Nexus for Change

[Holger Nauheimer (Change Facilitation)]

It took me a while to digest my experiences at the Nexus for Change 
conference, and I had some temporary problems of posting on this list. 

I am surprised that nobody else posted reports on this extraordinary event 
here in this list. During the Nexus conference, I posted a couple of 
articles on my blog: http://www.change-management-blog.com/.

Some of the highlights include:

The conference started with an exciting exercise facilitated by Sandra 
Janoff (Future Search Network): She facilitated a time line which allowed 
us to look at the fourty years history of the Whole Systems Change 
Movement. I have filmed the storyline and published it as a three part 
video on YouTube (will publish it as a one part movie on Google video 
tonight - watch my blog). Watch 20 minutes of collective memory of 80 
folks who were part of this history, told by Barbara Bunker, Dick Axelrod, 
Peggy Holman and others:

http://www.change-management-blog.com/2008/04/story-of-change-told-at-
nexus.html

Further, there is an audio interview with Steve Cady and Emily Axelrod on 
the future of Nexus:
http://www.change-management-blog.com/2008/04/nexus-provides-space-to-
explore.html

My summary of the event? 

It was good to connect with many people in a short time. In 2007, Nexus 
started with the idea of convening those people who live the content of 
Peggy Holman’s, Steve Cady’s and Tom Devane’s Change Handbook. It is good 
to be reassured that those folks share a systemic and a humanistic 
perspective. So, in essence, a movement has emerged which needs to grow 
and to mature. 

Do we need such a forum? Absolutely yes. Will it become a self-organizing 
system, a super-network of networks? I am not so sure. But I hope. Future 
will tell. 

It is not yet entirely clear what kind of child has been given birth to in 
2007. What is Nexus actually? Does Nexus deal with large systems change 
only, or with change in general (which would include personal 
transformation, coaching, systemic team development methods etc.)? Is 
Nexus a movement of systems thinkers? Who is invited? Who is not invited? 
If Nexus is inclusive of anybody, are there any boundaries? Is it a global 
or basically an American network which warmly welcomes guests from abroad? 

It is good that these questions aren’t answered yet because this increases 
the inclusivity of the network and the curiosity of those who show up. 
But – as the Open Space movement and other informal networks have shown, 
time will come when these questions are looking for their answers.

Best,
Holger Nauheimer
Change Facilitation
Global Network for Exploring, Creating, and Celebrating Change

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