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DRAWING A ZEN CIRCLE --------------------
CREATING VISIBILITY AND ENGAGEMENT THROUGH REORGANIZING
KaosPilots Final Project Report, Aarhus, May 2011 by C端neyt Pala, Team 15
Client Organization: Egely Monastery / RZBS 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE4 INTRODUCTION PAGE5 ABSTRACT PAGE6 PROJECT DESCRIPTION PAGE6 Context PAGE8 The Client PAGE9 Background PAGE10 Theory and Methods PAGE16 Project Phases PAGE21 Highlights PAGE25 Results PAGE29 Next PAGE30 Budget PAGE31 Challenges/Learnings PAGE33 PAGE34 PAGE39 PAGE42 PAGE44
THE FOUR KAOSPILOT DISCIPLINES Project Design Process Design Leadership Design Business Design
PAGE47 EVALUATION PAGE48 CONCLUSION PAGE50 KEY BOOKS BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX
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it’s happening and we are in it..
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Introduction I was in the Zen of it all..................................and one day all of a sudden I just started writing. What you have in your hands today is a result of all that writing. I have chosen to do my final project with Zen - more specifically with a Zen Buddhistic Monastery. One of the many reasons for me doing this assignment is my wish to combine two concepts/philosophies that mean a lot to me and which I will be building rest of my life upon: Zen and KaosPiloting. Buddhistic philosophy has inspired me for a long time as I found my own value set mirrored on the fundamental buddhistic values. Among these just to name a few are compassion, wisdom, peace, nonviolence and love. Zen feels in many ways larger than life, which is also one of the reasons I believe the learnings from this assignment would be very valuable for me and for other living. This largeness also had been my biggest challenge throughout the project period. If you think it is hard to define what a KaosPilot is then try to define what Zen is. And then combine them! Was I supposed to create chaos in zen or zen i chaos? Or both? With these words I welcome your curious eyes to my written report where I will lay before you what has happened during the period from march till may 2011. Bon voyage! C端neyt Pala aka Yeshe Doje
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new places, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust 4
Abstract This report is a result and culmination of 3 years of lectures and experiences at the KaosPilots. The content is based upon the four disciplines of KaosPilots, which are project design, process design, business design and leadership. The two main focus areas are process design and leadership. Even though my first focus was marketing and fundraising for the monastery, half way through the process I found it necessary to shift direction and focus more on the organizational challenges the Rinzai Zen Buddhistic Society (from now on RZBS) was facing. The main event in this report will refer to council and look at their organization but Kaos-friendly General Assembly. RZBS is a are scattered all over Denmark and some
is inviting everybody who has been in contact with the RZBS to also to respond to the changes and adapt. The event I called a recognized religious society and loosely connected. Members even in Sweden.
I will also include my findings and ideas on business and marketing areas under the Business design as I still think it’s valuable information for the society if they wish to investigate ways of earning income to support the monastery and the local branches. So “drawing a circle� is about calling the troops into the base, drawing the members to the center to assemble and co-drawing a line to show this is where we exist, this is what we have in common and this is what we are going to do next. Have you noticed that a zen circle (Enso) is not a whole circle?
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PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1. Context “Buddhism is quite well known in the West today. All schools of Buddhism are based on the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, who lived in northern India about 2500 years ago. At the age of 33 he had an experience - a religious awakening, through which he saw what this universe is, how it works and how we human beings can live in harmony. From that time until his death at the age of 80 he strove to instill this insight into his followers. Over time several distinct schools of Buddhism evolved, of which Zen is one that emphasizes zazen sitting meditation. Zazen is simply sitting. There is nothing to strive for, nothing to gain. Mastering this state however, takes some adjustment and this is where Zen training comes in. Rinzai Zen Buddhism is famous for using koans to awaken its students to the "special transmission outside the scriptures". Koans are dialogues or questions that are impossible to understand intellectually, but rather point to direct experiences.”1 I feel the ground principles of KaosPilots are very much inline and/or based upon Zen philosophy. Towards the end of the book KAOSPILOT A-Z(2) Uffe Elbælk gives a taste of Zen, which as he puts it “more than fits into the KaosPilot universe”: In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few. Shunryu Suzuki
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excerpt from monastery’s homepage egelykloster.dk
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When you are deluded and full of doubt, even a thousand books of scripture are not enough. When you have realized understanding, even one word is too much. Fen Yang To be a man of knowledge one needs to be light and fluid. Yaqui Mystic ...and here is a final quote, a Buddhist proverb dedicated to all former students at the KaosPilots: When the student is ready, the master appears.”2 Zen is strongly related to the first three of the six KaosPilot values. Here is all 6 : Balance, Real World, Compassion, Risk Taking, Streetwise and Playful • For me Zen stands for the Balance between the spiritual and the physical world. • When it comes to Real World Zen goes deeper than most by looking at the reality as it is to find out how it works and strives to live in accordance to it. • Compassion with all living is one of Buddhism’s core values. In our time and society, especially in western culture the word Zen is associated with many things. For some people it means this meditative, almost divine state where they experience a kind of flow or a moment of bliss. For some others it is just sitting and being without doing anything else. In reality Zen is a three letter word and “Buddha is Masagin” 3
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excerpt from KAOSPILOT A-Z(2), page 261
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*Masagin means “three pounds of flax” - (taken from a parable from the book Mumonkan, p.28)
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2. The Client Egely Monastery is a fairly new monastery established in 2007 on the danish island Bornholm. The Abbot in residence Denko Roshi and the Head Monk Mugen, when asked, expressed their wish to have more visibility, fundraising and engagement. They also pointed out a vision statement : “A functioning monastery in five years”. Egely Monastery “houses” the loosely connected members of the RZBS (Rinzai Zen Budhistic Society), which is now a recognized religious community. There are registered 20 members who gives 1-2% of their income as a monthly donation to the monastery. There are existing 3 branches (may also be referred as “zendo”s): Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen. Aarhus branch was the first one to be established in 2007 and also the most engaged group. Odense is fairly small group (and closed for the time being) and Copenhagen branch is more like a closed circle and hard to get in contact with. There are off course a handful on Bornholm, who comes to twice a weekly sittings at the monastery and joins different activities. The monastery arranges retreats normally in spring and fall. It is also possible to visit the monastery during summer in a more informal setting. This is called Open Monastery.
