#CCETakeover Day 6: Spirituality and Social Change (by Derek Alton)

I have always been fascinated by social change, the process by which we transform society.  I think social change shows humanity in our full glory, exploring our full potential where imagination and reality collide on a large scale with people, both as the painter and the paint.  As a result I have always been curious about the strange breed of people who seem to be at the center of this action.  Some are larger than life figures while others work in the shadows without ever getting the recognition they deserve.  Call them social innovators or systems changers or misfits for all I care, but “they change things, they move the human race forward.” (quoting the famous apple commercial)

Make no mistake, this is a strange breed of people who see the world differently, not for what it is but for what it could be, people who seem compelled to challenge the status quo, to say this is wrong, we can be more, we can be better.

These are my people!

So what is at the heart of this group of people, that drives us, sustains us, inspires us and defines us?  Maybe it is the one thing that we seem to struggle to talk about with each other.  That thing we all do without really realizing it whether it be at work or when we are alone in our bedroom.  The word that captures this mysterious dynamic within us is spirituality.

Now, I don’t mean spirituality as a religious thing, though for some it is.  Rather I am referring to that force, flow, energy or idea that compels social innovators like us to do things different, bigger than any sane or rational person would.  It is something that seems to be larger than us; it comes from both within and beyond us, sometimes driving us and often times dragging us forward.

Being a social innovator is a difficult road.  We are going against the main stream, against societal norms.  We are challenging power structures and making people uncomfortable.  As a result we are often the odd ball in any group.  The round pegs in a world full of square holes.  People don’t seem to get us; they don’t understand why we can’t just be satisfied and do things normally.  It is at times an incredibly lonely road. 

Often we have no idea what we are doing.  We know something is wrong but we do not know what the solution is, or we have the solution but no one seems to care, or our plan doesn’t work.  As a result we often fail way more than we succeed.  We call this “failing forward” and tell ourselves it is a normal part of innovation, but that doesn’t make it any easier, that doesn’t take the disappointment bite away or satisfy funders.  I can’t tell you how many times I have thrown up my hands in frustration and defeat, even been to the point of tears.  Being a social innovator is at times an incredibly difficult road.

Yet we do it, we pick ourselves back up and try again.  Why?  Because we are compelled by something greater then ourselves, that fuels and drives us, that keeps us moving forward when we want to do nothing more then give up and binge watch House of Cards while eating ice cream. 

Yet, we do not seem to talk to others about this.  Why? Maybe it is because it seems crazy.  Maybe it is because we are afraid we are the only ones.  Maybe it is because it sounds spiritual or even worse, religious, in a world where this is looked down upon by many.  Or maybe it is because we don’t really understand it ourselves.  Yet this force drives us, pulls us often kicking and screaming away from better paying, more stable jobs and simpler easier lives.  It pushes us to work ridiculous hours to the point of burn out.  It is what carries us through the lows and makes the highs so sweet.

If this, whatever it is, is so foundational to our success, how do we create more space for it?  What are potential spiritual practices that we can develop?

I think first and foremost we need to talk about it more with each other.  Move it out of the shadows and into the light.  Each one of us, through our experiences, has nurtured a relationship with this force that compels us and I think we can teach each other a lot.  I will get the ball started with 10 practices I have learned so far in my journey.

1.      Stillness – I am often on the go so much, cramming as many meetings and tasks as I can into my day.  In the frenetic pace of the Internet age, I have come to realize the importance of carving out space just to be still.  For me meditation is a practice that fosters this.  I also have a mindfulness app that dings periodically throughout the day reminding me to just be still.  To get out of my head and just be.  Sometimes I have too much energy so I go for a walk, or run and by the time I finish I feel more still.  I become more awake to the present moment.

2.      Listening – In systems change literature, we often talk about the importance of listening to the system before we act.  Listening for what is trying to emerge and then helping it along, or sometimes even getting out of the way.  In a world full of noise, true authentic listening has become a lost art.  Once you create the stillness, the challenge is to listen, without filling the gap yourself.  It is in this gap, this place of stillness and emptiness that something called emergence happens within us, but also within any system or organization that practices stillness and listening.  It is from this dynamic of emergence that new insights and potentialities arise. 

3.      Play – I often take life too seriously and put a lot of pressure on myself.  In contrast, it is when I am at play that I feel the most free.  Free from outcomes and expectations, free from pressure to perform.  They say that Einstein’s best ideas came when he daydreamed, unbound by the pressures and realities of life.  He let his imagination run wild and out of the void emerged insights way too crazy to be thought of anywhere else.  These insights would come to revolutionize our world.

4.      Music – Music has an incredible power on us, it can compel emotions and shift thoughts.  I have a playlist I call “epic music” made up of songs that pull me, cause me to get into a higher state of mind and foster inspiration. (Here is a link to my playlist)

5.      Role models – The walls of my bedroom are covered with posters of social innovators of the past.  People like Gandhi, Mandela and Einstein.  I study their lives, learn from them and through that I am fortified in my belief in humanity and the possibility of social change.

