Example: Growcology is a new nonprofit in Riverside, CA growing edible gardens of 2 acres of underutilized property as a model for suburban local food cultivation. They have worked with local officials to offer free permaculture classes and provide training to others on how to grow their own food forests at home. In less than a year with almost no $ down they have grown a valuable asset that is connecting thrivable leaders in their hometown through a new Ning site, MyGreenRiverside.com.
--Evonne @amoration (Not signed in).....Wed Jul 29 22:59:50 -0700 2009
Thrivable is a super-charged version of sustainable. It is more than just getting by and surviving. Thrivable is succeeding in being good stewards of our own future - physically, intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.
--Kevin Clark (Not signed in).....Thu Jul 30 04:35:45 -0700 2009
The word "sustainability" carries the implication that there is something fragile which needs help to be sustained, and that if you work hard enough you might just be able to keep it afloat with its nose out the water. It is a sort of perpetual treading water. Tedious. Exhausting. Going nowhere.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that this is the vision that advocates of sustainability hold. I believe they see something much greater possible. A sort of taking responsibility for our future - a future illuminated by working WITH instead of AGAINST nature.
Yet it should really come as no surprise when their talk of "sustainability" doesn't win over people who don't already share that vision. The word is weak and falls flat. Unless you are already in the frame of reference of partnership with the natural world, it is hollow. Worse than hollow – tedious, tiresome, pointless.
The neo-cons have certainly gotten one thing right. If you control the language, then you set the context of the whole debate. You can talk till you're blue about why the "tax relief" bill doesn't. Or the “Clean Air” bill isn't. Or how war isn't a “Family Value.” As long as you use that language, you are operating inside that frame of reference.
So we can choose to bore people with more reasons for "sustainability," or start to create words which evoke a new vision for them of what’s possible. There is so much more possible than treading water. If you want to change people’s minds or actions, you have to give them new language with a frame which provides appealing new options.
There’s a new word we are playing with, in an effort to create a new frame which is about THRIVING rather than just SUSTAINING.
Thrivability.
Thrivability builds on itself. It is a cycle of actions which reinvest energy for future use and stretch resources further. It transcends sustainability by creating an upward spiral of greater possibilities and increasing energy. Each cycle builds the foundation for new things to be accomplished.
Thrivability emerges from the persistent intention to create more value than you consume. When practiced over time this builds a world of ever increasing possibilities.
Thrivability works like life on earth works. We have access to fertile soil, schools of fish, and deposits of oil because life has been storing up this energy slowly and carefully for many millions of years.
Thank you Kevin, very concise. Thank you for the example Evonne. I would also point to thewaterpod.org as a thrivable example.
I love this Arthur, thank you. I appreciate how explicit you are, both about nature building upward spirals (it is how we got here!) and that thrivability is about building spirals of possibility.
Thrivability... is the capability and desire to self-organize to utilize what is present and build what is not, including the network/community/group.
I like Arthur's upward spiral concept... using what is here, what has been left/built by others, ...re-combination, re-use, re-mix. With the the idea of whatever we build can be used/re-used by others to continue the upward spiral.
Of course certain network patterns assist/support learning/re-combining/innovating and we need to get that knowledge out to communities /groups aiming to be thrivable.
--Valdis (Not signed in).....Fri Aug 21 07:22:53 -0700 2009
Kevin - Optimism - one leg of thrivability is moving the conversation of sustainability from getting back from doing no harm to something positive that is about creating processes and means to do better. Trying to overcome latent negative connotations around sustainability - we have to remediate. To something we are drawn toward something that is going to make life better.
Evonne - Opennesss - allows people to foothold in and allows people to connect to this. Yes, part of that is transparency.
Valdis - we need to stress positive thrivable - and some systems I see are not very positive but seem thrivable in their context. It is not thriving for us but not for you. Inclusive positive thing.
The Golden Rule - as brought up in the Human Engagement group. It feeds into that idea that Valdis is talking about - positive direction. Kevin - golden rule is not translated between languages - it emerged in all cultures.