*excerpt from my KaosPilot application form, February 2008
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3. Background I met Zenmaster Denko Roshi for the first time in Aarhus at an introduction weekend around the time I was considering to apply for the KaosPilots. His story inspired and moved me as I am sure it did many others. After the intro weekend I started meditating regularly together with the group every wednesday and I still do. Half a year later he was in Aarhus again and this time I asked him to be my teacher and presented him my little pocket poetry book (which is the compact result of my 3-4 years depression) He simply accepted them both. Year 2009 had been a very spiritual year for me. A quick summarizing of 2009 : • In march I was contacted by Carl Damm and I became a part of the group that was to work with 2 native american teachers to create more peace in the world. • In june I became buddhist with the help of a tibetan Rinpoche, • In july I visited Egely Monastery for the first time, • In august I was in New Mexico to launch the world wise peace movement together with 80 people from all over the world • In october I was on a 7 day retreat at the Egely Monastery. 2011 march I decided to complete the circle by doing “something” for the monastery and since then I have been asking questions, working, researching, interviewing, brain storming, traveling, meditating, reading, listening and most importantly trying to be in the now and “in service” of what wants to emerge. Taking on the “Zen assignment” was not a fast decision. I’ve been considering to combine my passions and create meaning for and with the people around me. Egely Monastery was also into consideration when I was looking for a World Internship (and so was the Royal Family). 9
I had a need to explore how I make decisions and wanted to explore how I could combine KaosPilot disciplines with spirituality. So the idea of working with the monastery felt like perfect match of needs. What the world needs is people that are come alive and people that are in peace within themselves and with their surroundings. I believe this is what buddhism helps people with. Zen is just one of the ways of doing it. Another and more concrete reason for me choosing the assignment is I wanted to dig more into decisionmaking and learn more about my intuition. We all make decisions everyday. None of these are unimportant. What I learned from Zen is when I take some time out for doing nothing (sitting/meditating) I am able to make more balanced decisions. No moving, no thinking, no judging - just sitting, breathing and being. “Deciding needs a lack of knowledge”4
“The mystery of how we make decisions is one of the oldest mysteries of the mind. Even though we are defined by our decisions, we are often completely unaware of what’s happening inside of our heads during the decision making process. You can’t explain why you bought the Honey Nut Cheerios, or stopped at the yellow traffic light, or threw the football to Troy Brown” 5 4. Theory and Methods Theories?!......off course I used theories. But the problem was that they just weren’t always there when I needed them or wasn’t always sufficient just to know them. Books and articles about Chaos Theory and 4
Mario Gagliardi, quote from http://gagliardiassociati.com/
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Jonah Lehrer from the book How We Decide
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Theory U gives us just an introduction we needed to get started. From there were all alone. To be able to function from it I need to be it, taste it, observe it and swim in it. That was the kind of experience I was yearning for and if I was going to be 200% present (100% in now + 100% aware) there wouldn’t be any time or space for even an extra thought! And Zen is not a theory, mind you. It is an experience, a way to comprehend our connectedness with the universe. The main theories I used an explored during my project period are Chaos Theory and Theory U. The Chaos Theory because of it’s nonlinearity and as I see it the closest you can get to grasp “zen-ness” without the actual experience. “Chaos theory is a blanketing theory that covers all aspects of science, hence, it shows up everywhere in the world today: mathematics, physics, biology, finance, and even music. Where classical sciences end, chaos is only beginning. The term chaos theory is used widely to describe an emerging scientific discipline whose boundaries are not clearly defined.” 6 Most of this goes also for Systemic Thinking. The term system, can be defined as the understanding of the relationship between things which interact. The interrelatedness of the complex systems. They both include the term non-linearity, which has to do with the type of mathematical model used to describe a system. The project approach have been the Dynamic Project Management as it is the KaosPilot way of doing it. This is where we usually differ from most of other schools. Dynamic, living systems need dynamic leadership and flexible adaptiveness.
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excerpt from http://library.thinkquest.org
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At the heart of the KaosPilot approach to innovative project work then, is the observation that predefining results make less sense than aiming towards constant and ongoing development of the project outcome throughout the project. The KaosPilot project approach is rooted in practical methods and processes and so constitutes the primary body of student practice.7 Dynamic Project Management consists of 4 phases: Goal setting phase, Planning phase, Implementation phase Evaluation. In my assignment however the Goal Setting phase appears after two preject periods. This is because the assignment changed character and direction after a month and become more of an organizational process design than a marketing and fundraising project. Throughout the assignment I used the Theory U. I did this on a personal level to have an anchorage while I was sailing the vast oceans of Zen. As I moved further into the Zen territory I used the “five movements of a social technology�8 to guide me through the stage(s) I was in and to prepare for the coming stage. (see the Visual on page 13 AND the timeline on page 18)
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excerpt from Dynamic Project Management in a Changing World, an article by By Bjarne Stark
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Sharmer, Otto (page 377)
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These stages are 1. Co-initiating (listen to others and what life calls you to do) The opening stage where I attended my surroundings with an open mind and asked questions, listened to the high voices, listened to the low voices. Kept my senses open to “hear� what life calls me to do and did it. Meeting with the new board member, design studios and asking every being about what zen is to them and what’s inviting about it. 9
Visual: www#1 http://www.strategies-for-managing-change.com/support-files/theoryu5movements.pdf
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2. Co-sensing: (go to the places of most potential and listen with your mind) This is the stage where I was “on the move”. I was away for 2 weeks visting the places of potential. I was in Copenhagen for three days where I had the chance to meet with my guidance person Per Krull, Lakha Lama’s wife Pia Kryger Lakha, boys from kadaver. Then a combination of bus-ferry-bus brought me to the Denmark’s far eastern point Neksø. I stayed with a friend and joined the reception held by the Head Monk at her new organic restaurant. From there I moved into the Egely Monastery and stayed there for 5 more days before I got a ride back with danish television (DR) all the way back to Aarhus. This last bit was a big surprise as it was unexpected for me to see DR (and actually one of my good friends in Aarhus) interviewing Denko Roshi for a TV documentary. So it was a place of potential. 3. Co-presencing: (retreat and reflect, allow the inner knowing to emerge) This stage consist of the 3-4 days where I come back and touch base in Aarhus to gather my thoughts, process data and simply wait for the new board to meet. 4. Co-creating: (prototype a microcosm of the new in order to explore the future by doing) I listened to the call of the low voices which said: “A strong local group is the base for a strong society” That fit right into the plan so I could prototype by having a local meeting with the Aarhus branch and prepare better for the coming general assembly (and in the absence of that this was my back up plan that I at least achieved that). This was prototyping on the organizational level. The other prototyping was starting some activities to communicate the message outwards. I didn’t put much attention to this, as my focus was the organization but it proved to be something that attracted people. I invited people on Facebook to come and meditate at a beach in Århus. This was a success as I wasn’t the only one standing alone 8 am in the Easter Sunday on the beach. 14
