: macro views or micro views or both :

... not quite sure why, but over the past several months my attention has been captured more by macro thinking than specific micro stuff. Authors like Thomas Homer-Dixon, Jared Diamond, Peter Senge, Jeffery Sachs and others. Maybe just stepping out of day-to-day responsibilities in a local organization freed up some head space, or maybe something altogether different I cannot put my finger on? Maybe time will tell, I rather hope so.

... on the plane ride home from Ontario Friday night I was reading an interview with Naomi Klein, the author, a few years back, of 'No Logo' ... and last year of "The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism" ... which is pretty heady stuff, but good I think? A Canadian, with a serious pedigree ( her father-in-law is Stephen Lewis, but that's just for starters ), with quite the ability to get her head around issues, for example, as a non-economist she certainly grasped a level of economics in order to write Shock Doctrine Klein is not yet 40!

... there was a quote in the article/interview that jumped out at me. Klein was explaining ( and doing so very well ) that a specific chain of events, from a certain economic world view, may either predispose a reaction/response to world events, or more intentionally, capitalize on them. Here is her explanation/quote ...

Klein ... "there is an awareness that these disasters ( could be significant changes ) create opportunities, and so you have a whole movement ready within a think-tank infrastructure. I think of these think-tanks as sort of idea warmers - they keep the ideas ready for when the disaster ( or change ) hits. Milton Friedman said that 'only a crisis, real or perceived, produces real change, and when that crisis hits, the change that occurs depends on the ideas that are lying around ( at the time )' ..."

She uses a range of examples from 9-11 to Katrina to Poland/Lech Walesa to the fall of the Berlin Wall to describe this. Technically, I think she might say the current US mortgage crisis is big enough to force/create real change in the US financial system, but I digress :) ... basically, on a huge scale, like Myanmar and China this week, 'disasters are malleable political moments -- people are in shock, blasted out of the way, entire world views have been shattered'.

... I wonder, on a smaller, organizational scale, if there are some applications of this theory? what got me thinking was the idea that 'the ideas lying around at the time' are what are going to influence the future ... of that organization, the response to disaster, even recognizing an opportunity. I would hope most of us ... as individuals, families, teams, groups, organizations ... would have an "incubator" function ... like Klein's 'idea warmers' ... where we are perking on, nursing, maturing, developing future concepts. I thought about this in terms of my last 5 years: 2003-2008 ... and it made sense, and may still be influencing developments there.

... so what 'ideas are lying around' your world right now that may influence things for good, or otherwise, and how can you capitalize properly on them? are you writing them down? articulating them in any way? sharing them with your colleagues? ensuring that good things are not lost in trans(la)tion?

... food for thought.

dlc

: Obama a Mac and Clinton a PC :

... it has been quite a while since I took POL144 "US Government & Politics" with Dr. William McKercher at the University of Western Ontario, so the complexities of this year's Democratic Primaries have intrigued me somewhat. I can't believe 'Wild Bill' is still teaching.

I've been following the Billary / Barack saga for months now, and it has been an interesting ride. I guess, qualifications notwithstanding, the tenor and tone of Obama's campaign ... even his responses to challenges, sound refreshing. I saw this today in the New York Times on-line edition and it kind of summed it up for me. Enjoy!

dlc

: count to ten :

... yep, 10 ... count 'em. Sat 27 April > Wed 07 May = 10 days in Ontari-ari-ario! Whew ... never imagined helping downsize the folks from a 2000 sq ft home into a 1000 sq ft apartment would be such a demanding, exhausting,multi-tasking, generation-bending adventure. Didn't quite get 'er done in the estimated ( and planned, arranged for flights and car rental ) time frame, so I bumped my flights by 2 days ( I was supposed to be IN the air in 30 minutes ).

Mind you, I did take in a 2 day conference in K/W, have had 2-3 lunches with friends, and checked out a couple of employment opportunities, but still? 10 days? What must have Moses felt like as he transitioned the nation of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land on the 40 year plan? Don't tell me, just shoot me.

dlc

: from ridiculous to sublime :

... I wrote this post in my head while driving back to my folk's place tonight after dinner with the in-laws ( about 10 minutes apart ... north & south sides of the River Thames ). After a crazy couple of days making decision after decision re: downsizing, and feeling like a nasty first born son dis-allowing my parent's preferences about this furniture or that, and driving a pretty demanding schedule, all the while arranging rental trucks, booking elevators, placing classified moving/garage sale ads, and selling off a big old vehicle, life was feeling ridiculous ... and I had not yet been here 48 hours, but it feels like a week and then some.

