A parody commercial about my work from my son & other updates

Have you been curious about what the jargon I use in my work actually means? My son made a video that both pokes fun at that jargon and also translates it into normal language. I thought you might like it.


I hope to do more philosotating and using fancy diagrams with you!

I want to take my work less seriously and work less compulsively. I appreciate my son's help with that, and also welcome yours!

- Michael Bischoff

P.S. Here are the serious, save-the-world things I'm doing this fall:

Helping facilitate the: 

• Launch of the MN Social Impact Center
• Maternal Wellbeing Innovation Lab
• Trauma-Informed Approaches Innovation Lab
• Mapping of leadership networks in the Upper Midwest
• Fatherhood Policy Working Group

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. 

Six ways to convey the spirit of your work with video

In my work, I often use video making as one way to express and cultivate the spirit of an organization or program. Here are a few ways you can use video to further and deepen your own work. Increasingly, if you are not using video to illustrate and invite people into your work, you're missing a large percentage of your potential audience.

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1. Ask leaders in your field to do a video interview about how their work relates to the ideas at the core of your work. Post the video on YouTube and share it with your network. People who are searching for the interviewee will also get exposed to your idea, and you'll also have an opportunity to build more of a partnership with the interviewee.

My previous post of an interview with Diana Whitney about Appreciative Inquiry and Whole Systems Healing is one example of this.

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2. Videotape stories from the people most impacted by your work. Group the stories in themes that show the range of outcomes from your work. Post the videos on your website and use them to tell your organization's story.

I've had the privilege of consulting with the FATHER Project for past year and a half, supporting their planning and evaluation. This summer we videotaped several participants as they told their own stories about how the project has impacted their lives. We linked short video clips from these interviews to the logic model for the project, so a personal story illustrates each intended outcome.

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And a few more tips:

3. Embed videos within email newsletters and updates, giving people another way to receive your message.
4. Invite children that are connected with your work to write their own stories and make these stories into movies. The process of making and showing these movies can be a great community builder. I'm doing that this week with East African children at high-rise buildings in my neighborhood.
5. Envision the future of your organization and community by making videos that combine images and sounds that express the vision you are working toward.
6. Get started. You don't have to be an expert in movie making. Experiment, post it online, and ask for feedback.

I'd be glad to do a free consultation with you about how you could effectively use video in your organization. More examples of videos I've made with organizations are on my website.

In Memory of Trinidad: Transforming institutions through humor and generosity

A few years ago I met a man named Trinidad when I was making a video about a group that I volunteer with, City House. Trindad was homeless at the time, and a participant in a spiritual companion program that City House offers. Earlier this week, Trinidad died of a heart attack. As much as anyone I've met, Trinidad seemed to cultivate a positive spirit in institutions he was a part of--a homeless shelter, an apartment building, and a community of people who were homeless. He didn't change the spirit of institutions through any formal authority, but through his personal humor, warmth, and generosity. Here is a 2 minute video of Trindad, which gives you a taste of his gifts:

This video is part of a longer video that I made about City House. The full video is available on their web-site. City House connects "the mainstream and margins for mutual spiritual growth and transformation." I currently volunteer through City House to facilitate a spirituality group at a drug and alcohol recovery center. I'm very grateful for the many gifts I received through participating in City House.

This week I give thanks for the ways that Trinidad touched and charmed the people around him.

Theory U: Illustrated through a silly game with kids

My last post, included a diagram and some examples of how I have been using "Theory U," a model for "leading from the future as it emerges." In this post, I'd like to show you a silly 2 minute video that I made with my kids, showing some aspects of the Theory U process, as illustrated in a game the kids and I made up.