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  • Tiffany von Emmel 3:29 pm on August 5, 2010 Permalink  

    The adventurous turns in a body of knowledge 

    Units of knowledge are primarily concrete: embodied, incorporated, lived. Knowledge is about situatedness. Francisco Varela

    Lately, I find myself serendipitously in conversations about the body and knowledge. Last night, in an inspiring meeting of the Global Women Leadership Network, the group facilitator was Susan Geear, whose practice is in somatics and leadership.  In the group, a woman asked, “To act as transformative leaders, do we need more knowledge?” My response – More is not necessarily better.  What is important is to shift our embodied understanding of knowledge and knowledge practices. Later in the evening, a participant led us in an exercise of feeling our feet on the ground, standing for our vision, imagining our vision of human rights, and breathing.

    This story above tell of a moment in an inquiry into “knowledge in the age of participation”.

    My journey is like a spiral with four turns….

    In the first turn, my interest in the “body as a teacher of knowledge” began in 1984 as I entered the field of  somatics, to help adults practice presence with our self, in relationship and in small groups.  My questions were about health and empowerment. What I learned along the way was that we came to know through  the practice of presence.  ( “Somatics” is the study of the lived experience of the body. For software folks, somatics is a close neighbor to User Experience Design. For researchers, somatics is close to Phenomenology. )

    In the second turn, in 1995-2001, my interest jumped to the Use of Self in a larger system, and I entered the field of Organization Development consulting, working with nonprofit networks and media companies that were shifting from pushing “content” at people to becoming human work communities.  How can we help to transform a system through our use of self? What can the body teach us as an agent of social change But, what I saw entering Organization Development were conceptions of organization as machines and rational approaches to Change Management and Knowledge Management that had more to do with control than connection.

    In the third turn of inquiry, in 2001, I began to ask meta-questions – What is knowledge and knowledge practices that cultivate a thriving world? Given that we live a participatory world, given that our bodies are common to humanity and the earth, what can the body teach us about  of knowledge?

    This began a new quest into sustainability that evolved forms of collaborative labs for sustainability with organizational consultants, systems scientists, organizational theorists, sustainability MBA educators, and Buddhist practice.   I then codified my understanding of knowledge in research and a doctoral dissertation.

    In the current fourth turn, I am immersed in the challenge of enabling global participation. Dreamfish is this inquiry.

    Enough for now. Going to participate in the Global Innovation Dialogue tonight. A very cool moment in this turn ;-)

    In the next blog post, I will open a conversation on what is knowledge in the age of participation.

     

  • Tiffany von Emmel 3:14 pm on March 7, 2010 Permalink  

    Practice Community as a Way 

    On this Sunday, I would like to share a personal story with you and invite you to join in building Dreamfish. My call to share of myself is inspired from a heartful group conversation the other night after my Ignite presentation of the  Humanifesto, reflecting with Lisa Chu, Eugene Kim, Van Riper of Community Leadership Summit. Thank you to all of you for reminding me of what matters.

    If you heard the Ignite presentation, this story gives you where I am coming from. This particular story today is inspired by an article that Peter Kaminski just shared with me about Learning from the Trappist Monks about business. Reading the article a reminded me of my own love for building Dreamfish as a practice community.

    Once upon a time …

    … I lived a life as a NY socialite, a marketer in a media startup, a model and an actor, with over 1,000 performances under my belt, mentored by Sandy Meisner.  And, I was 19 yrs old. I had what appeared to be everything society teaches us is valuable to a young American woman. My “friends” were rockstars, and I was engaged to a prominent heir in an American oil and steel family. But, really, what I was becoming aware of was a deep sense of alienation. Participating in the power games of the office during the day, the stage at night, drunken polo games at country mansions, posturing in night club backrooms, and wasting fuel and energy on private jet trips and a closet of designer clothes, my life was poor. Having grown up early on from a hard-working family of garage entrepreneurs, then rapidly impacted by my mother’s whirlwind l success in advertising, I came as an outsider into the old money world. Because I was an outsider, I could see the water we were swimming in.   I saw I was drowning, but I kept drinking the water.

