Book 1 3.0 singles

Temenos Vision 4126860 Session 7As with the personal history map or Influence Map and Video:your Clean Slate Temenos-style maps. sharing your vision Introduction tomap with others, ideally in a circle where each person pre- Session 7sents their own vision map, creates a remarkably powerfulcontext for deep insight, co-creation and collective intel- https://www.ligence. youtube.com/As with the other maps, don’t worry if you don’t often draw watch?v=jQbHHBBzrx-pictures or if you don’t consider yourself good at drawing. o&index=7&list=PL-vE-Your images need only be shown to yourself and to peo- oc_0nuJjsvaDCVDx4u-ple you specifically invite and deeply trust to see them. It wPFyVcA6Sykis impossible to do this wrong. Give yourself time to createthe map, perhaps 15 to 30 minutes.Give each person a good period, perhaps 20-40 minuteseach, to present their map. If working with others, andalso if working with yourself (as if you were an objectiveobserver), listen deeply to what is said and pictured andthe feelings, intuitions and embodied experiences behindthe words. Share your insights and experience with otherpresenters, but resist trying to judge, evaluate, fix or ad-vise what others are sharing. Hold each other gently, lov-ingly, appreciatively.As a result of the dialogue and the insights of presentingand interacting with your trusted circle, what new thingshave you learned and decided about yourself, other peo-ple, and the forces acting on your life? What needs to hap-pen now? What will you do next?We invite you to save your map, and/or images of it, andrecord any insights, reflections and decisions in your jour-

1426807 Temenos Vision Session 7 Once you have made and presented your own vision map, if the dynamics of your group suggest it, you can make a collective vision map, reflecting a shared vision of the future as a co-creative weave of the visions of individual participants. Such a shared vision may be particularly appropriate if the group working together on Temenos also work together in day-to-day life, in which case this process may help them to attune their work to- gether, They may gain and share more insight into their sense of shared purpose, and may appreciate one another’s contributions and and unique gifts more. Physically work on drawing the map together, in real time. This team exercise can be a remarkably connecting and inspiring joint piece of work. You may choose to create a team vision even if the participants will not be working together in the future. The team vision will still reflect shared insights and new breakthroughs of understanding not seen individually, which each member can carry home with her. We strongly encourage you to keep your maps, individual and group, either physically or electronically, so that you return to them, reflect on them and compare them to maps you may make later. The Temenos journey, including this final visioning stage, is described powerfully and in more detail in the book Showing Up, by Olaf Lewitz and Christine Neidhardt (https://leanpub.com/showingup)

Inspirations from Agile 48Session 8At some point we may have a sense of a vision of the Video:future we want to create - in which case the next Introduction toquestion can be: “how do I make this vision come alive.” Session 8The answer we are looking for might be some kind ofstrategy or plan (see also the Backbone below).If a vision is a long-range one, planning for it can seem https://www.youtube.daunting on one hand, and potentially time-consuming com/watch?v=w-on the other. We might ask ourselves how to plot out a 1W2M7M9-Gs&in-long-term future in great detail. dex=8&list=PL-vEo-One inspiration to help with this challenge, drawing on c_0nuJjsvaDCVDx4u-the Agile approach to software development (or to any wPFyVcA6Sykother kind of product or creative development) is as fol-lows. (See References for more information about Agile).Agile thinking’s precursors began recognising a fewdecades ago that planning large projects in excruciatingdetail for execution over several years was an ineffectiveway of working. Skilled practitioners in softwaredevelopment realised that, despite the hope of doingso, it is nearly impossible to forecast several years outwhat will actually be needed at that time in a dynamicstrategic or operating environment. Equally, almost noone - not users, not designers - is very good at definingrequirements for a major undertaking without seeingand working with the underlying product or output inpractical use.

49 MIennsItpnalisrmpaoitridaoetnli:osinnfsrpsoirfmartoioAmngs AfirlogemilAegile Session 8Video: Agile planning works by writing stories about the future, and then working in short bursts of activity iterative-Agile Product ly to bring small, usable parts of that future to life. WeOwnership can then try these incremental “releases” out in the realin a Nutshell world. Each time part of the future is “made”, we have a chance to try it out and learn from our experience. As wehttps://www. learn, we create more and more of our future reality ...youtube.com/ and ... each time we move forward, we incorporate ourwatch?v=502ILHjX- growing knowledge and wisdom gained from using our9EE&feature=youtu. prototypes in practice - including learning from mistakesbe and failures as well as successes. The planning and exe- cution is dynamic and adaptive.Video: Accordingly, one way to create strategies and plans on the basis of visions of the future is to write the vision as aLaurie Young: kind of story about the future, and then to create “slices”What is Agile? of that future vision - small bits of the story - to bring to life early on, day by day, week by week, month by month.https://www. As you bring these parts of the future vision to life, youyoutube.com/ can put them into practice and see how they perform.watch?v=PKDdbx- You can use your daily learning to make new decisionsFzT-4&feature=you- about how the story of the future evolves, and to maketu.be new decisions about which parts of the future vision to build next. If some ideas are failures, we learn this fast and welcome the learning. We fail fast, and inexpensive- ly, in order to shape a more robust future.

Agile planning 50 Session 8In your inspirational or purpose work, in this curriculumor elsewhere, provides you with a glimpse, or more thana glimpse, of a vision of the future, we invite you to writeyour vision as a story. It can be very short and sketchy atfirst. As much as possible, write the story in the presenttense, and from the point of view of customers, users orbeneficiaries (which may include yourself ) of the work orcreative effort you have in mind.The story may have parts and sub-parts, for exampleparts of a business plan or dimensions of theinspirational star.You may want to create “swim lanes” or sections on alarge piece of paper for each of the parts. You can hangthe paper on the wall or lay it out on the floor.Write major elements of the story on large post-its orindex cards and and place them (or stick them if on thewall) in the swim-lanes in their “right place”, reflectingwhat needs to be done chronologically, but also in theright spatial order to reflect importance. Notice anyrelationships that suggest themselves to you betweenkey elements in the different swim-lanes.You may want to group activities in large buckets oftime: this year, next year, or whatever is an appropriatescale for you. Don’t do this with a sense of rigid commit-ment, but rather in a spirit of play, experimentation anddiscovery.

51 ExAegrAciilsgeei:pleAlagPinlleanpninlnagninnging Session 8 We encourage you to keep the planning map you have created somewhere where you can go back to it, see it, develop it, play with it, change it. Don’t think of your future story as fixed: think of it as emerging and evolving, informed by what you are learning every day. For your near-term planning, choose some elements of the story (including each of its parts as appropriate) that you think you can complete in a period of a few weeks, perhaps one week to one month, whatever seems like the right interval for you. The Agile world has developed a bias for shorter planning cycles, to facilitate rapid learn- ing and adaptation. Whatever you choose for your own iteration cycle, be clear with yourself on its length. Break each story item down into actions or tasks you can do in less than a day, ideally in one sitting. Create a small card or a sticky note for each story item you have created in this way. Focus on delivering small but internally com- plete and usable parts of your long-term plan, or pro- totypes that allow you test parts of it in action, in each short-term planning period (sometimes called Sprints in the Agile world). Separately from your long-term planning document, make a large sheet with three columns: To do, In Progress, Done. Place your near-term planning cards all in the To Do column to start. As you start work on items, move their cards to the In Progress column. Try to work on only one In-Progress item at a time. As your items are completed, move them into the Done column.

Agile planning 52 Session 8At the end of your personal iteration cycle, notice andreflet on what you have accomplished, and what not.What was good about this cycle’s work? What stood inyour way? What have you learned for the next cycle?What have you learned about your larger, longer-termplan? Go back to it and make changes as needed. Youmay want to include significant others in this process tohelp you reflect and give you feedback. Start the itera-tion cycle again and repeat the process.This way of planning, working, delivering, reflecting,learning and adapting can be repeated over and overagain indefinitely. It tends to make our long-term visionsand plans living things, emerging daily, continuouslyinformed and improved by daily learning.

53 ExPeerPcrisesoer:snPoaenlrsaolunStaohl biaeuilotdogbriaopgrhayphy* Bringing inspiration to life We invite you to write your personal autobiography, working in seven-year time bands. Seek to write each segment in no more than seventy words. If you are young enough to have only two or three seven-year seg- ments, you can work with these, or use three-and-a-half year time bands instead. Focus on the most emotionally important events in each time-band. What gifts did other people give you that shaped who you are? What challenges did you face, and how did you respond? What moments seem to illustrate you at your best? What things you have done that made you most proud? Alternatively, if there have been moments of particular pain, notice what these were, as inspirations for what would you like to do to create a world where these things would not happen again, to you or to others? Write your autobiography and keep it in a place where you can refer to it from time to time. What does your autobiography tell you about the person you are? About your strengths and achievements? About the person you want to become? * This exercise is inspired by the practice of the nowhere group, as described in their pulished works

Personal shield 54 Bringing inspiration to lifeWorking from your personal autobiography, we inviteyou to make yourself a personal shield. You could use around piece of cardboard or a round piece of wood asthe background, or choose or make another shape thatappeals to you.Divide the circle into as many sections as there aretime-band segments in your autobiography. If you areyoung enough to have only a few segments, you mightchose to use three-and-a-half year segments in the sameway as in the autobiography.Choose one or two evocative symbols that capture theenergetic essence of each time band and draw themonto the shield.What does looking at this shield tell you about yourhistory? About the things that have been mostimportant to you? About your greatest successes,accomplishments? About the things you love? Aboutwhat has shaped you and your ambitions for the future?Share and describe your shield with others you trust.What does the telling of your story in this way contributeto your own understanding?* This exercise is inspired by the practice of the nowhere group, asdescribed in their pulished works

55 Backbone Bringing inspiration to life We’ve been exploring ways to discover our personal sense of inspiration, and how these things can emerge from our history and current experience. We’ve also looked at some ways to crystallise our vision of the future. A natural question is how all these things can fit together. The leadership catalysts at the nowhere group have come up with a mental model we like a lot to connect these explorations together. They call it “The Backbone”: it is described on page 121 of both the “My” and the “Our” sections of their book, the Way of nowhere. Essentially, the approach calls for linking the elements we’ve been exploring in different ways in a relationship that builds up: from history, to what we stand for now, to our senses of purpose, values and inspiration. There is then a leap forward to a sense of vision, and then step- ping backward to fill in the details of a strategy: how to get there. The diagram on the facing page is a simplified version of the way nowhere draws this framework. Respecting their copyright, we won’t reproduce their beautiful and elegant diagrams here but we do highly recommend checking it out in The Way of nowhere book.

Vision 56Strategy Linking history, present reality, purpose, values, inspiration to vision and strategyPurpose, values, Note inspiration The various elements support and underpin one another, like theWhat do I stand vertebrae in a backbone, hence the for now? name. The beauty of this conception is that it History can allow us to work from fundamental foundations to a sense of where we are going and to practical action steps to get there, all in a connected way, one we can visualise and occupy spatially.

57 ExWerWcoisroekr:ikWnigonrgkwinwigthiwthitthhtehthebeabbcaackckbkboobnnoeene Bringing inspiration to life If you have done some work in this curriculum on some or all of your past, present, inspiration, and future vision, you may want to explore how these insights tie togeth- er - and how they can help you create an action plan to call forward the future you envision. If you have some of the building blocks but not all, don’t worry, this process can build on what you already have, and also steer you in filling in the gaps. You might want to create some floor cards or write on pieces of A4 paper the words on the next page. You can do this exercise on your own, or in partnership with a coach, mentor, catalyst or trusted friend or colleague. If you have done a Temenos process in a group, you might want to invite one or more of your Temenos collaborators to join you in this work. We’d invite you to adapt the “Purpose, values, inspiration” card to your personal situation. If you have a sense that you have a personal purpose, you might name the card to reflect that sense. If you feel you have a number of threads of inspiration working, rather than a singular sense of purpose, you might want to label the card simply “Inspiration” (or have several cards). If you feel mostly in touch with your personal values, label the card in that way. If there is a combination of these influ- ences, use a mixture, or several cards. As you stand in the place of your History, what do you know? What do you experience? What do you notice? Notice your experience with all your “ways of knowing” - emotional, intuitive, sensory, the “felt sense” within your body - as well as your thinking, cognitive mind.

Working with the backbone 58 Bringing inspiration to life Vision Strategy Purpose, values, inspiration What do I stand for now? History

59 ExWeroWcirsokeir:nkWgionrwkgiinwtghiwtthihthtethhbeeabbcaakcckbbkoobnoeene Bringing inspiration to life Please be invited to record any insights in your journal, and to share them with any partners you are working with. Give yourself time to notice and record any insights. Next, move on to the second card, moving up from the bottom. What do you stand for now? How has your experience in the past shaped where you are today? What strengths do you experience? What questions are you holding? You may want to recall or physically hold records or artefacts of prior work you have done around your present situation, including any Temenos Clean Slate Maps. You might want to start out facing your history, and then turn to face toward your future. Once again, please be invited to record any insights in your journal, and to share them with any partners you are working with. Give yourself time to notice and record any insights. Next, move to stand on the third card. Invoking, and possibly physically holding or touching the artefacts of any work you have done on inspiration, purpose, and/or values, what do you understand or sense as you stand in this place? As before, employ all your “ways of knowing.” You might begin by facing the past and the present, and then slowly turn to face the future. What do you notice. Once again, please be invited to record any insights in your journal, and to share them with any partners you are working with. Give yourself time to notice and record any insights.

Working with the backbone 60 Bringing inspiration to life Next, perhaps counter-intuitively, leap ahead to the card that says Vision. We want vision to be out front as we face the future, and we need vision before we develop strategy. Using any vision work you have done, including a Temenos vision map, the results of an Inspi- ration Quest, and perhaps any stories you have created about your future, reflect on what you know about your vision of the future? As before use all your “ways of knowing.” What do you know, understand, and perceive about your vision for the future. Allow yourself to look out physically toward the future, even beyond your vision, as well as back toward your inspiration and your sense of where you have been and where you are. As with each of the other stages, please be invited to record any insights in your journal, and to share them with any partners you are working with. Give yourself time to notice and record any insights.

61 ExWeroWcriskoeir:nkWgionrwgkiinwtghiwtthihthethtbheeabbcakacbckkboobnnoene Bringing inspiration to life Finally, take a step back to stand on the card for your strategy. Touch in to any work you may have done on this topic, including creating Agile stories for implementation of your vision or any other planning techniques you have used (See section on Agile planning above). What do you understand from this place? Are there new insights about what’s needed in strategy and tactics to bring your vision to life? If your strategy has multiple streams, mentally “stand” on each stream and see what you notice. Do some parts feel exciting and motivating? Do some feel less in tune? What new insights are arising? As with each of the other stages, please be invited to record any insights in your journal, and to share them with any partners you are working with. Give yourself time to notice and record any insights. At any stage of this process, if you have not done work on the relevant area before, don’t worry. Go onto that space with an open mind, an open heart and an open will. Notice what insights arise - or what questions. The questions may be the most valuable gifts. Record what you are learning in your journal and/or share it with your partners in the exercise. You can also feel free to move back and forth across the cards. You can move in patterns that seem right to you and observe the learnings. We would suggest that you move slowly and mindfully, so you can pay attention to any changes that occur from one vantage point to another.

Working with the backbone 62 Bringing inspiration to life As you do the exercise, notice the relationship between the perspectives. Do they support one another? Is there a natural build, sequence or journey as you move through time? Do you notice disconnects or dissonances? As ever, be invited to use all your ways of knowing. When you are finished with each of the positions, you may want to stand or sit in a place where you can see the whole, and reflect on the entire process. As ever, feel free to share insights and record them in your journal. This exercise can help you to construct a sense of how your history and your inspiration can shape your desired future, in both visionary and practical terms, in an inte- grated and attuned way. You can return to the exercise at any time, come back to it again and again, and enter it at any point. Doing so may help to create new insights about how the whole system works together - and to re-tune elements that seem to be out of tune. The view of the whole may also give you clarity about what’s needed within any of the parts. You may want to keep your journal notes and any relevant artefacts in safe, memorable and accessible places where you can access them as you need them.

63 ExSCetoreCcviposeehvy:e’Ssnytfe’suCpnhfoueevnneraeCylro’saevleFxyeu’xsrncefeuirsrncaeeilsrael Bringing inspiration to life In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey invites readers to carry out this mental exercise. Imagine you are able to attend your own funeral, some years in the future. If you are a young person, or find the funeral image too morbid, you can imagine a celebration in your honour several years from now. Consider the various streams of activity and inspiration that are important in your life, possibly animated by our five points of inspiration. Consider who you would wish to be speaking at this celebration of your life, and what you would like them to say about you. Reflecting on these themes now, years before the point of future recollection you are now imagining, allows you time and space to consider what is really important to you. This is one way of gaining insight into what inspires you: what you think represents a good life for you, and what it would look like, sound like, feel like, to have that appreciated by others several years from now. For example, • What would you like to have someone say about your relationship to those closest to you: possibly your parents, your siblings, your partner or spouse, your children, your closest friends. What kind of a person did they see in you? What are their most touching and inspiring memories of you?

Covey’s funeral exercise 6126840Session 7 Bringing inspiration to life • What would you like people to say about your Work? What have you created? How are you of service to customers, clients, colleagues, co-workers, stakeholders? What kind of professional are you? What are your special skills? What is your “art”? • What would you like people to say about how you have developed yourself? Your education, your skills and talents, your health, your fitness, your personal achievements? • What would you like to have someone say about your involvement in communities and ecosystems? Perhaps a company or organisation you have created or led, your role in your work community, community groups, a faith-based group, a charity? Are you involved in environmental work or do you have a particular allegiance to protecting nature? Are you involved in social projects? • What would you like people to say about your sense of your highest truth? Your faith, your spirituality, your personal philosophy or worldview? How have you developed these elements? How have you shared them? What does doing this exercise tell you about where you would like to be investing your time today, so that when your life is celebrated years from now, the dimensions of your life that you are proud of have been realised? What would you like to create or call forward in the world? How would you like to serve? How would you like to be remembered? Allow yourself to imagine what’s possible.

Conclusion: the first question.We hope that this first theme of the Curriculum provides some valuable stimuliand provocations for you as you seek to discover and bring to life your own senseof purpose or inspiration.Our intent is to provide you with a range and variety of resources, from whichyou can choose and adopt those that serve you, and leave the rest. Equally, if youare reading or working with this, we consider you part of our community, and wehope you will feel warmly invited to share feedback and creative suggestions forhow the curriculum can be developed and improved.Far from becoming fixed in a static form, we want the curriculum to evolve,continually and elegantly, with regular new editions released, electronically andphysically. Please help us shape and develop and grow this work. We particularlywelcome a diversity of voices - culturally, geographically, politically,philosophically, economically and from every possible orientation - so the workcan benefit from - and we can learn from and with - as wide and diverse anaudience as possible.We invite you to share this work with friends, family, mentors, mentees,coaches, teachers, colleagues - whoever helps to shape your experience ofinspiration and purpose, and whose experience of these things you help toshape. We have a profound respect - and a wondering and curious admiration- for the power of dialogue and collective intelligence in calling forward insightand breakthrough. We hope you will agree and that you will make use of thosepowers for your own learning and growth: to co-create, develop and then sharethe insights that arise for you.This edition, or release, of the curriculum includes only the first of our (currentlyintended) nine themes. We are at work already on the others … and … inspiredby an Agile mindset, we want to offer you, our customers, colleagues andcommunity members, early and regular opportunities to engage with the work,to use it in real life, and to help us, through feedback and collaboration, to makeit ever better and better as we move forward together.Please enjoy the journey and please share your stories and insights with all of us.





Quotes, sources, readingsNote to participants about quotations:These quotations have been gathered, and continue to be gathered, bythe founders and participants of this curriculum, as examples of ideasand expressions that have inspired people we know, or called them to asense of personal purpose, or drawn them to bring their gifts of crea-tivity and service to life in the world. They are from diverse sources anddiverse perspectives. As you read them, some may resonate, some maynot, some may repel. Some of the terminology may seem strange or for-eign or wrong for you. Please feel free to take what fits for you -- possi-bly including what challenges you -- and leave the rest. Also feel free toexplore within the community any ideas or terms that do not seemclear or about which you would like to learn more. And finally, this listas it now exists is only a beginning: please be in invited to contributeyour own inspiring quotations to this list!

Quotations The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. - Alan Alda My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. - Maya Angelou You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot - it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive. -Maya Angelou The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Some- body who may not look like you. They may not call God the same name you call God - if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think. - Maya Angelou

I think the underlying belief, through that opaque glass,is that we’re not enough …. I see timidity everywhere.But there is a place inside people where that doesn’texist, and that’s really what I want to examine. - Nic AskewI realised that I had this compelling belief, not even abelief, just knowing, that we’re all inextricably connect-ed. No matter what. There’s no exception. There just isn’t.And that the person facing you has to be no one else. - Nic Askew.It Is a tragic fact that [our] present system of educationfails to get across to our youth the simple, basic truththat each has within them the capacity for greatness,love and inner peace, and that this treasure can beclaimed if self is made the servant of the Creative Spirit. - Lou AustinSo many people say, ‘I wish I knew what I’m supposed todo in life.’ Well look for the clues. Source is leaving youbreadcrumbs all along the path. If you but follow thebreadcrumbs from one experience of Source to the next,you can lead your life as a never-ending flow of Source,following your soul’s design for your life rather than get-ting trapped by your conflicting ideations and confusingmind-talk.

Your body is a barometer of the soul. If you want toknow if you’re on track, check your body. If you areexperiencing any of the qualities of Source, give yourselfa big pat on the back - you’re in touch, you’re in flow. Inthis way, your soul can guide you from one experience ofSource to the next.[In my workshops...] I ask everyone what are some ofthe qualities that seem to arise naturally out of Source.People call out the various qualities, and the words areall put up on a big whiteboard at the front of the room....below is [the content of ] a typical whiteboard“freedom, boundlessness, joy, clarity, abundance, for-giveness, synchronicity, awareness, peace, humour,fluidity, grace, stillness, fearlessness, openness, silence,divinity, surrender, beingness, alacrity, spontaneity, light-ness, wisdom, care, compassion, effortlessness, beauty,trust, inspiration, healing, vitality, fun, laughter, purity,playfulness, excitement, fulfilment, serendipity, oneness,humility, understanding, acceptance, delight, honouring,strength, courage, vastness, aliveness, vibrancy, passion,balance, timelessness, gentleness, curiosity, simplicity,pure energy, tenderness, wholeness, completeness,serenity, truth.” - Brandon Bays, The Journey [SD note: I like toponder the quotation above, often substituting the word“Inspiration” for Brandon’s use of “Source”. Others mightprefer to stick to her original word, or use mine, or invoketheir own….]Pain pushes until vision pulls. - Michael Beckwith

In order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles. - David Ben-GurionLeadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. - Warren BennisVision animates, inspires, transforms purpose into action. - Warren BennisBecoming a leader is synonymous with becoming your-self. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult. - Warren BennisIn the business world, the rearview mirror is always clear-er than the windshield. - Warren BuffettWe have reversed the usual classical notion that theindependent “elementary parts” of the world are thefundamental reality, and that the various systems aremerely particular contingent forms and arrangementsof these parts. Rather, we say that inseparable quantuminterconnectedness of the whole universe is the funda-mental reality, and that relatively independent behavingparts are merely particular and contingent forms withinthis whole. - David Bohm

My suggestion is that at each state the proper order ofoperation of the mind requires an overall grasp of whatis generally known, not only in formal logical, mathemat-ical terms, but also intuitively, in images, feelings, poeticusage of language, etc. (Perhaps we could say that thisis what is involved in harmony between the ‘left brain’and the ‘right brain’). This kind of overall way of thinkingis not only a fertile source of new theoretical ideas: it isneeded for the human mind to function in a generallyharmonious way, which could in turn help to make possi-ble an orderly and stable society. - David BohmSome tension is necessary for the soul to grow, and wecan put that tension to good use. We can look for everyopportunity to give and receive love, to appreciatenature, to heal our wounds and the wounds of others, toforgive, and to serve. - Joan Z. BorysenkoThe irony is that we attempt to disown our difficultstories to appear more whole and more acceptable, butour wholeness -- even our wholeheartedness -- actuallydepends on the integration of all our experiences, in-cluding the falls.To love ourselves and support each other in the processof becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act ofdaring greatly. -Brene Brown

There are many tenets of Wholeheartedness, but at itsvery core is vulnerability and worthiness; facing uncer-tainty, exposure, and emotional risks, and knowing that Iam enough.- Brene BrownSpirituality emerged as a fundamental guidepost inWholeheartedness. Not religiosity but the deeply heldbelief that we are inextricably connected to one anotherby a force greater than ourselves--a force grounded inlove and compassion. For some of us that’s God, for oth-ers it’s nature, art, or even human soulfulness. I believethat owning our worthiness is the act of acknowledgingthat we are sacred. Perhaps embracing vulnerability andovercoming numbing is ultimately about the care andfeeding of our spirits. - Brene BrownThere are four questions of value in life, Don Octavio.What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worthliving for and what is worth dying for? The answer toeach is the same. Only love. - Lord Byron

The usual hero adventure begins with someone fromwhom something has been taken, or who feels there’ssomething lacking in the normal experiences availableor permitted to the members of his society. This personthen takes off on a series of adventures beyond the ordi-nary, either to recover what has been lost or to discoversome life-giving elixir. It’s usually a cycle, a going and areturning.But the structure and something of the spiritual sense ofthis adventure can be seen already anticipated in the pu-berty or initiation rituals of early tribal societies, throughwhich a child is compelled to give up its childhood andbecome an adult -- to die, you might say, to its infantilepersonality and psyche and come back as a responsibleadult. This is a fundamental psychological transformationthat everyone has to undergo. We are in childhood in acondition of dependency under someone’s protectionand supervision for some 14 to 21 years ... you are in noway a responsible free agent, but an obedient depend-ent, expecting and receiving punishments and rewards.To evolve out of this position of psychological immatu-rity to the courage of self-responsibility and assurancerequires a death and a resurrection. That’s the basic motifof the universal hero’s journey - leaving one’s conditionand finding the source of life to bring you forth into aricher or mature condition. -Joseph Campbell, with Bill Moyers, in The Power of Myth

People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning forlife ... I think that what we’re really seeking is an experi-ence of being alive, so that our life experiences on thepurely physical plane will have resonance within ourinnermost being and reality, so that we can actually feelthe rapture of being alive.But if a person has had the sense of the Call -- the feelingthat there’s an adventure for her -- and if she doesn’t fol-low that, but remains in the society because it’s safe andsecure, then life dries up. And then she comes to thatcondition in late middle age: she’s gotten to the top ofthe ladder, and found that it’s against the wrong wall.If you have the guts to follow the risk, however, lifeopens, opens, opens up all along the line. I’m not super-stitious, but I do believe in spiritual magic, you mightsay. I feel that if one follows what I call one’s “bliss” -- thething that really gets you deep in your gut and that youfeel is your life -- doors will open up. They do! They havein my life and they have in many lives that I know of.And the other point is, if you follow your bliss, you’ll haveyour bliss, whether you have money or not. If you followmoney, you may lose money, and then you don’t haveeven that. The secure way is really the insecure way andthe way in which the richness of the quest accumulatesis the right way. - Joseph Campbell (pronouns adjusted by SD)

If you can see your path laid out in front of you step bystep, you know it’s not your path. Your own path youmake with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path. - Joseph Campbell - quoted by Brene Brown.But I should caution that if you seek to plot out all yourmoves before you make them—if you put your faith inslow, deliberative planning in the hopes it will spare youfailure down the line—well, you’re deluding yourself. Forone thing, it’s easier to plan derivative work—things thatcopy or repeat something already out there. So if yourprimary goal is to have a fully worked out, set-in-stoneplan, you are only upping your chances of being unorig-inal. - Ed CatmullIn the matter of reforming things, as distinct from de-forming them, there is one plain and simple principle; aprinciple which will probably be called a paradox. Thereexists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say,for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected acrossa road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily upto it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear itaway.”To which the more intelligent type of reformer willdo well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certain-ly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then,when you can come back and tell me that you do see theuse of it, I may allow you to destroy it. - G. K. Chesterton, quoted by Matt Philip.To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certainis to be ridiculous.” - Chinese proverb , quoted by Mike Cohn

Remember your dreams and fight for them. You mustknow what you want from life. There is just one thingthat makes your dream become impossible: the fear offailure. - Paulo CoelhoI have seen many storms in my life. Most storms havecaught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly tolook further and understand that I am not capable ofcontrolling the weather, to exercise the art of patienceand to respect the fury of nature. - Paulo CoelhoWhen a person really desires something, all the universeconspires to help that person to realize his dream. - Paulo CoelhoMy literature is much more the result of a paradox thanthat of an implacable logic, typical of police novels. Theparadox is the tension that exists in my soul. - Paulo CoelhoBe brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience. - Paulo Coelho

Elegance is usually confused with superficiality, fashion,lack of depth. This is a serious mistake: human beingsneed to have elegance in their actions and in their pos-ture because this word is synonymous with good taste,amiability, equilibrium and harmony. - Paulo CoelhoI believe enlightenment or revelation comes in daily life. Ilook for joy, the peace of action. You need action. I’d havestopped writing years ago if it were for the money. - Paulo CoelhoWe want to answer this classical question, who am I? SoI think that most of our works for art, or whatever we do,including science or religion, tried to answer that ques-tion. - Paulo CoelhoElegance is achieved when all that is superfluous hasbeen discarded and the human being discovers simplic-ity and concentration: the simpler and more sober theposture, the more beautiful it will be. - Paulo CoelhoEstimating and planning are not just about determiningan appropriate deadline or schedule. Planning—espe-cially an ongoing iterative approach to planning—is aquest for value. Planning is an attempt to find an optimalsolution to the overall product development question:What should we build? - Mike Cohn

… I’ve come to believe that there are two approachesto life. The first, followed by most, is the “paint by num-ber” approach to life. You do what other people say. Youfollow a well-travelled path. You stay within the lines.And you end up with a nice, pretty -- and unimaginative-- picture. The second, followed by few, is to start with ablank canvas and try to paint a masterpiece. It is a riskierpath, a harder path, a path filled with ambiguity and cre-ative choice. But it’s the only way to make your life itselfa creative work of art. To paint a masterpiece requiresa concept, a place to begin, a guiding context in theabsence of the comforting numbers and lines in the pre-made kit. That guiding frame of reference is the highestgoal…., and bringing it into your life with the help ofMichael’s discoveries is what this book is all about. -Jim Collins, in the foreword to Michael Ray’s The Highest GoalEvery human has four endowments- self-awareness,conscience, independent will and creative imagination.These give us the ultimate human freedom... The powerto choose, to respond, to change. - Stephen CoveyIn the last analysis, what we are communicates far moreeloquently than anything we say or do. - Stephen Covey

Most people struggle with life balance simply becausethey haven’t paid the price to decide what is really im-portant to them. - Stephen CoveyThe key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, butto schedule your priorities. - Stephen CoveyA leader will find it difficult to articulate a coherent visionunless it expresses his core values, his basic identity. Onemust first embark on the formidable journey of self-dis-covery in order to create a vision with authentic soul. - Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiEach action we take is an act of self-expression. We oftenthink of large-scale or important deeds as being indi-cations of our real selves, but even how we sharpen apencil can reveal something about our feelings at thatmoment. Do we sharpen the pencil carefully or nervous-ly so that it doesn’t break? Do we bother to pay attentionto what we’re doing? How do we sharpen the same pen-cil when we’re angry or in a hurry? Is it the same as whenwe’re calm or unhurried?Even the smallest movement discloses something aboutthe person executing the action because it is the personwho’s actually performing the deed. In other words, ac-tion doesn’t happen by itself, we make it happen, and indoing so we leave traces of ourselves on the activity. Themind and body are interrelated.” - H.E. Davey

Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadershipis a function of questions. And the first question for aleader always is: ‘Who do we intend to be?’ Not ‘What arewe going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’ - Max DePreeIf you can dream it, you can do it. - Walt DisneyUnless commitment is made, there are only promisesand hopes... but no plans. - Peter DruckerOne always finds that the most obvious, the simplest,the clearest conclusion has not been drawn except by avery small fraction of the practitioners. One always findsthat the obvious is not seen at all. Perhaps this is simplysaying that we never see the obvious as long as we takeit for granted. - Peter Drucker, quoted by Roger L. Martin. If we did all the things we are capable of doing we wouldliterally astound ourselves. - Thomas EdisonVision without execution is hallucination. - Thomas Edison

It is a commonplace of all religious thought, even themost primitive, that the man (sic) seeking visions andinsight must go apart from his fellows and live for a timein the wilderness. - Loren EiseleyThe gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talentfor absorbing positive knowledge. - Albert EinsteinThe world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tensionwaiting to be struck.People only see what they are prepared to see. - Ralph Waldo EmersonNo one’s going to care about our community as much aswe do. So we are the ones who have to take ownership. -Cecily Engelhardt, Thunder Valley Community Development CorporationCreate your future from your future, not your past. - Werner ErhardPeople listen better if they feel that you have understoodthem. They tend to think that those who understandthem are intelligent and sympathetic people whose ownopinions may be worth listening to. So if you want theother side to appreciate your interests, begin by demon-strating that you appreciate theirs. - Roger Fisher

Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want todo. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think youcan go wrong. - Ella FitzgeraldThe best vision is insight. - Malcolm ForbesTo accomplish great things we must dream as well as act. - Anatole FranceWe who lived in concentration camps can remember thepeople who walked through the huts comforting oth-ers, giving away their last piece of bread. They may havebeen few in number, but they offer sufficient proof thateverything can be taken from a person but one thing:the last of the human freedoms--to choose one’s attitudein any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s ownway.The way in which a person accepts her fate and all thesuffering it entails, the way in which she takes up hercross, gives her ample opportunity--even under the mostdifficult circumstances--to add a deeper meaning to herlife. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or inthe bitter fight for self-preservation she may forget herhuman dignity and become no more than an animal.Here lies the chance for a person either to make use of orto forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral valuesthat a difficult situation may afford her. And this decideswhether she is worthy of her sufferings or not.

We must never forget that we may also find meaningin life even when confronted with a hopeless situation,when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For whatthen matters is to bear witness to the uniquely humanpotential at its best, which is to transform a personaltragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament intoa human achievement. When we are no longer able tochange a situation--just think of an incurable diseasesuch as inoperable cancer--we are challenged to changeourselves. - Viktor Frankl (pronouns adjusted)I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference. - Robert FrostIf you limit your choices only to what seems possible orreasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you trulywant, and all that is left is a compromise. -Robert FritzThe best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in theservice of others. - Mahatma GandhiMy life is my message. - Mahatma Gandhi

Glory lies in the attempt to reach one’s goal and not inreaching it.- Mahatma GandhiHe allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction thathuman beings are not born once and for all on the daytheir mothers give birth to them, but that life obligesthem over and over again to give birth to themselves. -Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of CholeraA leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for whatthey can become and to release their energies so theywill try to get there. - David GergenWhatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Bold-ness has genius and magic and power in it. Begin it now.You can’t, if you can’t feel it, if it neverRises from the soul, and swaysThe heart of every single hearer,With deepest power, in simple ways.You’ll sit forever, gluing things together,Cooking up a stew from other’s scraps,Blowing on a miserable fire,Made from your heap of dying ash.Let apes and children praise your art,If their admiration’s to your taste,But you’ll never speak from heart to heart,Unless it rises up from your heart’s space. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If you bring forth what is within you, what you bringforth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is with-in you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you. - Gospel of ThomasThere is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickeningthat is translated through you into action and becausethere is only one of you in all of time, this expression isunique. And if you block it, it will never exist through anyother medium and be lost … It is your business to keep ityours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. - Martha GrahamSilence is argument carried out by other means. - Che GuevaraThe only passion that guides me is for the truth... I look ateverything from this point of view. - Che GuevaraI don’t know Who -- or what -- put the question. I don’tknow when it was put. I don’t even remember answer-ing. But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone-- or Something--and from that hour I was certain thatexistence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, inself-surrender, had a goal. - Dag Hammarskjold, in Markings, quoted by Gerald May

One of IDEO’s designers even sketched out a “projectmood chart” that predicts how people will feel at differ-ent phases of a project. It’s a U-shaped curve with a peakof positive emotion, labeled “hope,” at the beginning,and a second peak of positive emotion, labeled “confi-dence,” at the end. In between the two peaks is a nega-tive emotional valley labeled “insight.”The problem is this: Often the heart and mind disagree.Fervently.Trying to fight inertia and indifference with analyticalarguments is like tossing a fire extinguisher to someonewho’s drowning. The solution doesn’t match the prob-lem.”Most of the big problems we encounter in organizationsor society are ambiguous and evolving. They don’t looklike burning-platform situations, where we need peopleto buckle down and execute a hard but well-understoodgame plan. To solve bigger, more ambiguous problems,we need to encourage open minds, creativity, and hope.In the identity model of decision making, we essentiallyask ourselves three questions when we have a decisionto make: Who am I? What kind of situation is this? Whatwould someone like me do in this situation?When you’re at the beginning, don’t obsess about themiddle, because the middle is going to look differentonce you get there. Just look for a strong beginning anda strong ending and get moving. - Chip Heath

One particular line of questioning that I found mostuseful, and research suggests is very revealing as to whatmotivates and drives an individual to eventual success, isas follows:When you were young, who was the person that wasmost influential in teaching you valuable lessons aboutlife? What were those lessons the person taught you?What are those tapes this person put into your head thatare still there today and have emerged as guiding princi-ples for you?Usually the person is a parent, an influential teacher, orsome other authority figure. Often times, this personcame into the individual’s life as early as grade schoolor high school. The lessons you are looking for are basicprinciples that suggest a high degree of self confidence,a sense of personal responsibility, a strong drive toachieve, and solid fundamental ethics. No hint of thesekinds of traits should be a red flag. - Bob Herbold – former Chief Operating Officer ofMicrosoft Corporation, on the most productive questionsto ask in an interview. Quoted by Mike FigliuoloThe very essence of leadership is that you have a vision.It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefullyon every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. - Theodore Hesburgh

The essence of the Agile movement, whether in newproduct development, new service offerings, softwareapplications, or project management, rests on two foun-dational goals: delivering valuable products to custom-ers and creating working environments in which peoplelook forward to coming to work each day.Innovative ideas aren’t generated in structured, authori-tarian environments but in an adaptive culture based onthe principles of self-organization and self-discipline.If your goal is to deliver a product that meets a knownand unchanging specification, then try a repeatableprocess. However, if your goal is to deliver a valuableproduct to a customer within some targeted boundaries,when change and deadlines are significant factors, thenreliable Agile processes work better. - Jim HighsmithCherish your visions and your dreams as they are thechildren of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimateachievements. - Napoleon HillI facilitated a session called “What is Education?”Instead of telling the campers what education is, I askedthem to reflect on their favorite learning moments fromthe camp, and together, we drew out lessons on whateducation meant to each one of them. Each item onthe list, connected to a specific activity, day, or momentthroughout the camp, was truly remarkable: education is

fun, collaborative, personally transformative, equitable,aligning with personal passions, making us better peo-ple and friends, multiple ways of being smart, directlyconnected to our lives, looking inside and reflecting,connected to the community and environment, learningto be happy, and learning to love. - Tim Huang, from an experimental education symposium in Bhutan 2014One of the most fundamental struggles for any leader-- in business, in organisations, or in public life -- stemsdirectly from the separation that most of us feel that be-tween who we are as people and what we do as practicalprofessionals. As I shall emphasise again and again, thesethings cannot in the end be separated. - Bill IsaacsA container is a field of exchange in which possibility isthe answer and the question - not winning and losingand not even winning win-win. New possibilities emergewhen the questions are more important than the an-swers. - Bill IsaacsThe intention of dialogue is to reach new understandingand, in doing so, to form a totally new basis from whichto think and act. - Bill Isaacs

The intention of dialogue is to reach new understand-ing and, in doing so, to form a totally new basis fromwhich to think and act. - Bill IsaacsThe greatest use of life is to spend it for something thatwill outlast it. - William JamesVision without action is a daydream. Action with withoutvision is a nightmare. -Japanese ProverbThe kind of power I am talking about is entirely differ-ent. In fact, it makes you feel less manipulative of thosearound you, and certainly more loving. I am talkingabout power within the self. This means power over yourperceptions of the world, power over how you react tosituations in your life, power to do what is necessary foryour own self-growth, power to create joy and satisfac-tion in your life, power to act and power to love. -Susan Jeffers

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and theonly way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe isgreat work. And the only way to do great work is to lovewhat you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking,and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart,..you’llknow when you find it. - Steve JobsI also confirmed that necessity is the mother of inven-tion. To my surprise, when I asked women what theydreamed of doing, many responded, “I don’t have adream” or “I don’t know that my dreams are within reach.”Many felt that it wasn’t their privilege to dream. Thisconcerned me. These were highly educated, eminentlycapable women who are the bedrock of our society. Isaw so many possibilities for these women. I knew I hadto do something—and that something was creating theDare to Dream blog (daretodream.typepad.com) a safespace where intelligent, articulate women could exploretheir dormant dreams. -Whitney JohnsonThe greater the tension, the greater is the potential. -Carl Jung

The artist is not a person endowed with free will whoseeks her own ends, but one who allows art to realize itspurposes through her. As a human being she may havemoods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist sheis “human” in a higher sense - she is “collective human,”a vehicle and moulder of the unconscious psychic life ofhumankind. - Carl Jung (pronouns amended)Your vision will become clear only when you look intoyour heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks insideawakens. - Carl JungA vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is anappeal to our better selves, a call to become somethingmore. -Rosabeth Moss KanterThe best way to predict the future is to create it. -Alan KayThe most pathetic person in the world is someone whohas sight, but has no vision. -Helen KellerA possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it. - Soren Kierkegaard

The agile approach is to plan for what is known and toiterate against what is not known. - Clinton KeithYou don’t lead by pointing and telling people someplace to go. You lead by going to that place and makinga case. - Ken KeseyIf a man (sic) is called to be a streetsweeper, he shouldsweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethov-en composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. Heshould sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heavenand earth will pause and say, “Here lived a great streets-weeper who did his job well.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.The important thing is not your process. The importantthing is your process for improving your process. - Henrik KnibergThere is no end to education. It is not that you read abook, pass an examination, and finish with education.The whole of life, from the moment you are born to themoment you die, is a process of learning. -Jiddu KrishnamurtiFreedom from the desire for an answer is essential to theunderstanding of a problem. - Jiddu Krishnamurti