Wednesday I returned from 4 days in Slovenia, attending a conference/course/seminar on “The art of hosting”. Hosting is any activity, where you invite people to participate in a project, process, meeting, conversation etc. Being a host has some common characteristics, regardless of the type of activity or the people attending, and we explored the techniques, principles and values of good hosting.
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And the winner is…
Last week I asked for suggestions for naming my company. I just filled out the papers, and the company’s official name is “Gaudium”. Thanks to Martin Mouritzen for suggesting it. Gaudium is latin for happiness (I did in fact check it in a latin dictionary, just to make sure that it wasn’t a cruel prank, and that Gaudium was really latin for something really dirty).
I chose the name Gaudium because it’s short, it works internationally and I think it has a nice sound. Thank you Martin.
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Street musicians giving away money
I saw something really cool today: A choir of 10 or 12 middle-aged swedish men were singing in one of the squares in central Copenhagen (they were really good, btw). On the ground in front of them, they’d placed a cap, and people of course put in money. And here’s the twist: One of the men then started giving the money away. He took the cap and gave money to a kid standing there with his mother and to a homeless guy sitting on the ground.
Then they went around to other people collecting more money (I gave what change I had). I saw them again further down the street, giving away some of that money to a guy collecting for Africa. So they weren’t really collecting, they were redistributing. Nifty. Actually I think it might have been a bachelor party, but a remarkably well behaved and generous one, in that case.
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Arena opens for member
Arena memberships are now available. Read more about us, see what we offer and then go right ahead and sign up.
You could also check out our activities in may and june.
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Cool name wanted
In a couple of days time, I’ll be starting my new company. The company will work with happiness at work, with new ways of working and meeting. All the things I’ve been reading about, thinking about and talking about for a year now.
But the company needs a name, and that’s where I need your help. Write a comment and suggest a name. The winner will get an honourable mention here on the site.
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Happiness at work marches on
Project Happiness at work took a giant leap forward last saturday. I’d invited some people who’ve been following the project or who liked the idea of doing an effort to promote happiness at work, and we spent four hours refining the project and coming up with a game plan for the next three months.
The highlight of the meeting for me was to see how the idea of spreading happiness at work grabs people. To know that the project is now more than just my dreams and ideas. To hear people say “We” as in “We need to find ten companies willing to give this a try. How do we do it?”. To see people assume ownership and leadership in different areas, and to see each contribute according to their interest. (Need I say that the meeting was an Open Space meeting? Of course it was).
But mostly: Thanks the people who came. It’s a great feeling for me to know, that I’m no longer alone, and that it’s no longer just my pet project. I look forward to spreading some work-happiness along with you guys, and along with anybody else who wants to help. Thanks!
Click more to see pictures.
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Quote
The decisive question for man is: Is he related to the infinite or not? That is the telling question of his life. Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid fixing our interests upon futilities and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance.
– Carl Jung
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Book review: Pattern recognition
William Gibsons new book held a strange attraction for me, one I find it very difficult to explain.
We all know that Gibson has come a long way since the days of Neuromancer and the two followups, and pattern recognition is the logical conclusion to the direction his latest books have been taking. But at the same time, he also revisits themes and ideas from his cyberpunk books, especially from Count Zero.
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Synergic rule
I found a very interesting article by Timothy Wilken about synergic wealth and synergic rule. It examines the idea, that we would all be much wealthier if we pooled our resources instead of fighting over them. I can certainly agree to that.
Then it goes on to explore synergic rule or synocracy. This is a form of rule that is not based on majority decisions. Instead matters are discussed by all involved parties, and no decision is made, untill everybody is comfortable with the decision. The key point is, that if a decision entails a loss to somebody, that loss should be acknowledged and shared by everybody.
I find the idea extremely inspiring, and it repeats some themes from a few of my favourite books of late, namely Margaret Wheatley’s A simpler way and Tor Nørretranders’ Det generøse menneske. The former focuses on a new world view based on cooperation rather than competition, while the latter studies the origin and function of generosity in humans.
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Chaordic leadership
While going through my bookmarks, I came across this article, where Dee Hock, the founder of VISA, explains his ideas of chaordic organization and leaderhip.
Here’s a sample from the article, that talks about when organizations achieve peak performance:
Every choreographer, conductor, and coach — or for that matter, corporation president — has tried to distill the essence of such performance. Countless others have tried to explain and produce a mechanistic, measurably controlled process that will cause the phenomenon. It has never been done and it never will be. It is easily observed, universally admired, and occasionally experienced. It happens, but cannot be deliberately done. It is rarely long sustained but can be repeated. It arises from the relationships and interaction of those from which it is composed. Some organizations seem consistently able to do so, just as some leaders seem able to cause it to happen with consistency, even within different organizations.If this speaks to you, then you need to read Dee Hocks book “birth of the chaordic age”.
