Author Archive

Rural Roots

August 19th, 2009

A friend of mine sent me this well-known illustration of many prairie grasses, including the roots we usually don’t see. I love the powerful comparison to the bluegrass on the left–this is the stuff most of us have in our lawns. (You know, the stuff we water and fertilize so we can mow it more often.)

At the Midwest Rural Assembly earlier this week, I heard more than one speaker talk about needing to find a powerful answer to the question many in urban areas ask about rural: “But there’s nothing out there, is there?” Mary Ellen Connelly, the friend who sent me this image (she’s also an accomplished garden author and nursery owner) shared a wonderful insight as we were discussing the connection between the roots of prairie grasses and the love of living here on the prairie. She said, “Well, you have to look deep on the prairie You have to see the roots. And looking deep leads to enlightenment.”

Let’s help people–the people who’s support we need–to see the roots of life in rural places. Learning how to tell that story just might open our own eyes to the full beauty we sometimes forget about.

Photo Credit: US Environmental Protection Agency

Editor’s Note: Regular readers will remember Joe Bartmann from his days as a Rural Learning Center staff member.  Joe is currently leading the Sioux Falls Green Project, but we’ve never closed his “authorship” privileges and welcome future posts. 

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U Process Part 5: Enacting Change

April 6th, 2009

Part of a series on the U Process. Read the others here.

A while back, I started a series of posts on a change model called the U Process, developed by C. Otto Scharmer. Before picking up where I left off, I want to give you a quick review.

Three Steps in the U Process

U Process is a lens to look at tough problems through-a different, deeper path from problem to true solution. Most rural communities are in the thick of some long, very tough problems, and the U can be a model for designing a better planning process. Mike has written about the ups and downs of planning for change in Miner County, South Dakota using a method like this.

At a basic level, U Process has three verses:

  1. Uncovering the current reality. This is the journey down the left side of the “U,” a practice in suspending our own subconscious judgment long enough to truly listen and observe the whole with new eyes and ears. It’s a deep dive into seeing the tangled mess and roots of our problems by inviting more people and perspectives into the question.
  2. Letting deeper solutions emerge. The bottom of the “U” is where shared purpose emerges as a better solution-if we allow ourselves to let go of seeking, and let answers bubble up. Uncovering this kind of solution is not about making a decision, but about surrendering to an inner knowing about what needs to be done and opening our hearts and will to that challenge.  It’s much like, as we immerse ourselves in the questions of the left side of the U, there are hundreds of fragmented pieces. But then, suddenly, all those pieces come together as one and we see that it is a beautiful vase. The pieces of the whole become one as we dig in.
  3. Enacting a new reality with transformational action. Once we’ve committed to being the change we want to create, we move up the right side of the “U” in a curious, determined manner. It’s this third segment that I’ll pick up on with this post.

Prototyping

When we find ourselves at the bottom of that U, where we’ve had an “Ah-ha!” about the problems we seem stuck in, there are two choices.

  1. The first choice is to accept it and live with it.
  2. The second, is to say, “I will be a host for this change!”

Nothing gets better until you change.  Otto Scharmer describes that ah-ha as something new that wants to be born through us. It really is that kind of feeling sometimes-we’ve all experienced it, I think.

So, assuming you choose to be the change, moving up the right side of the U is mostly about trial and error-failing fast and forward while we experiment with the future as it comes. “Do not put yourself in a box of your past failures,: explains Scharmer, “Reflect on your failure, and get up and keep going.”
This is about just doing it. Not worrying about getting things perfect or planning everything to death. Just find the courage to do something toward making that new reality that you can now see more clearly. Move it forward. Start now. Test it and gather feedback and adjust. Then test it again.

The Doers Know It

This part of the U Process is very familiar to rural communities, especially the “do-ers” in your community who seem to be in the middle of every project or effort. What’s different about the U is having the patience and discipline to travel that path down and through the bottom before tackling things head on. It’s the difference between surface level answers (that often become bigger problems later) and real solutions.