    One day, as I was getting off stage, staring at a crowd of people, I had an epiphany moment. Time stopped still and a sense of awe filled me as I really took the people in. I became aware of emptiness in me and the distance I felt from the people in front of me. This moment was a disorienting dilemma (in the language of transformative learning). In the midst of so much affluence, I felt poor. I had been seeking ways to shore up my sense of self, seeking to achieve, seeking to be loved. I was seeking connection through a paradigm of dominance, not a paradigm of relationship. I had forgotten where I had come from. I had been acting out the dominant stories our society has given us about being human.

    The next day, I began to seek a new life and a new model for work. I was walking into the unknown, and had no idea what I would do. In high heels and a Norma Kamali dress, I walked off a New York City street into a dojo. As I walked in the door of the dojo, a man dressed in a white martial arts outfit made me a cup of tea and offered it to me.  He bowed and said, “Thank you”.

    I had just met Wataru Ohashi, who had brought Shiatsu from Japan to the West. Ohashi became my mentor for years to come. More significantly, I entered a practice community. In the community, I practiced being of service to each person I met. I practiced being present with myself and another. At the end of each Shiatsu session, the giver bows and says to the receiver, “thank you”,  because of the value received in giving.

    It didn’t matter what kind of work I did. We sometimes worked in a Zen monastery, surrounded by nature. Whether I taught a class or I cleaned the bathroom or I meditated, I was practicing service, presence, and ethical standards of quality. In this practice, I encountered myself – my judgments and insecurities, where I held tight and where I grasped. I discovered that when I experienced presence with another or task, I found the joy in myself.  As I practiced in community, I let go of old patterns, and sought out simplicity – growing a big community garden, living with less, sharing what I had. One weekend, my old friends visited me on their way to a hunt. Waving to them from an old tractor, in overalls, covered in manure, I felt happy.

    As I practiced in community, I discovered the earth beneath my feet, for I knew I was part of life. And, as I learned, I began teaching. My students were often mid-life executives, seeking to be generative in the second half of life. And as I taught and coached for the next ten years, I learned more about myself. When I practiced, I culitivated fullness in the knowing of not knowing. I became full in practicing connection. Connected, I felt free.

    As I practiced service in community, my mental models shifted to network thinking. As an entrepreneur, my ideas about marketing and business models shifted from pushing things at people to building value communities.

    Dreamfish is a practice community, where through showing up with faith, being of service, crafting quality work, mentoring and learning, we cultivate that which we seek. We have formed Dreamfish as a cooperative, a work cooperative with a business model fundamentally grounded in relationship. We craft every day work in this ground of relationship – relationship to ourselves, each other, the earth and our relations.  As we practice, our basic needs can be met, while we embrace our humanity and move our world.  We truly can create the work we want.

    If you feel called in this story, please consider to join with me  in building the Dreamfish cooperative. Let’s build a work community that serves us all.

    Please, take the moment to sign up. While a “profile” online has turned into commodity, I ask you to consider crafting your profile as a practice of presence. Consider to share from your heart what matters to you, and how you would like to join with others in the community.

    Yes, creating a human way to work is a practice of walking into the unknown. Let’s walk in together, light the fire and put on a pot of tea :-)   http://dreamfish.com/beta

    If you wish to share this with friends and invite them to join us, please do.

    Thank you,

    Tiff

     

    • Lisa Chu 2:34 pm on March 24, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Somehow I’m just seeing this post today! So many weeks after our conversation at Ignite, I am really moved by your writing. I told your story to Gail Larsen of as an example of changing the world by telling your own story.

      Keep sharing and changing the world, Tiff!

    • Lisa Chu 2:35 pm on March 24, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Sorry, I meant to post a link to Gail Larsen’s Real Speaking – http://www.realspeaking.net

    • vonemmel 6:54 pm on April 11, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Lisa, thanks for your feedback. Much appreciated! I will share more.

  • Tiffany von Emmel 8:35 am on October 24, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: Co-Entrepreneurship   

    350 – An act of co-entrepreneurship 

    Entrepreneurship requires the physical act of stepping up to act for something. But, the idea of entrepreneurship being a solo heroic act is a narrative that should be challenged. Co-entrepreneurship is a new form of enterprise in which we join together to mutual support our dreams in an ensemble vision of a better world. Together, we are stronger, and we are moving forward.

