Nancy Polend's Bridge Platform: Engaging Humanity to Create a World that is Prosperous for All

Where I'm Coming From

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:18:00 +0000

As you consider your own role in initiating positive change, you may be thinking about inviting me to bring the Prosperity for All Experience to your community. There are plenty of pointers in this blogspace to the kind of content the Experience brings to life, but I thought it might be helpful for those considering hosting a PFA Experience to know a bit about where I come from, so to speak. So, here's a bit about me that usually doesn't show up in traditional resumes or bios.

This is the spirit in which I do my work:

I love to create new ways of thinking about things so that we can create new things. I love to engage people in thinking in new ways because it allows us to work in new ways, reconnect with what we truly want—individually and collectively—and ACT on it. I do this in a way that honors where we are and the best of what we’ve done, while acknowledging fully what’s no longer working. And, I like to have fun in the process!

While I have academic and professional credentials in Organization Development and Human Resources Management, the most useful credential I draw upon is the one associated with being human. You know, where we REALLY learn about how things work. It is this degree from “Life University” that makes me and the Prosperity for All message about:

Creating, not destroying. Besides the fact that creating something new is far more inspiring and fun than destroying something, destroying in the pursuit of abundance just doesn’t make sense. So, let’s not destroy what no longer works. Let’s create something together that does!

No blame. One way of destroying we’ve gotten really good at is blame. This also makes no sense because there’s no single place we could assign blame for our current state of affairs in the first place. What we are experiencing now—the good, the bad, and the ugly—is something we’ve created together as a human family. Blaming also keeps us focused on the past, when the work we need to do is now, focused toward our future.

Learning. Doing the same things and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Learning is the only way to avoid this! It’s the only way to stop creating what we don’t want.

Wading through complexity. Sometimes the complexity of the issues and the work ahead can be overwhelming, so much so that we sit like a deer in headlights and do nothing. There are simple ways to think about complexity that help us focus enough to get out of the headlights and save ourselves (literally)!

Inclusion. There is no one left out of this party. All are welcome. All are needed. We have one world and lots of people who make it what it is. So, we are one interconnected human family that needs to get busy if it’s to survive on the planet much longer.

Action. I’m tired of talking about change. I’m tired of studying the issues. We don’t need any more information. We need action.

Creating Prosperity for All

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:11:00 +0000

The Invitation.
The Experience.
The Vision.
The Strategy.
The Movement.

I see myself as an ordinary person with an extraordinary message and exciting strategy that can quite literally change the world. It’s about creating a world that is prosperous for you, me, the planet, and everyone. Besides the fact that everyone wins if we achieve this lofty vision, what is most exciting is that we can. And, I know a concrete way to get started. That I know this and am acting on it is not important. What is important is that WE ALL know this and start acting on it. When I say I’m engaging humanity, I mean it!

So, I am embarking on a national and eventually global journey to initiate the recognition and action we need to achieve prosperity for all. I hope this brief introduction inspires you to find out more or to invite me to engage your community or organization in an inspiring, action-focused learning experience. These learning experiences could very well be the start of the movement we’ve all been hoping for!

About The Prosperity for All Message and Strategy
Prosperity for All, or PFA for short, is a message and strategy of hope and action. It’s hopeful because it’s actionable and actionable because it’s hopeful. PFA provides the missing “how-to” for getting us all on the same page, working collaboratively toward the brighter future we all want, but it doesn’t start there. No one starts working on anything until they know it’s possible, why it’s important, and that it holds meaning for them personally. So, PFA brings a way to:

Directly experience that we all want the same thing for our lives and the world. I’m talking about ALL of us, not just the “us” of a particular nation, culture, skin color, gender, religion, political affiliation, age, socio-economic status, geography, sexual orientation, or profession. This is a radical concept until you experience for yourself this is true.

Directly experience that though we all want the same thing for our lives and the world, we have yet to create it. We KNOW the world is not as we want it. When enough people experience this gap between those fundamental things we all really want and what we’ve created, we can start aligning our efforts toward what we want and away from what we don’t.

Focus on a vision lofty enough for EVERYONE to directly connect to. There are many worthwhile causes that focus on some aspect of prosperity for all. I believe PFA is lofty enough to engage more people, powerfully leverage related causes, and produce benefits for everyone as we all work toward it together.

