Connect The Dots

Whether it's in the workplace, in a non-profit, or in your town, people need space to come together, discuss their common challenges and different perspectives, and innovate. Digital and physical, it's critical for our future. Otherwise, incremental progress will not be fast enough for us to make a meaningful impact for the world we want and need.

The US style of top-down leadership needs to shift thanks to our now-emerged networked society. So, how can leaders take the first step to be more effective in this new era? Leaders need to provide space for people to link, learn, share perspective, and act together on their common issues, challenges, and opportunities. Ignoring this mandate is a recipe for growing the gap between leaders and communities.

There's a tremendous amount of instability in the system. Instability that will not be solved by either Clinton or Trump in the next couple of years. We have to stop the "us vs. them" approach to politics - so how do we do this? We have to purposely and patiently take the time to understand the other side and "get into the hole" with them. We have to realize that our perspective of the problem (and solution) is no more important than any one else's. All perspectives are always valid, even if they are based on flawed logic or data. We have to understand each other's perspectives to better understand our systemic problems so that we can get behind more systemic solutions.

Why are we stuck in gridlock in Congress and in our national body politic? Simply because tend to pick sides before we seek to understand our common problems and the multitude of perspectives that are associated with those problems. We must stop this "our-team-vs-their-team" mentality that is creating division and failing us in our efforts to make progress on our common struggles.

We are facing an extraordinary amount of uncertainty and instability right now. Regardless of who we elect in November here in the US, we should expect things to get worse before they get better. We are in transition - from an old system to a new one. As leaders, we need to focus on identifying and understanding all of our interconnected underlying problems before we push forth any solutions.

What can Brexit tell us about how we can be better leaders? The disconnect between leaders and citizens has shocked a global economy, but could we see a dramatic event like this unfold in the United States? Yes, if we don't learn our lessons from our friends across the pond.

Our world is very complex - it's made of systems upon systems. But how can we think about multiple perspectives in parallel? How can we visualize systems? The key is to think of the relationships between different objects rather than objects themselves. We can use a spider web with imaginary weights on it to illustrate this. Give me a few minutes.

Are we building the future we want and need for ourselves and our kids? Or are we creating more problems with every "solution" that we deliver? Let's reflect on the connection between Innovation and Inequality. Give me a few minutes.

Every time there's a tragedy, we over-simplify the problem and, thus, we over-simplify the solution. Are you one of the people that prioritizes "your solution" above "solving the problem itself?" Are you one of the people that blocks any progress on a perceived component of the problem because of your own views of what the problem is and what the solution should be? The complexity of systemic problems requires that we take action on multiple root issues and leverage points to make meaningful change. Give me a few minutes.

Action needs to be taken for the system to change. A system in stasis will not naturally change without an outside force. How do we practice solidarity across traditional thematic issues to help change the system? Narrow-focus movements that currently exist should start supporting other causes too in order to practice solidarity and build social pressure for the change we want and need. Otherwise, we can't change the system. Give me a few minutes.

Do you know there's a clear difference between the words 'strategy' and 'plan'? Do you know what that difference is or how to apply it in your everyday life? The nuance between 'outcomes' and 'destinations' is everything. What does that mean for our politics? Give me a few minutes.

Right now, there are three competing battles happening in our collective politics. You've known about one for a long time - that's the Left vs the Right. But did you know we have a growing Establishment vs Anti-Establishment battle? Or a growing Politically Correct vs Politically Incorrect battle? Can you guess how these three link back to Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton? Give me a few minutes.

Do you know what values really are and how they impact your leadership practices? How about mindsets? Do you understand how mindsets impact the way we process information? How do these two concepts come together to shape our leadership and political practices as well as our ability to influence others? How can you change someone's mindset quickly? Give me a few minutes.

There are two types of change continuous (incremental) and discontinuous (transformation/disruptive). What is the difference between these two types of change? How can leadership be responsive to communities and manage both incremental or disruptive change initiatives? Give me a few minutes.

Where do you find yourself on the ladder of engagement? Apathetic? Us vs Them? Issue-oriented? Systemic? Some people move up the ladder. Some people never change. Many don't understand where they truly sit. The best way to understand where you sit on the ladder is to think about what you do in between elections. Give me a few minutes.

When is an apple not a fruit? When it's an iPhone. Sensitivity to word choice is one of the strangest phenomena in our linguistics. Why is this so important? How does Donald Trump create so many supporters and opponents with just his words? What are his supporters hearing that his opponents aren't? Give me a few minutes.

The key to changing hearts and minds is not to be abrasive and try to debate or "one-down" the person you are trying to influence. The key to changing hearts and minds is to "join them in the hole and show them the way out". You will never be able to change someone by attacking their beliefs. You must understand their beliefs first. Give me a few minutes.

We all love technology, but how is it impacting our democracy and our movements? How is distracting us from the real problems that exist in the real world? Are we entrapping an entire generation from an attention standpoint? How is this all impacting our power and our leadership? This and more in the 3rd full episode of Connect the Dots.

Too many leaders are living in a bubble. They're totally disconnected from the grassroots and totally enveloped in a mindset that only allows them to see the world a certain way. It's happening across all of our sectors, and it's leading to an extraordinary breakdown of social institutions. We can stop this, but it requires a change in our leadership practices. Give me a few minutes.

There's a difference between implying conspiracy and inferring conspiracy. When we infer conspiracy, we subconsciously reject the speaker's point and even potentially distrust the person based on their word choice. Most people don't have mastery over the English language let alone mastery over how to talk about complex systems. That's okay, but it does impact how we interpret people's concerns and perspectives. A follow-up to "Complexity or Conspiracy". Give me a few minutes.