Do onto others as you would like them to do onto you. Next level of this - do onto others as they would like done to them. Thrivability is about appropriate sharing of ideas and technology that allows cultures to use them in ways that works for them.
Valdis - one of the key things in the thrivable network is awareness - how you can add to what others are needing. The next level of the golden rule there is a fit for me.
Tracy - in the philanthropy world that I am seeing. A lot of tension between fear/lack of confidence in the future and a desire to go baby go, let's evolve. In between there, what I see a lot, words like thrivable needs to get some grounding. The piece here that seems difficult to me is this stagnation - withdrawl of donors and their panic. Are you going to evolve? Are you going to co-create and evolve? Thrivability really having energy - community, personal, etc evolving... words like co-creation are so important in this. Something has to take us out of our narcicism.
Kevin - perceptual motion. thrivable is inherently a perpetual value creation. Non-zero. For me to win you do not have to loose. Robert Wright non-zero. When you reach the stage of full interdependence, you can start to create energy and resources that did not exist before. In the realm of human affairs, there is no reason to apply physics rules. It is not simply about getting by, it is about making our future better.
Valdis - to be able to do that, you need to have that awareness be maximized in the network - it helps you sense and see the interdependence that is there. Internmediaries creates distance which leads to delay and distortion. So people at one end of the problem don't have direct connection with the people who can resolve.
Tracy - lots of energy of perceptual motion...and all this action. Being thrivable is also about self-care and taking care of those around us. We are so busy being busy that we are not taking good care of ourselves.
Tracy - is there something visual that we can present that can help people grasp this visually. - self, family, community. - give people the ability to contribute. Evonne - visual storytelling. Jean - WDYDWYD for thrivable world.
Organic - non-polluted by chemicals and also in the sense of evolving - ameoba-like.
Valdis - is an attractor - it is a magnet.
Tracy - points to the thrivability blog
Jean - we are already responsible for it. The tension of me/we. Caring for both the whole and the self.
Kevin,
if you put this in the language is what others will understand - what we are really talking about macro-succession. What is it going to take for your world to thrive in a world that is ever-changing. Now, what are the principles then. We can't assume that everyone is ready to embrace the entire planet. Not everyone is ready for that.
Can change the globalization in a larger context. The puts and takes - to cooperate and collaborate across boundaries. Instead of seeing treaties as win-lose situations. Instead, we could learn a lot from the "third world" - why don't we use their cisterns, for example.
Jean- empathy - about connecting to another and what can we share together rather than compassion which holds one as priviledged above another.
Tracy - does using the principles above thrivability to help transcend ego. People are following a lot. We can't follow what has been done. If this is a path that we want people to consider... And besides thrivability - who are are the best friends of thrivability.
Valdis - we eventually need to go there... the more we create like-thinking neighbors, the more we can spread out.
Evonne - how to communicate this to both those in the green meme as well as those in capitalistic modes. It is easy to reach the sustainability focused people. I am not sure what communication mode would make it most reasonable. What are things that people can grab onto.
Also, I will see if I can create a visual for contextualizing both sustainability and thrivability and post it this week.
--Ken Homer (Not signed in).....Sun Sep 27 12:53:57 -0700 2009
Stories:
Example: Growcology is a new nonprofit in Riverside, CA growing edible gardens of 2 acres of underutilized property as a model for suburban local food cultivation. They have worked with local officials to offer free permaculture classes and provide training to others on how to grow their own food forests at home. In less than a year with almost no $ down they have grown a valuable asset that is connecting thrivable leaders in their hometown through a new Ning site, MyGreenRiverside.com. --Evonne @amoration
I would also point to thewaterpod.org as a thrivable example. ~ Jean
--Jean (Not signed in).....Tue Oct 06 14:55:45 -0700 2009
Example: Growcology is a new nonprofit in Riverside, CA growing edible gardens of 2 acres of underutilized property as a model for suburban local food cultivation. They have worked with local officials to offer free permaculture classes and provide training to others on how to grow their own food forests at home. In less than a year with almost no $ down they have grown a valuable asset that is connecting thrivable leaders in their hometown through a new Ning site, MyGreenRiverside.com.