As you continue to practice this, and connect up with others who are interested in the same change, you build a powerful network and community. At some point, the things that seemed odd and unconventional before, suddenly become normal. People begin behaving in ways that serve the whole community. Things get better because the root of the problem is dug out over time. This is a sign that you’ve travelled the U.

Practicing the U is not really learning a process, it’s just recognizing how you’ve already journeyed through the U so often in your life, and applying that wisdom to solving tough problems. When you forget how.

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design:SD Rides the U

April 2nd, 2009

In the few short days since coming home from the design:South Dakota team’s charrette in Deuel County, I’ve been contemplating the process and experience. It’s always an exhausting and energizing trip at the same time. I’ve co-lead three d:SD charrettes now, and I’ve always tried to design our time in the community around the U Process.

This year, I think it worked as well as ever, and other team members commented on the magic of sticking with the process. One comment that I particularly loved: “It seemed like we sat there with all this chaos going around and we weren’t getting anything done for so long. We sat there and struggled. Then, all of a sudden, it was like everything came together and we got a bunch of boards done in no time becuase we really knew what we needed to make.”

It’s worth the headache and hassle of sitting in that mess for a while, patiently opening up for the solutions to emerge. And when they do, it’s go time. Beautiful.

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Letting Go of Your Leadership Grip

January 17th, 2009

As mentioned by Mike in an earlier post, the Rural Learning Center and other partner organizations have been helping the folks in the former mining town of Lead, South Dakota for a bit more than a year now. We recently wrapped up our work there at a “community forum,” and passed the torch to the Lead Comprehensive Plan Commission. You can read stories from Black Hills Pioneer (click here) and Rapid City Journal (click here) about that gathering. KELO TV in Sioux Falls, SD also ran this story yesterday on the process taking shape there in Lead.

Becoming Stewards, not Managers

There were good things in each of these media stories. But something very important was missing. The organizers in Lead are doing something radical–they are forming a movement of change by letting go of their grip on the process. They’re becoming stewards and hosts of a movement owned by the people, instead of managing projects and recruiting volunteers.

I was in Mitchell, SD yesterday giving a talk at the Women in Blue Jeans Conference about becoming “radical leaders” in rural communities (you can see my slides here). One woman in the audience was particularly troubled by my suggestion that radical (and great) small town leaders are learning to build up a tribe of people who share their passions and values, and then to just be helpful, connect, empower and celebrate those people as they decide what to work on toward that shiny future. Groups of people don’t do what you want, they do what they want.

And that’s the whole point. When the decisions and direction are held by a small group in rural communities (or any community), it becomes increasingly difficult to find people who want to work on your ideas. What the leaders in Lead, SD are doing is being helpful as the community decides what purpose and values they share, and letting them choose to work on their own ideas toward those goals.

They’re recognizing that for someone to have energy and take responsibility for a project or goal, it has to be something that she really believes will make a difference, and that is deeply meaningful to her.  The job of leaders shifts from deciding and directing to listening, connecting, inspiring and empowering.

Fragile and Chaotic

Before I left Lead last week, I gave this baby Ponderosa Pine tree to the Comprehensive Plan Commission (the group taking on that Steward of the Movement role). It came from a pine cone I picked up on a walk in Lead early this past Autumn. Leading a movement of change is kind of like caring for a baby tree. It’s very fragile at first. And it can grow very slowly. But, given the right love and care, it can become a towering, majestic mountain forest.

Creating a shiny future that doesn’t exist yet takes bravery and empathy. And a willingness to allow just enough healthy chaos into the picture.

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The Difference Between Winners and Losers

December 22nd, 2008

“The difference between winners and losers is attitudes and actions.” –Dave Ramsey

Ramsey wasn’t talking about rural communities when he said that. But he was. You see, Dave is a personal money guru, so he was talking about doing smart things with your money. What he is also saying, though, is that it doesn’t matter if you’re trying to pay off your debt or lose 20 pounds or change your community–success and failure are mostly about behaviors.

The beliefs and habits we live by in rural communities are the very things that either keep us in a downward spiral, or begin a journey toward something better and more sustainable. When we begin to realize the problems we’re having are not somebody else’s fault–and not somebody else’s responsibility to fix–it becomes clear that the only person who can change my world looks back at me in the mirror.