5. Co-evolving: (grow innovation ecosystems by seeing and acting from the emerging whole) I don’t know about growing innovation ecosystems but seeing and acting from the emerging whole was certainly what I was doing at that stage. This stage includes sending invitations to all the email lists as a respond to what I thought was needed in the organization and the execution days (30th april & 1 may) where I was so much in line and in the now. (see also timeline on page 18, where the RED numbers and lines represent the 5 stages) My wish to develop and try out my decision making skills through intuition led me to many different corners of my self-understanding and re-examination of my values. As I tried to stay in the “now” I have explored a whole new way of seeing the things around me and a way to respond without judgement, preoccupied concepts and with open heart, mind and will. I held the mindset of “being in service” for what wants to emerge here and now in every encounter. I used my social skills to build trust and non-violent communication and feed-backing to maintain it. I chose the persons I interview thoughtfully but also let them chose me if time allowing. I practiced on my powerful questions and presencing. Giving time enough for the interviewee to tell what is important for them. I kept my actions humble but sharp; my dialogues short but precise and my observations clear and honest. Networking has also been a very important aspect for the whole process to move forward. Much depended on my network and networking skills. There was no budget for the assignment and deliverables were very loosely defined. Anne Riechert, a former KaosPilot and a natural networker, defines a networker as being “a natural connector of people and ideas”. A networker needs social competence (I have), inner balance (I came a 15
long way with) and self leadership. Social competence, inner balance with and self leadership (I am still working on it). 5. Project Phases The main phases in my project can be outlined as:
Preject Part 1 At first it was extremely fun to play with ideas for how to fundraise or arrange events for a Zen monastery. During the first design studio sessions with my team I explored the ways to raise money or create attention around the monastery together with Team 15 and exchanged ideas. A Design Studio is a way of giving each other opportunity to formulate what each one is working with and then giving fast 16
feedback. This typically is done in the groups of 8-10 giving the individual 7-10 minutes to gather feedback and inspiration. (The questions and the answers I gathered on these sessions can be seen in the Appendix 1) Preject Part 2 Later in the process I agreed with my guidance person Per Krull that since I was working in a spiritual field, “fundraising” could also include “positive energy” or “manual work hours” or finding ways for them to earn money on the side which Per called “earned income” After some time it I realized, especially after 2 board members chose to step down, that there was a more urgent need to actually strengthen the organization and the local branches than there was a need to fundraise to build the Monastery. Needs Analysis All these happening in the background made my efforts to find creative fundraising project ideas look a little misplaced or untimely. This led me to think my project goals again so I went back to analyzing the need again. That meant more listening, more analyzing and more being. Later came the Abbot’s announcement (confirming my assumptions) expressing his wish to "to retire from his organizational role and do his work as a Zen-teacher" which meant that the users/pupils/sangha needed to take over the managing and development of the organization. Goal setting I decided I wanted to strengthen the bonds between local branches in order to strengthen the organization as a whole. So I went with this emerging “theme” and explored it. I invited everyone who has been in contact with the Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Bornholm branches to a Kaos-friendly General Assembly. I sent around 85 invitations where I told shortly about my assignment, my findings, changes in 17
the organization and invited everybody to an informal assembly with the theme: “New visions for and reorganization of RZBS” Planning There were couple of things I needed to consider when I came into the planning phase. Some things were already decided but I still had to make the whole program for the weekend I wanted to invite Denko to before I could send invitations. First of all I had to make sure that Denko was still interested in coming to Aarhus even though the board decided not to have an extraordinary assembly. It took a brief phone call to confirm. With that one settled I proceeded with the other arrangements around it. I somehow had to raise some money to pay for Denko’s travel expenses and for his stay. Activities also needed to fit the occasion and the audience monastery wanted to attract. Results from the online survey showed that 70% of the people connected to Aarhus branch wished to have more retreats together with Denko and again 50% wished to join Dharma talks with him. To play safe I went for a combination and planned a 1 day introduction course including meditation and a Dharma talk. Book reception in the evening was also settled so I arranged loosely the afternoon kind of a break activity I called “Ask a zenmaster”. I wanted people to post questions on Facebook which later to be answered by Denko and broadcasted live on internet. This turned out to be giving experience for those who joined and an enjoyable one for Denko as I invited a priest friend of mine to interview him. Denko and Mugen mentioned this in their written feedback as being genius. I kept the sunday open for the Kaos-friendly General Assembly and social time. Execution I was quite curious how it wold work to have a one day “retreat” as I haven’t seen that done before. Up till now the retreats have been either 3 or 7 days and Dharma talks just an hour and a half without 18
meditation. It worked pretty well and everybody was happy. I walked Denko through the activities as an assistant and he seemed to enjoy the activities and having a good time with the new people he met. The general assembly was also a success. This being a so-called “informal� assembly meant I could invite just about anyone to join the conversation an help with redesigning the organizational structure. So it was open for both the new members, the old members and the ones who are thinking of joining.
Introduction to Zen
Ask a Zenmaster
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Book reception
MARCH 2011
1st: Tlf guidance with Per Krull
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7th: Final Project starts
12th: RZBS board meeting on Bornholm
25th: I sent an Online Survey to the local mailing list
9th: Meeting with new board member from Aarhus
13th: 2 board members resign
7th-8th: Sales and pricing with Emma Troedson
16th: I hear about 2 board members resigning
11th: Design Studio at KP
18th: Design Studio at KP
28th: I arrive in CPH 29th: Guidance w/Per Krull 30th: I visit kadaver 30th: I arrive in Neksø/ Bornholm 31st: Gaia Diner reception (Head Monkʼs new project) 31st: I sent invitation to Aarhus Branch for Vision meeting on 13th april
12th: New board meets on chat and decides there is no reason for extraordinary assembly of RZBS + Denko articulates his wish to step down as a board member ---------CRACK!-------------6 members of Aarhus Branch gets a mail about the breaking news.
