The Seven Little Helpers

The seven little helpers

The line between chaos and order is the connection with life. It is difficult to enter, but whenever you entered it, you feel it. It might vibrate, it vibrates between the Warrior and the Midwife, the chaos and order, and we live it now. Enough of philosophy…
Forget all complexity, all the books, and you are in the centre then what are the essentials?

Be present
Be present, and breathe.
What are some of the ways that we can encourage and support each other to be fully present in the conversation?

For a little hobbit, you might need some more tools…

Find your mates
In Lord of the Rings the only thing Sam could do was to be a friend. ‘Your mates’ is a deeper level than being a team. With your mates you can sit in the fire and you trust your life to them.

Have a good, wicked question:
A wicked question is a question that rocks, a strategic question. A question can change the world. What is peace? Can we live in peace? What is work? What now? A question is the sword of the warrior or the midwife.
What are some of the characteristics of good questions that we can ask of each other, that best serves our inquiry?

Create listening:
Create an open space for listening. How can talking become a true conversation? Only by listening. All technologies combine into the talking piece (or listening piece); that what can make a group listen that otherwise don’t. Please: explore the power of the talking piece!
What are some of the structures and methods that enable us to participate in meaningful conversations?

Harvest!
Sometimes we are so involved in the process that is going on and we forget to harvest; but some people (like Monica and George) will gently nudge…
What are some of the most helpful things we can harvest from our conversations?

Wise decision
If the conversation is not finished, be clear about that. The pressure for results make that many decision that are made are not wise. What if in each community there is a decision that, if they would take it, everything would be simpler. It is not the decision that is made in the boardrooms. Wise has to do with the ability to transform, and also with: who does it serve? I have seen that grandmothers would be in the parliament, and children councils: no decision should be made without these councils.

How do we wish to make our decisions so that they create clarity and wise actions?

DO IT
If we co not act on what we talked about, then something is not whole. The wisdom of convergence, to do what is real…  not too much projects…


Spoken by Toke Moeller
notes from Ria Baeck
Art of Hosting Belgium October 2006