Winning in this game of rural community change is not about god-given talent or luck. You can go learn just about anything you want to. Branch Rickey said “Luck is the residue of design.” How your community decides to design it’s behaviors, attitudes and actions about the future will determine how “lucky” you’ll be.

If you do “losing community” stuff, you’ll be a losing community. If you want to be a winning community, decide what winning looks like for you and start learning how to do things winning communities do.

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Live Blogging from Citibank

December 17th, 2008

Non Profit Training

I’m attending a workshop in Sioux Falls, SD today on “Adapting to a Changing Financial Reality For Non Profit Leaders,” sponsored by Citibank. The workshop facilitator, Kate Barr of the Nonprofits Assistance Fund in Minneapolis, has helped our group of about 60 participants discuss and generate some good ideas in these uncertain (OK, kind of scary) times.

The Big Announcement

We also heard some big news from our friend Bob Sutton of the South Dakota Community Foundation. Help is on the way for South Dakota non profits. The Bush Foundation of St. Paul, MN will make a $2 million grant to help build capacity for non profits of all kinds in South Dakota. Over the next two years, the money will be used by the SDCF to:

As Christine Sorenson filled us in, the SDNPA has had several fits and starts since it’s original founding in 1998. Christine and other volunteer board members were here today to restart the fire based on Bob’s big news. The plan is to put full time staff in place by 2011, with help from SDCF and the Bush funds. A website should be up soon at http://sdnonprofit.org.

Working With Generation Y

One conversation that popped up just before lunch centered on the differences in generations in the non-profit workplace. Since Mike has been blogging some good stuff about this topic, I thought I’d share some snippets:

Kate talked about how “young people” (she referred to a 23-year-old colleague in her office who emails her when they are sitting 10 feet from each other) just do things differently. She contends Millennials (also referred to as “Gen Y”) have a terrific ability to adapt quickly and easily to new situations and tools, and have learned a way to work (effectively multi-task) that is new to most of us.

“And that is exactly what we (non profits) will need,” said Kate, “The ability to truly handle multiple priorities at once in a changing world.”

Other comments about Gen Y and the future of non profits:

“Young people today want real responsibility. Give it to them, let them become the leaders.”

“(Millennials) have mastered such a different way to communicate. Though challenging for some of us, that’s quite an asset.”

My Take

Like Mike said in a recent post, I think the best way to communicate with each other is to just remember we are not “Millenials” and “Baby Boomers” and “Gen Xers.” We are human beings.

While I totally get what Kate is saying about the important role those multi-tasking youngsters will play/are playing in the leadership of non profits (and communities), it saddens me to think about the never-stop-switching, short-as-a-smurf attention span that is becoming the aspiration of good leadership. I deeply believe the best path to change is a relatively slow, focused one. What do you think? (Just click “Comments” to jump into the conversation.)

Props

Thanks to Citi for the great (and free!) learning today. The crowd was about 1/3 rural, and there was active networking going on. Also thanks to Kate for sharing her well of knowledge. She writes a helpful blog called Balancing the Mission Checkbook–good stuff for even the teeny-tiniest of non profits.

One more question: Did I unintentionally exclude myself from that “youngsters” category by referring to Smurfs? My favorite was the wise old Papa Smurf, but Smurfette was quite striking. :-)

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The Climate and Energy Project

December 9th, 2008

I recently ran across a promising new project of The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. The Climate and Energy Project (CEP) was launched in Februrary of 2007, and has since grown to a full-time staff of six. Randy Parry (Rural Learning Center President) saw a video from CEP at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s Rural People Rural Policy Network gathering in Kalamazoo, MI this Fall.

The CEP is about creating climate and energy conversations across the Great Plains, and staff hope to inspire stewardship, resilience, innovation and balance in rural places in the Midwest. Here’s a super video from the CEP team, focusing in on their home state, called “Where Does Kansas Stand?”

 

I’d encourage you to poke around a bit on the Climate and Energy Project website, including a great section called “Take Steps,” with tips (from free to expensive) for farms, businesses, and congregations. What does climate change and energy consumption mean for rural communities? Please share your thoughts in the Comments.

