vesterberg.se

I am sure you have had moments when you felt especially close to nature. It could have been a sunset or when you met a deer in the forest. It could have been hearing birds singing an early morning in the spring. I believe that these moments are precious. No, more than that. They are important, very important. We should seek these experiences or rather expose ourselves to them. But you can’t command or control them. You have to take the time, be still out in nature and wait for them.

I spent time trekking and living in a tent in the Swedish mountains at two occasions this summer. I was at the bare mountain region where the clouds are sailing. It was a great experience. Up there in the stillness with no people in sight (except my fellow-trekker) I took the opportunity to “connect” to nature and the wildlife. We had sunny days, which are great. Stormy weather (the wind can be very strong up there) and fog can also be positive experiences if you let them. I remember standing in a vast valley with the strong wind blowing through me. I remember seeing the clouds pass by close and I was profoundly affected.

- Hmm, what do you mean by that?

I can’t describe it really. I felt small and at the same time surrounded and embraced by nature. Now afterwards I feel that my relation to nature has changed. The wind and the clouds somehow feel familiar. Does it sound spooky to you?

I believe one of the reasons that man can destroy nature without hesitating, is that he hasn’t gazed in the eyes of a wild deer long enough.

Tell me reader, have you had experiences like these?

When I have spoken publicly I have often wondered about the dynamics of speaking to a crowd. Sometimes it is easy, like a brook flowing out from you and sometimes it is like chewing sawdust or sand. Sometimes you are able to catch the attention of the audience and sometimes you are very happy to have notes and you just want to finish your speech as soon as possible. The brook-experiences are great. It is like what you are saying is created afresh in that very moment and you say things you have not thought about before. An interested and participating audience “pulls” out a living message.

Some days ago I read an interesting article at the Pegasus site called “A whole approach to public speaking” by Carla Kimball that describes this phenomenon very nice. She talks about how we can grow in our public speaking abilities by  developing awareness when speaking. You can connect to the audience, seeing both yourself and the audience as a larger whole. She talks about establishing a relationship with the ones you are talking to and creating a shared space. What is being said is, in a way, created by both the speaker and the audience. One of the keys is to think how you can be of service. It is not about presenting your thing, but about being a servant.

I have recently experienced both being in the flow and chewing sand, so the explanation really came alive to me.

There is a blog called “Conversation as a co-evolutionary force” hosted by the Word Café that recently had an interesting post: “Maturana and humanness” written by Juanita Brown, one of the originators of The World Café. After a visit to the Institute of Professor Humberto Maturana in Chile, she wrote some reflections.

Maturana explains (in Juanita’s words):

“Humanness is not a genetic mutation. It is a manner of living where there is pleasure in each other’s company, sharing food, nearness, caressing and tenderness – nor is the capacity for language a genetic mutation – it is an evolutionary drift emerging from the intimacy of human community and the coordination of actions in language together.  It is in the intimate community where humanness arises as a network of conversations that is conserved over generations as a lineage through the raising of children over hundreds of generations in manners of living that are conserved in that lineage.  Humanness did not arise in competition, struggle etc.  It arose in intimate family/community co-existence.”

Inside images

Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela have done some interesting scientific work on cognitive systems, in plain language: how our mind works. Their research has shown that we as humans live inside the images we hold of the world. This is true even for how we perceive colours. We think our individual understanding of the world is absolute and correct, a representation of what is out there, but it is not. We live very much in our thoughts about the world and in our thoughts about the people around us. Our culture has favoured conceptualization for a long time and as a result we get stuck in preconceived ideas of reality.

Conversations

Maturana also says that we as humans “live in our language” and through the networks our conversations, we bring forth a world.  We shape our culture. Dialogue is our human way of creating and sustaining the realities in which we live.  We think and coordinate our actions together through conversation. We create through our talking, for good or for bad, we know that. What a responsibility!

Networks of intimate conversations are true humanness. Mindful conversations, an evolutionary force, that shapes the future, how about that?

Create opportunities

What if we designed our lives and communities according to these (scientific) truths? What if we let go of our own stiff ideas and began to listen deeply to each other? What if our future on earth depends on that we on purpose create opportunities for conversations?

We believe that if we inform people enough, they will choose the right things. No, it doesn’t work as we think, because it is one-way communication. There is no cooperation and involvement. It is someone telling others what to do.

In the family

Think about it in a family setting. We ought to create opportunities for intimate conversations with our mate. That’s not always easy and automatic. As time goes by in a relationship and, since we often live a busy life, we develop separate worlds. Instead of living in two worlds, you and your mate could create a world together. Living with each other is listening deeply to each other. What if love is not something that suddenly comes and one day just disappears, but something that grows and is nurtured in close conversations.

Think about your children. What if intimate and personal conversations are the main ingredient in bringing up children. Taking the time. Listening. It is better to create a shared understanding, interest and involvement than commanding them what to do and what not to do. As your children grow up and become teenagers their world of thoughts change and you can be left behind. You might want them to come to your world,  but I believe there is a fantastic possibility in respectfully growing together with your teenagers.

In the city

Think about it in a wider setting, concerning city planning and administration. We ought to create places and opportunities for intimate conversation all over the city. We should plan our libraries and meeting halls so that they are inviting for small conversations; build cafés acoustically for easy talking. It is especially important to create opportunities for people from different backgrounds, different ages, different interests and different kind of positions and ethnicity to meet and talk. Let’s work on tearing down barriers and fragmentation.  What if small intimate conversations are the key to a thriving city?

Your city

I have a number of friends who are also thinking along these lines and we explore the possibilities together. What can we do for our city? What can you do for your city?

I don’t write about systems thinking in this blog, because I am an expert. I write because I am very interested and want to learn more. Gerald Weinberg use to say, “When I want to learn something I start to write a book about it”. I haven’t written a book (yet), but I like to write anyway. It helps me to clear up my thinking and this blog is one place to my express thoughts in.

Learning

Systems thinking seem to be a very much needed discipline these days. To get good at it, you can read books and articles. Another way is to discuss with experienced people.

Applying

Yet another important way is to apply systems thinking and learn from doing it yourself. The theme of this blog is “Applied systems thinking” because I do not desire a good intellectual understanding only of these things, but to be able to solve real and tough problems. It is not a goal to intellectualize and analyze systems thinking. Since we have this love for being analytical in our western culture, we are in danger of becoming intellectual only. The thing is to get our hands dirty and apply it to the world around us.

Heart

Getting involved means engaging our whole person, thoughts and feelings, deep down in our hearts. Peter Senge in his book The fifth discipline talks about personal mastery. A whole person can better see the whole perspective. Solving tough problems with people involved requires empathy to be successful.

And you?

I am sure someone is reading this post and you are as interested in this as I am. What do you think? How can we learn and grow in applying systems thinking? I feel like being on a journey learning new things. What about you?