Complexity Shock, Finding Patterns, and Adapting

Natalie MuyresArticles, Updates

by Laura Kennett and Eleanor Finger Introduction What a year! Full of disruption and adaptation, over and over again. If this sounds like a pattern, then you are correct. Although life is full of patterns, the emergence of COVID-19 has given us an excellent opportunity to hone our pattern recognition skills.  Large-scale, sustained and rapidly spreading global “shocks” like the pandemic trigger a … Read More

Part 1: Pursuing Responsible Analytics

Natalie MuyresArticles, Updates

by Nick Kalogirou Analytics and strategy help us navigate the fog of war, but don’t necessarily make us responsible or wise. The ascendance of analytics and its importance in strategy today is truly remarkable. One only needs to admire the seemingly simple act of a Google search to marvel at how analytics is affecting our ability to adapt and learn. … Read More

Recommended Reading: 2020 Book List

Natalie MuyresArticles, Book Reviews, Updates

The Human Venture publishes a list of books annually. The list of books includes those that were either drawn on in 2020 to support our on-going explorations and programming or were acquired in recognition that they filled a gap and could be useful in the future. The Human Venture community has read all of the books on this list and … Read More

2020 Solstice Message

Natalie MuyresArticles, Updates

by Jason Low It’s amazing to think that Ken has been with the Human Venture community for 20 years now. With that in mind, he wanted to share something that happened around this last Remembrance Day 2020 that overlaps with the solstice season. As usual, Ken had a book that he was going to recommend during one of the bi-weekly … Read More

Network Governance as an Empowerment Tool

Natalie MuyresArticles, Updates

by Blythe Butler and Sami Berger One of the functions of pioneer leadership is to build others’ capacity to understand and act in their contexts in more adaptive ways. This means helping others see “what to do and how to do it in a given situation” (Human Venture map 12.3). Even though we work with a lot of different groups, … Read More

Learnings From Parenting: Racism

Natalie MuyresArticles, Updates

by Lindsay Mitchell “I hate black people.” – Four-year-old white girl. These are words you never wish to hear spoken at all, let alone to hear them coming from your own daughter. But they did. I remember we were driving in the car. I don’t remember where we were driving to or from, only that we were together in the … Read More

An Opportunity for Civilizational Change

Natalie MuyresArticles, Updates

Image: Jason Wong, Unsplash by Elizabeth Dozois “There seems little doubt that we are currently in the midst of one of the great critical transitions of the human journey, and yet it is not at all clear where we will end up once our current system resolves into a newly stable state.”  (Jeremy Lent1) “Never let a good crisis go … Read More

Deep Voices

Natalie MuyresArticles, Updates

A view from Kim’s window, as she reflected on the pandemic, west of Calgary, March 2020. Kim was inspired to write this poem after an Alumni Community Call, reflecting on the voices we pay attention to in order to understand current events and possible paths forward. by Kim Rowe It is quieter now. Listen. Do you hear the deep voices? … Read More

The Upside of COVID-19: What Gifts Does the Global Health Crisis Offer?

Natalie MuyresArticles, Updates

Social distance on Kings Parade. Image: Gyles Glover, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons by Elizabeth Dozois Do you find yourself tearing up when you see videos of people singing to one another from their balconies? Are you moved by the multiple acts of kindness and solidarity we’ve seen over the past few weeks?  Disasters bring enormous suffering, anxiety and … Read More

Recommended Reading from 2019

Natalie MuyresArticles, Book Reviews, Updates

Library Ladder

By Ken Low The following list of books includes those that were either drawn on in 2019 to support our on-going explorations and programming or were acquired in recognition that they filled a gap and could be useful in the future. There is some overlap with 2018 selections and a few that were acquired to be read in 2020.   I … Read More