Transformational change in social networks
Social network gurus/friends June Holley, Valdis Krebs and I talked today about new models we’re developing for creating change and transformation in social networks beyond the very weak local and weak global attempts at especially cultural, personal, and social change.
One conclusion so far is that the possibility space for change opens up when we connect different people who can begin resonating together around shared stories, opportunities, and dreams. It’s a process of liberating people from the confines of clusters of sameness and ideological colonialism so they can move toward more diverse connections and pragmatic alignments.
As it turns out, the fusion of difference and resonance is a powerful approach because in that space, people move away from trying to change each other, which opens the space for the possibilities of creating innovative and scalable changes together. Resonant listening to one another’s differences allows us to join in both-and innovations that could never be possible in an either-or constrained world. More later…
December 11th, 2009 11:27
Connect on your similarities and benefit from your differences!
December 11th, 2009 12:17
I just got done with a meeting that drained me because of the energy I had to expend to bring us to common ground because the other individual was focused on scarcity vs. abundance.
All the sudden something that was exciting is not. Possibilities become lowest common denominators.
December 11th, 2009 13:08
[...] jack/zen. December 11, 2009 | In Collaboration, Conversation, Design [...]
December 11th, 2009 13:37
So much of this work of building community is new, so the invitation as new to people needs to be explicit, otherwise people repeat history of trying to get things “done” in a way that doesn’t build community and give energy to it.
If you’re not giving new energy to your community, you’re taking energy away from it
December 11th, 2009 15:04
Amen. Yes, the invitation was not explicit.
December 12th, 2009 00:21
Great intro of the case for cognitive (ideological) diversity -
Consistent, I think, w/ the view that social networks can act as complex adaptive systems?
Weak local or global external attempts may fail, but connecting people and letting them meet in the “interesting in between” (not too structured, not too random) gives them the chance to learn (swap stories), adapt, and produce emergent results.
I’m seeing online communities starting to cluster (self-organize?) around these “sweet spots”.
If so, maybe good things will start to happen?
Great post, Jack. Looking forward to more.
December 12th, 2009 08:32
This sounds intriguing. I’ve been thinking along the same lines myself. There is so little accountability among our elected officials because the individual seems to have lost the gift of empowerment. I’ve often wondered why THIS generation is so ineffective at organizing for change. As you note, there are pockets of people trying, but their impact is difficult to assess.
Social networking tools provide a nice mechanism for discussion, but the key to success will be the passion and resolve of the people who decide to organize around a cause. Do we have the same fire in our bellies as our predecessors of the 1960s? Your social experiment may show.
December 12th, 2009 10:04
Yes Chris, it’s the “white spaces in the org chart” and the “3rd spaces” in the civic realm where serendipity unleashes new chemistries of passions and dreams. It’s the space where network weavers dwell and practice the grace of their magic.
December 12th, 2009 15:11
Donna, there are still some passionate social innovators in the world, I’m keeping track of a few here http://bit.ly/ecoTML in relation to the ECOSYS project. Framing for that effort is here: http://bit.ly/ecoED7 ..
Jack, perhaps ECOSYS is an example of what you, June and Valdis were discussing?
December 13th, 2009 18:42
Right on target Jack. Purpose-based, Idea based. Inclusive.
December 16th, 2009 13:23
This is a great post. I love the frame of “resonant listening” and “fusion of difference and resonance.” This post also led me (over more time than I had planned to take) to extremely relevant pieces by Chris Jones, Jay Smethurst, and Beth Norbeck and David Johnson. Thank you!
Duncan
December 16th, 2009 19:07
Thanks Chris and Duncan for the sources, and yes Bob, it is a great inclusive play.
December 17th, 2009 10:39
[...] have a few bloggers whom I follow regularly and one of them is Jack Ricchiuto. One of his last blog post, which are mostly very short, is about the combination of difference and resonance. A truly [...]
December 19th, 2009 15:44
Thank you Ria for your pingback and your lovely blog.