SocialMediaJunkies können auch anders - auf dem BarCamp München

Am vergangenen Wochenende war BarCamp in München -  und "alle Webbies, DigitalNatives, SocialMediaJunkies und Interessierte" waren geladen. Für mich war es die erste Unkonferenz, aber ganz sicher nicht die letzte. Neue Kontakte, interessante Gespräche, frische Denkanstöße und obendrein Feedback zu einem Projekt - ich hatte mehr bekommen, als ich erwartet hatte. Und das lag eben nicht nur an der super Organisation (von flobbymedia), sondern an dem, was die Teilnehmer und Teilnehmerinnen an Themen und Neugier beisteuerten. Dass sich auf BarCamps vorwiegend männliche Technikfreaks unter 30 herumtreiben, doch, dieses Vorurteil hatte ich mitgebracht, konnte es aber gleich aussortieren. Im "Haus der Kommunikation" (Location gesponsort von ServicePlan) waren jedenfalls auch Frauen gut repräsentiert, die Altersgrenzen wurden von Kleinkindern und Grauhaarigen weit nach unten und oben verschoben. Und wenn "Social Media" sicher thematisch der gemeinsame Nenner für die BarCamper war, dann ließ sich doch  feststellen, dass "SocialMediaJunkies" auch anders können: Bierbrauen zuhause, Zaubern, Gewaltfreie Kommunikation waren nur einige der nicht-einschlägigen Sessionangebote. Die Auswahl viel oft schwer...

Kurz entschlossen habe ich selbst auch eine Session angeboten und in kleiner Runde besprochen, für welche kulturelle Entwicklungsstufen das Thema Nachhaltigkeit (oder die Plattform Facebook) steht und welche Herausforderungen und Lösungsmöglichkeiten sich daraus für die Kommunikation über dieses Thema ergeben. (Hat mit dem integalen Ansatz von Ken Wilber und Spiral Dynamics zu tun. Dazu später mehr)

Inzwischen habe ich meinen Eltern vom BarCamp erzählt - und hatte den Eindruck, sie würden sich das auch gern einmal aus der Nähe ansehen... Tja, und wieso auch nicht. Das BarCamp-Format würde sich doch prima eignen, um die Talente einer Region zusammenzuführen oder Erfahrungsaustausch zwischen Jung und Alt anzuregen. Wie wär's mit NachbarschaftsCamps oder GenerationenCamps?

Einen Überblick über die nächsten BarCamps in Deutschland (und anderswo) gibts übrigens bei BarCamp.org. (Danke für den Tipp @BarCampB)S

Pandora's Box Retold

It has been said that we need to change the stories that we tell ourselves in order to be able to transform who we are. The story of Pandora's box may be one such story. As Wikipedia explains, "Pandora had been given a large jar and instruction by Zeus to keep it closed, but she had also been given the gift of curiosity, and ultimately opened it. When she opened it, all of the evils, ills, diseases, and burdensome labor that mankind had not known previously, escaped from the jar, but it is said, that at the very bottom of her box, there lay hope. There is no reason to think Pandora acted out of malice in opening the jar, for she was exercising her curiosity, and when she saw what was let out of it, she quickly closed it."

This beautiful animation by Gobelins retells the story very differently. While curiosity may be the reason why The Evil comes into the world, it is also fearless curiosity that becomes key to outwitting The Evil and to personal growth (in a very literal sense).



While the demon in the video insists on enacting patterns of domination and victimization (another old story) - the child refuses to play according to this script. She even has the courage to dive right into the mysterious dark box, from which she re-emerges as a grown being.

When I came across this video I had just finished reading Soulcraft by Bill Plotkin. Bill Plotkin believes that by courageously facing the underworld of the soul, we can find our true place in the world and our authentic self. He describes various “soulcraft skills”, such as dream work, wandering in nature or vision quests, which help to step out of the ordinary world with its usual scripts, and into a process of self-discovery. A process that is, by necessity, a terrifying experience for the ego, which would prefer safety and comfort to transcendence any time.

So what do we do with Pandora's Box? Do we continue to complain about "The Evil", be scared by it, try to control or fight it. Or do we have the courage to accept and face it, study it without looking for blame, - and be changed by this process.

(I have commented on "Pandore's box" also at Freshcreation.com)

Transformation through Story Telling

While on a rational level, most people agree that a fundamental shift in society and culture is necessary to tackle the problems of today, it seems very hard to make that leap on a personal level, leave alone a community or institutional level.
I was reminded of that when I watched the speech that UK prime minister Gordon Brown recently gave at the TED conference. He states that we are at a unique historic moment where we are more interconnected than ever before and we are also developing a global ethic, both promising preconditions for solving global problems - poverty, climate change, economic crisis - in a global way.The solution he proposed remained vague but he clearly saw a need for a central institution which would have the means to globally enforce agreements or regulations. While this may certainly be part of the solution, I missed concepts of co-creation, empowerment, collaboration and individual responsibility in his vision. Being inside a politician's story maybe did not allow him to see that new forms of governance would be central to such a solution, if it is not just to repeat the patterns of administrative institutions stricken by political power-struggles.

Another example for a solution that repeats past patterns is the idea of a British company to put RFID barcodes on trees so that controlling the sustainability of forests becomes more transparent. They even assume that tagging trees could play a role in fighting deforestation, and therefore, could be seen as a measure to stop global warming. But the underlying concept is still that we can care only for things that we can control and that nature has to be properly put into our warehousing system for us to see its value. An alternative to applying technical control mechanisms could be to bring forests and communities together, something that Roald Gundersen and Amelia Baxter are trying to do with their Community Supported Forests. Members will get a specific part of the forest where they "can camp, hunt and garden on the land. They can forage for mushrooms, garlic mustard and wild ginger. They can get firewood, sustainably milled lumber, landscaping stone or fresh spring water." And in doing that, they will have a chance to get to know the forest as a friend and not just as a distant resource. That's a very different story, right?

