such a big difference?

As I slowly prepare myself for the work I will be doing upon my return to Seva Mandir, I have been doing my best to get whatever I can out of google books. As elaborated in my Analtical Paper and also alluded to in an earlier post, I am finding myself deeply interested in the [...]

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the complan: where am i now?

An interesting time to write: I’m really supposed to be converting the last 6 months of dialogue, head-scratching, getting tired and worked up, writing on flip-charts, making presentations and so on into a single document that will: (a) communicate to donors what it is that Seva Mandir is planning to do for the next 3 [...]

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emerging patterns, outcomes and questions of the 6th CP Process

So, it seems like it’s about time to share the progress so far with putting together the Comprehensive Plan (CP). Around 6 months have elapsed since the process started. It started with some initial discussions with the CE leading to me preparing a concept note and a presentation of the same. The framework was approved [...]

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on complexity, chaos and self-organisation

Just the other day, I was reading a post by Dave Snowden on management vs. self-organisation that triggered a few questions in my mind… This is what I commented:

chaos and anarchy are not the same thing at all. anarchy would imply not having any ruler but this does not mean chaos since a group can [...]

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Trying to get some bearings…

It’s been a while since I managed to get back to the blog and I have a lot to say. At the same time, I really want to learn how to say whatever I am trying to say in less space. One approach could be to use several smaller blog postings (to create the illusion [...]

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…indeed, the journey’s only just begun!

This appreciative inquiry thing is rather interesting. Although I had the sense that I wasn’t quite managing to do what I ought to be doing, I think that I somehow managed to pull loose ends together and tie them up with a neat little bow. Thanks are due to the appreciative commons through which various [...]

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And the journey goes on…

Well, today, I’m sitting on the other side of the mountain. The annual camp is over. It was brief. Very brief indeed! And there was less space for dialogue than I might have liked. But the dialogue we did have was, for the most part, pointing in the right direction. In line with the framework [...]

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Teetering toward the big day

Today I read a brilliant harvest of a workshop in which a diverse group of people tackled the question of how they could move towards a ‘Person Centred Culture’. As I scanned through the material, I found myself deeply inspired and connected with what came out. I will not try to paraphrase it but [...]

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Grudges and Forgiving

Sometimes, in the course of our interactions with other people we find ourselves not being able to understand each other, being unjust or receiving injustice… and more often than not this leads us to hold grudges. Perhaps there is a fear of appearing weak. Perhaps we feel insecure about something. These little mistakes and misunderstandings, [...]

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The (premature) tribulations of an uninitiated but aspiring mid-wife

Yesterday was the last-but-one meeting of our Appreciative Inquiry work group. The idea was that over the last few months a group of 12 people had been busy running about the organisation having conversations with people about such things as: “… a time when you feel you were really able to contribute to bringing about [...]

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