[Dialogue] Question

[Wayne Nelson]

People like Margaret Wheatley write these books so people will copy them.  They hope groups will use the models they create. It's a way of altering common practice in community and organizational development work.

The A77 initiative is a kind of unique evolution of ICA's approach to programming in that it is conceived and delivered from what can be called "an appreciative" perspective. It seems to use the ideas found in John McKnight and Case Western Reserve's work. It's a distinctly different modality than, for example, ToP Strategy Planning.  

We have been getting this message about approaches that emphasize identifying, growing and developing positive trends in a fairly strong way since the early 90's. 

I think we have been warned that repeated messages help you change your mind. 


It's nice to see it played out in this way.


\\/






- - - - - - - - - - Wayne Nelson
wnelson at ica-associates.ca
O - 416-691-2316
M - 647-229-6910



On 02-192013, at 9:49 AM, R Williams wrote:

> Terry,
>  
> I am clear that A77 is not copying or replicating the process from Wheatley, which is why I said A77 "draws from a process articulated in" the book, by which I meant to imply, not directly from the book itself.  Hope no one thinks I was suggesting that the ICA was just aping Wheatley.  That certainly was not my intent.  It is strange and wondrous that when truth emerges it shows up in many places and many forms and is used in different ways by different assortments of people.  As I stated in the email and have said often in other places, where this wisdom first appeared for me was in Hawken's Blessed Unrest.  But it wasn't until Walk Out Walk On, or actually in a paper by Wheatley and Frieze that preceded the book, that I was able to articulate for myself more clearly the value of and how to use Hawken's, and Senge's, insights.
>  
> Randy
>  
> "The sustainability revolution is nothing less than a rethinking and remaking of our role in the natural world."
>                                                                                                                                               -David Orr
> 
> From: Terry Bergdall <bergdall at gmail.com>
> To: R Williams <rcwmbw at yahoo.com> 
> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 8:15 AM
> Subject: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Question
>  
> 
> Randy, 
> 
> I first read Walk Out Walk On at the ToP annual meeting in Sacramento in January 2012 when it was the subject of a charting exercise over 4 mornings. What I find interesting is that the 4 steps of Accelerate 77 is not something that came DIRECTLY from her book (we were promoting these four steps for most of 2011). Rather, it is an example of INDIRECT wisdom garnered from kindred spirits. These are the words, phrases, and insights that become a reinforcing piece of our "image" or the world. The important matter is our operating image, not the source of the messages that created it. I heard Wheatley talk at the annual conference of the International Association of Facilitator (IAF) in April of 2010. She was probably then in the thick of writing Walk Out Walk On. While I can't remember anything specific she said, I'm sure her presentation made a deep impression on me that eventually influenced the creation of Accelerate 77.  
> 
> I have a clearer memory about the "collegium" on Accelerate 77 when we solidified our four steps for inclusion in a printed program description for potential supporters. The 4 steps were simply pulled out of our collective wisdom about what we were trying to do and why. One of our volunteers, Vito Greco, was the most articulate that morning that led us to our collective "ah-ha" on Identify, Connect, Engage, and Accelerate. It is shocking to see how close our four steps are with Wheatley's. Maybe "fascinating" is a better word. I'm referring to the relatively UNCONSCIOUS relationship between them.
> 
> I'm reminded of that quote that says something like "you know you are successful in playing a catalytic role when people with whom you've worked accomplish something and they say 'we did this ourselves!'"
> 
> Terry
> 
>  
>> The ICA-USA's Accelerate 77 program draws from a process articulated in Walk Out Walk On.  Wheatley and Frieze posit that everything that needs to happen in local community is already underway and there's no need to spend time initiating anything new.  What is needed is to (their 4-step process) identify, connect, nurture and expand what is already going on.  (ICA called step 4 "accelerate.")  By so doing, the isolated efforts emerge into networks of relationships which evolve into communities of practice, and these communities of practice, over time, change the world.
> 
> 
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