Heartland Circle

An Conversation with Peter Block

Tonight was a night like any other, except  we got to spend it with our friend, Peter Block. He's got a new book, Community, The Structure of Belonging

Below are quotes, and unless otherwise noted, they are all vintage Peter.

Craig & Patricia

"I'm not about outcomes and results. Everything we know about high performance points to the quality of relatedness." Does the organization create the opportunity for relatedness?

Of course I care about results, but to focus on results too quickly, too soon, does not lead to change or transformation. We’ve set it up that we need "a quick hit," "go for the low-hanging fruit," "the ideas that speed, results, evidence-based matter, are antithetical to transformation.

Book excerpt: “we change the culture by changing the nature of conversation.  It’s about choosing conversations that have the power to create the future."

The thread that ties all powerful conversations: a powerful conversation is one in which the person takes full responsibility for and commitment to their ownership, their authority, their citizenship.

The meme that is common to a powerful conversation is the good question. The question becomes the vehicle for a new conversation and the answer is useless.

How do we turn this ship around? Slowly. "Blowing on the bow of the Queen Mary doesn't turn the ship." We’re deduced by the saying things like “it's a critical time in history.” no it's not. That’s a self-importance that is a distraction from the things that bring us to real change.

The desire for quick results (keywords: urgency, crisis, etc.) is a defense/code against any kind of redistribution of power, or willingness to really create change. It means I don't have time to go deep, time to deal with the ambiguity or mystery of life. It’s the enemy of transformation.

Craig asks, "How do we create that spaciousness to create the depth and intimacy you speak of?"
The world isn't any more fast-paced that it used to be. There are still 24 hours in a day. If I decide to not be seduced by "quick results," "speed," etc., then time changes. If we keep reminding ourselves of what really matters, then we realize that quick results don't work.

VisionHolder Interview w/Peter Block

Join us Tuesday April 16, when Craig interviews Peter Block in our  VisionHolder Series. 

Community: The Structure of Belonging
with Peter Block, Author, Consultant and Partner, Designed Learning
April 16: VisionHolder Interview Call, 7pm - 8pm CT

Peter articulates a potent design for creating living communities whenever and wherever people gather, through the realization that everyday acts of citizenship are acts of leadership.
Register:

Registrations for the VH call on April 16 have been unprecedented. This time, we asked registrants to tell us what they hoped to get out of the call. A tiny sample of responses so far:

"Finding out what Peter considers to be everyday acts of citizenship, more detail about the design for creating living communities, what is his personal experience out of which came this new book."

"Essence of Peter Block--I don't even care what he says, I just like listening to him."

"I spent the first 20 years of my career as a grassroots community organizer, and the past 8 years as an organization consultant. I'm very interested in the intersection of those two worlds. I'm looking forward to hearing Peter's insights."

"A knowing of Peter deeper than knowing him from reading 'The Answer to How is Yes.' Getting additional thoughts provoked for me before heading into the Spring Ceremony weekend"

An amazing way to begin your day

Dear Heartland friends,
As you begin to bring in your artistry this fine April morning, here are some reflections we offer to you...

for the Artist at the Start of Day, a posthumous poem from John O’Donohue. [From Bay Area TLG Member, Amy Lenzo, author of BeautyDialogues]

What to Remember When Waking Download what_to_remember_when_waking.pdf  

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.
From the 2008 TED Conference: Consensus among TED’sters is that this may be the most memorable and important TED Talk ever.

Have an amazing day!
Patricia & Craig

A poem for you this day from Tao Te Ching

Dear Ones
A poem for you this day from Tao Te Ching
 

The highest good is like water.
Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.

In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In business, be competent.
In action, watch the timing.

~ Tao Te Ching ~
(Translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English)

Thanks to Joe Riley for the photo and the poem

Conversation Week 2008 is Next Week -- March 24-30!

Join the global conversation about the questions that matter! we love the questions that matter, don't we?  start one in your neighborhood. read on...
Craig

Conversation Week 2008  is Next Week -- March 24-30!

Conversation Week is a global effort to build a culture of conversation and get people talking about Big Questions that matter, both offline and online, sponsored by the Conversation Café  initiative and Global MindShift  . During the week of March 24-30, at over 100 locations on 6 continents, people will gather in small groups to discuss the Top 10 Questions of Our Time  , a list of deep questions about the challenges facing humanity and the planet that was developed over the past month with the help of 1,500 people in 39 countries. In addition to face-to-face conversations, Global MindShift is hosting a set of online discussion groups covering the Top 10 Questions.

Integrity: Creating a World That Works for All

With the focus on integrity of action and intention, it was clear from the beginning of Friday's TLG that we were in the thick of a conversation essential to each of us. Steve Piersanti's journey to the founding and visioning of Berrett-Koehler invoked some of the following reflections:

"What if all it took to have sustainability was to have/hold integrity?" "It's a radical act to be integral, to hold on to what is true."

Heartland's vision has grown to include "...creating love in action." Our experience of Steve and the founding B-K vision of stewardship vs. ownership exuded love in action. Love for and inclusion of each stakeholder in the community: from authors, to staff, to suppliers, to readers.