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U Process Part 4: The Big ‘Ah-Ha!’

December 1st, 2008

This is the fourth post in a series on the U Process (read parts 1, 2 or 3)

So far, I’ve argued that it’s worth taking the time and effort to follow a different path from tough problem to solution. But why? What are we working toward? The answer, to that question and to the tough problem you’re trying to solve, is found at the “bottom of the U.”

The journey through the U begins as we dive into the problem on the left side. We’re here to observe, to learn, to see the whole picture. We Immerse ourselves in the muck and mire, working to see the tangled mess with more clarity.

After really digging into the system we’re trying to change, it’s important to step back and reflect. Get quiet and still, stop doing a bit. This is the bottom of that left side of the U, where we let go of trying to solve the problem, and let the solution come.

Letting Go

Let go…and let come. It’s surely worked for you many times, without you even thinking about it. You’re eyeball-deep in some work, trying to solve some issue. Then you take a break, maybe a little walk or grabbing a snack or throwing some clothes in the washing machine. You give your mind a rest, and suddenly–whammo! It all comes together and the answer you’ve been digging for smacks you in the face. “Ah ha! That’s it!”

You’ve just found the bottom of the U. The example I used happens (usually) by accident, but the theory of the U is based on finding that “Ah-ha” on purpose. That doesn’t mean it works on call, like a schedule or anything. It just means that if you can hone your skills at practicing ‘presence,’ you have a much better shot at finding a truly innovative and trans formative solution.

Presencing

So what is this ‘presencing’ stuff? It’s a word made by combining ‘present’ and ’sensing.’ As in being fully present in the moment, and opening up your senses to the future that is bubbling up right now. You see, there are two sources of learning: from past experiences, or from the future as it emerges. Presencing is about sitting in that space where the two (past and future) collide right now. It’s learning to see our own seeing (remember those mental model prisons?), and then see the whole of our situation, recognizing how everything is interconnected while we learn more and more. And finally, it’s listening from a place of quiet and openness to the stuff that wants to be born.

Presencing is not a journey of the mind, but one of opening your mind, heart and will to see the future solution that is emerging right now, and choose to be a vehicle for it.

I’ll share more thoughts on this Presencing idea in my next U process post, and then fill in the right side of the U: All About Action. In the mean time, please share your thoughts or questions with the Reimagine Rural community by clicking on “Comments” below.

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Are You A Burning Log?

November 24th, 2008

In a recent post, I wrote about finding a way to make it easier for people in your community to start something better. That’s really what we do at the Rural Learning Center, and so do so many other organizations out there working in rural communities.

In some instances we’ve been one of those sparks for change in our own community, but many times we try to help fan the embers for others in our community who are creating change. So, instead of being the spark that starts the fire, we sometimes become the already burning log. As a great teacher once taught me, when you set another log next to one that’s been burning for a while, that new log will soon be burning fiercely of the same fire.

Could you be a burning log in your community?

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Help Start Something Better

November 23rd, 2008

It’s easy to protest. Much harder to be proactive.

Complaining about someone else’s performance comes pretty easily to most of us, I think. We’ve all done it to one degree or another. You know the drill–stuff like:

“I can’t believe the City Council isn’t taking care of this.”
“Why doesn’t someone fix that?”
“When is this community going to figure out we need to try something else?”

So, what if we turned the protest into proactive change? What if, when someone complains about the status quo in our community (even if we are part of that status quo), we respond, “Bravo! Go start something better!” “Be the change you want to see!” We could all be sparks for change that way.

Fuel for the Spark

Most people in our community aren’t going to be proactive today. It’s not because they don’t care. It’s not becasuse they are complacent. It’s not because they enjoy being the noisy protester. I think it’s because they are busy, and we haven’t made it easy for them to start something. Something better, that also lines up with our community’s values.

So the trick might not be to convince people to get involved in making someone else’s ideas real. The trick could be to come together as a community to get clear on the set of values we can agree we share, and design a support system that makes it easier for ‘proactivists’ to spark change that fits those values.

What do you think?

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