Current e-Journal
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March 18, 2025
The best defense is…
In this week’s Systems Change Newsletter…
- Invitations and Announcements
- Catalytic Thinking Exercise: The best defense is…
- Resources to Further Your Practice
Invitations & Announcements
New Zealand subscribers:
We’re bringing Creating the Future and Catalytic Thinking to Aotearoa live and in person! Several of our NZ fellows are working together to create a series of New Zealand events for later this year. If you would like to help organize events in your part of the country, let us know.
Catalytic Thinking Exercise:
The best defense is…
All across our planet, the work to create a more humane world is under attack. Loss of funding. Mass firings. The rise of right-wing autocracies in democratic nations. And of course the downstream effects of all that in communities not just in the U.S., but around the world. This combination has been taking its toll on the ability of changemakers to do our work, not to mention being emotionally ok, period.
It’s been two months. We are all slowly adjusting to this new reality.
It’s time to rebel, to fight back.
And the most effective way to fight back is to create what the powers-that-be fear most: A world that works for ALL of us.
The more we give in to fear and scarcity, the more we play into the hands of those who are intentionally seeking to throw us off our game. They may expect us to fight back in the courts, or perhaps to beg for mercy. They expect us to play defense – that is what they are ready for.
What they do not expect is for us to rise up and say, “Bring it. We’re stepping into what’s next, beyond you. You can take away our money and our tax exemption. You cannot take our real power - our commitment to creating a world that works for all of us.”
If (as the saying goes) the best defense is a strong offense, Catalytic Thinking can light the path to those offensive maneuvers. Because Catalytic Thinking was meant for times like this.
Try This
Catalytic Thinking teaches us that if we aim at creating the future we want, we will solve our problems along the way to creating what is possible. But if we only focus on fighting the current problem, we will always be playing defense, never creating what we really want.
Picture a soccer match where the home team’s ball is deep in enemy territory. Their goal isn’t to just keep the ball from going into the opposite team’s net; their goal is to get the ball out of enemy territory, to aim towards their own goal. Solving the problem (keeping the ball away from the other team) is just one step in getting to the real goal - scoring the next point, and the one after that.
Our job right now may be to keep the ball out of the enemy’s net, but the only reason for doing so is to get the ball, run it down the field, and score our own goal.
That is where our power lies. The power to create what is possible, despite all odds.
The questions of Catalytic Thinking are therefore more important now than ever.
✅ Bringing our communities together in a spirit of radical inclusion
- Who will be affected by whatever we’re considering?
- What would it take for them to be integrally involved in whatever actions we take together?
- What would it take for them to be the ones who determine the direction we will take?
✅ Aiming your efforts at radical possibility
- What do your community members want for their community?
- What do they want life to be like for themselves, their families, their neighbors?
- What is important to them?
- When we have successfully gotten past this crisis, what do folks hope the community will be like?
- What would “healthy” look like? What would “equitable” look like? What would “humane and compassionate” look like? What would GOOD look like?
✅ Turning radical possibility into reality
- What needs to be in place to turn that dream into an achievable goal?
- What do people need to know or understand?
- What do they need to be assured of?
- And what would it take for them to know / have / be assured of those things?
✅ Building radical strength to achieve those goals
- What would your efforts need to have, in order to create what your community aspires to?
- What strengths do your community members have to build upon?
- What strengths and assets does your organization have to build upon?
This time in history will be remembered not just for the evil perpetrated by those in power; it will be remembered for what the rest of us did in this moment. That choice is ours, right now. We can choose to obey and give in, in fear and scarcity and dependency. Or we can stand up and do what our communities need from us – lead the way to a world that works for everyone.
That choice is yours, right now. Catalytic Thinking can help you get there. It can help you move beyond the hopelessness and fear. Start asking these questions and see what happens.
Because the only way to get beyond this current horror show is that we step into our power. Let Catalytic Thinking guide you to do that.
Resources to Further Your Practice
- PLAN: Use Catalytic Thinking to create your plans for what’s next. Start here…
- FOLLOW: To keep updated on the legal battles on behalf of US nonprofits, follow the National Council of Nonprofits on LinkedIn or Facebook. And donate to help them fight for all of us.
- LISTEN: Being able to rely on trustworthy sources of information is more important now than ever. What does it take to develop those sources in your own community? Listen here…
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