18th: Tlf. guidance w/ Per Krull
2 APRIL 2011
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2nd: Arrive at Egely Monastery + Meeting with Abbot and HeadMonk 2nd-8th: Time in monastery=interviews, manual work and assignment 7th: DR (Danish TV) arrives 8th: Buddhas Birthday ceremony= DR records the ceremony and interview with Denko. 9th: Iʼm back in Aarhus
20th: Program and invitations are sent to the mailing lists (approx. 85 invitations) 23rd: Meeting with the very first Aarhus représentant 24th: Prototyping “off-road meditation” - Easter Sunday
13th: The core group of 7 in Aarhus Branch meets up for a Vision Meeting 14th: Tlf interview w/ Odense représentant 15th: Tlf interview w/ Copenhagen représentant
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29th: Denko Roshi arrives in Aarhus 30th: The big ZEN-day with 3 activities -Zen intro course, -Ask a zenmaster(interview) -Book reception (Mumonkan) MAJ 1st: Kaos-friendly General Assembly with représentants from Bornholm, Odense, Aarhus, Ry.
11th: New local planning meeting in Aarhus
PS: for the explanation on the RED lines and numbers please refer to page 13
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6. Highlights Interviews with the new and old board members The weekend after i started working on the project RZBS has scheduled a board meeting. I saw this as an opportunity to get more feeling on what the focus of the assignment could be. So I arranged a meeting with the Aarhus representative couple of days before the board meeting and presented what I had and what I had in mind. She seemed very excited about the project and told I was the right one to do it, whatever “it� might be. I also had telephone interviews with Copenhagen representative, Odense representative and had a little chat with the board member from Bornholm. I also had a chance to interview the old Copenhagen representative and the founder member of the Aarhus branch. Online Survey (25/3/2011) I wanted to gather data about the users, including people who occasionally join weekly meditations and retreats, and with that purpose got the mailing list of the Aarhus branch. The list consisted of 60 emails of people who sometime between summer 2007 and spring 2011 had been in contact with the Aarhus Branch. It was a large and undefinable group. I therefore chose to use an online survey because of the size of the group (Check out surveymonkey.com). Geography was also a factor as there was no way of knowing where they lived. I sent a link to Copenhagen branch also through their homepage. Later statistics showed 17 from Aarhus area and none from the Copenhagen area answered. The Aarhus branch meets once a week and the core group consist of 6 people and at the moment the only functioning branch. Here are some examples on the questions from the online survey: -How and where did you find info about Zen and the local branch? 21
-How long have you been meditating? -How much are you satisfied with the level of local zen activity? Their answers helped me to get a better picture of what kind of people are attracted to Zen and their engagement level. But it was also a way to make them aware of these questions and letting them influence the further process. This is called Action Researching. “Action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. Action research is done simply by action, hence the name.� (Wikipedia) And since Zen deals only with the present it proved to be the best way to do my research by asking questions, being curious and authentic. In that way making the individuals I had contact with reflecting upon the issues they are in and the organization dealing with. Not only through interviews and electronic media but in every encounter. Meeting with Abbot Denko and Head-Monk Mugen (2/4/2011) In the first couple of email exchanges the Head Monk Mugen formulated the areas they suggested for me to work within the organization could be : Visibility/marketing, Fundraising and Engagement. As I explored these areas more and more it became clear to me that both the visibility and fundraising seemed less important at that stage, because it seemed to me that the new members were not engaging enough and the engaged members were disappearing or at least not wanting to be on the board. In just three weeks of time two board members resigned and this resulted in one of the small branches closing down and the other one was asked to assign a new board member pretty soon. The communication 22
between the two big branches was non-existing and especially the Copenhagen Branch seemed like a closed group and was more or less unreachable and invisible. New board meeting and Local Vision meeting: (12 and 13/4/2011) After a week at the monastery I came back to Aarhus and started waiting for the new board to meet where they would discuss the new developments in the organization and would also decide if there is a need to call members in for an Extraordinary General Assembly. On 12th april the new board had a chat meeting with the representatives from Copenhagen, Bornholm, Aarhus and decided that an extraordinary gathering was not needed to change the organizational structure of RZBS. That was good enough for the organization but it left me almost empty handed to do something I can call a project. so I went for an unconventional way of doing it and decided to call all the members in for the biggest gathering RZBS anyway and I didn’t have much time to do so. Off course it would have been easier if it was a board decision behind it but that wasn’t the case. I called the Abbot to ask if he still would be coming to Aarhus for the book reception I arranged the last weekend in april. I also wanted to arrange other side activities that could pay for his journey and raise some awareness around buddhism. I would take the chance and call everybody in for the big assembly. If no one shows up....well I’d have to deal with that but I would make sure to do everything in my power to invite, follow up, call and ask people to be there on sunday the 1st may. I was also kind of hoping that the activities I wanted to arrange the day before could attract some more people so that they could get some more value for their effort to travel all the way to Aarhus.
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Sending the invitations for Kaos-friendly General Assembly (20/4/2011) It took me 4-5 days to think through the best possible program for the weekend and I also bounced the ideas and the time plan with couple of the local branch members. On 20th I was ready to send the invitations out to 85 emails to people who some time in the past had been in contact with one of the branches. Most of them whom I’ve never met so I also included a short introduction of myself, the project but also presented some of my findings and my honest interpretation of these to give the bigger picture of what was happening with the organization. The time was scarce but I crossed my fingers, made a humble gassho* towards the little buddha statue that was watching me and pressed the SEND button.
