Books_Conversations (the next steps)

[Kate Armstrong]

Hello, again!

In keeping with the concept of dialogues about books that "enliven our 
practice, enrich our lives, and quicken our spirits," Marge Schiller, 
President of the Positive Change Corps, and I have envisioned a 
multi-directional, globally inclusive professional book conversation 
(or "club," if you prefer). We're hoping you'll join us. The original 
invitation garnered enough responses that we are now ready to move on 
to the next steps: 1) choosing time(s) for conversation; b) choosing 
books; and c) signing on. The conversations will be a combination of 
conference calls and a yahoo group.

Positive Change Corps sponsors these conference calls, and we will be 
using the PCC phone number to connect. Each caller will be responsible 
for individual phone charges. The conversations will be every other 
month, for approximately an hour. Kate Armstrong will be the 
moderator/note taker for the conversations. Each book discussion will 
be lead by a  facilitator, a participant in the group,  who 
particularly appreciates the chosen text. Facilitators may choose how 
they want to facilitate the conversation, or they may follow a 3 
question pre-set format (e.g., What did you find most valuable in the 
text? How do/might you connect what you have read with your current 
practice? In what way(s) did this author contribute to or have an 
impact on your larger life?). We are requesting that each of us 
participate in 4 of the 6 conversations per year.

A) In order to be as globally embracing as possible, we are creating 4 
conversation times. Please consider the day as starting 12:00 midnight 
Eastern (US) Standard Time. Imagine a 24 hour day in 4 quarters (6 
hours each, yes?!) Please go to www.timeanddate.com/world clock and 
determine which one of the four time divisions would work best for you 
to participate in a real-time discussion. You can join the onversation 
in  any time zone.

B) Here, in choosing texts for discussion, we are overwhelmed with 
riches. We could frame and ground the conversations with professional 
"best-sellers," (e.g., Peter Senge et al, Presence, Thomas Friedman's 
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, Wayne Dyer's 
The Power of Intention, Thomas Berry's The Great Work, Stephen Covey's 
The Eighth Habit, Robert Quinn's Building the Bridge As You Walk on It, 
Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey's How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We 
Work). We could explore texts that are foundational to our change 
process work (e.g., Harrison Owen's Open Space Technology: A User's 
Guide, Marv Weisbord and Sandra Janoff's Future Search, Juanita Brown 
and David Isaac's World Cafe, any of several texts by David Cooperrider 
and/or Diana Whitney (and others) in Appreciative Inquiry, etc.). 
Another rich source of possibilities  are the Taos Institute Focus 
Books (e.g., Miriam Rickett and Jim Willis' Experience AI, Ken and Mary 
Gergen's Social Constructionism: Entering the Dialogue, Jackie Stavros 
and Cheri Torres' Dynamic Relationships. We may also explore texts 
written by (other) colleagues, e.g., Rita Schweitz and Kim Martens' 
Future Search in School District Change. Bob Cottor (and others) 
Experiential Learning Exercises in Social Construction. We might also 
choose to have conversations about books that encompass our 
professional lives within our larger selves (e.g,  Eckhart Tolle's The 
Power of Now/A New Earth, Andrew Weil's Aging Gracefully, Raphael 
Cushnir's How Now: 100 Ways to Celebrate the Present Moment; Carl 
Honore's In Praise of Slowness, Bridget Secard's Soulfire: The Birth of 
Wild Aliveness, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton's Now, Discover 
Your Strengths. Still with us?  Feel free to make suggestions. 
Expanding the possibilities continues infinitely!

So, "your mission (should you accept it") is to select the time zone 
(of the 4) that allows you the most opportunity to take part in these 
conversations.  Please also write down the three books with which you 
would most enjoy beginning our multilogues.  Please e-mail your choices 
(and which ones you are interested in facilitating the conversation 
around) for collation to Kate Armstrong, 4pangaea at sbcglobal.net asap.

C)  Please  sign on to books_conversations_subscribe at yahoogroups.com. 
Notes from the 4 conversations (facilitated every two months) will be 
posted here, allowing for deeper, richer discussions across the groups, 
and for off-line/sidebar individual conversations.

Lastly, still in the possibility stage, is participation in at least 
one of the book conversation by the author(s) of the selected text(s).

On to the the next step. We hope to launch the conversations soonest!

Appreciatively,
Kate Armstrong and Marge Schiller

Please consider all titles underlined
Apologies for the duplicate postings some of you will receive

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