Brock { Abroad }

There is a website I really like called Marc and Angel Hack Life: Practical Tips for Productive Living. In an article entitled How to Achieve Your Goals, one tip they recommend is having a support group of like-minded people who share similar goals as you that you meet with once a week to help each other self-reflect, gauge progress, and create an overall positive energy. This is what I see Knowmads as. Although I’m not incredibly clear on a definitive list of shared goals, it’s great to be in a group that shares similar values, principles, and a drive to live the life we love by “combining passion, business, and playful learning.”

As I’ve been preparing for a workshop in conjunction with the Hub Amsterdam for their Summer Learning Festival, I’ve spent my past few weeks developing some tools that may be utilized in our workshop. Together with my mastermind partners in crime Naomi, Oscar, Fran, and Manu, we’ve used each other to create more self-awareness in each other. Whether we were making lists of what we want to have, be, or do, interviewing each other, creating questions without worrying so much about the answers, or writing a love letter to ourselves, I have cherished this recent Sunday ritual. So, I’d like to dedicate this post to these people, who pick me up after long weeks. I love you all.

As we enter a break from Knowmads and I tackle the Social Innovation Safari, travel to Sweden for a Vipassana Medition Retreat, and visit a special someone in Oslo, I sit writing this on a Sunday. It’s my first Sunday in a month without my “mastermind group.” As I was thinking about them and surfing one of my favorite life-hacking sites, I found a new Sunday ritual to keep me going: 20 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Every Sunday.

Finally, if you are in the Amsterdam area between the 25-28 of August and would like to more about our Knowmadic Learning Lab, check out the previous link, and stay tuned for a new blog dedicated to living, learning, and loving. As for now, check out my fellow Knowmadic friend Naomi’s blog called just that. I love the learnings she shares.

Keep Calm and Carry On, everybody.

Recently at Knowmads, in a day-long workshop on Sustainability, we learned about The Natural Step. Founded in 1989 by Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt in Sweden, The Natural Step has been introduced to thousands of organizations as a means of creating a more globally-conscious society. Based on theory and research of the science behind the true meaning of sustainability, it aims to apply this theory into practice using the following framework:

This framework is based on the following four system conditions that positively develop people, planet, and profit:

In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing:

1. concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust;
2. concentrations of substances produced by society;
3. degradation by physical means and, in that society,
4. people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.

With that, I close with a question that I’ve been asking myself lately:

What is the natural step for you in your journey and how can you live life more fully while making a more positive impact not just on yourself, but also for the world?

“Kennisland (Knowledgeland) contributes to a smarter Dutch society. We believe that the best guarantee for future prosperity and welfare, now and in the future, is to strengthen our knowledge society. We help to realise this national goal by developing and delivering key interventions.

Kennisland is an independent think tank. We continuously search for ways to spark the social innovations needed to improve the knowledge society. We start by defining challenges for the Dutch knowledge society and creatively finding possible answers to them. We put these issues on policymakers’ agendas. We need that leverage: broad challenges require a broad approach. But that is not all: we also develop and deliver projects, programmes and platforms to help others fix the issues at hand. We also assist in scaling and transferring success results and knowledge about the ins-and-outs of social innovation, to help others forward.”

This above excerpt was taken from the website of Kennisland, which is hosting a Social Innovation Safari beginning just hours before the World Cup championship tomorrow. Working in small teams prototyping and developing interventions and innovations for four different organizations, 28 very diverse pioneers are coming together from all over the world. See the link above to check out all the participants and the cases we will be working on. Below is the promotional video, in case you’re a more visual type. That’s all for now, I’m off to prepare my five minute Tedx talk, safari-style!

“Deep Democracy is supposed to involve openness to other individuals, groups and diversity. It includes feelings, dreams, body symptoms, altered states of consciousness, synchronicities, and an awareness of signals, roles, and the structural dynamics of the interactions between the parties involved.”                                                                     -Wikipedia

After working with this tool at Knowmads, I don’t think our group will ever be the same. It completely changed my perspective on group dynamics and processes. Especially, in regards to Role Theory.

The photo on the left shows just how much wisdom the minority of any group, or society as a whole, has to offer.

Tracing history back to empires, where about .0001% of potential knowledge is taken into consideration and feudal systems where about .0005% of knowledge is used, and even democracy, where the majority (51%) wins, these methods are just the tip of the iceberg.