(gassho)
And I started waiting... The big ZEN day and Kaos-friendly General Assembly (30/4 - 1/5/2011) Saturday the 30th april was the big Zen day in Aarhus. The program was packed from 6.30 to 19.15 and I was amazed how Abbot Denko was still fresh after all that and knowing the next day we’d start at same time same place. The activities included an Introduction to Zen meditation and Dharma talk (6.30-12.30), Ask a Zenmaster: An exclusive interview with Denko streamed live on internet (14.00-15.15) and last but not least a Book reception and free lecture in one of the popular book-cafés in Aarhus (17.00-19.00). We 24
both managed to get through the day with some help from the local branch members and everything went smoothly. 7. Results In this chapter I will present the concrete results I have created during the project period with the headlines taken from the first mail I got from the Head Monk in the beginning of the period: Visibility: 4000 free postcards and more to come Using my network I have designed, printed and distributed 4000 postcards for free 2500 in Aalborg and 1500 in Aarhus. Next month possibly also in Copenhagen. The postcard is designed by RuthCroneFoster and printed/distributed by Kulturguiden/K-kort. In the back ground it says “Just Do Nothing sometimes” and on the back it refers to Zazen as sitting meditation and to Egely Monastery’s homepage. (see Appendix 2)
Creating awareness on the internet : •Facebook.com : Made a Religious Society profile for the monastery (33 likes) and started a Cause under the name “Help Build Zen Monastery” (11 supporters). I have also created events for all 3 of the events on 30/4 and invited people to join. I also used Facebook ads to advertise for the events. (see screenshots on the next page) 25
Facebook/Bambuser
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AltOmAarhus (aoa.dk) + youtube.com
•Bambuser.com: I have created a live broadcasting profile for the Monastery and live broadcasted the
activity “Ask a Zenmaster” on 30th april 14.00-15.00. This broadcast had been seen live by 9 users and still available online and have gotten 163 hits and counting. •YouTube.com: I created a youtube profile (in matching colors with their homepage) and gathered the videos about Denko Roshi and the monastery under their profile. Furthermore I also made and published a video through my own youtube channel to get more attention to zen meditation. This is a video where I recorded myself meditating outside for 7 minutes without moving, talking or thinking. •AltOmAarhus (aoa.dk): I also used other platforms to create awareness on the zen events to reach even more local poeple. Off-road meditation prototype Made an outdoor meditation session together with 4 other people who met up on Easter Sunday and we decided to continue meeting once a month during the summer. Next time is the 29/5. Sensing the Easter Sun Dance
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Fundraising: Money-wise the events I have arranged didn’t bring great amounts. But as we all know “Money isn’t everything!” and this is especially true for a religious society. During my guidance with Per Krull and with Peter Busch we have agreed that the “fundraising” could -in my case- also include “positive energy” and with that in mind I made a budget that would cover all the expenses for all the activities and Denko Roshi’s travel expenses and maybe a little more. (see the budget on page 30) Engagement: The activities I arranged created more engagement in the Aarhus branch as they all helped as much as they can either by joining the events and/or helping with the practicalities. And on the sunday’s big gathering all local branches were represented (all except Copenhagen). Meeting each other, clarifying matters and finding a new common ground gave more positive energy and engagement in the local branches of the organization as well as in the whole.
Aarhus branch had another local meeting to follow up and talk more about concrete plans for the next half a year. A more open and transparent era for the RZBS has begun as roles become clearer, the “air” become cleaner and a promising better communication and collaboration between the existing branches has been initiated. But there is still work to be done and it looks like the local branches are up to the task.
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8. Next Coming up next, there are announced activities on Monastery’s calender including an Open Monastery period between 1st and 11th july where it is planned to build a kitchen and showering facilities so the monastery can function as a separate unit after the summer. Aarhus branch is looking into having more focus on activities in Jutland and investigating the possibilities to arrange a 7 day retreat after summer holiday or during fall.
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screenhot from RZBSʼs homepage announcing the Annual Budgets from 2008 and 2009 are now available, 4/5/2011
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9. Budget Activity Introduction to Zen (11 participants)
Income 2420
Breakfast Booksale (4 books)
Expenses
295 660
Rent for location
800
Denko Roshi train ticket
1100
Denko Roshi other expenses
380
Nuts for the reception
115
Donations (approximately)
600
Facebook announcements
135
T-shirt print and other
400
TOTAL
3680
BALANCE
+455
30
3225
Challenges on the way “90% of all communication is energy”11 But too much of non-verbal communication is also quite stressful. I was aware of this could be a challenge for me. But I went with the Zen-thing because I knew whatever comes out of it would make me more grounded in my own values and force me to find the place inside where I ought to be functioning from all the time and not just once in a while. Another concern of mine was making a project for my spiritual teacher. Luckily there was someone in my network who tried a similar project. Carl Damm and I had a long walk and talk about his experiences and how he dealt with it. It was good to have a pair of ears to hear what I was going through and just say the words: “That can be tough..” and that made a lot of difference on the rest of the process and on my approach.
“Body seeks comfort. Mind seeks answers. In the absence of these learning happens.” 12
11
RainbowHawk, Native American teacher, in a ceremony 2010
12
Robert Fortunado, Lecture at KP 2009
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Learnings The project gave me the opportunity to work on my leadership and decision making skills as I was the main decision maker in all phases. And from time to time the learning was just letting go. Letting go of my own agenda, letting go of my ideas of perfection and letting go of me wanting to make a spectacular project I -and Christer- would be proud of. Learning to appreciate the normal/daily/moderate project and just creating value for the few that has chosen to be there and having fun. “Everything that isn't essential must go!� 13
13
Brian Arthur, Theory U, p.184
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THE FOUR KAOSPPILOT DISCIPLINES The fantastic four disciplines of KaosPilots: I. Project Design II. Process Design III. Business Design IV. Leadership Design My assignment is mainly based upon the two disciplines of the KaosPilots which are Leadership and Process Design. Project and Business Design haven’t been in focus just as much. On the other hand I see Leadership to be an umbrella discipline because it is related to all other disciplines. In my dictionary Project Leadership, Process Leadership and Entrepreneurship are all but aspects of Leadership. My 5 Signature Strenghts 14 1. Creativity, ingenuity and originality 2. Appreciation of beauty and excellence 3. Judgement, critical thinking and open-mindedness 4. Fairness, equity and justice 5. Humor and playfulness These are my “given” signature strengths according to the test I took 2 years ago. I think they are still valid. They say a lot about how I function and relate to my surroundings. I see also the following as my competencies inside any social structure:
14
according to Belbin Model as introduced by Anders Myszak during Positive Psycology lecture, 2009
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Gaining trust, networking, authenticity, humor, friendly wisdom, trusting the process, intuition, non violent communication and honesty
Visual: source Uffe ElbĂŚks notes on http://wiki.homebase.dk
Project Design: Project leadership is one of the main disciplines of KaosPilots. In the beginning I started mapping out the different aspects by using Dee Hock model, mind mapping and brainstorming to find out which other areas i can connect the zen feeling with. This I have done mostly thinking how to arrange fundraising events for the monastery and how to attract non zen people to the event. Other ideas were about finding where zen qualities could make a difference. Like in jails, with ADHD kids and training entrepreneurs in creativity or beginners mind. I also started thinking about what channels could be appropriate to reach the target group. I considered one time events that could bring awareness and funds but I also thought about ongoing events like spiritual storytelling evenings. From the online survey I made, I found out that 47% of the people who answered found the information about zen and the monastery online. As the communication with the monastery was scarce the project was mostly formed in my head and the meeting I had with the board member before she resigned didn’t give any more answers, so I saw the need for me to physically have a meeting with the abbot and the head monk. I arranged a meeting with them on saturday april the 2nd. I arrived couple of days before to join another 34
event arranged by the head monk and on saturday we had a long meeting where they were both very present and collaborative. We went through business model canvas, action plan, and five bold steps after that I presented my findings from the online survey and we discussed different fundraising possibilities. One of the ideas both me and the head monk were excited about was making funny t-shirts. She was also quite keen on using YouTube (youtube.com) to create awareness about buddhism and the monastery. We had an interesting dialog over business model canvas which we partly filled out together. It was amazing to see how sharp and precise they went through the canvas, and also amusing in many ways how it differed from a typical start up business. Just to name a couple, their value proposition was “final and absolute peace of mind” and they seamed to agree when we were talking about the channels that they wanted to be visible/invisible meaning they wanted information to spread out but with a filter. I also had the Dee Hock model with me but that didn’t seem to fit the situation then instead it was more compelling for them to state a vision. And this was: “A functioning monastery in 5 years” And the bold steps towards this would be: 1.A general assembly 2.Organizational changes and positive energy 3.10 days in july for help building monastery 4.New courses and retreats 5.Monks in residence Visual: source grove.com
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I stayed at the monastery for a week doing manual work in the morning and working on the assignment in the afternoon. I was also hoping that once in a while I could bounce off some ideas with the Abbot, but that hasn’t been the case. Agenda for a day in the monastery was more or less planned and there was no time set for a new meeting. I started looking at dates and different activities and started playing with the idea of an extraordinary assembly for the zen buddhistic society. This and a book reception for the Abbots new book sounded good and I got positive feedback from the Head Monk too.