    35o is a performative act of co-entrepreneurship. Today, thousands of people throughout the world are taking part in actions to raise awareness about the number, 350.

    350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere….To get there, we need a different kind of PPM-a “people powered movement” that is made of people like you in every corner of the planet.

    Wherever you are today, you can participate. Since I am at a day for bloggers at Public Media Collaborative,I am writing this blog post as a 350 action.

    Let’s move to 350, co-entrepreneurs!

     

  • Tiffany von Emmel 4:51 am on July 21, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: change jam, innovation, knowledge   

    Playing into the Future with a Jam 

    The first Community Leadership Summit was terrific. The group of people who gathered for this summit were a smart mission-driven creative bunch, most of whom also are going this week to OSCON, the Open Source Convention. Free to register and held as an unconference, hats off to the organizer Jono Bacon, Community Manager for Ubuntu.

    During the conference, I co-led a project jam with Mei Lin Fung called Playing into the Future. The goal was to enable individuals to develop project ideas that build towards a positive future. Through the experience and use of artifacts produced in the session, participants could fuel their emerging work. They could also inspire new exhibits in the Program for the Future at The Tech, built upon the collaboration principles of Doug Engelbart, inventor of the mouse and whose team developed hypertext.

    To see what the group looked like in action, here’s a video clip of the session, filmed by Rich Reader.

    Serendipitously, Ubuntu has been running “jams” as well as informal meetups to have people come together to meet other Ubuntu community members and talk about Ubuntu shop. They will soon run another Ubuntu Global Jam. One of the things I like about the design is that by making it over a weekend, everyone can participate in a flexible way that suits their local needs.

    The jam methodology we used at the Community Leadership Summit was a derivitive of Change Jam, another open source event for project innovation. The first change jams were in San Francisco last year. In the tradition of group technologies,  a change jam has these defining characteristics:

    • start with building connectivity as the basis of social innovation, rather than focusing first on ideas or problem-solving
    • apply a performative approach to collaborative inquiry
    • further a shared goal to positively change the world

    A  jam is built upon improvisation principles, such as “Yes, And”, which is decidedly focused on amplifying the positive. To underline this point with a negative ;-) , a jam is not is a problem-solving session. Improvisers, when in an ensemble, practice listening and building upon the connectivity between people and ideas in order to create something new.

    Here are the  instructions for how to do a change jam. You really need three hours to move from forming relationships to project ideation to performance and then to value reflection and group ritual. However, in this session, we experimented with a micro hour version. But, I would recommend the full format, as it is important to have enough to time to set up well and to  generate critical reflection at the end.

    So, why do we do this? A  jam produces results that are not obvious at first, but can lay early ground work for collaborative production. There are four kinds of knowledge that can be produced in a jam:

    1. Relational Knowledge: Knowledge as relationship. When we are in a jam, we build new connections, as we are present, listening to each other. This kind of knowledge is fundamental for addressing the alienation of institutional knowledge, and is also the basis of forming the other kinds of knowledge.

    2. Practical Knowledge: Knowledge as  know-how. Knowledge is not a commodity to be pushed or pulled, but rather, something that we physically cultivate through aesthetic practice. In the jam, through practice and repetition of interaction, people begin to learn systems thinking, moving as an open fluid complex ensemble.

    3. Representational Knowledge: Information. We create meaning together as we see patterns and tell stories. Taking social construction and liberation pedagogy seriously, we involve participants in both appreciative inquiry and critical reflection.

    4. Responsive Knowledge: Stimulate innovation and adult development. The reason that performance, costuming and props are used in a jam are to enable people to experience themselves as practicing active agents in the process of innovation. Practicing performance skills, participants learn to work in the gap between the habits and possibilities unfolding. Based on Vygotskyian human development theory and East Asian philosophy, Responsive Knowledge treats knowledge as capacity to respond.

