Wonder Café: Online conversations are changing The United Church of Canada
It’s challenging being a “mainstream” Christian church these days, in Canada. Declining membership, aging congregations, questions about ‘relevancy’, not to mention dealing with the Indian residential school legacy, witness Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Yet, paradoxically, there is opportunity. Opportunity to reach out, engage, dialogue, explore new possibilities… This is the approach The United Church of [...]
4 Factors that are reshaping the world of conflict resolution
From my feeds (RSS, Twitter…), I’ve recently come across some interesting goings on in the world of conflict/dispute resolution. And as much of it jives with my own experience and take on resolving conflicts, I thought I’d summarize, with a few examples, what I see as key factors impacting the practice of conflict resolution, going [...]
Gift the “Open Source” spirit to your next collaboration
Open Source is both a way of working together and a state-of-mind. Typically associated with an approach to software development, it’s also a philosophy, and something I think aligns with a spirit of generosity and authentic collaboration, even if your project is not focused on software development.
The Open Source spirit
Brian Behlendorf is a true pioneer [...]
Parameters to consider if your organization wants to resolve its’ disputes online
The more we interact online, the more disputes will happen in that medium. ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) is an extension of ADR (aka Alternative /Appropriate Dispute Resolution). ODR is becoming the defacto way to resolve cyberspace disputes. It only makes sense!
There is some interesting things going on in the field of ODR. In late October, [...]
Peeping as Information Sharing – how much is a good thing?
On my recent assignment with CESO in the Philippines, I made it a priority to give people I worked with a voice; appreciatively inquiring into their stories. I posted articles, including pictures and videos, to this blog. All the while, in the back of my mind were questions like… Shouldn’t some of this stuff be [...]
Some low-cost data visualization tools that can enhance your story telling
We know a good story can give momentum to a vision or idea. I previously posted here on the utility of data visualization as a way to improve your story telling. This week I learnt more about data visualization tools from A Consumer’s Guide to Low-Cost Data Visualization Tools, and tried out a couple of [...]
Connect with the world: Another way to make your neighbourhood a better place
International collaboration works. I saw it in the Philippines, where I spent the better part of the last two months working for a Canadian not-for-profit (CESO). I blogged about it (e.g., 27 ways Filipinos create successful, collaborative e-Governance projects). I went half way around the world to collaborate with others. Now, I want to bring [...]
Crowdsourcing: A viable approach for building your organization’s storytelling capacity?
In my post last week I talked about Cloud computing, and new ways organizations are using external service providers to address their computer application needs. How does storytelling fit into that mix? Given stories can be one of your organization’s most important knowledge assets, what new opportunity is “out there” for building your storytelling capacity? [...]
Look to the “clouds” to satisfy your collaborative’s computing application needs
Collaborative partnerships come and go. Setting up and maintaining ICT (information and communication technologies) infrastructure to support each of those collaborations can bring on a serious headache. Adopting a “cloud computing” and Software as a Service (SaaS) approach can alleviate that headache. It’s (adopting) what I’m doing and so far so good!
The concept
While not all [...]
Data visualization: Another good way to tell your organization’s story
A good story can give momentum to a vision or idea. One of the ways a story can do that is by making connections, and drawing relationships, between different events. To feel connected, to belong, are basic human needs. Maybe that’s why we perk up when new connections, our relationships to others, are revealed to [...]
Ben Ziegler on 