Work on a task concrete enough for focused, whole-system action. Lofty as it is, creating prosperity for all is not a vague notion. The PFA strategy brings us the missing how-to for focusing communities across the country (and the world) on this one unifying, mutually beneficial task; connecting people with one another; building local capacity; taking action; and leveraging local work toward policy change.

Get results by leveraging the resources of the whole system. The issues that keep us from a world that is prosperous for all are systemic—they cut across all sectors of society. None of our elected officials, corporations, government agencies, churches, educators, hospitals, experts, wealthy or poor residents, or the “average Joe" knows the answer. We may not have the answer individually, but we do have answers AMONG us. Because the strategy is built on a process with a global track record of success in most of the world’s cultures that enables diverse groups to do things together they never could before, PFA holds great promise for transformation as an integrated, connected effort.

Build societal systems and structures in alignment with creating prosperity for all. Without a vision lofty enough or a strategy capable of focusing our efforts, our societal systems and structures have had nothing to focus their energy, operations, and resources toward. We see the result of this collective disconnect in our current global situation. With every sector of society working together focusing on creating prosperity for all, PFA provides the mechanism that allows individual sectors to focus their unique contributions as a means to the larger end.

Engage everyone. Creating prosperity for all is about ordinary people working together. You don’t have to believe it’s possible. To create a world that works for all, we must engage all in the work. All worldviews, values, ethnicities, races, professions, political parties, cultures, etc. are welcome.

Start immediately. The strategy, methodology, people, the whole plan for engaging people to create a world that is prosperous for all is ready to roll. A national network of trained practitioners is ready, willing, and able to execute the strategy at a moment’s notice. Imagine what is possible when the whole system—everyone across the globe—focuses on this one goal and are connected together. Local champions, interested communities, and financial sponsors are all that is needed to begin.

Never before have we so needed a concrete task we can ALL get behind. I believe connecting us to what we truly want and using a proven methodology to focus our attention on it can begin the global transformation many are calling for.

I would be honored to bring my interactive learning experience to your community or organization. Contact me at: nancy@futuresearch.net.

One More Person

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:33:00 +0000

The time will come, in our very near future, when one more person envisions a peaceful world and, with that seemingly tiny action, the scales will be tipped.

The storm clouds disappear and a new world that we deserve to live in as our right of birth, opens up before us.

It will be like a miracle—but it’s not really a miracle. It’s only us having changed our thoughts. ---Tony Burroughs

May my work invite that person. ---Nancy

From Outrage to Action: The "Giant Comma"

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:07:00 +0000

When people say, "None of our societal systems are working. We need to DO something!," there is often this huge PAUSE. I call this pause the "Giant Comma." This giant comma sits between the recognition or desire to do something different and the actual action. As in: "We have to do something. COMMA. Now what?"

The recognition of the need for action is relatively easy. It's the "Now What?" that gives us trouble.

Examples of the Giant Comma Syndrome range from the Katrina aftermath to gas prices, from war to the housing crisis, from unemployment to the environment, from poverty to corporate greed. Because these issues are all systemic--that is, the underlying contributors to each of these issues cut across all sectors of society--the "Now What?" requires the whole system to address them.

This is where the pause of the Giant Comma quickly becomes a period. Because the solutions require whole-system collaboration, the statement becomes simply, "We have to do something." Period. We might act by blaming, fighting, or punishing the perceived victims or the perpetrators, but in terms of creating lasting solutions, we just don't have that good a track record.

We have trouble with the "Now What?" because, frankly, we're not all that good at collaborating. How could we be? We don't have much practice at it as a society. We seem to have been good at it when we realized that we could better survive if there were some that hunted and some that gathered, but after that, our ability to collaborate pretty much went downhill, from what I can tell.

Since about the hunter-gatherer time, we've been conditioned to do things INDEPENDENTLY. There's nothing wrong with independent action, per se. The trouble we find ourselves in now is that we are trying to work independently in an interdependent world. We are trying to assemble a coherent world using a handful of pieces from different puzzle boxes, all with different pictures on them. Blindfolded. With one hand tied behind our back.

Because we run up against our own collaborative incompetence, we do what is comfortable. We do nothing. We blame. We fight. We punish. If we're lucky and inspired, we "fix" one part of the problem in one sector by relocating it elsewhere. Like the boy with his finger in the dike, one leak gets plugged and four others emerge.