    Thanks to participants in this session:

    • Mei Lin Fung, Program for the Future
    • Rich Reader - videographer
    • Peter Kaminski - Social Software expert, Dreamfish Community Tech Maven
    • Cliff Figallo, GuildSmith – how local communities will network.
    • Chris, Ubuntu
    • Teresa, Open Solaris
    • Bob Ketner, Virtual Communities Manager at The Tech
    • Aaditya Batia, Developer Intern at The Tech
    • Michael Tiemann, open Science and Tech museum, Signis, RedHat
    • Stina Cooke, Museum Exhibit Designer formerly from Boston Science Museum
    • Veera Swaminathan, Singapore Ambassador for the Program for the Future Challenge
    • Grant Bowman, technologist

    Here are the session notes on the Community Leadership Summit wiki.

     

  • Tiffany von Emmel 4:36 pm on July 7, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , microenterprise, poverty,   

    Why Dreamfish? Microenterprises increase incomes and reduce poverty 

    The vision of Dreamfish is a global work network of independent people who collaborate on work and change their own lives and the world in the process. We are now at the time that there is market awareness and urgent need for new ways to organize our economy. The facts are apparent, and eyes are open.

    Trend to Micro for Millions

    Many of us are looking for a new way to work. Many are on the margins, with 195 million unemployed worldwide. Millions have already discovered entrepreneurship as a way out. There are 21.5 million microenterprises (businesses with five or fewer employees), just in the United States.

    Micro-enterprise programs show results.

    Several major studies on the effects on micro-enterprise on low-income and moderate-income individuals show that micro-enterprises assist to move individuals out of poverty. A five year study of Aspen’s Self-employment Learning Project showed the following results:

    • Increase in Income - The poor raised annual income by average of $10,507.
    • 53% Out of poverty – Reliance on public assistance benefits declined significantly in dollars and number of recipients.
    • 57% Business survival rate – 57% were in business after five years. This is favorable to small business’ 40% survival rate.
    • Women powered – Most micro-enterprises are women. In this study, 78% were women entrepreneurs.

    The Dreamfish Way – Real. Relational. Resilient.

    Building on best practices within micro-enterprise development, Open Source network economies, and pioneering organization development, Dreamfish is a way for independent workers and job providers to find work, hire, collaborate and pay. As entrepreneurs, we learn as we practice a new way to work that sustains us, financially and personally. We also reduce our environmental footprint by working virtually and sharing resources. Here’s how we do it:

    • Lower costs and higher effectiveness. Using free tools and a peer-to-peer open source model.
    • Empowered. There is no middle man in our exchange. Nobody looks over our shoulder.
    • Collaborative economy. Two fish swim better than one.
    • Woman-friendly. We appeal to women, who are underserved. Most micro-entrepreneurs are women. Yet, women have little access to capital. Only 5% of VC funding goes to women, and most entrepreneurial brands target men.
    • Growthful – Success is personal.  Confidence, balance and happiness are measures of success.
    • We can scale our model to support good work for millions. Unlike nonprofit micro-enterprise programs, Dreamfish can grow big, well.

    Sustainable work for us all is within our reach. We have proven approaches. Our tools are available. The timing is right. Together, we can create sustainable work for all of us. If you want to support the Dreamfish Way, please get involved.

    Go heart to Dreamfish.

     

  • Tiffany von Emmel 7:51 pm on June 21, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: ,   

    Life or plastic? It is all a practice of choice. 

    In an industrial society, the self has been cultivated to be a consumer and producer. The self, wanting, passive, reaches. When active, grasps in fear.

    Enough. It is time to choose to cultivate new forms of selfing. Choose life. Not plastic.

    Last week, Rachel Pfeffer and I were sitting with Claudia Welss and Bill Daul, founders of Nextnow Collaboratory and NextNow Network, respectively. We were sitting in a lovely conference room at the platinum-LEED certified David Brower Center in Berkeley. There to discuss how we could collaborate. Claudia asked if we had seven minutes. Certainly. She showed us the following video of the horrifying pattern of plastic pollution that is rapidly destroying ocean life.

    I am aware of when I bought something in plastic for the sake of expediency and seeming efficiency, without regard to the systems effect of my choice. Seeing this video, I am practicing choice to say no to plastic, and communicate why as I do. Please, do you have seven minutes? Watch this and share.

