Creating the Future Down Under Tour

Our Creating the Future Down Under Tour has concluded. And what an adventure this has been!

• 2 countries
• 6 cities
• 13 events

And so I wanted to share a bit of what we’ve experienced on this tour. I know I will be processing more over time, and will share more as my thinking takes form. For now, here is what is standing out to me.

Our Power is the Power of ALL of Us

I am writing from Christchurch, a city that has experienced so much pain in the 15 years since we were last in Aotearoa New Zealand. A series of devastating earthquakes. An anti-Muslim terrorist attack that left dozens of people dead during Friday prayers. A city that has been redefining itself, coming alive in incredible ways after so much devastation.

Christchurch is showing not just a renewal of its built infrastructure, but a resurgence in so much that is human. A walkable city. A city so filled with art that every corner and crevice of the central business district is covered in murals and sculptures.

A library that is an invitation to our human potential, includng a maker space filled with sewing  machines and 3D printing, a digital recording studio, a sea of Legos for kids to create masterpieces, a café where folks are eating scones while reading whatever they have found on the shelves.

It is the human things we are noticing. Yes, it is incredible that the built environment has been considerably rebuilt (although the Christ Church Cathedral is still seeking funds to rebuild. Where are the Notre Dame style donors who rebuilt that iconic cathedral in record time?). But it is the human aspects that are catching our eyes and our hearts.

Take, for example, the work of Life in Vacant Spaces. For years we have been encouraging communities to create Collective Enoughness hubs – entities whose role is to connect folks who need stuff with folks who have that stuff. Life in Vacant Spaces acts as that broker. Artists who need a space to set up an exhibit, or entrepreneurs who want to test their business ideas, are connected with folks who have that space just sitting vacant.

That power of Collective Enoughness – that together we have everything we need – is easy to see when folks must band together to survive. Life in Vacant Spaces shows what that power looks like when it’s not about surviving, but about living well, period. It is about reimagining how we think about our place in our communities.

That has been a big part of this tour, talking with people who are rethinking how life operates and how work happens, all through a communal lens. From the team at Prism, who work with groups whose intention is “together,” to efforts by Te Tauihu Community Development Agency to re-imagine governance and leadership, to the Wayne Francis Charitable Trust – a foundation working in and with community – this has been a deep dive into what we can accomplish together that none of us can accomplish on our own.

Catalytic Thinking FTW

Of course, the reason for this tour has been all around the questions of Catalytic Thinking. And in answer to a question we are asked so often, yes, the framework resonates across oceans and cultures, sometimes in a really big way.

Here are some indicators that speak to that sense of resonance: 

• People flew to join our workshops. Some flew from Australia to New Zealand, while others flew across New Zealand. One person from North America had been visiting family in Auckland, heard about the event in Wellington, and interrupted their holiday time to fly down to attend.

  

• People attended multiple sessions, attending a lecture then coming back for a workshop, or attending a workshop and then coming back for a facilitation around a community issue, noting, “I’m looking forward to seeing this in practice with a complex topic.”
• After every workshop, approximately 25% of attendees followed up by either signing up for Creating the Future’s newsletter or following me on LinkedIn. Many of those folks were asking questions, as they were immediately putting the questions into practice.
• The reflections were inspiring. Several people in different sessions used the word “liberating.” One person actually said, “I feel like a dog off her leash!”

In the workshop sessions, people practiced listening for the potential in each other. They practiced what it feels like to reach beyond fixing what’s wrong, to instead reach for what is possible. They practiced identifying what they had to share with each other. They practiced digging deep to identify the human side of it all – what they would need to be assured of in order to accomplish what they have the potential to accomplish. They practiced connecting by sharing their stories.

One of the most powerful reflections came from Maori participants, who noted that the questions felt aligned with their culture. This was powerful for several reasons. First, at face value, these are powerful comments! Secondly, though, I began this year speaking at a conference in Alaska, another place where indigenous ways are held dear. And the response was similar in both places, as folks approached to tell me, “This aligns. It feels right.”

It’s Always About the People

Aotearoa is a magnificently beautiful country, from the tippy top of the north island to the leaping off point to Antarctica on the south island. There are no words to do justice to the physical place that is New Zealand.

But our most poignant memories will not be about a particular sunset or glacial gorge. It will be about the people we engaged with.

• The joy in the eyes of a new friend who dreams of visiting America to see hummingbirds.
• The barista whose face lit up every day when we came for coffee, exclaiming, “You came back!”
• The hippie who lives in an old bus, tucked away on 5 overgrown acres, where he is creating spaces for artistic endeavors of all kinds.
• The dinners with friends who shared their parents, their kids, their life partners.

We know that when we think of this tour, that these are the images that will come to mind. The human side of what it means to be human. The connections, often momentary, with a fellow traveler on this tiny blue bauble of a planet. The moments that say, “I see you. I recognize you. And for this brief moment, we are connected.”

That is what this tour has been at the heart. Because at the heart, that is what Catalytic Thinking is about – the beating heart of our collective potential.

Which is why we are so grateful for the folks who made this tour possible. To everyone we met during this special time, thank you.

And to May Miller-Dawkins. Tom Dawkins and Kate Clugston. Garth Nowland-Foreman and Sandy Thompson, it is impossible to express the depth of our gratitude to each of you. Without you, none of this would have been possible.