It would be far easier, I think, just to acknowledge that none of us knows the answer. And, cheaper, too! Here's the thing: None of our elected officials, corporations, government agencies, churches, educators, hospitals, experts, wealthy or poor residents, average "Joe's"--know the answer. None of us can reasonably be expected to understand the whole ball of wax. None of us are exclusively responsible for figuring it out. None have the influence or authority of over all parts of the system.

If we acknowledge this, we can refocus our energy from blaming and fighting to uniting and figuring this thing out together. You know, collaborate. Even if we're not that good at it yet. What choice do we have? We're about to "independent" ourselves right into extinction.

HERE'S THE REALLY GOOD NEWS: There is a "Now What?" ready to roll that can get us started.

It's worked in the "old" world of independent action, so it can meet us where we are in our collaborative infancy. And, it has been producing whole-system collaborative action for over 2 decades, so it can serve as a bridge to deliver us from this world to a better one. It engages everyone. From every walk of life. It offers:

1. A systemic methodology and an integrated strategy that involves relevant stakeholders in taking responsibility for action across all sectors of society.

2. A mechanism for leveraging local action in communities toward national policy change.

3. A national Network of trained practitioners who are ready, willing, and able to execute the strategy at a moment’s notice.

4. A global track record of success in most of the world’s cultures—hundreds of examples, widely documented.

If you would like to learn more, please email me at nancy@futuresearch.net. I'm just like you. I can't do it alone, either.

Standing is an Action Verb!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:22:00 +0000

I stand for being the one who engages humanity to create a world that is prosperous for all. While I am committing myself to "being the one," YOU are the one the world needs.

You are the one who will bring something no one else has to the table. And, we need that, whatever it is. I know this because it’s going to TAKE us all to create prosperity for all, and I know you have something no one else does. That’s all I need to know that makes you someone I want to stand with and for.

Speaking of “Standing,” I think of “standing” as an action verb. At first blush, ’standing’ seems so passive. You know, like I’m standing-here-waiting-for-someone-else-to-do-something kind of thing. I say that standing for prosperity for all means action. As someone who has been working tirelessly to launch a national, community-based action strategy to create prosperity for all, I have seen enough studies, heard enough talk, read enough books that say that creating a world that works for all is necessary for our very survival. These are all wonderful things that are vital for creating awareness about the systemic nature of our most pressing global challenges. But, alas, white papers, panel discussions, and books don’t change systems. PEOPLE change systems. People in collaborative action change systems. I say that we will create a world that works for all by engaging all in the work.

If I had money to put where my mouth is, so to speak, I’d do that. I don’t. I have something better. I have a concrete, ready-to-roll way to engage hundreds of people from all walks of life in concrete collaborative action to create prosperity for all that I know is worth asking you to stand for.

For now, I just want to extend an invitation to you and to humanity in general to rise to our potential now. The time is now. When we look out into the world, it is easy to see that the systems and structures we put in place in simpler times don’ t work in the ones we find ourselves in now. We don’t need to destroy the ones that no longer work, we just need to create new ones that do. That is what I’m inviting you into.

It is not useful to sugar-coat the situation nor is it useful to paint a hopeless picture of doom. Yes, there are many wonderful things going on in the world, bringing new structures and ideas into our lives that tap into our natural human quest for peaceful abundance. And, there are many things that have kept us from reaching our collective highest potential, while we hang on to old structures that simply don’t work anymore. There simply isn’t a single societal structure or system that works to create and sustain abundant living for all. There is just no other way to put it.  

We can do better than this.
We were BORN to do better than this, and I invite us each to start, right now, in earnest.

Take my hand and join those of us who are ready and willing to build this grand bridge to our new abundant world. Please leave a comment and contact me if you want to engage!

Podcast: Prosperity for All

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Here is an interview Michael Skye did with me as we were planning the Prosperity for All 2008 event (which has since been postponed). In it, I speak of my vision for creating a world that is prosperous for all and Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation, an action strategy that engages everyone in getting us there.

I invite you to listen, leave a comment, or better yet, contact me if this resonates with you

MP3 File

Create or Destroy: 2 Ways of Pursuing Prosperity

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:28:00 +0000

I've been thinking about the ways we have pursued prosperity over our human history. The way we have most often pursued it is by destroying. In the face of being as capable to create as we are to destroy (not to mention it is more natural and fun to create), we choose destruction.

Think about that. We destroy in the pursuit of abundance.

When this behavior is seen in an individual, we call them crazy. And yet, we're doing it as a human family and calling it "normal," even as we get perilously close to participating in our own extinction.

I don't get it. It just doesn't make sense.

