Friday 16 June 2017
Monday 5 June 2017
Session 4, Wednesday 31 May 2017
Link to today's presentation HERE
What today’s session is about
In Social Presencing Theater, the word theater is used in connection to its root meaning – a place where something significant becomes visible, or where a community of people can see a shared experience. 4D mapping makes visible the current reality in a social system, such as a school system, health care system, or the food system.
We're going to split up into groups and have a go and some role playing to see what new insights we can generate.
Lesson: Prototyping
What today’s session is about
- Crystallizing the vision for what amazing things could happen
- Using 4D mapping to get a sense of that
- An introduction to prototyping
- Hitting the upward curve of the U
What we will have done by the end of the session
- Experience Social Presencing Theatre
- Understand the tools for prototyping
- Have ‘crystallized’ further the ideas for possible projects
Where we are on the U Curve
We're on the upward curve of the U, where we are starting to take what we have listened to and generate some insights, with the aim of moving towards prototyping: where the action happens.
Lesson - Social Presencing Theatre and 4D Mapping
We're on the upward curve of the U, where we are starting to take what we have listened to and generate some insights, with the aim of moving towards prototyping: where the action happens.
Lesson - Social Presencing Theatre and 4D Mapping
- 4D mapping helps us find an underlying wisdom about a system as we move from Sculpture 1 to 2.
- Mindfulness is key: 4D mapping is not about acting out pre-conceived ideas
- 4D mapping is teasing out what might be significant as we move from where we are now to what things could look like (the future reality)
- How we move in SPT is based on what is actually emerging, not what we think something should be
- The inverse of this process is Absencing
Activity 1 - Social Presencing Theatre
We're going to split up into groups and have a go and some role playing to see what new insights we can generate.
Lesson: Prototyping
The principles of prototyping:
- Clarify the core questions that you want to explore with your prototype
- Find a group of fully committed people & cultivate your shared commitment
- Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
- Create “landing strips” for the future that is wanting to emerge
- Listen to what is emerging from others
- Beware two major dangers and pitfalls: mindless action and actionless minds
RESOURCES:
Video: 1st and 2nd principles of prototyping (5m19s)
Video: 3rd principle of prototyping, part 1 (0m24s)
Video: 3rd principle of prototyping, part 1 (0m24s)
Video: 3rd principle of prototyping, part 2 (3m42s)
Video: 4th principle of prototyping (2m46s)
Video: 5th principle of prototyping (0m59s)
Video: 6th principle of prototyping (0m51s)
Video: The Marshmallow Challenge, a TED talk by Tom Wujec (7m22s)
Video: 4th principle of prototyping (2m46s)
Video: 5th principle of prototyping (0m59s)
Video: 6th principle of prototyping (0m51s)
Video: The Marshmallow Challenge, a TED talk by Tom Wujec (7m22s)
Session 3 (Presencing), Wednesday 24th May 2017
Link to today's presentation HERE
What today’s session is about
- Group mindfulness
- The U curve
- Absencing and presencing
- Generate ideas for food system prototypes
- Group journaling
What we will have done by the end of the session
- Practice group mindfulness
- Explore and describe where you are on the U curve in relation to your food system journey
- Generate ideas for food system prototypes
- Experience group journaling (with a focus on your “food system Work”) .. as a tool for connecting with your emerging future
Activity 1 - Mindfulness practice
- Pause and notice body feels, notice the in and out breath, don't change it, just observe
- Notice if there is a sense of relaxation, or tension
- Allow a little more relaxation
- Notice the in breath and the outbreath.
You can read the mindfulness handout here.
Lesson - Absencing and Presencing
- Energy follows attention
- We have to go through a process with three movements
- This only works if we cultivate the inner instruments: Open Mind, Open Heart, Open Will
- At source are two root questions:
- Who is my Self?
- What is my Work?
- You will face three enemies:
- Voice of Judgment
- Voice of Cynicism
- Voice of Fear
- You need to hold the space to go through the same process on a collective level
- The inverse of this process is Absencing
Activity 2 - World Café
- What can we do to improve something for x problem?
- What is the essence of this idea?
- What would this look like if it was set up?
- What would be the benefits?
- How can we engage with the community
- to give x
- to get x
- to create...?
- How can we use the resources within our hub / U.Lab course to do...?
Activity 3: Group Journaling
Guidelines:
- The essence of this journaling is that one person asks the questions to enable you to find your own answers to these questions.
- Give time for the group to quietly write answers.
- Go through all the questions and don’t adapt them.
- You’ll have about 10 minutes to ask and answer the questions.
RESOURCES:
Some bonus inspiration
Sunday 7 May 2017
Session 2 Co-sensing (Wednesday 10 May 2017)
Link to today's presentation HERE
What today’s session is about
- Empathy - learning to deep listen to other people
- Reflection - allows participants to reflect more deeply and identify concrete intuitive insights
- Levels of conversation - how listening can be different things
- Coaching circles - how to coach one another as a group
What we will have done by the end of the session
- Paired up and done an Empathy Walk
- Done some Reflective Journaling on food
- Debriefed on journaling and the empathy walk
- Learnt about the Four Levels of Conversation
- Had an introduction to coaching circles
- Practiced coaching circles
Activity 1 - The Empathy Walk
Please could you:
- Pair up with someone you don’t know
- Read the handout (PDF)
- Spend around 20 minutes doing the exercise
Activity 2 - Reflective Journaling
One Guided journaling leads participants through a self-reflective process. This practice allows participants to access deeper levels of self-knowledge, and to connect this knowledge to concrete actions. It's a personal exercise, rooted in honesty. There is never a requirement to share what you journal.
