Connect to your history

To begin the day, participant Robyn led us through a movement oriented check in to make clapping and stomping sounds as a group to imitate the monsoon rain outside the classroom. Cesar Matsumoto, a practitioner of Theory U and leader of individual and group transformative change processes, began the first workshop by asking if people could see a world that was dying and a world that wanted to be born. After reflecting individually and with a partner, he wrote down key insights and linked them to a social theory of change called Two-Loops, which comes from the Berkana institute. This opened the door for rich conversations about the different divides and bubbles we are experiencing in the world, such as the social, ecological, and spiritual cultural.

The theory and discussion of examples led to an exercise in which participants each create a timeline of their life from when they were born to present day, identifying three ruptures in which the direction of their lives changed. They identified the people, goals, world views and fears that existed before and the ones that existed after. Participants finished the morning by working in partners to discuss what they had learned.  The second part of the workshop explored this in more depth, as participants began to unpack the significance of the exercise and identify clarity, and next steps. They asked the questions such as “ What was the world calling or asking of you at the time?” To finish the workshops, the participants shared with their pair a physical sculpture of their rupture. As a group, reflections and closing was centered around what shape ruptures take. 

In the afternoon, Mauricio guided us through the arch of story telling and also designed an activity called the Jungian i-type to identify personality types and tensions and how to work with them. Participants worked in pairs to get to know their type and compared results as a group. This sparked reflection about who we are and how we show up in relation to others. After dinner, Paul gave a presentation about the built environment and its role in the sustainability challenge. 

Outcomes
Tangible
Reflected about what is dying and what is being born in the world
Reflected about the micro-revolutions happening all over the world: ecological divide, social divide, spiritual cultural divide.
Gained an introductory understanding of Theory U
Drew, shared and relfected about your personal timeline, milestones and ruptures in your life
Acknowledged personal fears, life processes and stories
Understood the process and arc of storytelling
Gained a sense of your Jungian personality archetype
 

Intangible
Gained personal insights about individual rupture and transformations.
Got to your own story and the story of fellow participants
Created trust and empathy between individuals.
Reflected about personal role in the world and how each one can change aspects of it