I'll speak more about this in a second. First, I want to address a question I get when I'm out there speaking about a way I know for engaging humanity in the creation of a world that is prosperous for all. People ask:

Why Should I Care?

I can only speak for myself.

I care because I see that prosperity for all is not only important, but is actually central to all of the global issues we face. I'll even go beyond that and say that prosperity is central to our very existence as human beings.

Before I go further, I want to be clear that I'm not talking just about money. I'm talking about prosperity's larger meaning. It's about abundance. It's about having everyone discover and act upon their hopes, dreams, and desires. It's about having our societal systems, structures, and institutions serve THAT end. Perhaps that's what the forefathers of the U.S. were trying for when they created the first structures for democracy and spoke eloquently about our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. From what I can tell, we're not there yet. If nothing else, I care because I'd like us to be living in integrity with what we say we're about.

I care because our quest for prosperity is at the heart of everything we are and everything we do as human beings. At the most fundamental level, this quest comes from our natural urge to GROW. We are wired this way; to try to stop it is like asking the grass to stop growing. We can't NOT grow.

Now, back to our two ways of pursuing growth/prosperity...

In our urge to grow, we've developed and demonstrated two ways of pursuing that growth.

One is by destroying. Our capacity for this is illustrated in most of the news we see these days.

The other is by creating. Our capacity for this is illustrated in a great number of mostly unreported ways in the work of many "unknowns" out there doing phenomenal work, like the decades of work by the Future Search Network around the world, and my national program there called Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation. (btw: Ode magazine is a wonderful source of this news).

Our destructive capacity starts out innocently enough. Most of us do it unconsciously. We choose to grow by making someone else small. In our natural desire to feel BIGGER, we judge others as bad or wrong or this or that, which helps us feel bigger. This comes from the belief that in order to grow ourselves, we have to destroy something in another. Of course, this is not true because we can absolutely grow while the other is also growing. In fact, we can grow MORE when more of us are growing because when more of us are growing, we are creating more opportunities for each other.

The individual unconscious version of growth-through-destruction builds into a more conscious community version, when we band together and do the next most destructive thing. We see it in run-of-the-mill infighting in organizations all the way to our use of war.

To think everything would be okay if only “those other people” would just get their act together is to forget that we are all “other people” to someone. When we’re all destroying each other in small and big ways in our attempts to grow, it isn’t surprising that we feel angry and helpless. And, it isn't surprising that we find ourselves taking part in our own potential demise as a species, despite our ignored capacity to create.

I can’t imagine directly experiencing the destructive side of humanity’s quest for prosperity for all, like so many soldiers and innocents have. I have written about the link between poverty and national security, but none of what I’ve written tells the story like the direct experiences from war do.

Just because we see more these days about our destructive capacity toward growth (is it just me, or does that sound mutually exclusive?) than we do about our equally developed, and perhaps more authentic, compassionate creative capacity doesn't mean that's all we're capable of. We have both capacities, and we can CHOOSE which one to use. We have been CHOOSING to focus on and use our destructive capacity. I am here to say that I'M NOT CHOOSING THAT.

Anyone else out there feel the same way? If so, I'd like to hear from you. Please leave a comment.

My Very First Video: Standing for Prosperity for All

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:15:00 +0000

Well, I've come out of hiding! Here's my very first video, inviting you (yes, you) to join me and 49 other visionaries to start a movement to create prosperity for all.

Where? June 10-15, 2008 in Austin, TX.
What? Prosperity for All 2008.

If you have a vision for creating prosperity for all and are willing to face everything and avoid nothing to bring it into the world, join us! Inside this movement-building experience, you will discover and use powerful tools to transform you and your community to create prosperity for all. We'll join together, build alliances, discover and leverage our collective resources, and go out into the world in ACTION. If you are tired of talk and ready for action, join me...I'm right there with you!

Prosperity for All 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:33:00 +0000

The biggest project I've ever embarked on in My Work is underway!

Learn all about Prosperity for All 2008 and then join us! We are calling for the first 50 visionaries to start a global movement to create prosperity for all in our lifetime. We will unite in Austin, TX June 10-15, 2008 to transform ourselves, build powerful alliances, and gain access to a network of professionals standing by to enable whole communities create prosperity for all. Join us in Austin or by contacting me or the folks at VisionForce about other ways you'd like to be involved in this global movement for prosperity for all in our lifetime.

Below is the flyer for the experience. Click on the thumbnail to download. Please feel free to distribute it widely.

Invitation to the METAPHORmosis

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:33:00 +0000

Can you feel it? Can you see the new emerging as the old begins to fall away? It is everywhere, once you start looking. Systems and structures that used to work for us are no longer working. What we were sure of is no longer there. Its alright. Its not that the old is wrong, its just that it isn't useful now. We created it under one set of conditions, used it while those conditions were present, and are now beginning to create new systems and structures that better match what we now want.

We want freedom. We want love. We want to feel honor. We want to feel peace. We want abundance. We are about to create all this. From the shadows of what we created out of our desire for conformity, separation, and control, we are about to create a whole new world. We wanted conformity and created it in our structures. We wanted separation and created it. We wanted control and created it. We focused on lack and we created it. Now, wanting freedom, love, honor, and peace, we will create that.

Will you hold on to the old as it falls away or will you create the new as it rises?

This video brings this message home...there are many creating the new. We are everywhere. It cannot help but happen. We are finding and co-creating with each other now at a rate that will accelerate this shift. Call it dreaming if you want. I'm sure that as our forefathers were envisioning the new world they created, many told them the same thing. Good thing they did it anyway, in the face of all the challenges and their own perceived shortcomings. I'm quite sure they didn't say "Never mind, that whole New World thing is just too hard. What could the few of us possibly do to change things?"

Guess what? We won't say that either. We, too, will do it anyway. In the face of our own challenges, in the face of what we currently see, we will create from and for freedom, honor, peace, and abundance. Our structures and our world will soon reflect this back to us.

If this sounds good to you, comment on my blog. Tell me and others that you want to help co-create this. Tell us what your part of the plan is. Tell us what you bring to the party. Then, let's connect and do something wonderful together!

The "How-to" for Creating a World that Works for All

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Do you want your community, region, or state to be a place where everyone is prosperous? Where children and families can discover and use their highest potential to create abundant conditions for themselves, the community, and everyone? You won’t find many people who disagree with this aspiration, no matter where you look.

The aspiration is the easy part. Studying the situation and developing plans to get there is a bit harder, but still relatively easy work. Fulfilling our own organization’s responsibilities to the community in the face of complex challenges is often difficult, but we manage the best we can. The hardest part is getting everyone working collaboratively to create the community everyone wants, but cannot create alone. We know that closing the gap between “us” and “them,” planning and action, and between fragmented and coordinated action is the biggest obstacle to creating the communities we want.

The folks involved with the Future Search Network's Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation program share the aspiration. We’re reaching out through this blog because we have a way to enable the “hard part.” We’re writing because, though we offer a proven mechanism for enabling the creation of your prosperous community, we can’t do it alone, either. We have the process; you have the community. We have the structure; your community has the content. We have the enabler; you have the need.

Here is a short description of our part of the equation, which is a new program of the Future Search Network called Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation (PCPN). PCPN is an integrated, national application of the proven Future Search methodology focused on creating prosperity for all.* PCPN offers an unusual combination of resources:

1. A systemic methodology and a national strategy that involves relevant stakeholders in taking responsibility for action across all sectors of society.
2. A mechanism for leveraging local action in communities toward national policy change.
3. A national Network of trained practitioners who are ready, willing, and able to execute the strategy at a moment’s notice.
4. A global track record of success in most of the world’s cultures—hundreds of examples, widely documented--supported for 15 years by a largely self-financed, self-organizing system.

Recognizing that creating prosperous communities is systemic endeavor that no one sector or level of authority can accomplish alone, PCPN unites people from all walks of life in communities across the U.S. to act. Its unique approach has the capability to greatly advance efforts to spread prosperity, document real progress, and influence national policy. The strategy includes continuous cycles of:

• Leadership Capacity-Building: Prepares local leader-teams in eight communities for engaging the whole system in creating and carrying out new “prosperity” strategies.
• Eight Local Future Searches: People from all sectors discover, plan, and act upon their shared aspirations (60-80 people in each community)
• National Policy Future Search: Policy-makers from each of the local sessions come together to create policy that enables communities to create and sustain prosperity for all.*
• Evaluation: Follow up with each community to learn what they are doing together that they could not do before, what new relationships have been established among community stakeholders, progress of the projects initiated during the Future Search, etc.
• Learning Community: Connects all communities with one another from beginning to end to share progress, challenges, plans, and learning, as well as plans and progress on the national policy session.
*Can be applied regionally, statewide, or nationally.

If you’d like to enable your community, region, or state in this way, we’d love to hear from you! If your interest is in leading a national “prosperity” movement, ask about how your organization can sponsor the participation of communities you care about, giving you the visibility and them the opportunity to influence national policy. Let’s explore possibilities and make something wonderful happen in your community and the nation.

To find out more, visit http://www.futuresearch.net/prosperouscommunities or call Nancy Polend, the PCPN Program Director at (540) 937-4897.

Invitation to a Blogalog: Approaches to Poverty

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:54:00 +0000

You are cordially invited into a “blogalog.”

I've spoken in other posts and articles about the fundamental flaw in the way we currently address poverty. I've stated it simplistically: We are trying to solve a systemic problem non-systemically. Recently, My Work has led me to a few more fundamental flaws I'd like to explore with my blog community.

I’ll get the blogalog started by sharing a 30,000-foot view of why any of this is important. Join in by posting a comment! Then, with your participation, subsequent posts will explore the flaws in more detail as we go. You will likely have others to contribute. Will you play?

Who Cares?
The first question you might ask is: Who cares? Of all the things going on these days, why are fundamental flaws in our approach to poverty important?

Poverty impacts the health and well-being of every one of us, whether or not we have ever been poor ourselves. It is a central issue out of which many other global problems flow. These problems also touch every single one of us and in many cases, threaten our very survival. Make progress on poverty and the other issues begin to dissolve. Remove the obstruction of poverty and we open up the flow of energy, commerce, goodwill, and innovation needed to address the other issues. Besides, creating a world that works for all is frankly the only way to ensure humanity’s survival. I can’t think of a better reason to care, can you? I must admit I’m quite attached to the whole life thing. ☺

Though we like to think we are invincible as a species, we are not. I recently saw an analogy by Lester Milbrath that describes our extremely short and tenuous presence on the planet: If the history of the Earth is thought of as a yearlong movie, humans have been part of the movie for eleven minutes. Most of that time, we lived in harmony with nature, which was self-sustaining. More recently, in our attempt to dominate nature, we’ve built a civilization that cannot sustain itself. We’ve done this in the equivalent of two seconds in our yearlong movie.

Why is Understanding Fundamental Flaws Important?
Understanding the fundamental flaws in our current approach to poverty is important because when we understand what does not work, it gives us important information for creating something that will. In creating what will work to address poverty, we are creating a better future for us all. Judging from the increasing dissatisfaction we are expressing in the way things are as a society, it is apparent we are ready to begin creating that future.

They are important because they tell us we need to work in fundamentally different ways and take fundamentally different action. Of course, doing so can only come as a result of fundamentally different thinking.

What a difference two seconds can make in this next yearlong movie if we start creating our world that works for all by understanding what isn’t working. Hence, my focus on it now in blogland.

Fundamental Flaw: A Definition
When I say "flaw,” I don't mean we've done something "wrong." There is no blame here; we've always done the best we could with what we had at the time. The systems and structures we put in place over the years served the purpose and time in which they were created. We all know how radically different life is now than when they were established. Einstein, folks knowledgeable in Spiral Dynamics, and others have said we cannot solve problems with the same level of consciousness that created them. Within the flaws in our approach to poverty, we can see we’ve been trying to do that.

Also, by "fundamental," I mean just that: things of central importance, related to the whole, not the individual parts. There is tremendously valuable anti-poverty work going on in the individual parts (i.e. the individual sector- or level-based strategies). What I will be speaking of here are core things that significantly limit our collective efficacy as a whole. So, by “fundamental flaw,” I only mean that when we look at what we are doing now from a higher perspective, we can see there are FUNDAMENTAL things that do not serve the creation of a world that works for all.

Invitation into the "Great In-Betweenness"
So, here we are in what I call the “Great In-Betweenness.” We are between the old systems and structures that no longer work and the new ones to be created that will. The old ones, created by our past levels of consciousness, are not “wrong.” They simply don’t work any more. The new ones must be created by the emerging consciousness within us. This is the place inside each one of us that knows just how interconnected we all are. It's the place that knows that if we ourselves want to live in abundance, peace, and harmony, everyone must live in abundance, peace, and harmony.

A good first step from the old to the new is simply reflecting on what we’re doing now that is not in alignment with what we want. That's what this blogalog invitation is all about. I will be posting specific fundamental flaws for discussion as we go. I look forward to hearing from others interested in this work.

Plans for a book

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:50:00 +0000

I am in the beginning stages of writing a book. The title will have to be my little secret for now, but I thought I'd share the premise of the book and see if there are any comments from blogland...

Premise
More and more people are realizing that we have created a world that now threatens our very existence. At the same time, a vision of a better world for all is emerging. Realizing with great urgency that we need to fundamentally change our world in order to create and live in the new one, we find ourselves with a dilemma. We don’t know how.

This book explores the terrain to be traversed and offers a concrete way to engage people across the country in building the bridge from a world of poverty, violence, and polarization to a prosperous Earth Community of abundance, peace, and unity.

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:42:00 +0000

As I sit quietly connecting to all that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, I find that it all leads back to this work. All of the people, situations, ideas, projects, even technology that I would list as things to be thankful for all add up to one thing: the deep meaning this work brings me.

My family, who lovingly allow me the time and space I need to do this work, also flow with the risk-taking inherent in walking away from the safety and rationale of a traditional job to launch a new, uncertain heart-based endeavor.

My colleagues, who provide expertise, wisdom, moral support, and freedom for me to bring "all of me" to this work, and who graciously offer their legacy as a foundation from which to launch my dream of a world that works for all.

My Network, whose expertise, service orientation, and sheer numbers make credible the audacious claim that we actually CAN bring the whole system together as a nation, community by community, to create prosperity for all.

My mentors, who have helped point me to the missing links I needed to create and sustain the expertise, energy, and confidence to even attempt all this.

My friends, who patiently listen to my soapbox ravings, engage in stimulating conversation, and urge me to keep going.

Technology, that makes it possible to connect to more people, work from anywhere, raise funds, and share my obsession.

My persistence...yes, I am thankful for my own stubborness! It takes awhile to launch an idea that can change the world in the world that would be changed, but I can truly say that it brings me great joy to attempt it.

Of course, the only reason I keep going in dogged pursuit of the new world I think this work can help create is because of all of the reasons above. Like I said at the beginning, all things I am grateful for lead back to this work.

"Prosperous Communities" Vision & Mission

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:32:00 +0000

Here is the vision and mission for the program that is the manifestation of my bridge work. I would love to hear from folks who resonate with this. I am particularly interested in hearing from folks who want to be involved or support this work in some way.

VISION
We create strong communities nationwide, and in the process, change the way the U.S. approaches poverty to a whole-system approach that reflects shared responsibility, action, and benefits among all sectors of society. As we are successful...
...Communities across the country will create conditions that maximize the potential for all residents to prosper.
...The momentum from a nation of communities engaging in successful whole-system planning and action will create a societal view that reducing poverty and creating prosperous conditions for all is:
* A systemic issue in which everyone has a stake and a role in solving,
* A way to truly embody the principles upon which the nation is founded,
* A way to ensure sustainable national prosperity and security,
* An exercise in developing self-sustaining conditions at the individual, family, community, and societal levels,
* A win-win for society, institutions, and individuals, and
* A way to create conditions that encourage continued innovation, economic growth, strong relationships, non-violence, health and harmony.
...National strategies and policies will change to create and support conditions for all residents to prosper.

MISSION
Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation engages communities nationwide in whole-system planning and action to create increasingly prosperous conditions for their residents. We use the Future Search methodology, which has been proven to create high commitment to implementation and produce successful outcomes in communities across the globe. We leverage all participating communities’ work toward national planning and action by engaging policy makers in the community-level planning and in additional policy-level planning that focuses on creating the enabling conditions for our nation’s communities.

VIDEOS: It is time!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:59:00 +0000

I saw these two videos recently. They speak to the shift that is most definitely occurring. This is the shift that Future Search and Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation can help enable.

The Prosperity for All "Movement Machine"

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:21:00 +0000

What do you get when you combine a proven method for creating system-wide collaborative action on important societal issues, the ability to deploy hundreds of trained facilitators to enable communities across the country, a strategy for linking and leveraging community-level results to create national change, and a neutral non-profit organization from which to launch all this? You get a “Movement Machine” for creating positive change on a national scale.

The Future Search Network’s new program, Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation (PCPN), is a “movement machine” focused on creating prosperous communities and in the process, fundamentally changing the way the U.S. thinks about and addresses poverty. Having demonstrated for two decades that Future Search creates ripples of collaborative change on a wide range of issues in communities across the globe, FSN is now ready to demonstrate that it can create national, systemic change for addressing poverty by applying the method nationwide in a cohesive, organized way.

Several national organizations are seriously considering using PCPN as a way to help them achieve their missions for improving the lives of families, children, and communities living in poverty. They see it as an enabler for their organizations’ mission (e.g. as a transistor that plugs into their mission that powers it up.) PHOTO: This is me speaking to a national faith organization about a concrete way to enable communities and the nation to create prosperity for all.

Beyond the fact that FSN has the method, the people, and the organization tailor-made to create systemic change, it is taking this step to launch a national endeavor because:

• There is no national “mandate” to reduce poverty, despite the increasingly high stakes the nation faces if it does nothing different. The health of the economy and the ability to ensure national security is threatened in proportion to the prevalence of poverty, and yet we have not made addressing it a national priority.

• The “American Dream” is at stake. Despite working full-time, many people are still unable to provide the basic necessities for their families. As more and more families find themselves in this circumstance, the harder it is to honestly claim that our founding principles are valid. This threatens the very foundation upon which our nation was founded.

• Poverty is a systemic issue that affects everyone, but we have not approached it systemically. Systemic problems require systemic thinking and action. Since no one sector (e.g. the government, faith organizations, human services, education, etc.) or individual (e.g. persons living in poverty) can solve a systemic problem alone, expectations that they can or should are unrealistic. Therefore, our current approach as a nation is fundamentally flawed.

• Dozens of organizations and communities have stated their concern and commitment to action for addressing poverty, but have no feasible avenue or vehicle with which to act. Many organizations want to address poverty, but few have the capacity, method, or reach to create the kind of systemic change necessary to do so. FSN’s PCPN program offers these combined abilities as a resource to organizations and communities in this situation.

The bottom line is this: We know as a nation we have a problem that needs to be solved for the good of us all. We have the methodology that provides the structure for creating system-wide commitment and action. We have the people to deploy to support communities nationwide in the collaborative work that needs to be done. It has the track record proven to create ripples of lasting improvements. It has the neutral organization that allows it to act as an unbiased enabler for communities of people to create the future they want. And, it has a strategy for tying it all together in a way that creates a whole that is larger than the sum of these parts.

So, we have a systemic problem that affects us all and a mechanism that engages the whole system to solve it. What we need now are people in communities interested in creating prosperous futures for themselves and the corporate, public, or private sponsors to fund the work. If you would like to explore how you can be a part of this exciting endeavor, please contact me at nancy@futuresearch.net or at (540) 937-4897.
Find out more about Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation at: http://www.futuresearch.net/prosperouscommunities/index.cfm

The Fundamental Flaw

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy Polend) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:48:00 +0000

There is a fundamental flaw in the way we think about and address poverty in the U.S. and beyond. The systemic, complex nature of poverty requires systemic thinking, planning, and action. Yet, over the last 40+ years since the “War on Poverty,” we have approached it with individual strategies initiated and carried out by individual sectors of society. No one person, organization, political party, program, or sector of society has the answer, nor can any of these individual parts understand “the whole,” be responsible for it, or act to solve it alone. This means the answer is not IN any one place; it is AMONG us. It means we need an approach that brings diverse people together to discover they live in the same world, worry about the same things, understand their differences, take responsibility, find shared meaning and aspirations for the future, and make commitments and act to create that future. It means we need to fundamentally change the way we interact and solve problems as a society.

Several years ago, I managed a large project to develop a model to change the way we think about and address poverty. During the project, I learned about the structural and systemic nature of the problem. I also recognized that we have never approached poverty systemically. As the project ended, I began feeling a deep calling to be of service toward a solution beyond “giving fish, teaching how to fish, and studying the pond.” I wanted to CHANGE THE WATER. Luckily, I knew of a way to do that.

I am just getting started in my blogging, but trust me, you will be seeing alot more on the national, community-based action strategy to change the way the U.S. thinks about and addresses poverty I am leading. This action strategy, in which anyone reading could concretely participate in and/or help get fully launched, is called Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation. It is a special program of the Future Search Network, 350 members on every continent and home of Future Search, a proven, whole-system action planning method. FSN members are united by a motivation to serve society while cooperating and learning together. Our mission is making the world a better place—more open, whole, and sustainable for everyone. We have been offering Future Searches worldwide in any language or culture for whatever people can afford.

My hope is that by bringing information about this program (my calling) into the blog-space, people everywhere will become involved and together get this "movement machine" rolling.