Developed by physicist Arny Mindell and his process work, Deep Democracy is based off the Jungian psychology that states democracy just may not be enough to achieve a real majority that is required to ‘keep people on the bus.’ In other words, when the minority loses, they will tread the ‘terrorist line.’ A person becomes a “terrorist” when they become uncomfortable with a decision that is made. Here is a diagram that explains how a covert terror attempt becomes a full-blown war within a group:

Here are the steps to take in order to dig deeper into what is called ‘fishing.’ These steps are taken in an attempt to find those deep emotions, or “fishes” that are in the subconscious of every group.

Step 1

Don’t practice Majority democracy!

In other words, go beyond the regular majority vote. The next steps allow this to happen.

Step 2

Make it safe to say ‘NO’

When other people feel uncomfortable with their true feelings because of group pressure, they are never truly heard. Thus begins the resentment and jokes that enter the terrorist line. Once you, as a facilitator are able to make it safe to say ‘NO,’ true emotions can emerge.

Step 3

Spread the ‘NO’

Have you ever been in a meeting and been brave enough to really say what you thought and felt like a complete asshole afterwards? This next step helps prevent that brave person to not feel so alone. Role theory, which I will touch upon later, proves that these people are usually never alone. Most of the time, if you can relate to this experience,

Giving us a menu of theory, practice, tools, and exercises we could use, Moraan Gilad did a great job hosting the workshop. By using this menu full of options that allowed us to choose the structure of the workshop, we were able to practice facilitating the technique ourselves. On the final afternoon, she showed us her expert skills as we went fishing as a group using the ‘soft shoe shuffle,’ an on-your-feet exercise that magnifies the feeling people had toward the group regarding some pretty sensitive subjects. She did a great job fishing, but left me with a burning question:

Now that we’ve caught the fish, what do we do with it?

To be continued….

Doing is what I came to Knowmads to learn.

Energy is what I’m constantly exploring in myself and the world around me.

After a not so recent walk along the beach in Tel Aviv with a friend and spiritual mentor, Tsi-la, I learned a very beautiful metaphor for approaching each day. It is about energy renewal and the recent feeling of leaving a certain honeymoon period with my new company and school that I’ve spent the last two months getting started up.

to today, everyone!

Who is the artist?

What is the role of art and the artist in the 21st Century?

Upon entering our headquarters, there is a sort of ‘buzzing’ happening. This is the description I was given by a recent visitor, at least, and I find it quite accurate. I prefer to call our home a beehive, actually; because much like bees, we are a busy and dynamic group of cross-pollinating individuals. Last month, there was an exceptionally exciting energy in the air as we awaited our first presentation from KLM, the second client we have taken on so far.“Welcome Home!” I remember telling the three men dressed in business suits and ornately pointed patent leather shoes. As they walked into Headquarters, I remember thinking: “Why are you here and what do you hope to get from us?” I think they were wondering the same thing when they first walked in. Since then, I think we’ve all come a long way from understanding what sets us apart and how to work with a variety of unique individuals.

From business suits to sneakers, the professional experience working with KLM has allowed many of us to experience what working in a corporation is really like.

I also believe that KLM has been able to better see what working with Knowmads is like, as well.What makes Knowmads special, in my opinion is that the very experience is transformative. We “work” on transforming the very definition of work.We attempt to blur the lines through our mission of “combining passion,business,and playful learning.” I believe we are able to do this because we remember that education does not stop once you enter the work-force. As a matter of fact, it should be fun, encouraged, and continue.This type of passionate and playful mentality of life-learning is the reason why I believe such a variety of people show up at our doors to work with us. Read the rest of this entry »

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one once he grows up.”

“Picasso said this and Knowmads attempts to solve the struggles an individual has in creating a life of purpose by giving them the necessary experience, creativity, and individual responsibility needed to succeed in a world that is changing at an extremely rapid rate. Because of this, the traditional four year degree is outdated within a year of graduation. As a student with a background in experimental, experiential, and artistic education, conforming to the typical university system just wasn’t an option for me. For a true individual seeking to transcend conformity and give more meaning to life, Knowmads is for you. Because It’s not about creating parts to your life; it’s about creating your part in life. Welcome Home!”

So, your first question may be:
Who is the artist? In my eyes, the artist is a human being who combines passion, work, and playful learning. The artist has a spiritual core, a fearless exterior, and uses their creativity, or imagination, to make a difference in the world they’ve created.

The next question I’m attempting to gain more insight on is: “what is the role of art and the artist in the 21st Century?” I believe that the artist can be used as the perfect analogy of what is required of educating leaders in this era of socio-economic complexity. Here are 3 reasons why: Read the rest of this entry »