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How Does Change Happen?

Tuesday Jun 22 2010

By Jennifer Corriero | Bio

Jennifer Corriero is co-founder and executive director of Taking It Global. Her poem, originally published on Jennifer's blog in December 2009, is reprinted with kind permission from the author.

How does change happen?
This is perhaps one of those eternal questions
that carries both simplicity
and depths of complexity
juxtaposed in a tension
so bright and dark that
emotions explode and identities blur.

Is your belief defined by your role
or is your role defined by your belief?

How does change happen?

POLICY says the policy maker
MARKETS says the business manager
MASS MOBILIZATION says the organizer

DIALOGUE says the convenor
SYSTEMS CHANGE says the academic
IMAGINATION says the artist

INVENTION says the scientist
INNOVATION says the technologist
INVESTMENT says the banker

DESIGN says the architect
ENLIGHTENMENT says the spiritual guide
RULE OF LAW says the lawyer

CONVICTION says the leader
EDUCATION says the teacher
REVOLUTION says the activist

UNIVERSAL ACCESS says the philanthropist
HEALTHY CHOICES says the coach
AWARENESS says the communicator

DATA says the analyst
CRISIS says the journalist
ACTION says the entrepreneur
PERSPECTIVE says the author

HOPE says the dreamer
NETWORKS says the connector
INSPIRATION says the storyteller

LOVE says the mother
ASPIRATION says the father
LAUGHTER says the child
POSSIBILITY says the youth
REFLECTION says the elder

And so we ask ourselves
Where we stand, where we shine and where we fly.
We ask whether or not
we are defined
by the roles we take
or the collective outcomes that emerge
when our efforts and beliefs collide.

Is it magic or tragic that we disagree?

Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action

Tagged with: belief change complexity jennifer_corriero taking_it_global

How Are You Listening?

Friday Jun 11 2010

By Ana Lepri

There is a humorous 1-1/2 minute video called Masi, Me Tiro which is winning awards around the world. It has inspired me to reflect on how we listen to others. The characters demonstrate that our listening is often filtered through our personal judgments and preconceptions of others. This filtering limits our ability to listen. We find ourselves reacting to what’s being said and to who we think they are based on our history and their identity (or appearance). We are prisoners of our stories about them. We are not really listening to what the other person is saying.

In the video, the two men are trapped inside their own circular conversations, unable to hear or validate the other person except inside the interpretation they have of them. They react to each other without listening.

I find myself often caught up in reactive conversations. This is how we normaily interact in our daily lives in society. I realize that every time I experience the type of stress response these two men demonstrate that I can change my experience of what’s happening and the other person by changing my listening. I can re-engage with them and listen, not from my judgments, but from a place of acceptance and validation.

As Humberto Maturana, the Chilean biologist and author, says: "The acceptance of others as a legitimate other is a prerequisite of language.” If we do not accept the other person as a legitimate other, our listening will always limit and obstruct our communication. The good news is that if we commit ourselves to listen actively, without preconceptions and judgments, we can become effective listeners.  

Listening actively to the other person is a commitment, a commitment that legitimizes the other and allows for effective communication and creativity. Listening validates the talker, not the listener. Listening is the key factor in communication. Peter Drucker said: "Too many executives think they are wonderful with people because they speak well and do not realize to be wonderful with people means to listen well."

The actual value in a conversation is only discovered when preceded by our commitment to listen for the possibility the other person is. We can relate better to others in conversation when we focus on these key question: