A program for leaders committed to learning & applying new thinking in complex times

Leadership for Resilient Futures

Redefining Leadership. Addressing Complex Issues. Innovating Resilient Outcomes.

What are the burning issues, problems and opportunities that keep you awake at night!

How are you dealing with them? How can you deal with them?

How do you understand and contextualise the disruptive environment in which we are working and living so you make decisions that work?

Is the thinking and method that you use robust enough to deal with this complex environment, to manage the risks you are taking, and to achieve resilient outcomes to which you are committed?

Introduction

The extreme and complex conditions underlying such questions demand us to take time out to re-think our role and actions as leaders in organizations, business, community and government. They also demand that we re-think leadership itself, redefine the processes leaders use, and reorient the behavior of leadership networks. If not, some of our best leaders may use the use and intention of the word resilience and at the same time risk promoting non-resilient activities at a time when both the best leadership capability and a commitment to resilient outcomes are critical to local and global moves toward resilient futures.

It is also a time when we must posses a heightened understanding in applying the term resilience, and not use it as a throw away line to look like we are on top of the situation, and will get it fixed – never to repeat itself again. The inappropriate use of the word resilience by leadership in this way without the appropriate understanding of what it means and how resilience is attained, will lead to the creation of more problems than are solved, and worse, false promises to people who need appropriate leadership thinking and capability to guide them through significant change.

Leadership for Resilient Futures (LfRF) is a platform and program based on the understanding that events like rapid change, the economic crisis, climate change or freak weather, energy security, loss of access to water and social ‘mood swings’ represent strong evidence of a state-change demanding a major reorientation, and not a simple step-change relying on a moderate correction of ‘business as usual’. They are also evidence that to view these conditions as being predictable, controllable and measurable where we can deterministically plan our way out of problems with linear processes, is a highly dangerous approach. On the other hand if we understand and address the world as a dynamically changing, non-linear, resilient complex system requiring complimentary processes, we have within our reach an immense opportunity to release and rethink our past and problems to innovate a prosperous and resilient future.

The first step in doing so is to recognize and embrace the extreme conditions we face, and to understand the risk we take in applying conventional thinking and actions to such unconventional and complex issues. In this environment planning must be more about a dynamic process of strategy in action that forges proactive transformation to rapid and radically changing conditions. We must also frame the world in which we live and work as a non-linear, complex adaptive system that cannot be predicted or controlled, but when understood, can be worked with to synchronise complimentary social, economic and ecological outcomes that secure a favorable way of life. In doing so we must apply our best creative capability and innovation systems to generate a virtuous cycle toward resilience rather than unwittingly pursue a vicious cycle of ad hoc, but managed, adaptive decline. And in the end possess a cast of leaders willing and able to continue this journey beyond our immediate need and crisis.

The Resilient Futures Network

The Resilient Futures Network (RFN) is a global and local network of people committed to addressing these challenges and supporting our businesses, communities, organisations and individuals in a move towards resilient futures. The RFN teaches, facilitates and advises on the use of the Resilient Futures Framework (RFN) in programs like the LfRF, and is also currently working on local and global projects.

Projects and programs are lead by RFN members who come from diverse backgrounds that include practitioners in business, strategy, community development, economic development, environmental management, planning, urban development, risk management and academia. All have been trained in the Resilient Futures Framework, a process designed to address, at a local level, complex issues like economic recovery, business innovation, sustainable land use planning, resilient communities, energy security and regional collaboration. In doing so it views the places, businesses or organizations we live and work in as whole systems that require understanding at a complex, non-linear systems level, and change through the application of a dynamic, strategy in action approach.

The definition of resilience can follow many agendas and paths from the ability to bounce back …. to being chaos compliant. The working definition of resilient futures the RFF applies goes beyond the conventional idea of experiencing shocks, adapting in an ad hoc manner and returning to function, to a role where leadership guides a process of seeing the shocks emerge in an holistic form, proactively transforming and bouncing forward in a flow with changing conditions. In the broader sense, the RFF definition of resilient futures is: whole systems, proactively transforming in a flow with conditions, and prospering through a continued move toward resilient futures. 

The LfRF Program: New Thinking for Leading in Complex Times

The Leadership for Resilient Futures (LfRF) program provides an intensive and highly interactive learning environment for individuals and teams to network together to work on their individual and joint projects while practicing the Resilient Futures Framework (RFF). In doing so, participants have the opportunity to apply the RFF thinking and process to issues, problems and opportunities that are of concern to them while also connecting to a local and global network and learning community for sharing information and experience.

 The program also provides participants the opportunity to build and enjoy a network of like-minded professionals at a local, regional and global level, and the opportunity for further personal and professional engagement with the Resilient Futures Network in projects and events that follow.

 Project focus: The project participants bring into the program will be up to them. It may be at an individual or a team level and could represent a problem or an opportunity. Where a project needs to be held in confidence, participants are not required to share intimate details of their project, but they are expected to fully participate in learning activities with the group at large.

 The Framework and Outcomes: Though a large element of what participants take-away is personal to them and the focus of their project, there are some generic outputs that participants are expected to work toward:

·       Integrating the principles of resilient futures that go beyond sustainability,

·       The understanding of how to distinguish between complex and simple problems and opportunities. Those that can be treated in a relatively linear manner, and those that are highly non-linear and cannot be planned for or mitigated against, but demand proactive transformation,

·       A deep understanding at a local and regional level of the immediate and emergent conditions at the local, regional and global scale,

·       The understanding of how systems and networks connect and work – especially social, economic, ecological and innovation systems and networks,

·       The ability to resiliently agglomerate capability through a systems approach,

·       The ability to catalyze self-organization that is resilient and perpetuates a locally and regionally owned move toward resilient futures at a local and regional level,

·       Adaptive, strategy in action to leverage changing conditions in a timely manner,

·       Open platform innovation systems (OPIS) – thinking of innovation like LINUX or open source software – the fastest way to proliferate innovation the world has ever experienced,

·       An appropriate use of the term ‘resilience’ and ‘resilient future’, and what the use of these terms imply and where they can and can’t be used,

·       Working with the RFN to advance personal and professional capability and projects, and,

·       Proactively averting managed, adaptive decline (MAD) at all costs.

 Delivery: The program will be delivered by RFN partners - Larry Quick: Complex (Vic), Fred Presley Resilience Planning (USA), and David Platt of CUSP Consulting (WA) – see www.resilientfutures.org for bios.

 The LfRF program environment is an intensive, interactive and experiential learning event. It uses as its mainstays participant input and output (existing knowledge, experience and feedback), open discussion, work-shopping, theory in practice, perturbation and reflection.

 Participant numbers and networking: To ensure appropriate levels of interaction are achieved, this program will be limited to approximately thirty (30) participants. As a key element of the program is about networks and the stimulation of resilience within networks, participation is primarily through network invitation and self-organization, with some places taken through mass broadcast.

 Format: The program format for the April program to be held in Melbourne, Victoria will be:

·       Pre-workshop activity – reading, watching, thinking, linking and doing – commences with registration.

·       Workshop – venue to be confirmed:

o   Evening Session – 7pm to 10pm

o   Day One  - 9am to when complete

o   Day Two – 9am to 5pm.

·       Post-workshop practice within learning circles – over 4 weeks – as determined by groups

·       Program completion event – 4 weeks following workshop – as determined by the group

·       See guide below for local program detail

 Cost: The cost of the program is:

·       Individual fee – See local prices below

·       Team fee (two participants or more) - less 10%

·       Scholarships – There are four scholarships for either students or community leaders working on community-based projects that do not have funding available for this type of learning and practice.

 Payment: Payment is required by bank transfer or cheque at time of registration. If participants are unable to attend, substitution is preferred or payment applied to subsequent LfRF programs.

 LfRF Programs in First Quarter 2009

Melbourne, Australia – 2/3/4 April 2009

Program:

·       Workshop – venue to be confirmed:

o   Thurs 2^nd April - Evening Session – 7pm to 10pm

o   Fri 3^rd April - Day One  - 9am to when complete

o   Sat 4^th April - Day Two – 9am to 5pm.

·       Program completion event – 4 weeks following workshop – as determined by the group

 Free Introductions: To provide potential participants with background information introductions will be held as follows:

·       Wed 11^th March – 8:30 to 10:0am – venue to be announced

·       Mon 16^th March – 4:00 to 5:30pm – venue to be announced

Cost: The cost of the program is:

·       Individual fee – $485 plus GST

·       Team fee (two participants or more) - less 10%

·       Scholarships – There are four scholarships for either students or community leaders working on community-based projects that do not have funding available for this type of learning and practice.

 Register or Inquiries: To confirm attendance or inquire about this program contact Larry Quick at:

·       Mobile: 0414 886 742

·       Email: Laz@lqa.com.au

RSVP is required by March 13^th 2009 – but please register early to confirm a place in the program.

Other Programs:

• Southern New England USA – March 25/26/27 – Rhode Island

• Western Australia – April 16/17/18 - Perth

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Too often programs that seek to promote innovation focus on the outcomes or the innovators themselves rather than building a capacity to innovate. If we look around there are talented thinkers and innovators in the State, there are also many programs seeking to inject innovation into everything from government to kindergartens. What is missing is a holistic approach to linking all of this activity together into a resilient system to continuously innovate for ourselves and ultimately for others in the Next economy.

The following table describes these dimensions in their current form and in terms of the changes that need to occur. These elements can be brought together into a Statewide capability to continuously innovate and to bring together our true innovation potential in a way that will be critical in the next decade. 

These six dimensions work with the facilitators of productivity and innovation, underpinned by resilience,  combined with the integrating effect of networks and technology to support a new open innovation system.

Many programs and activities exist under these labels already but they need to be re-thought in the context of the Next economy. In each case this re-thinking should also bring the elements together to form a resilient innovation system that provides a foundation for our participation in the Next economy, at the same time improving our capacity in this one and our capacity to adapt to change. The evolution of a ‘platform’ for innovation, productivity and resilience will also take advantage of new knowledge technologies to ensure all elements work together.

The move to an innovation society in Western Australia does not mean starting from scratch. Many initiatives and people with ideas already exist. A first stage would be to connect these activities and people within a resilience framework using technology to eliminate the impact of distance and time and facilitation to ensure a broader understanding of the bigger picture from targeted experts who can contribute to our understanding of the potential.

This will require a more subtle approach than is usually the case. It will be about mapping and analysis, about facilitation and empathy and about growing capability not just funding programs directly. Networks, partnerships and collaboration will be far more critical than bureaucracy and rigid thinking.

KT Studio has been working towards this goal for the last 8 years and has a great deal of experience and knowledge from many projects that address each of these elements and about how this new opportunity can be brought about. The Studio is also a member of the Resilient Futures Network, a network of professionals working in various fields with a common aim of using resilience thinking to deal with complex issues. These networks of external experts and thinkers from around the world can be brought to bear on the evolution of our innovation system.

Beyond Spin

The possibility of Western Australia as a global centre for innovation and the quinary sector cannot be achieved through brochures claiming the ground. It is a fundamental knitting of capability that already exists in some form and taking that to a new level. It will be about pulling the threads of activity together in a way that focuses not on the innovators but on establishing the catalysts for innovation. These work together to establish a Statewide capacity for innovation that can be used for our own economic benefit and to establish the State as a focus for innovation globally. 

Innovating for Western Australia. Innovating for the world.

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A Frank Discussion About Managing Risk and Resilience in the Face of the Current Economic Crisis 
& Alternative Strategies for How Companies and Communities Can Adapt to the Rapid Changes Ahead

You are being invited to attend an exclusive and groundbreaking discussion about the Economic Crisis and how to begin positioning your organization to prosper in the long term.

Join scores of other influential business, community and government leaders as we welcome Todd Davies from Australia for this exclusive engagement. Todd is an internationally known risk management expert and is a founding partner of the Resilient Futures Network. 

In addition to Mr. Davies, Fred Presley, also of the Resilient Futures Network and Jeffery Deckman of Capability Accelerators will provide insights into relevant solutions to these emergent conditions.

The presentations will be immediately followed by an interactive panel discussion around local applications and a Q&A session designed to further the understanding of the issues while exploring next steps for those who want to continue the discussion in future sessions.

You literally cannot afford to miss this one-time opportunity to gain an invaluable clarifying perspective on what is happening and the steps you can take to begin positioning your organization to be resilient under these uncertain conditions.

Bring additional members of your management team or forward this invitation to colleagues in your network who you feel would benefit from the insights to be gained during this unique educational session.
Date: December 8, 2008
Time: 4:45 to 7:00PM (Doors open at 4:30)
Location: Bello Center-Grand Hall, 
Bryant University
1150 Douglas Ave, Smithfield, RI

Fee: $45.00/person payable online at or at the door. Discounts to $35.00/person available for groups of 3 or more ~ contact in advance.

To pay by credit card in advance go to:

http://www.resilienceplan.com/events.html

RSVP no later than 12/4/08 to either Fred Presley at 401-212-7284 or fred.presley@resilientfutures.org or Jeffrey Deckman at 401-862-6454 jdeckman@capabilityaccelerators.com

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It was refreshing to hear the WA Treasurer, Troy Buswell, speak of economic diversity beyond the resource focus calling for Western Australia to become an international centre for excellence in innovation. Much current discussion and action still revolves around kicking to where the full forward is, not where he is leading. We now need to bring together our expertise to create new futures for Western Australia and be ready for the Next Economy, starting now.

Globalization

Driven by the twin revolutions of technology and communication, we can now distribute and source work, capital and ideas globally. The level playing field or ‘flat’ world described by Thomas Friedman is here and the competition is now for talent and innovative ideas that will drive new markets and opportunities. 

The impact of this for Western Australia is that we can attract talent and innovate but it is too often absorbed into the Resource sector or driven from the State to more creative destinations such as Melbourne.

Climate Change

Recent debate around climate change has been overshadowed by economic crises but climate change has not gone away. Our response to this will determine the success of our water strategy and other complex projects such as the Ord stage 2. Our ability to adapt to change as it happens and make the right decsions will also provide innovation capability that will be useful elsewhere in the world if we think now to capture and leverage it.

Quality of Place

‘Most isolated city in the world’, ‘dullsville’ etc - or a destination for thinkers and workers in the next economy? Perth has most of the qualities such as tranquillity and safety to attract what is being called the quinary sector focussed on knowledge and ideas – thinking about thinking. We need to better understand what this is and what whole place conditions will attract and retain the talent necessary to grow this capability.

Cost Shocks

Perth’s isolation, an advantage in some respects but in terms of logistics it opens us up to the impact of energy costs for transportation for example. The world is now experiencing multiple cost shocks around food availability, cost of money etc. How do we respond to this in a way that opens up new possibilities rather than being a passenger in a train wreck?

Economic Diversity

The resource sector in Western Australia is like a spike of economic activity that dominates our economy like a spire. Other growing sectors and our developing capacity to make better use of our talent across all sectors of the economy will determine how we survive big shifts in the viability of the resource sector in a turbulent international economy.

Responding to changed conditions

The correct response to the magnitude of the challenges and opportunities before us is to think differently and to think broadly. Understanding these conditions is one thing, responding in a way that offers us a path to the Next economy is a bigger challenge but one that will place us in a good position globally as we extend beyond the mine.

This means new approaches to adaptation and building into our economic, social and environmental thinking a resilience culture that will continually adapt to new conditions. 

This also means establishing an innovation system to develop not only new ideas but develop the capacity to continually do so. This will become a key capability in the quinary sector that can be applied across many other dimension of the economy.

Finally, the application of this level of thinking and talent will vastly improve our effectiveness in existing and emerging industries. This will bring about a shift in productivity that will lead to new opportunity, industries and efficiency. The challenge now is how do we approach this massively complex task without bringing in tools and thinking that were made for different times. What is an 21c innovation environment?

buswell-innovation

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1. A rant is defined in the dictionary as: to speak or shout out loud at length in a wild, impassioned way.

2. I would assert that ALL new thinking and doing starts with some kind of rant -and from that rant comes reality.

3. When Kennedy asserted on May 26th 1961 ‘……. “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth” - that was a considered by many as a rant - and a gross, unsubstantiated and self-opinionated rant at that, that caused mayhem, angst and uncertainty for even his true believers.

4. Rants can be very useful when intended to provoke, engage, align and even gain commitment to all sorts of ideas, from all sorts of people. Especially those ideas in their infancy, put to a diverse and multi-disciplined network of people to provide feedback, and move the idea toward its next stage of growth, or death.

5. JFK’s ‘man on the moon’ idea was not just about the act of putting a man on the moon. In fact, the main reason for doing it was to lay a foundational platform for inspiration and transformation, and to provoke a conversation amongst a local and global network that became enabled and empowered to move a topic or set of topics forward into mainstream thinking, and doing. A relatively simple speech asserting an outrageous, ‘out there idea’ of a ‘man on the moon’ that welded the American people and the West together at a time of fragmentation and general malaise at the state of their world (sound familiar?).

Incidentally, Gandhi was a master of the rant, so was Hitler, Churchill and Curtin. And so is Barack Obama. Polies are maybe the original professional ranters, and it is what sets them apart from most other professions except the advertising industry and sports fans. And the rant, is a child’s best tool for getting noticed and getting what they want. From my direct experience from five great kids, they got both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ with the rant. I even use it to get chocolate, to buy books, and with my wife Helen to get extended trips away from home (again - sound familiar?).

6. In the case of global change for good, a rant begins a journey and cognitive process that inspires and fires across synapses, through me, from me to you, to simple social networks, to complex diffusion and repositories of truth, to the facts of life and what we do in every day life. From the what might be of source thinking and thinkers, to the framing of ideas and propositions by conceptual thinking and thinkers, to the concrete thinker-doers who clarify and bring structure to the idea. To the action oriented initiators and completers who do the projects and make the idea all come to be. And along the way, another rant from that first rant in action, and the process spreads an idea virus (cite Seth Godin) of potentially contagion proportion.

The person doing the ranting does not necessarily need to make it happen. Gandhi had Nehru to take a rant and operationalize it. John had Bobby. John and Paul had each other, and George and Ringo. The boys had George Martin, and the 60’s had the Beatles, psychedelia, Andy, JFK, Martin Luther King and my Mum - all ranting in their own way - and the world was laid bare for change. And, Neil Armstrong finally stepped out of Eagle - a spacecraft never to be, and onto the Sea of Tranquility, on July 21st 1969, at 0256 GMT, just over eight years since JFK’s initial rant, and declared as he put his left foot down: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. And the whole world was changed, and we all remember the day, and we all have our own personal rant of what and why it changed you, me, and our world.

7. Rants aren’t NOT meant to be ‘right’ or provide certainty. On the contrary. Good rants are intended to up-end conventional wisdom – especially in unconventional times – and their expression is a ‘revolution of conscious thought and will’ that comes from the future, and not from the past - hence there is little base for substantiation. Think about it. How could Kennedy accurately identify the need for a man on the moon? Sure, he did have some support in the idea that if the USA didn’t do it, the USSR would become an expanded threat. But that argument was relatively shallow when compared with the real reasons that have unfolded since the space race matured. Just look at the immense role that space travel has played in the development of technology and humanity’s view of and relationship with our world and planet. Think about Churchill’s rant when he stated ‘we will fight them on the beaches” as an expression of will when ALL of the evidence was absolutely contrary to the immediate reality. What a binding influence and self-proclaiming belief that even Hitler’s best rant couldn’t beat!.

8. The choice for people of whether the rant makes sense to pursue, is a very personal choice and framed by a individual’s profession/discipline, way of thinking, experience and legacy investment in life.

People can get very upset if you indicate that they may be thinking incorrectly. That their frame of reference is incorrect. And the javculazsr f spelling or unusual language or delivery or protocol is new or outside of an ‘acceptable vocabulary’. This can provoke a ‘no jargon here please’ defence of conventional thinking and doing – ‘Internet, Google, Ford, Levis and teenager are not in the dictionary’ – so what the hell do you mean by idgeflop?? (that should have been Idegflop with a capital I– get it right!)

And direction? This rant gives us no direct course of action or certainty – we will have none of that! We know we can’t predict the future – but please, when talking about tomorrow, please make it sound like today!

Or in their world, the ranter has no credibility or right to deliver such a message! And dear me, the girl is a girl, and hasn’t been to Oxford, Harvard or even Byford!

And, that if they are to take on thinking about the rant, they have to invest in new thinking and behaviour - ouch!! We’ll have none of that here …… this is a local shop for local people@)!@

And if you swear while saying it (oh my gGod!) – well farque you! And don’t ever mention that ‘gG’ word again.

9. For others the rant can be a joy - maybe because they are less invested in the change being suggested in the rant, or, they are open, wholesighted and whole systems thinkers having the foresight to be proactive in transformation and working in a flow with changing conditions and sensing there may be new value in what the rant is proposing (irrespective of the way it is delivered). Or, they simply don’t have a choice - what they are currently doing isn’t working.

Whatever …… some people just LOVE to get involved in the rant. Whether episodic or serial transformers, the mere act of playing outside their comfort zone and tinkering with thinking is just the ‘beez knees’. This is especially so if they are experienced in thought fora, the ‘creative process’, innovation or being advocates and initiators of change. Demos, the excellent UK-based think tank uses ranting all the time - a lot of their great stuff is put out as rants. Check out the Demos Friday Rant - http://www.demos.co.uk/search/newsearch. At a more ground level view - ‘Yes We Can’ came from a serial ranter – as was “I Want to Become President” written by most third graders in history, including Barack, and me.

10. Ranting and being involved as a ranter is CRITICAL for new ideas to breakthrough the fog of fixed thinking – speaking over the ‘fappers fapping’ (fixed action patterns) at the thought of something new - especially in times of extraordinary change. A rant can be used as a subtle nudge for value adding to what is a continuous change to ‘industry standard’, or for an explosive discontinuous change revolution that reorients not only industry standard capability, but the value propositions that have concreted such capability into conventional wisdom. Whether a continuity or a discontinuity depends upon the severity of the immediate and emergent conditions that frame the rant.

In making his man on the moon speech Kennedy was highly provocative, and his message was disorienting and discontinuous to many. Very few people understood it. Much less were engaged and aligned with the idea, and relatively none were committed to action in this area - even those with the technical experience who were needed to make it a reality. To top it off, John was asking for more money to do it, at a time when cash was tight.

He was also breaking with convention in when these types of rants were delivered. The speech was delivered as a special message to the US congress on urgent national needs, and he opened it by stating: “The Constitution imposes upon me the obligation to “from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union.” While this has traditionally been interpreted as an annual affair, this tradition has been broken in extraordinary times. These are extraordinary times. And we face an extraordinary challenge”.

If there was ever a time for ‘gloves off’ ranting, I think that might be now. Do you agree?

The time that really forged my thinking was the 60’s and 70’s. Maybe the time post the idea and rant of a ’summer of love’, ‘ban the bomb’, ‘give peace a chance’ and ‘imagine’ has lost the true spirit of the rant. Maybe ‘Coke Adds Life’, ‘I’m from the government and here to help’, and even ‘just do it’ have somehow diverted the persuasive tone and temper of the rants of the past? Maybe ‘yes we can’ will be the start of a new age of rant, ranting and ranters? Maybe?

The world is or could be in big, heavy metal, gross-out schtook my friends - and as a school mate of mine from Romania used to rant in his very broken English about his entry into his new Australian world: ‘mate, its all up to sheeet!’.

2008 and next year is 2009, with climate change, economic crisis and social angst as the backdrop - I think it is the time to rant. I also think that you are the potential ranter to do something about it in your way. Use what it takes. Your experience, your energy and your ideas, and your God. Whatever it takes to put your man on the moon.

So, in closing, I would assert that my rant has proven - ranting leads to reality - especially when you use this rant as evidence and as a citation for your rant, and the whole world eventually accepts ranting as the ‘normal’ way to begin life and world changing events and action. Even those academics, nay sayers and ’squelchers’ (gotta love one of the greatest ranters of all - Jane Jacobs) who may have to refute the idea because, well ………., uhhmmm ……. just because, or ……… because (put your rant in here).

That is unless someone has a counter-rant to this idea?

Or maybe a support or counter for another very rantable idea – “A Resilient World by @)!@ – What is Your Role?”

Whaddya reckon ranters?

Don’t be ‘ronry’ - get ranting!

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The Audacity of Resilience - A Call to Communities

Fred Presley - November 5, 2008

As Barack Obama gave his victory speech last night, I couldn’t help but be moved by the historical significance of the whole event. Electing the first African-American President in US history is an amazing accomplishment for a country that only 4 years ago seemed to be slipping further away from tolerance rather than being drawn towards it. I also found it appropriate that this 2nd US President to come out of the State of Illinois is African-American, while the 1st President to come from that State ended slavery.  Like Lincoln, Obama faces a country in a crisis that will require sacrifices from all of us to overcome. His platform for change and hope provides us all with great opportunity and responsibility to rise to the occasion and be the change we so desperately need. 

This change will require new ways of thinking about old problems.  It will require the elimination of the old industrial mechanistic systems of governments and organizations and the creation of new adaptive and resilient systems that can respond to the complexity of the rapidly changing world in which we live.  Having a President of the United States who can embrace this change (and I believe we now will have that person in Obama), is a great step in the right direction but the change must come not just from the top but from heart of society - its communities.

The cities, towns, and villages of this nation must answer the call and recreate the hope, energy, diversity, creativity, connectedness and wealth that once defined this country but has been dwindling in recent years.  Communities cannot sit back and wait for county, state, or federal government to solve their problems.  In the current economic reality that just isn’t going to happen, nor should it.  A new era of civic responsibility is required.  This responsibility needs to extend beyond the often arbitrary geographic borders of towns and states.  Here the role of state and federal entities can be to help facilitate the relationship and remove unnecessary barriers that inhibit the exchange of information and resources. But it must be the communities themselves and all of the interconnected and interdependent organizations, companies and individuals within those communities that demand more of their government, more of their planners, more of their education systems and more of themselves. 

A year ago, I made a bold move for my family and myself.  I decided to leave public service after 8 years and begin a career in private consulting.  I did this not because I wanted to finally cash in on my years of experience. No, I did this because along the way I was introduced to a new way of looking at government systems, planning and resource management that actually worked.  After 8 years at state and local government jobs, first working for the environment and later as the Director of Planning and Economic Development for a local community, I had been extremely frustrated by the sheer inability of the systems that were in place to deal with the complexity of the issues that they were supposed to address.  More often than not these systems ultimately exacerbated the problems they tried to solve. 

Then I had the good fortune of being involved in a coastal resources project facilitated by an Australian man named Larry Quick.  Larry took the group through a process that seemed on one hand foreign and abstract yet somehow intimately familiar and true at a deeper level of understanding that I would only over time appreciate.  When I went to work as Director of Planning and Economic Development for a local Rhode Island community, I called Larry and asked what he thought about using this process around community planning and economic development.  He loved the idea and off we went.

What became clear to me over the coming months was that the organizations and people were not the problem.  The problem was the systems they were working with and processes (or lack there of) they used to deal with changing conditions. A new way of thinking was needed.  This process that Larry brought offered a process that people could use to change their thinking.  And it worked!  So when local political disruption moved me to leave public service, it did not take long for me to realize my path.  This is the change that communities and organizations needed.  And I know it works.  The more communities and organizations that we can get using this process, the more rapidly we can get real needed change happening. 

Over the last year, The Resilient Futures Network was born.  It was born from the thinking that Larry had developed over his many years of business strategy, economic and community development, and complex adaptive systems thinking.  I joined up with Larry as did as did David Platt, Paul Houghton, and Todd Davies to round out a diverse and passionate group of thinkers whose mission is to change the world by changing the way that leaders, companies, organizations, communities and nations think and act in this rapidly changing world. And ultimately, to move the world toward a resilient future.          

Listening to Barack Obama last night reinforced in me the reason why I left the security of government employment and turned down high paying corporate positions: the change we, of the Resilient Futures network, are trying to create is desperately needed.  It may take some time and effort (and sacrifice) to get people, organizations and communities thinking in ways that will create this change but it is too important not to try.  As Obama stated last night, the challenges we face are “the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. ”  To face these challenges we must become resilient. The Resilient Futures Network definition of resilience is whole systems, proactively self-transforming in a flow with changing conditions, and prospering.  The process is not simple or easy but real change seldom is.  We need to ‘change’ how we do business.  Let’s all be that change!

Get engaged in the thinking.  Join the Resilient Futures Network RSS feed today.  Join the discussions and bring others into the conversation.  Yes We Can! 

Related posts

• July 9, 2008 — Action Report Card (0)
• May 21, 2008 — Resilience Planning Course - June 11, Providence, Rhode Island (0)
• May 21, 2008 — Fred Presley (0)
• October 26, 2008 — AXA, Perpetual, Challenger - As the backloop grows stronger it draws more entities in (4)
• October 20, 2008 — Westerly, RI - A Resilient Futures Discussion October 22, 7:00 p.m. (0)

The Australian government this week stepped in to guarantee bank loans and deposits. This was implemented as a solution to bank liquidity, and one that is being adopted around the world. The rationale for this was simple enough, lenders and depositors have been spooked by the prospect of defaults, and therefore this measure is aimed to give investors and banks confidence to do business with each other again, and not withdraw existing business. In other words, get credit flowing again, and make sure there isn’t a run on the banks.

This solution was adopted in many countries, and to some extent they had no choice. As part of global system, if you get a state change in one country, you’d better follow suit or end up out in the cold (no Iceland reference intended). And at first blush it seems to have worked. But in Australia, like other countries, this intervention has had unintended consequences. The security provided over bank deposits has effectively created two tiers of security – deposits guaranteed by the government (bank deposits), and everything else.

During the course of the week one analyst put a hold rating on Australian mortgage trusts, resulting in a run on Challenger’s funds, then Perpetual and AXA. By mid-week the phone lines were running hot by depositors to see if they could withdraw their money. The answer to which was clearly “no” – those funds don’t maintain that level of liquidity. To quote Perpetual’s CEO on Sunday “On Friday I’ve never seen a call centre like it.”

More crisis meetings have happened at government level, and the guarantees are being capped, emergency meetings are being held next week with the mortgage trusts, more tinkering is likely and those sitting on the sidelines take pot shots at those in charge.

Meanwhile in the United States, former Federal Reserve head Alan Greenspan was summoned to Washington to face accusations by a Senate Banking Committee that he was partially responsible for creating this mess. His response was humble compared to previous appearances as illustrated in the quotation below:

“A critical pillar to market competition and free markets did break down. I still do not fully understand why it happened.” Greenspan said. When asked about whether there were flaws in his model, he responded “You know, that’s precisely the reason I was shocked, because I have been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well.”

Clearly, this is different from other downturns and is requiring a different response. We’d suggest that different thinking is also required.

A resilience perspective

Here’s a few of my casual observations from the week’s events using some of the RFN thinking and process. If you haven’t been through the process or want a refresher before diving into this, you might want to watch Larry’s recent video first (27m 14s).

Without resilient thinking in policy development, we will work our way through to economic recovery by trial and error – which is what we’ve done in every other recession in the past.

Now we can’t say we foresaw what happened, nor that we have the solutions, but what we can say is that winners and losers will be determined by those with strong knowledge of conditions and aspects of the resilience model baked into their business or cause. If you haven’t assessed the resilience of your organisation or cause, you may be a putting them at risk, and perhaps joining the list of leaders being held to account as being reckless.

Related posts

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• October 14, 2008 — Real Risks of Business as Usual (0)
• September 20, 2008 — Financial Markets - Time Out from a Ticking Bomb! (26)
• August 23, 2008 — Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) – Main Event or a Side Show? (7)
• November 6, 2008 — Election Reaction - The Audacity of Resilience (3)

“With the election around the corner, local can didates and members of the public are invited to a forum on how the community can best adapt to a changing world.

The Westerly Land Trust is hosting a presentation and dis cussion on “resilience thinking” on Wednesday, Oct. 22. This line of thinking is described as an alternative to “business as usual” and looks ahead to see how the town can position itself to deal with emerging conditions.

Westerly resident Frederick Presley, a certified planner through the American Institute of Certified Planners with over 14 years’ experience in the public and private sector, will lead the discussion. He said he hopes political candidates and mem­bers of the public attend and partake in the conversation.

As the community and country face interconnected challenges ranging from financial con straints to fluctuating energy prices, mounting job losses and the threat of global warming, Presley proposes taking a different approach.

He described resilience thinking as “whole systems thinking” — or a 360-degree view — that involves looking at whether the town, state and nation are able to ade quately confront the com plexity arising around these things.

Other questions include whether the town has consid ered the impact on major infrastructure and planning, and whether it is “prepared to accept the risks we are taking by continuing to treat these issues in isolation, rather than as parts of a whole system,” Presley said.

Presley said he presents “this way of thinking as an alternative to what’s being done now.” The approach is one of anticipating problems and adapting, rather than reacting to them, he said.

Presley has employed some of this thinking as a member of the town’s Blue Ribbon Economic Development Committee and Peak Oil Task Force. He formerly worked as the planning and economic development direc tor for Smithfield.

The workshop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Westerly Land Trust headquarters in the Industrial Trust building at 14 High St.

For more information, visit www.resilientfutures.org.”

Related posts

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• August 29, 2008 — Resilient leadership? (3)
• July 9, 2008 — Action Report Card (0)
• July 4, 2008 — July 16, Rhode Island - Resilient Planning with Fred Presley (0)
• May 21, 2008 — Resilience Planning Course - June 11, Providence, Rhode Island (0)

This is essential viewing for anyone in a governance, leadership, assurance or strategy role in a large organisation.  This presentation is particularly timely given current and increasing market turbulence, and the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s reminder that it is expecting CEOs and Boards to have a strong understanding of ‘material business risk’.

As always, comments are welcomed and appreciated.

The Real Risks of Business as Usual
Todd Davies, Practice Leader - Risk
Perth 2008, Duration: 14m 58s
Click to play, or right click to save a copy.  (Quicktime required).
Large (168MB) | Small (60.8MB)

More of our work on strategic risk can be found here.

Related posts

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• August 23, 2008 — Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) – Main Event or a Side Show? (7)
• May 29, 2008 — An Imperfect Storm - resilience or ignorance within eight cost shocks (2)
• October 26, 2008 — AXA, Perpetual, Challenger - As the backloop grows stronger it draws more entities in (4)
• July 9, 2008 — Action Report Card (0)

Planning for Growth, Climate Change and Water Shortages
How resilient is your community and are you managing these types of risk?

The aim of the strategy forum was to introduce participants to a resilience-based approach to complex problem solving and to explore Western Australia’s ability to be resilient in the face of problems such as planning for growth, climate change and water shortages. The forum kicked off a week which marked the beginning of the Resilient Futures Network’s campaign for a Resilient Western Australia – a campaign in response to the need to encourage and promote a different way for government, communities, organisations and individuals to think and act.

The summary-report and the various videos taken during the forum on the 11^th are intended to open up a conversation about our ability - both in Western Australia and as a global community - to be resilient in the face of some of the most serious issues and challenges of our time: water shortages, climate change and planning for growth.

In some ways the words of Jamais Cascio capture the essence of what lies at the heart of this campaign. He said,

“It seems to me that what we should be striving for in an environment — and a civilization — is to be able to handle dynamic, unexpected changes without threatening to collapse. This is more than simply sustainable; it’s regenerative and diverse, relying on both a capacity to absorb shocks and to co-evolve with them. In a word, it’s resilient.”

So the challenge is before us. Can we be more than sustainable? Can we both absorb shocks and co-evolve with them? Can we self-transform in a flow with changing conditions and prosper?

Can we be resilient? Or, do we plod grimly on to the possible future as proposed by Tim Flannery.

“I think there is a fair chance Perth will be the 21st century’s first ghost metropolis. It’s whole primary production is in dire straits and the eastern states are only 30 years behind. (2004)”

As we continue to grapple with challenges such as climate change, water and planning for growth the opportunity is here for us to take the lead in creating resilient strategies out of which local communities can make well-informed and supported decisions about how they will tackle complex problems.

If we are to be resilient, if Western Australia is to be resilient, then we must re-think what we do and how we do it. And, we must do this thinking and doing as a network of committed organisations and individuals.

This then, as much as anything is an invitation to connect, a call to action. Read the summary report, watch the videos, use the forum to post your thoughts and insights, suggest alternatives, share your stories, tell us what you’ve learned and what you think.

Most importantly however, please don’t sit by and wait for someone else to do it. We have waited until now and “they” haven’t done it yet – and it doesn’t look like “they” will.

Now, it is up to us.

Join the network and commit to a Resilient Future for Western Australia and the world.

Related posts

• July 9, 2008 — Action Report Card (0)
• August 23, 2008 — Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) – Main Event or a Side Show? (7)
• October 14, 2008 — Real Risks of Business as Usual (0)
• May 21, 2008 — Resilience Planning Course - June 11, Providence, Rhode Island (0)
• April 18, 2008 — Risk, Governance & Assurance (0)