Egely Monastery
The temple room
Future Dharma Hall
I started making phone calls to the different branches to clear some dates and started looking into what tools could be useful in an extraordinary assembly and what questions they needed to look at. But the Abbot could not call the extraordinary assembly before talking with the board. New board members had to be found in Aarhus branch and I would get the answer after I got back to Aarhus, 36
So meanwhile I invited the Aarhus branch for a Vision meeting so I could prototype/prepare for the bigger assembly. This was very meaningful and strategic as Aarhus branch is the strongest branch and probably the only functioning one. Because Odense branch was closed and Copenhagen branch was about to split. All core members of the Aarhus branch showed up for the Aarhus branch vision meeting. I facilitated the meeting where they came up with a bunch of questions. These questions were in three different categories : 1. Questions for the monastery, 2. Questions for the assembly 3. Questions they need to answer locally. After that we went trough the Game Plan (as shown on the Visual, a template from grove.com). They agreed a local vision which was : “A strong and friendly local branch� Afterwards they decided on local strategies. Just to name a couple: 1.More arrangements with Deno 2.More members 3.More visibility in local media
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Shortly after this meeting came the decision of the board about an extraordinary assembly was not necessary and the Abbot wanted to step down from the board and become a supervisor. Theory and Methodology: Dynamic Project Management, Theory U, Project paradox Tools used: Chaordic stepping stones by Dee Hock, Game Plan from Grove Templates, Five bold steps, Business Model Canvas, Action Research, Love and compassion, Interventions, Networking, Asking for help, Telling good stories, Diamond of selling, Mindmapping, Silent brainstorming, Stakeholders analysis, Needs analysis, Survey and Harvesting. Risk taken: The greatest risk off course was the decision to shift direction almost halfway into the project period to respond to the changing needs in the organization. I could have easily chosen to stick with the straight forward marketing ideas, raised some funds to build the monastery, but it would then only be a beautiful shell with nothing inside. Instead I chose to strengthen the bonds between the people who already was doing things but didn’t really collaborate. By giving them the chance to meet in person and find a common ground. And I’m glad they took the chance even though the timing was pretty tight.
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Process Design: “The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor.” - William O’Brien, former CEO of the Hanover Insurance Company Believe me when I say the whole thing has been a process, we all know a process never begins and never ends. I have merely made a small intervention in the system using the 5 phases of the Theory U that guided me through the zen landscape and inspired the next step. I was quite cautious when and how I entered the system and how I “sensed” my way forward. The fact that I am a member of the Aarhus branch didn’t seem to have the negative effect as I had thought instead I used this knowledge to create trust and also confirmed a couple of times that it was necessary what (ever) I was doing and I was the right one to do it. I entered the system with action research which I found very suitable. Partly because of the loose structure of the organization and also as a result of my observations on how and how much they communicate/socialize. Normally local branches would arrange meditation weekends for people who already have experience. After this semi-closed arrangement usually on a sunday Denko would give a free introduction to Zen Buddhism (which last couple of times very loosely arranged by me at KP) before he would return to the monastery. Participation from the other branches are welcome but this is usually not coordinated or communicated extensively. Especially the Copenhagen branch was known as the “invisible branch” because they would keep their activities for themselves without announcing them on their homepage or communicating to other branches through other channels. Aarhus and Odense branch has an OK communication flow. Knowing this made me think in ways to raise the communication level between branches and the monastery. I thought about how I could help the intern communication in the organization to function better. One of the aspects I saw in the organization that these people never really met each other other than in weekly 39
meditations, meditation weekends and 3-7 day retreats. These are activities that involve only minimum social activity or unplanned chatter, if any at all. That is why calling everybody in for a Kaos-friendly General Assembly seemd like a good idea even for only having them to meet each other in an informal setting. After listening to the audio book Tribal leadership by Dave Logan I was highly inspired by his definition of 5 different stages a tribe can be in. His definition of a tribe is that being 20 members and having a way to communicate thats all. Everything less than 20 is a team. I started thinking about what stage the Zen tribe was in. Since there were 20 paying members of the society they could be defined as a tribe. Avery loosely connected tribe scattered all over Denmark. Mostly functioning as separate teams in different locations. I decided to explore the question: How can the zen buddhistic society learn to function as a tribe? And do they want to? My core plan (or the desired outcome) for the assembly on may the 1st was letting them meet each other to figure out these questions: Why are we here? What is important to talk about? How do we re-organize to meet the new demands and needs? Through which channel are we going to communicate?
Theory and Methodology: Design thinking, Finding patterns, meta-perspective, Different communication channels, Language awareness, 40
Tools used: Authenticity, open mind-heart-will, Love, Interventions, Honest feedback, Mirroring, Deep listening, 2nd degree cybernetics, inspiration from Dynamic facilitation(what’s important to talk about? & offloading), Positive psycology, Being lazy/curious&stupid, Asking questions, Facilitating transparency, Chaordic stepping stones, Working hypothesis, Research, Needs analysis Mindsets: Order not control, Being in service of what wants to emerge, Being in the now with no agendas Major turning point: The major turning point during the process was on 12th april right after the new board’s chat meeting. The point where it says -CRACK!- (page 18) Where Denko in a message reflects upon the has beens of the monastery and expresses his wish to step down from the board to put more time and energy into being a zen-teacher. This message which came the day before the Vision Meeting in Aarhus branch and stirred quite a bit in the organizational soup and probably caused a little panic too.
