A crash course in changing the world.
Episode 2 CODE PHRASE: "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion."
It's an old Ethiopian proverb: "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion." What do you think this code phrase means to the EVOKE Network?
Tags: ep2
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Milena Kocić on -
When all EVOKE agents unite their efforts they can make a huge change.
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Schachtele on
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Great visual, part of leadership is creating a compelling vision, interesting.
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Permalink Reply by Wintermute on -
It means that while all our efforts singularly might be defeated by the lion, or adversity. All our plans together will carry the day. A similar analogy is, that it is a simple thing to break one branch, but get a bunch together and even the strongest man can not best the branche's combined strength.
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Permalink Reply by Linda Holt on -
I am not familiar with this proverb - but I am thinking that the lion is king of the beasts and considered royal in many cultures. So perhaps we are the lion and the spider webs are the conversations that hold us back from our full potential.
The webs then would be the stories (Werner Erhard call it our "racket" and Anne Lamott, KFCK radio) that we have made true about our perceived limitations, expectations and prejudices. These conversations are driven by fear and create all kinds of barriers to freedom of expression and the ability to see possibility outside of our comfort (survival) zone.
The strength of many webs would be our own disempowering conversation (skewed by our perceived blinders/limitations) enterwoven with hundreds of others bringing the lion (courage, nobility, strength, community) to a halt - or at best trapping it in a web of resignation and complaint.
In this scenario - what would it take to break through the webs?
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Permalink Reply by Pradip Dey on -
To me it means, seemingly small ideas together can solve big problem --the basic idea of EVOKE.
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Permalink Reply by Bruce Haynes on -
"Together, we are a genius", this is a quote I first heard used by Lynne Twist of the Pachamamma Alliance. It means that we each have part of the solution to contribute, but none of us have or know the wh*** solution individually. When groups effectively communicate and actively listen, an unexpected but brilliant solution is often an emergent property. In other words: a shared synthesis emerges combining all our individual perspectives into a synergistic wh***. To me this concept relates to this old old Ethopian proverb, that collectively organising (tapping deep into our cooperative and creative potential, having evolved as evolutionary solution-finders) opens up a space of possibility to deal with the complex of interrelated challenges that make our human story so exciting at the beginnning of this new millenium.
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Permalink Reply by NANGAR SOOMRO on -
It mean Two and Two makes 22....... Synergy and Colloboration has the strenght to make impossible things possible............. So On Evoke Network we all agents are unite and going to impact the world.
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Permalink Reply by uzoma judith katchy on
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Even though the spider is a small specie when compared to the lion, they can achieve a great feat IN UNITY. We in the EVOKE NETWORK can make a tremendous impact if we have and share a unity of purpose. It doesn't matter who you are or where you are from, YOU can make a difference. Our attitude should be that WE CAN and MUST make A LASTING impact.
Our "small' efforts CAN achieve tremendous results. Afterall, it takes only a spark of fire to raze a forest.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin DiVico on -
Hello Alchemy,
always a pleasure to hear from you. Your code phrases provoke one to think, to learn, to listen and then to evoke the conclusions one reaches. It is good to know where you come from to learn more about where you are. So if you will indulge me , a little history before I explore the relevance of this wonderful saying in modern life.
The Proverb you quote refers to that old trickster Anansi. The Anansi tales are believed to have originated in the Ashanti tribe in Ghana. (The word Anansi is Akan and means, simply, spider.) @wikiepdia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anansi" ). Annsi tales are some of the best-known in West Africa The stories made up an exclusively oral tradition, and indeed Anansi himself was synonymous with skill and wisdom in speech.
The tale spread throughout the world during that dark time in history known as the slave trade, helping to preserve knowledge and history. From the Caribbean to the deep United States south the tales of Anansi spread and morphed to meet the needs of the people it came in contact with. Here in the US the Anansi became Aunt Nancy.
Anansi has a great web site dedicated to him here http://anansistories.com/
Together we can prevail over the greatest of odds. That is what I drive form this proverb. My research has taught me that it has been used through out African American society as a source of strength, a way to focus through efforts through the civil rights movement, a way to overcome what seems to be impossible odds.
Today, and into the future, a better proverb would be hard to find to lend its wisdom and strength to the empowerment of many people who may like the spider be brushed away when alone but when combined with the webs of many, they can weave a web stronger then steel, able to catch the biggest predators in it. One hopes we learn that once caught, we take the time to educate the lion, listen to him as we wish the to listen to us, and together move forth to renew this world. listen.
Thank you Alchemy for this chance to learn, and beware Osebo the Leopard. Fair travels to you,
"It is better to walk than curse the road"
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Permalink Reply by Derrick K. Jones on
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That even the smallest fibers in the world, when combined, can take on the greatest challenges of life. We are each a fiber of this world and if we would just come together to combine our strengths there would be nothing that we could not conquer.
Be a fiber.
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Permalink Reply by Hannah Kohn on -
To me this means that if we all work together we can make a difference and help others.
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