You can get more information on reflective journaling here.
One Guided journaling leads participants through a self-reflective process. This practice allows participants to access deeper levels of self-knowledge, and to connect this knowledge to concrete actions. It's a personal exercise, rooted in honesty. There is never a requirement to share what you journal.
You can get more information on reflective journaling here.
Lesson: Co-sensing and Levels of Listening
Co-sensing is the early part of the 'U' where the ideas of observing and deep listening are key. You can see a short video about it here.
One of the main ideas about U.Lab is that we slip into old patterns of doing things. And as a result, the solutions we come up with up with run the risk of not properly addressing the problem they want to fix. How we diagnose the problem is a big part of that, We all know how to listen: we do it every day. But listening is a skill. Deep listening is something most of us are poor at if we don't practice. So the point here is to think about listening as, at its deepest, a process of empathy, connection and a shift to something new in the future. There's a great video on levels of listening here. You can also see a concise summary of Theory U here.
Activity 3: Listening Conversations
Think of that conversation you had in the last week around food:
- What level were you operating at?
- What level would you like to be at?
- What benefit would that bring?
Coaching circles are probably the single most effective method in U.Lab for moving from concept to practice. The backbone of coaching circles is a process we call case clinics.
- Casegiver: The casegiver shares their personal aspiration and leadership challenge that is current, concrete, important
- Coaches: Coaches listen deeply - they do not try to “fix” the problem, no matter how tempting it seems
- Timekeeper: one of the coaches manages the time
You can get detailed instructions on how to run a case clinic here. There is also a longish video on it here.
Activity 5 - Check out
RESOURCES:
Friday 28 April 2017
Session 1 (Co-initiating), Wednesday 3 May 2017
Link to today's presentation HERE
What today’s session was about
- Attend - listen to that which life calls you to do
- Connect - listen to and dialogue with the interesting players in the field
- Co-initiate a diverse group that inspires a common intention
What we will have done by the end of the session
- Understand who everyone in the group is and create a physical contact board
- Understand the U journey and the course overview
- Develop a shared understanding of the food system in Lambeth
- Share views on what needs to change
Activity 1 - Mapping your networks on Kumu
Please could you:
- make a list of the key people and organisations you are connected to, relating to the Lambeth Food System
- Work with Sue on inputting these to Kumu.io
What to include:
- organisations you work/volunteers for
- people and organisations you know who are connected to the food system
Activity 2 - Check in – thumbs exercise
Lesson: The Iceberg model
“The iceberg model as a whole suggests that beneath the visible level of events and crises, there are underlying structures, paradigms of thought, and sources that are responsible for creating them. If ignored, they will keep us locked into re-enacting the same old patterns time and again.”
RESOURCES:
Activity 3: How does this connect with your reason to be here?
- Your organisation
- Your community
- Your own personal goals
- My most important challenge right now is…
- I’m focused on creating change on a … (personal, organizational, systemic, etc.) level…
- U.Lab will be a success for me when…
Activity 4: Mapping the food system
Activity 5 - Check out – thumbs exercise
Morley
Monday 25 April 2016
Open invitation to help build food prototypes!
Join us at Open Project Nights and a Potluck Supper, and be part of the change that's afoot in how we grow, make, distribute and eat food in Lambeth.
It's been a whirlwind 6 weeks since we launched the U.Lab programme. The 25 participants came together every Wednesday to map out the local food system, learn new tools for leading and building relationships, visit nearby food projects and start building prototypes.
Prototypes so far include
How can you get involved?
The group can't make these prototypes happen on their own. They need a whole range of skills, energy, experience and new perspectives to get them off the ground.
Here are some dates for your diaries so you can join in:
Wednesday 27th April from 6.30pm: Open Project Night.
Join the U.Lab team and contribute your ideas and skills to their prototypes – or start a new one. REGISTER HERE.
Wednesday 4th May from 6.30pm: Open Project Night.
Join the U.Lab team and contribute your ideas and skills to their prototypes – or start a new one. REGISTER HERE.
Wednesday 11th May at 6.30pm: #ULabFood Potluck Supper!
Bring a dish or a bottle and connect with other local folks passionate about changing the food system. The U.Lab groups will pitch their prototypes so far and ask for your feedback. REGISTER HERE.
It's been a whirlwind 6 weeks since we launched the U.Lab programme. The 25 participants came together every Wednesday to map out the local food system, learn new tools for leading and building relationships, visit nearby food projects and start building prototypes.
Prototypes so far include
- a community cafe
- a Food Cities Gold Award policy group
- a food buying group
- a community fridge like this one
- a vertical growing lab
- A supermarket unsummit!
How can you get involved?
The group can't make these prototypes happen on their own. They need a whole range of skills, energy, experience and new perspectives to get them off the ground.
Here are some dates for your diaries so you can join in:
Join the U.Lab team and contribute your ideas and skills to their prototypes – or start a new one. REGISTER HERE.
Wednesday 4th May from 6.30pm: Open Project Night.
Join the U.Lab team and contribute your ideas and skills to their prototypes – or start a new one. REGISTER HERE.
Bring a dish or a bottle and connect with other local folks passionate about changing the food system. The U.Lab groups will pitch their prototypes so far and ask for your feedback. REGISTER HERE.