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Leadership Design: Here is the very heart of the matter. If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself – ethics, character, principles purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers. Use the remainder to induce those you ”work for” to understand and practice the theory. Lead yourself, lead your superiors, lead your peers, and free your people to do the same. - Dee Hock As I mentioned before leadership has been one of my main focus areas throughout the assignment. The more I dug into the books like Working with emotional intelligence, Blink and How we decide, the more I wanted to learn how to develop my intuition. In Zen training the monks work on their awareness more than anything else. When we open our senses and are totally aware of what’s present here and now the acting part becomes only a choice. We know clearly what we should do but sometimes we just chose not to. I have used value based leadership and explored the intuitive leadership. I sought clarity and anchorage of my deeper values in the decisions I made. I used my KaosPilot skills to act as a change agent inside the organization by locating the major influential individuals and asked them the powerful questions to make them reflect upon what could be done in the organization and also bounced some ideas with them. I also shared my findings and new inspirations with them. Which led to more enthusiasm and engagement. Authentic is a “being” thing. You have to “be” it! - Robert Fortunado
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Theory and Methodology: Working with emotional intelligence, Blink, Tribal Leadership, Theory U, Authentic Leadership Tools and Mindsets used: Meditation, Deep listening, Intuition, Presencing Major turning point: The major turning point in leadership discipline was the 20th april, where I sent the invitations to all emails for the Kaos-friendly General Assembly. This has two main reasons: The one is I wrote a half page introduction about myself, what I was doing, how did the project start, where it was now and briefly what was happening with the organization. The second was my focus shifted from having the Monastery as my client to having the RZBS (the society/users) as my client and still keeping the mindset “ being in service” of what wants to emerge.
Don’t just do something. Sit there! - Osho
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Business Design: The way we see the world is the way the world becomes - Anonymous clever lecturer To begin with it sounded like an impossible combination: zen and business. I tried to map out ways that would bring a steady income to the monastery. I researched in both directions as I defined with zen in business or business in zen. The first one was turned down by the abbot because he only wished to “teach” dharma and suggested that I could do that when I had learned enough about zen. The second direction sounded just as absurd because of the organization’s spiritual nature. Just when I was feeling lost my guidance person Per Krull came up with the term “earned income” and how relieving that was. It opened up a whole new dimension and possibilities. I was feeling restricted by my own thoughts about what is possible to earn money on/fundraise and got even more frustrated when I had to clear my ideas with the monastery. There and then I decided to take the matters in my own hands and thought of ways to support the monastery by doing my own thing. That way I didn’t have to clear everything with them and since I would stand for everything it would reduce the danger of me damaging their image as a religious society. I started prototyping the kind of activities I thought were fun and would create awareness about buddhism and/or meditation. This is also how the idea of printing on second hand t-shirts came about. Everybody who knows me well knows that I had a thing for t-shirts for a long time and almost started a t-shirt printing company in Shanghai. It was a perfect combination of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. As a former comic strip creator I have a vast network of visual artists which I intend to make use of to gather unique designs to beautify second hand t-shirts and give half of the revenue to the monastery. 44
It is still in the development phase but the plan is this: 1. I’ll buy second hand t-shirts 2. Artists will donate their design to beautify the t-shirts 3. I’ll sell them and give half of the revenue to the monastery This will raise the sale of second hand clothing, provide income to the monastery (and to me) and last but not least it will create awarenes about buddhism because of people wearing t-shirts with buddhistic prints on them. With a little luck I intend to start a modest movement. Just do nothing sometimes.
Theory and Methodology: Idea development, Prototyping, Earned income Tools used: Brainstorming, Networking Major risk taken: As the project shifted focus a month after I started, the business part did not get the same attention an leadership and process design. I had some ideas but some of these were either turned down by the monastery or by me. This is where the “tshirt-tyrk” idea came about. It was a perfect match to what I wanted to do and how I can support the monastery at the same time without being have to clear everything with the monastery.
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Print prototypes
New design
The homepage
A SHORT ZEN STORY: IS THAT SO? A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter's accusation, he simply replied "Is that so?" When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. "Is that so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child. For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. "Is that so?" Hakuin said as he handed them the child.
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EVALUATION Feedback from the Denko Roshi and Mugen The general feedback from the Monastery was positive even though some of my actions were not always in line with the buddhistic ways, my arguments for acting so was acceptable. They also point out that the “General Assembly” was orderly, constructive and well facilitated. Project results as it is now are satisfactory and the longer term results are are to come as there has been created new dynamics in the organization. Own reflections and learning My reflections right after the RZBS Kaos-friendly Assembly was this: My impression and experience with the organization as it is was that there was no real communication between the different branches. Aarhus Branch had been the strongest and most committed. Copenhagen Branch had always been the “invisible” branch and functioned as a private, separate and closed group rather than a “zendo”. Odense branch is the smallest but the ones that are engaged had been solid enough to carry on but left the boards in the middle of march. Some of the famous descriptions of Zen Buddhism include verses “A special transmission outside the scriptures”and “Not depending upon words and letters” That might give an idea on how the communication with the client had been throughout the project period. The distance was certainly also a challenge but I was also challenged by my own perception of the reality. I had a hard time just to call the Abbot on the phone to clarify the assignment. The lack of extensive communication with words throughout the process was both a challenge and a good opportunity for training my intuition and understanding wordless signals.
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CONCLUSION Drawing a Zen Circle ends here... Circle (or Ensō) is one of the most common subjects of Japanese calligraphy. It symbolizes the absolute, enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and the void. In Zen Buddhist painting, ensō symbolizes a moment when the mind is free to simply let the body/spirit create. Usually done in one movement and there is no possibility of modification: it shows the expressive movement of the spirit at that time. Zen Buddhists "believe that the character of the artist is fully exposed in how she or he draws an ensō. Only a person who is mentally and spiritually complete can draw a true ensō. Some artists practice drawing an ensō daily, as a kind of spiritual exercise. (Wikipedia) The picture to the left shows a circle I drew in the very beginning of my project. During the project i used my knowledge, experience and theory in a way that will allow me to perform on the edge of my capacities. I pushed boundaries inwards and outwards explored how it is and what is possible when I am being in the now with an open mind, heart and will. Letting go of the past and leading from the future as it emerges. There is a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.15 The books an theories could only take me so far where I try and grasp the possibilities (and responsibilities) that lies in the Now-ness.