... I headed back here about 9:20 pm in order to catch the Colorado vs Detroit Game 3, which isn't going very well right now. Southbound on Wonderland Road, across the Guy Lombardo bridge ( which will only make sense to 2 readers : JimmyK and KingBing ... who have spent time in London, ON ) on a clear April night, just dark enough, with the iPod jacked into the stereo on my rental, a Ford Edge Crossover SUV with the Trews pounding out 'Paranoid Freak' ... everything slowed down, like in that Acura commercial, and felt sublime. This is probably a $3000 stereo in a $40,000 vehicle ( I got upgraded at Pearson Airport, ask me sometime ).

So, from ridiculous to sublime ?

... my 10 minute drive from Oxford & HydePark in NW London across the river to Wonderland & Commissioners in SC London, ahhh!

BTW, there's a couple of biblical images ( get thee behind me ) in that Trews' song, as well as several great Canadian references ( I stand on guard for thee ).

Later,

dlc

: if ... by rudyard kipling :

... as most of you faithful readers know, I am in SW Ontario helping my parents to move into a nice two bedroom apartment. Never an easy task, but it looks like it will go alright, according to plan even. They were married 51 years ago last Sunday, so while they have downsized a bit over the years, this is still significant, as their retirement home is spacious and has a lifetime of 'stuff' in it.

... one thing I may bring home with me is a framed 'illumination' of Rudyard Kipling's poem ... IF. Kipling, a Nobel prize winner in Literature, wrote what became one of England's most loved poems back in 1895, but IF wasn't published until 1910 in a collection of his works, short stories and poems. IF made it in many ways ... from the Simpson's 'Old Money' episode to Apocalypse Now, to VW's current 'Das Auto' commercial and Fraser's 'Love Stinks' episode.

This poem hung in the front hall of the house I grew up in at 45 Weybourne Crescent, in NW London Ontario, from Grade 3 to when I got married. I remember many a time ... whether in deep, deep trouble, or just hanging out, waiting for someone supposedly coming by, to even a couple of introspective moments in high school, reading and loving this poem. So it made sense that IF I am only going to take one thing back to BC with me, it would be this. Have a slow, pleasant read, and see what you think. My re-reading of it again, last night, brought to mind some of the things I have learned ( the hard way ) and some of the things I aspire to, this next leg of the journey. I think there are applications, insights and gems of wisdom here for anyone ... leaders, followers, friends, family, people who exasperate us, people who motivate us. Enjoy.

dlc












If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

: formative faith communites :

... it is 4 pm EDST in London, ON. Rolled into my folk's place at 0220 hours this AM after a full travel day Saturday. Got up and caught 90% of Hillside Church's service, and Tim's series on "What IS the Gospel?" and he made 'em think ( again, repeatedly :) including saying ... "scared the hell out of us" ... but it was in context, trust me. Skipped out a few minutes early and headed across town from SW to NE to catch North Park's 11:30 service, mostly to get Terry's series on "disharmony.com" on relationships. Great as well. Out to lunch with Ron B the mission(al) pastor at NPCC, which is a bit of an oxymoron since most of the pastors on staff there are missional, but no need to split hairs.

Bottomline, both these churches have changed radically since my time there most of the 1970's and 1980's ... they've grown, shrunk, moved, built, transitioned, deflated, had great stuff happen, absorbed hard stuff, but both are, I think, in very good, although very different places. At Hillside they were putting out more chairs at 10:15, cool. I said to someone there "this is a breath of fresh air". At lunch with Ron he outlined some of NPCC's journey, which was great, gave me goose bumps.

All said? it takes different kinds of churches in different times and spaces to get it done. Both Hillside and North Park are thinking capital "K" Kingdom in London, and beyond. Always great to see.

dlc

: misc wednesday wanderings :

... sure enjoying Tim's pithy thoughts. Just think ... he's sitting in coffee shops and libraries in London writing them on a BlackBerry Pearl. And yes, he preaches in those jeans, in my Baptist Church. Actually? I am very hopeful for the future of the former Wortley Road Baptist Church. Now Hillside Church of London, I think they're on their way back. And heck! JimmyK with Hilary may just be joining the fray there this summer. How great is that?

... buzz is that Brian Burke is headed to the Maple Leafs. Could Burkie return the Cup to TO in our lifetimes? It would be great to see, if only for the sake of legion loyal Leafs fans. It's been a while. UPDATE: Burke's staying put.

... the GM saga continues. Vancouver names a no-experience guy, and 76% of Vancouver sports fans disagree in a poll taken last night. Do you think this was Luongo's reaction in Florida? While Nonis may not have had long enough, down in Denver, Pierre Lacroix stayed too long. It took Giguere a while to get his feet, but looks like he's doing OK now. This next series vs the Red Whiners should be good. AVs fans are thinking about the bad blood that developed after Claude Lemeiux rearranged Kris Draper's face.

... see? my posts are restoring the cosmic balance of things ... while 'and another think' and 'a living alternative' make you think ... 'listening2learn' ... well, whatever.

dlc


ps. experimenting w/ twitter, as I said, not sure why, exactly.

pps. to Ontario Saturday. 10 days of this 'n that. Will be busy.