6.      Videos – News and video feeds are dominated by negativity, people at their worst.  To counter this, I have created a playlist of videos that show humanity at its best, embodying for me who I think we can become.  These videos fortify my belief in this vision and inspire me to push for it. (Here is a link to my playlist)

7.      Conversations – A year ago I had a month off so I traveled across the country seeking out conversations with social innovators.  These conversations allowed me to connect with their passion and vision which resonated with my own.  Their stories inspired me to be more and do more.  Finally, these conversations served as an arena for me to process ideas and possibilities with the help of others.  We often talk of spiritual practices as being a solitary endeavor but I believe they can be communal as well.

8.      Nature – For me the greatest inspiration has always been nature itself.  This is where the flow of life is at its most vivid, unbound by the structures of humanity.  Listening to the birds and the crickets I think should be a daily ritual for everyone.

9.      Physical activity – Beyond being good for my health, I find physical activity helps release pent up energy and stress that is blocking my ability to be present and to listen.  I find I am the most at peace immediately following a good intense game of soccer.

10.  Self Reflection – Socrates once said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.”   We spend so much of our life acting without thinking.  For me, building reflectiveness into my life has been very important in making sure my actions are in line with the mission and purpose that I feel compelled to live.  It allows me to bring more intentionality to what I do but also a level of awareness of what is emerging.  Journaling has been the habit I have developed to help with this.

What about you?  What are some of your spiritual practices?  What fuels and drives you as a social innovator?  Share it hear and lets get the conversation started.

Adding Value: You Can't Script Authenticity

When actors improvise, it can create some of the most authentic scenes because, well, they truly are authentic.

"I think Canadians are tired of politicians that are spun and scripted within an inch of their life, people who are too afraid of what a focus group might say about one comment or a political opponent might try to twist out of context, to actually say much of anything at all," he said.

People love Jennifer Lawrence; they love Justin Trudeau.  What do they have in common?

Exactly.

Why Star Wars is Following Marvel and Why Politicians Should Pay Attention

Marvel's strategy, of course, is to weave the adventures of solo heroes throughout the same universe, with all narrative strands leading towards a mega-film (The Avengers/The Avengers 2).  The success of each film breeds the success of the next.  As Rasulo calls it: the Disney eco-system."

One-offs are easier to pull off, and are easier to distribute.  That was the premise behind the serial - have a theme, some common characters and put them in zany situations that are resolved within a half hour/hour.  You can play any episode in any order, grab an in-the-moment audience and laugh your way to the bank.

The model works, and continues to work - in a horses-and-bayonets kind of way.  Where the problem lies is that not everyone is sticking to the tried-and-true serial model and are instead building narrative arcs.  It started with the two-parter and has carried on into more complex plots, arcs-within-arcs and as a necessary result more layered, more interesting characters.

There have been risks along the way and some losses, too, but the trend is away from siloed one-offs and moving more and more towards the arc.  Complex shows with complex characters like LOST and Battlestar Galactica may not have had as massive an audience as others, but that audience was loyal, served as an excellent (and free) marketing partner and readily ate up viral marketing, soundtrack purchases and all kinds of other value-add that went along with the product.  

Committing to complex stories and character development hasn't hurt the careers of the developers of these shows, any more than it's hurt Joss Whedon, he of complex stories and teased narratives.  He's now the creative director of Marvel's film/tv franchise.  J.J. Abrams has done a bunch of cool projects since LOST, up to and including Star Wars.

The cross-pollination and value-add model is working wonders for Marvel across the board; they have tv shows and movies and comics, their actors are tweeting and instagraming away while producers tease hints at conferences and media avails.  It's a complex strategy that must have taken (and must continue to take) a great deal of fore-thought and planning to execute, adapt and persevere.  But again, it's working.  Audience are tuning in and even better, they're participating.

There is some secret sauce to the Marvel model (that Star Wars seeks to replicate); they have gotten pretty good at striking a balance between giving each film, series and character it's own space to function and breathe and grow, resulting in some pretty original (and different) directions for the franchise to grow in.  As a result, they have more creative stories, penetrate more markets and build their core constituency by providing a community of experience.

This is a model that's worked pretty well for Apple, too, as it has for many leaders.

It can and will work just as well for politicians, when they get around to thinking different.  We're seeing that start to happen now - Obama's campaign definitely broke new ground and Justin Trudeau's greater team involvement and communication format has been more engaging.

What's lacking, though, is the narrative.  There's no plot development in politics, no Big Idea for people to identify, discover and then explore as it unfolds and marches towards completion.  Instead we have message points, variations on the same theme and vague talk of values and such, but there's no hook, no transition, no real payoffs.  We don't really get to know our politicians as both individuals and participants in a team; there's no sense of trajectory to their stories or that of their Parties.  Policies are provided in serial format, with accomplishments being ticked off like boxes on a page.

It's great that more students are graduating - good for them.  It's lovely seniors are getting more surgical procedures done, and faster.  Love that roads are being paved and digital government strategies are being pursued.  But how do these things connect?  What sustained, building evidence do I have that I want to invest my time, money and votes into what you're going to do next?  Audiences want to know they're in good hands and they don't want you to tell them so - they want to discover it for themselves.  

And when they do, they'll want to participate.