     

    • TJ 3:40 pm on June 26, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Very interesting and thought-provoking. In thinking about this it seems necessary to think about the consequences associated with substitutes such as the greater energy required for transportation (possibly production as well) for glass, aluminum or cardboard (as some examples). Another approach is narrowing the number of plastics used as well as improving the recycling process we have here as well that in neighboring nations. Reducing the amount of packaging so it conforms more closely to what is packages is vital for sure. Thanks for eliciting further thought from me on this.

  • Tiffany von Emmel 4:49 am on June 7, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: ,   

    Invest in young women 

    If you want to invest in sustainability, then invest in women entrepreneurs. Globally, young women are the most likely change agents. However, invisibility and lack of access to capital inhibits their capacity. Here is an awareness-raising video from Girl Effect.

     

  • Tiffany von Emmel 10:24 am on May 7, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , network   

    Nets work with Mixedink and Verna Allee 

    A few days ago, Peter Kaminski and I went to Tedx in San Francisco.  I especially wanted to connect  with friend, Verna Allee, whose work is on Value Networks, and Vanessa and Dan Scanfeld, of Mixedink (read about Mixedink below).  

    At the event, Verna told a great story about how she and her partner started up a large-scale distributed network organization of independents as a response to economic hardship. This was a 1970′s forerunner to dreamfishing! This then led to her study of value networks.

    Ironically, the Tedx event design was far from enabling of the value network among event participants. Tedx is supposed to be a community-owned version of the TED conference. As an expert in social design, I found the event design to be sorely wanting, as the top-down TED format was maintained, and in a rigid way, despite the intention to deliver on high participation.

    However, as these things go, the people that the event attracted were fantastic. Speaking of high participation social design, meeting with Mixedink’s founder, Vanessa Scanfeld and Dan Scanfeld, her partner and lead developer was inspiring. I quickly became a Mixedink fan. Mixedink as a web service enables a group, from 10 people to 500 people or more to collaboratively create a shared document with a goal of consensus. Below is a video from Mixedink. For example, a good application of Mixedink would be for TED fans to use Mixedink to develop a design for Tedx. Wink.  Check out Mixedink.

    MixedInk Demo from MixedInk on Vimeo.

     

  • Tiffany von Emmel 11:16 am on May 2, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: business, ,   

    Coworking to Create Coworking Models 

    What enables coworking to grow in the economic downturn is that coworking exudes sustainability across all levels — from coworkers’ behaviors, work culture, offerings, business models, as well as the industry as a new force.

    Everyday, coworkers breathe in and breathe out practices of flexbility, openness, learning, collaboration, and sharing. These patterns that happen interpersonally among coworkers in a coworking community also show up in the larger system of the industry. Coworking entrepreneurs in the industry share openly how their business models work, what works, what doesn’t, and ask for help.

    Notably, with entrepreneurs spending cautiously, there is a trending towards models that support extreme flexibility for the coworking customer.  As a case in point, IndyHall, a coworking space in Philedelphia, which has generously shared its learnings with other community of coworking entrepreneurs, markets a flexible membership model. Above is their video, which nicely describes their version of coworking, their membership model, and how they operate as a membership organization, rather than a service or being about space. Nice job.

     

  • Tiffany von Emmel 7:53 pm on April 30, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , , , ,   

    ObiFive dances the Dreamfish 

    http://dreamfish.com/author/paul-loper/">Paul Loper, Peter Kaminski and I served as ambassadors for the Dreamfish network as ObiFive, a French HR consultancy for European enterprises, visited the US with WDHB Consulting as their guide. ObiFive, structured as a network of independent consultants, visited to learn about collaboration as a process for innovation. Paul Loper, a consultant in the Dreamfish network, led them in this classic Dreamfish activity, moving as a collaboration ensemble.  Et Voila!

    This activity served to create awareness of the embodied nature of design thinking for innovation. It also sparked a conversation about org theory and mental models of organization inherited in the last several hundrd years that are unsustainable and limit innovation. We then used this activity as a basis, from which to experience social software. Peter Kaminski, social software maven, then introduced the group to the use of a wiki, group chat and screensharing for internal collaboration and collaboration with organizational clients.

     

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