The first batch of quotes from Christopher Alexander’s The Luminous Ground was really intended for one person, but it turns out that that one person was many. I personally find Alexander so inspiring and intriguing that I’m more than happy to share more with those who are interested. Alexander’s basic stance – in a [...]

As far as I’m concerned it’s hard to get enough of Christopher Alexander. One topic that we’ve been discussing recently, though, is the claim made in Scharmer’s Theory U about the need to connect to Source in order to make real and meaningful changes in the world. The problem with Scharmer is that he’s very [...]

One key set of skills for community builders centers around fostering open and trusting communication. This only makes sense as communication is the very “stuff” of personal relationships. To that end we’ve been learning about and experimenting with deep listening and open questions. Speaking for myself, I have found this work very useful and a [...]

In our community we talk a lot about vibrancy, about health, about creating communities that have great life. The questions, of course, is: How do we do that? And often our answer is the same. Innovation! Fresh process! Disruption! Creativity! Are we missing something here?

Christopher Alexander, who we’ve looked at several times here before, [...]

Friends, the toolbox is slowly growing. Today we have posted a tool that outlines how community builders can ask open questions.

An open question is one that expands rather than restricts your arena of exploration, one that does not push or even nudge you toward a particular way of framing a situation.

Parker Palmer [...]

Ajahn Chah, one of the great spiritual and intellectual leaders of the Thai Forest tradition of Buddhism, gave a talk very near the end of his life. This was a man who had been a monk since he was nine years old and had given many hundreds of talks on how to lead one’s life. [...]