Recently I heard of the Dark Mountain Project, a literary movement to rewrite the stories that we base our assumptions on. "We aim to question the stories that underpin our failing civilisation, to craft new ones for the age ahead and to write clearly and honestly about our true place in the world."

Becoming aware of the narratives that we live by and re-inventing them is very much what we need, in my view, to have a new context for transformation - on a personal, community or even institutional level.

Looking for the Story Beneath

Storytelling is one of the big re-discoveries in communication. Books like "Made to Stick" tell that if you want the world to know your message you have to tell it in an accessible story, not with statistics and facts. Brain research supports this: We are more likely to remember content that we learned as part of a story (preferrably an emotional story), rather than from a list of "things to remember". In "The Meme Machine", Susan Blackmore even goes so far to suggest that our brains are so big because we needed the brain power to be better story tellers. Good story tellers increased their chances of survival.

In this context, it is easy to understand that there can be no fundamental change unless we start changing our stories.

Identifying the underlying story in the news, in our own actions is the first step in that direction - the ability to see the cultural meme, the archetypes and symbols is also what, in my view, empowers anyone a) to become a good trend watcher and b) to recognize that we can choose which stories we tell, which memes we spread.


The short documentary by below shows personal stories of people who have been hit hard by the financial crisis. People who realized that they have the choice to either remain in shock and feel victimized, or give their personal life story a new positive turn. Very inspiring!



(see related post "How to Cook Up the Future)

Responding to the Downturn – with Compassion

I am just summarizing a project about “Effects of the Downturn” – hundreds of weak and strong signals were collected* that are – directly or indirectly – related to the recession.

Reading through these observations has a depressing effect: Millions of people are losing their jobs. And those who don’t are worried about losing their jobs. The feeling of insecurity and uncertainty leads to frustration, sometimes to riots, sometimes to mental problems. The way of life that was taken for granted has become fragile, and as an effect we see downsizing and reduced consumption.

A lot has also been written about the opportunities that the downturn brings, and this is something I definitely believe in: There is an upside to every downside. Depression is not the only possible reaction.

Yet, one opportunity, one way of responding to the crisis is very often overlooked, also by me. That is surprising because it is actually about a very simple, very human reaction: Responding with compassion and empathy.

When a friend is worried and frustrated, you care for her, listen to her, cheer her up. Now we see many signals pointing to the same friendly, compassionate behavior – but coming from companies, employers and governments.

For instance Dunkin' Donuts, a restaurants chain in Florida, are offering customers a free cup of coffee every Wednesday throughout February. "We appeal to the consumer that earns a hard day's wages and wants a real, down-to-Earth, quality product," Dunkin Donuts announced. The new Chevrolet Aveo was advertised in credit-crunched London this month with a billboard advert made entirely from one-pence coins. The installation only lasted 30 minutes as hundreds of passers-by seized their moment to pick up a penny or two.(see a video here)
The fashion retailer Anthropologie (U.S.) is giving away styling tips in free “reinvention workshops” to help women get the most out of their existing wardrobe. “We wanted to share something really personal,“Anthropologie’s chief merchandising officer, Wendy Wurtzburger explained.
Coca-Cola is is launching a new global ad campaign with the claim “Open Happiness”, “hoping to appeal to consumers' longing for comfort and optimism at a time when the weakening economy is sapping soft-drink sales.” (WSJ). BusinessWeek reports today that “Indian CEOs take voluntary pay cuts to avoid layoffs.-“We will lead by example in taking the initiative,” an Infosys director is quoted. Besides showcasing leadership, such actions could help restore confidence among employees, the article confirms.

Of course, companies are under cost pressure and may not think they can afford to show compassion. But for one thing, showing compassion does not necessarily translate to giving away a free lunch. A message that simply acknowledges that “we’re in this together” can go a long way. And secondly, this is not a time to make big profits, but it may well be the time were companies can form lasting emotional bonds with their clients and employees and establish a level of trust that was hard to reach in the not so far away era of conspicious consumption and career hopping.


Coca-Cola’s Open Happiness campaign reminded me of a research project that the New York Times wrote about last December: A long time survey found that happiness is contagious and therefore, even strangers may cheer you up. Or in other words: You and I can influence how deep the depression is allowed to go. :-)

*at Finpro we use Trendwiki to collect weak signals and turn them into applicable foresight.

Life after the Crunch

After I wrote the post about how the downturn affects services I accidentally saw the Slideshare competition on Credit Crunch.
To be honest, the credit crunch as a phenomenon does not interest me much, but how it affects you and me really intrigues me. So I put this short presentation together:

Life After the Crunch

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: economics crunch)

A Quantum View of the World

Modern physics tells us that everything is relative, and if you look hard, you find that substances are not made out of atoms and electrons, but out of nothing. Or rather, out of relations between nothing. Which is information, knowledge. (Yes, we're living in a knowledge driven society :-)

I find this "quantum view of the world" as amazing as I find it hard to grasp. In this short video, laboratory scientist Dean Radin explains it so that even I can understand it a tiny bit better.



The video can be found on the global oneness project website, which is in itself a website worth browsing through: www.globalonenessproject.org

Stay hungry, stay foolish

Steve Jobs’s Stanford Commencement Speech.

Steve Jobs tells 3 stories from his life. Core message: Stay hungry, stay foolish.
Simply Great.