My son, Gabe, took me to two climbing gyms last week. I was pleasantly surprised at what a great workout it provided. It’s amazing to learn which muscles it draws on, most discernable by the soreness that develops over the following days. But, to be fair, that’s true with any new physical activity. I think […]
I’ve been talking a lot about elements of a Grand Challenge and the frameworks and models I draw on to create success in dealing with intractable societal problems. I haven’t touched on the extraordinary experience of engaging in an initiative that calls out your best to walk in Integrity with your world. Awe is an
Grand Challenges: Awe-some Work Read More »
The Design Summit is the second major event in every Grand Challenge. Unlike the Design Studio – which galvanizes leadership and precedes it – the focus of the Design Summit is to launch the movement that will carry your Grand Challenge forward. There are three primary agendas in the Design Summit: Establish the context Launch
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My birthday was Saturday, July 9, which was also the 154th anniversary of the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. There’s an interesting story about its ratification. The 14th Amendment overturned the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision, which said (a) Black men were not citizens and did not have the rights of citizens, and (b)
Big, bold initiatives that tackle some of society’s wickedest problems are called Grand Challenges. Successful Grand Challenges rely on several elements, the most impactful being a large and diverse network of allies – an ecosystem. The key to leading a large-scale change initiative is the ability to align players from multiple dimensions simultaneously around a
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Our new dog, Kaya, is a timid soul. She experienced some sort of trauma before we rescued her and does not display any form of aggression toward people. I have seen her sit on our living room couch and watch calmly as strangers entered our home. But, fireworks and thunder are another story. To those
Many elements are involved in tackling Grand Challenges – big, bold initiatives that take on some of the wickedest problems that society is facing. In my work on Grand Challenges and significant change initiatives, I draw on several models (both my own and those developed by others). To help organize each of those critical elements,
Grand Challenge Upward Spiral Read More »
My wife and I walked with our dog, Kaya, in one of the city parks here in Bethesda, Maryland, when we had a chance to see two deer eating close to the trail. They were obviously used to people as they took a moment to look directly at us and then kept feeding on the
In 2001, a research team led by Dr. Christina Economos studied four movements that created a flip in societal thinking: Breastfeeding Smoking Cessation Seat Belt Use Recycling Through that research, the team identified 10 Key Elements to Creating a Social Movement – critical to the success of any Grand Challenge or internal change work. I’ve
Implement the Plan Read More »
Yesterday was America’s Juneteenth and today we have a federal holiday that allows every employed American to take a day from work to consider what this holiday is all about. On June 19, 1865, some two months after Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., those in Galveston, Texas were informed that enslaved
