"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
Listen to the right people
Listen to the right people.
That's number 2 by Amy Smith on "Rules for design in the developing world" as mentioned at http://designinafrica.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/innovation-in-africa....
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” - Epictetus
Why is it so important to listen to the right people in order to change the world?
You can't find the solutions to all problems in the world by yourself. You need people that are experienced and knowledgeable to educate you. They know what's going on in their area of expertise and they have a vision on how to make it better.
You should start conversations with people from different lines of work (on a stragetical, tactical and operational level) and not try to persuade them with your ideas, but just LISTEN.
Listen to what they did, what they learned and what they need. Listen to their thoughts, their emotions and their dreams. Listen wh***heartedly, continuously and inquisitively. But most of all, just LISTEN!
If you are reading this, please comment, it's always good to get another conversation going. I'd like to listen to your thoughts and maybe share some more of my own.
Thank you,
Rick
Views: 25
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Comment by Mita Williams on March 7, 2010 at 10:49pm
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I'm currently reading a book called Community by an American named Peter Block who says that we change the future when we change the conversation in the present from one that names problems and assigns blame to one that accepts responsibility and is restorative.
Can changing the conversation - by adding true and deep listening - change the world? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure - what you do you think?
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Ha! I noticed that my profile pic features headphones -- giving the appearance that I'm not a very good listener. I'm going to have to change this! ;)
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Comment by Rick van der Pluijm on March 7, 2010 at 10:54pm
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Thank you for the comment. Sounds like a good book. I'm not sure if it will dramatically change the world, but good listening won't hurt (I do think it's an important step forward).
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Comment by Nick Heyming on March 9, 2010 at 9:49pm
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Really good point about listening to people from other disciplines. That is one of the hardest things for people to do! The politicians can't seem to understand the engineers, the engineers don't listen to the sociologists, the sociologists don't listen to the economists...
they're all speaking different languages!
One of the most useful things a person can do in a crisis is be the translator for all those different groups. +1 Local Insight!
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Comment by Linda Holt on March 9, 2010 at 10:40pm
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Rick, I totally agree and, as Nick said in response to one of my posts: "Its tough to stop worrying about yourself and realize that the people you interact with are not only valuable, but have the capacity to astound you and create truly amazing things that you never could have imagined." That can only come about by listening for someone else's greatness. Thanks!
Oh and wow, Mita - I am reading Civic Engagement and the Restoration of Community by Peter Block right now! He is a student of Werner Erhard's work (one of my heroes) It's available as a free PDF book if anyone is interested: http://www.peterblock.com/assets/Civic.pdf
I love it when the synchronicity begins to flicker into flame.
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Thank you all for the comments.
Nick: I see it a lot in Facility Management. We have to take care of supporting the employees of a company at work, but Architects don't always take practicability into consideration when designing a building (it's often all about the image). An example is a hospital with too narrow hallways to move the beds to the cleaning when they were used. Also, Facility Managers often make the mistake of making plans for their staff that aren't realistic, because they never did operational work themselves and they underestimate it. It's important to involve people from different disciplines (on an operational, tactical and strategical level) and involve them from the beginning. And once they are involved, keep them updated (clear and transparent communition).
Linda: Thank you for the PDF and that's a great quote.
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