conference calls and a yahoo group.
Positive Change Corps sponsors these conference calls, and we will be
using the PCC phone number to connect. Each caller will be responsible
for individual phone charges. The conversations will be every other
month, for approximately an hour. Kate Armstrong will be the
moderator/note taker for the conversations. Each book discussion will
be lead by a facilitator, a participant in the group, who
particularly appreciates the chosen text. Facilitators may choose how
they want to facilitate the conversation, or they may follow a 3
question pre-set format (e.g., What did you find most valuable in the
text? How do/might you connect what you have read with your current
practice? In what way(s) did this author contribute to or have an
impact on your larger life?). We are requesting that each of us
participate in 4 of the 6 conversations per year.
A) In order to be as globally embracing as possible, we are creating 4
conversation times. Please consider the day as starting 12:00 midnight
Eastern (US) Standard Time. Imagine a 24 hour day in 4 quarters (6
hours each, yes?!) Please go to www.timeanddate.com/world clock and
determine which one of the four time divisions would work best for you
to participate in a real-time discussion. You can join the onversation
in any time zone.
B) Here, in choosing texts for discussion, we are overwhelmed with
riches. We could frame and ground the conversations with professional
"best-sellers," (e.g., Peter Senge et al, Presence, Thomas Friedman's
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, Wayne Dyer's
The Power of Intention, Thomas Berry's The Great Work, Stephen Covey's
The Eighth Habit, Robert Quinn's Building the Bridge As You Walk on It,
Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey's How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We
Work). We could explore texts that are foundational to our change
process work (e.g., Harrison Owen's Open Space Technology: A User's
Guide, Marv Weisbord and Sandra Janoff's Future Search, Juanita Brown
and David Isaac's World Cafe, any of several texts by David Cooperrider
and/or Diana Whitney (and others) in Appreciative Inquiry, etc.).
Another rich source of possibilities are the Taos Institute Focus
Books (e.g., Miriam Rickett and Jim Willis' Experience AI, Ken and Mary
Gergen's Social Constructionism: Entering the Dialogue, Jackie Stavros
and Cheri Torres' Dynamic Relationships. We may also explore texts
written by (other) colleagues, e.g., Rita Schweitz and Kim Martens'
Future Search in School District Change. Bob Cottor (and others)
Experiential Learning Exercises in Social Construction. We might also
choose to have conversations about books that encompass our
professional lives within our larger selves (e.g, Eckhart Tolle's The
Power of Now/A New Earth, Andrew Weil's Aging Gracefully, Raphael
Cushnir's How Now: 100 Ways to Celebrate the Present Moment; Carl
Honore's In Praise of Slowness, Bridget Secard's Soulfire: The Birth of
Wild Aliveness, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton's Now, Discover
Your Strengths. Still with us? Feel free to make suggestions.
Expanding the possibilities continues infinitely!
So, "your mission (should you accept it") is to select the time zone
(of the 4) that allows you the most opportunity to take part in these
conversations. Please also write down the three books with which you
would most enjoy beginning our multilogues. Please e-mail your choices
(and which ones you are interested in facilitating the conversation
around) for collation to Kate Armstrong, [email protected] asap.
C) Please sign on to [email protected].
Notes from the 4 conversations (facilitated every two months) will be
posted here, allowing for deeper, richer discussions across the groups,
and for off-line/sidebar individual conversations.
Lastly, still in the possibility stage, is participation in at least
one of the book conversation by the author(s) of the selected text(s).
On to the the next step. We hope to launch the conversations soonest!
Appreciatively,
Kate Armstrong and Marge Schiller
Please consider all titles underlined
Apologies for the duplicate postings some of you will receive
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