Gurteen Knowledge Letter October 2022 Issue 268

Gurteen Knowledge Letter
Issue 268 – October 2022

I look forward to my two World Values Day Cafés next week, particularly my conversation with Henry Mintzberg on communityship.

If you can make one of the Cafés, there is still time to register.

If not, you may find  Henry’s websites on Rebalancing Society and his Declaration of Interdependence of interest.

His book  Rebalancing Society is also available as a free pdf.

1. What conversation could you have differently today?
   Megan Reitz and John Higgins
2. Munk Debates and Dialogues
   Excellent debates and dialogues
3. A slight modification to VUCA
   Volatility, uncertainty, confusion and ambiguity
4. Certified Knowledge Specialist in Conversational Leadership
   KMI - KM Institute
5. Change emerges from conversation in community with people you love
   Dave Pollard
6. Advance your Change and OD Practice
   Sharon Varney and John Hovell
7. Help Keep My Work Alive
8. Unsubscribe
9. Gurteen Knowledge Letter

Sometimes I come across a passage in a book that sums up some aspect of Conversational Leadership that I particularly like.

I found this on page 148 of   Speak Up by Megan Reitz and John Higgins

What conversation could you have differently today?

If you were to change just something small about what you say or how you say it, who you listen to and how deeply, what would it be?

If you could change someone else’s life for the better, just a little bit, by saying or listening to something differently, what would it be?

We’re not asking you to be perfect, or somebody you’re not.

We seek an expansion - one conversation at a time – in your capacity to live fully, learn love, create and inspire.

It is our sincere hope that this book contributes to this.

Credit: Megan Reitz and John Higgins

So what conversation could you have differently today?

I recently discovered Munk Debates and the Munk Debate website. They have some excellent debates, and I love their mission.

Our society is dangerously polarised.

We don’t listen to each other.

Too many of us are separating into ideological tribes.

This has to stop.

The future of our democracy depends on it.

This is what the Munk Debates is all about.

Opening minds to different points of view.

Challenging groupthink.

Debating controversial issues with rigour and honesty.

Credit: Munk Debates

Interestingly, they also have Munk Dialogues though I find them a little disappointing as they are not dialogues (conversations between equals) but soft interviews - in other words, the interviewer is overly courteous and never challenges the interviewee's responses.

Well worth a look if you have the time, as you can be drawn into both the debates and the dialogues.

You are probably familiar with the VUCA acronym and that we live in a VUCA world.

• • Volatility is where things change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse.
  • Uncertainty is where it is impossible to predict the future or the correct course of action with any reliability.
  • _Complexity is where things are highly interconnected and interdependent; there is no cause-and-effect chain.
  • Ambiguity is where events are open to more than one interpretation.

You will find a more detailed description of VUCA and its roots on Wikipedia.

But when I think about VUCA or refer to it, I replace the C for Complexity with C for Confusion.

• Confusion is when something is difficult to understand, strange or new, or because many different things are happening simultaneously.

I make the change as I see the four VUCA attributes as a consequence of our living in a hyperconnected world that has, in turn, led to increased complexity.

So hyperconnectivity has led to complexity that has led to a volatile, uncertain, confusing, and ambiguous world.

Last month I announced that John Hovell, Donita Volkwijn, Saule Menane, and I will be running a Certified Knowledge Specialist in Conversational Leadership class in partnership with the KM Insitute (KMI) from February 27th to March 3rd, 2023.

It's a 5-day virtual class, delivered live over Zoom from 10:00 to 16:00 ET (15:00 to 20:00 UK time).

This is an excellent opportunity to learn how to practice Conversational Leadership. If you have not done so yet, take a look - you can find complete information and register here.

Note there is an Early Bird Discount is 25% if you book before December 31st.

I am a big follower of the work of Dave Pollard. I only ever met him once, many years ago, but through his writing, he has considerably influenced me over the years. His insights into the nature of conversation and complexity never cease to provoke my thinking. Although his predictions of the collapse of our global civilization are chilling, it’s a conversation we should be having.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from his blog some years ago.

Whether you want to change the political or economic system, save the whales, stop global warming, reform education, spark innovation or anything else, the answer is in how meaning, and understanding of what needs to be done, emerges from conversation in community with people you love, people who care.

Credit: Dave Pollard

Check out his blog, although I warn you his posts can be lengthy.

Two good friends, Sharon Varney and John Hovell, are running an international online course from 5-8 December for anyone working to create change with people. This is what Sharon says about the event.

Participants love this course because we run a real-life client exercise. We’ve already got this great international client for December, they're called CAMFED. They’re a successful and inspiring organization who are revolutionizing education for girls. They’re bringing a question around people and culture.

Sharon and John bring a certain interactive magic to such courses. Check out the event and their profiles here.

Help Keep My Work Alive
For almost 25 years, I’ve been sharing the Gurteen Knowledge Letter each month, and many of you have been reading it for five years or more. My Knowledge Café also reached a milestone, celebrating its 20th anniversary in September 2022.

If my work has made a difference to you, I’d be grateful if you could consider supporting it. A small monthly donation or any one-off contribution would greatly help cover some of my website hosting costs.

Thank you to the 50+ patrons who already support me – your generosity means a lot.

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Gurteen Knowledge Letter

The Gurteen Knowledge Letter is a free monthly email newsletter designed to inspire thinking around Conversational Leadership and Knowledge Management. You can explore the archive of past issues here.

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David Gurteen
Gurteen Knowledge
Fleet, United Kingdom

Gurteen Knowledge Letter September 2022

Gurteen Knowledge Letter November 2022