My vision for the next 10 years. Where can we collaborate?

In this political season, I have frequently been caught up in the political horse races, sometimes with despair and sometimes with excitement. I definintely did last night while watching the debate. I can also easily get lost in eager preparation for an event or project I'm facilitating. In these times of short-term, narrow focus, I can lose sight of any long-term vision and intentions that I want to guide me. This summer, as part of a training about Human Systems Dynamics, I was asked to make a video about my vision for the next 10 years. I found this to be a very useful exercise in envisioning what is important to me with my family, work, and communities. I had fun developing part of the vision together with my kids.

I'd like to show you that video, as a way of asking for your collaboration in the next 10 years. I'd love to know and support your vision, and collaborate in the areas where our visions meet. 

Dangers of following what emerges

One of the primary orientations in my work is listening for what seems to be naturally emerging in organizations and communities and supporting groups to follow the path that is emerging. While I deeply value this approach, it has its shadow sides.  Here is a story of one of those shadows.

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Earlier this year, I worked with others to initiate a new Social Innovation Lab in Minnesota. There was a lot of momentum going into the lab, and many people and organizations were excited to be a part of it. The lab was successful on many levels. The registration for the first gathering of the lab filled up quickly. About 250 of us gathered in May, and there was a lot of excitement and energy. In preparing for the lab, I had followed where doors opened, what glimmered. Volunteers, co-sponsors, projects to work with, and other connections arose easily and abundantly. I put in many more hours than I had planned on, but I found it energizing and compelling. 

A few weeks before the lab event, I went on a retreat by myself and spent the weekend in the woods. In that quiet, I was surprised by what I found. It became clear that under the excitement and dedication I was putting into the lab, I felt a strong insecurity and grasping. On the retreat, I noticed how much my work with the lab was motivated by the belief that if enough people came to the event and if it was viewed as successful, then (and only then) would I be OK. With this grasping motivation, I had overworked and attracted lots of people that look and think like me. I had created an overrepresentation of white, liberal, nonprofit, middle class, artsy, do gooders. I like those people. I am one of those people. But my over functioning crowded out space for other partners on the team and other intentions and priorities. For this event, we were seeking to maximize the diversity of perspectives involved, as a way to increase chances for innovation. The way I followed opportunities as they arose also quickly brought in many people in ways that were confusing. I often skipped over the preparation of clarifying our purpose and building our team. All of this contributed to a higher level of anxiety in the event and planning and became overwhelming for me.

Thankfully, I am working on this project with an amazing team, and they were able to challenge and redirect the patterns I was starting and strengthening. As a team, we then corrected course to be more intentional about how we were inviting people and clarified our goals. The excitement, anxiety, confusion and inspiring sense of possibility were all mixed together in our May gathering of the innovation lab.   

The process was a reminder to me that my intention is not just following what is easiest and what seems to be emerging naturally. There are other layers in following what is emerging and ways to ground that practice in wisdom and thoughtfulness. As I'm now preparing for the next large gathering of the innovation lab, I'm seeking to pay more attention to the motivations and energy I'm bringing to the team. I'm stopping myself from always rushing ahead when opportunities arise to make more space for our team to build common goals and for us each to take our own kinds of leadership. I don't want to beat myself up about the mistakes I made in the last round, but to notice and learn from this experience and pay attention in a different way next time.

I see many of us dancing between intentional choices about what we want to do, while also responding to opportunities as they arise. I'm very interested in your stories and lessons from doing this dance. I'm grateful to be working with many of you as we experiment with this in our organizations. 

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You're Invited

Sept. 12, 8:00 am - noon, St. Paul. I'd like to invite you to join us for the second Social Innovation Lab, which will focus on how we see and cultivate synergy between different social innovation projects. The lab is a place for community change makers to get new thinking and connections to advance their work. You can find out more and register online here.  

The Transformation of Elk River, MN

Did you know that a small city in Minnesota is seen by thousands of people across the world as a model for how the spiritual transformation of a city can happen?

I recently met with Stephanie Klinzing, the Mayor of Elk River, MN. The city is 35 miles NW of Minneapolis, and has a population of about 23,000. Since 1996, pastors, business leaders, and government leaders have met weekly to pray for Elk River. Many things have grown out of the prayer and relationships. For example, a local bank was started that offered prayer as a free banking service. In 2004, the New York Times wrote a 10 page article about that bank and Elk River, as an example of the faith at work movement. Many churches in Elk River began seeing their congregation as not just their members, but everyone in the city. Churches collaboratively worked together to reach and care for everyone in the city. In 2000, a network called Love Elk River started to provide "individuals and families with spiritual and physical needs by offering them a relationship-based network of support." Earlier this year, they had a contest to see how many random acts of kindness people in Elk River could do in one month.

Those involved talk about how Elk River used to lead the nation in its per-capita teen suicide rate. After the prayer network had been active for a few years, there was a stretch of years where there were no teen suicides. The Mayor also talks in detail about the economic and safety benefits of this movement. But the primary indicator that the group is aiming for is "the elimination of systemic poverty."

I don't agree with everything about the approach that informs the Elk River movement. My approach would be more interfaith. At the same time, I know that I have a lot to learn from it. I'm especially drawn to prayer, relationship-building, and cultural change that works for the elimination of systemic poverty. Most spirituality in the U.S. is so individualistic and focused on the benefit to individuals. I'm excited about this approach, which also focuses its spirituality for the benefit of cities and nations. I'm very interested in helping connect folks in Elk River with researchers interested in tracking indicators in the city and helping evaluate the influence that this movement is having in the city. If you are interested, please let me know.

What do you think about the spiritual transformation of cities? Are you scared? Ready to call the ACLU? Curious? Inspired? Ready to sign up?