15
Morpheus in “The Matrix”
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The overall conclusion is that it was an experience that will form what I do or don’t after KaosPilots. I feel I have gotten some new valuable insight in what I want to do and how I want to do it. I am looking forward to go out in the world and being myself with my new skills. The combination of the 3 years KaosPilot education and the Zen Final Project is a good ending and for one circle and a new beginning of a new one.. I have merely created a positive movement in the organization and only time will tell how big effect it will cause in the future, but at least the direction is right. How do I know? because it feels right. For the zen of it all.. 19/5/2011 Aarhus Cßneyt Pala
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KEY BOOKS • Theory U : Theory U is about illuminating our blind spot where we make our decisions from. Otto Scharmer with this book attempts to adopt an almost spiritual approach to organizations and leadership. He describes the U process in different levels and settings. The aim of the U process is to help groups or individuals (leaders) to open their mind/heart/will and act in an instant. Let go of the past experiences and lead from the future as it emerges. • Tribal Leadership: This is a very inspirational book that suggests if the groups of 20-150 people learn how the tribes communicate they could eventually create great cultures and bring forward new leaders and a new leadership style. It explains the 5 stages a tribe can be in and how to move your tribe from one stage to another. • Working with Emotional Intelligence: Goleman predicts that new rules are occurring in the business world and that we’ve been judged by new criteria than before. He suggests we are being evaluated by our personal qualities and not with how much we know. Abilities like initiative, empathy, adaptability and persuasiveness becoming much more important. • The Fifth Discipline: Senge suggests the way we are educated has an effect on our understanding of the world. We learn to break apart problems and learn to think in parts and small pieces but we fail to see the big picture. World is not created by separate unrelated forces. This is crucial to understand as he calls the learning organization. The book builds upon a case study called the Lovers Beer and explains the effects of people’s best intentions and how this can effect the delivery chain negatively. • Leadership and the new science: In her groundbreaking book Wheatley explains how the Newtonian organizations struggle in a quantum age. She connects beautifully how we see and understand the organizations and the new eyes of the new science. Talk also about the participative nature of the universe and includes lovely pictures of fractals too.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary books • Scharmer, Claus Otto. Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges : the Social Technology of Presencing. Cambridge, MA: Society for Organizational Learning, 2009. Print. • Logan, David, John Paul King, and Halee Fischer-Wright. Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization. New York: Collins, 2008. Audio. • Goleman, Daniel. Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam, 2006. Audio. • Senge, Peter M.; The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency, 2006. Audio. • Wheatley, Margaret J; Leadership and the new science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World. BerrettKoehler Publishers, 2006.Print
Secondary books • Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown and, 2005. Print. • Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004. Print. • Lehrer, Jonah. How We Decide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print 51
• Enji, Torei; The undying lamp of Zen : The testament if zenmaster Torei. (Translated by Thomas Cleary). Schambala Books,2010. Print. • Ekai, Mumon; ; Mumonkan: Mumons Kontrolsted. (oversat og red. af Mortensen, Denko John). Lulu Press, London, 2011
Articles: • Design thinking and How It Will Change Management Education: An Interview and Discussion - By David Dunne and Roger Martin. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2006, Vol. 5, No. 4, 512–523 • Dynamic Project Management in a Changing World - By Bjarne Stark, LearningConsultant • The Narrative Lens and Organizational Change, Nick Nissely and Stedman Graham: Isuues & Observations, Volume 28, number 6. january/february 2009
Webpages: Theory U ansd presencing. http://www.presencing.com/ Tribal Leadership: http://www.triballeadership.net On design thinking and decision making: gagliardiassociati.com Visual meetings and templates: grove.com 52
Slides: Theory U - Lecture - Dorte Rejkjær, 2009 Interventions - Kis Jakobsen, 2009 Introduction To Nonviolent Communication - Gitte Kjær-Westermann Nonviolent Communication - Gitte Kjær-Westermann Day 1 Systemic Process Consulting - Ouafa Rien Day 2 Systemic Process Consulting - Ouafa Rien Day 3 Systemic Process Consulting - Ouafa Rien Networking presentation - Anne Riechert
PDFs: Models interlinked.pdf, Peter Busch Exemplified_Use_of_DeeHockProjectModel.pdf
Audio TheoryU_IntroTUP_Session1.mp3 Zencast 53
APPENDIX 1: Questions and answers from Design Studios: 1)What is ZEN for you? 2)Describe a time when you experienced the ZEN state? 3)ZEN+? What is ZEN for you? -peace of mind -higher level of awareness -a nice word to pronounce -presence in the no and eternity -buddhism and meditation that can’t be a business idea -inner understanding -mind like water -a way of life / serenity -grounding -peace -decision making -focusing on the goal and not how to get there. by focusing you are already there -being in touch with yourself & the other world 54
-being as opposed to doing -arrow and bow , munk -a kind of buddhism ! – buddhism is a philosophy of life -calm & ready -calmness -presence Describe a time when you experienced the ZEN state? -in a lucid dream -meditation -nature -allowing myself to NOT do and perform -during yoga -after a time of doing very little -when accepting my physical limitations -never…but i like cooking and dancing and listening to music -when dancing -choosing to go with my gut feeling -with cüneyt , got a book also “the road to zen” from J, have not read it yet -it happens from time to time. i feel hold, in touch with the universe. i remember that once it happened while sitting on the toilet -on a beach -while meditating -on a train 55
-alignment of head-heart-gut -in water ZEN plus what? (what can be combined with Zen?) -raw food -sailing -parkour -midwife’s knowledge about natural child birth -fitness -coaching -graphic facilitation -traveling -art of hosting -education/learning -entertainment -smells/aromas -education -business -community work -municipalities -school education -> offer it to students before or after school or in the breaks (same goes for companies) -almost everything -interesting combination with fast moving businesses -sex, graffiti, cheese, hot dogs, sandwiches, paint, bananas, fashion, art vegetables, hats 56
-zen+ emma’s ceremony of meeting people for real! -drugs -zen+kids in playcamps -cooking -grief support -retirement -if you offer meditation courses to employees of companies, offer it in-house(at their place) and make sure it’s voluntary -poker, dancing, terrorism, climate change -zen+ big city life -corporate training
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APPENDIX 2: The postcard
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