--Evonne @amoration (Not signed in).....Wed Jul 29 22:59:50 -0700 2009
Thrivable is a super-charged version of sustainable. It is more than just getting by and surviving. Thrivable is succeeding in being good stewards of our own future - physically, intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.
--Kevin Clark (Not signed in).....Thu Jul 30 04:35:45 -0700 2009
Here is a one page write up I did on thrivability: http://thrivable.wagn.org/wagn/thrivability1pager
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Fri Jul 31 19:12:27 -0700 2009
The word "sustainability" carries the implication that there is something fragile which needs help to be sustained, and that if you work hard enough you might just be able to keep it afloat with its nose out the water. It is a sort of perpetual treading water. Tedious. Exhausting. Going nowhere.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that this is the vision that advocates of sustainability hold. I believe they see something much greater possible. A sort of taking responsibility for our future - a future illuminated by working WITH instead of AGAINST nature.
Yet it should really come as no surprise when their talk of "sustainability" doesn't win over people who don't already share that vision. The word is weak and falls flat. Unless you are already in the frame of reference of partnership with the natural world, it is hollow. Worse than hollow – tedious, tiresome, pointless.
The neo-cons have certainly gotten one thing right. If you control the language, then you set the context of the whole debate. You can talk till you're blue about why the "tax relief" bill doesn't. Or the “Clean Air” bill isn't. Or how war isn't a “Family Value.” As long as you use that language, you are operating inside that frame of reference.
So we can choose to bore people with more reasons for "sustainability," or start to create words which evoke a new vision for them of what’s possible. There is so much more possible than treading water. If you want to change people’s minds or actions, you have to give them new language with a frame which provides appealing new options.
There’s a new word we are playing with, in an effort to create a new frame which is about THRIVING rather than just SUSTAINING.
Thrivability.
Thrivability builds on itself. It is a cycle of actions which reinvest energy for future use and stretch resources further. It transcends sustainability by creating an upward spiral of greater possibilities and increasing energy. Each cycle builds the foundation for new things to be accomplished.
Thrivability emerges from the persistent intention to create more value than you consume. When practiced over time this builds a world of ever increasing possibilities.
Thrivability works like life on earth works. We have access to fertile soil, schools of fish, and deposits of oil because life has been storing up this energy slowly and carefully for many millions of years.
What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
--Arthur Brock.....Tue Aug 04 22:05:13 -0700 2009
Thank you Kevin, very concise. Thank you for the example Evonne. I would also point to thewaterpod.org as a thrivable example.
I love this Arthur, thank you. I appreciate how explicit you are, both about nature building upward spirals (it is how we got here!) and that thrivability is about building spirals of possibility.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Tue Aug 04 23:09:22 -0700 2009
Thrivability... is the capability and desire to self-organize to utilize what is present and build what is not, including the network/community/group.
I like Arthur's upward spiral concept... using what is here, what has been left/built by others, ...re-combination, re-use, re-mix. With the the idea of whatever we build can be used/re-used by others to continue the upward spiral.
Of course certain network patterns assist/support learning/re-combining/innovating and we need to get that knowledge out to communities /groups aiming to be thrivable.
--Valdis (Not signed in).....Fri Aug 21 07:22:53 -0700 2009
http://www.ratical.org/LifeWeb/Articles/images/LSinetHF20.jpg
Sheri Herndon shared the above list (via a conversation with Georg Por). I thought it fit thrivable principles pretty well.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Sun Aug 23 08:13:02 -0700 2009
If you think of people, communities or organizations that you think demonstrate thrivabillity, can you add them here: http://thrivable.wagn.org/wagn/Demonstrating_Thrivability please?
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 07:26:20 -0700 2009
Kevin suggests - self-evolving and self-guiding.
Valdis says a mix - gently guided as well as self-guiding
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:10:29 -0700 2009
Kevin - Optimism - one leg of thrivability is moving the conversation of sustainability from getting back from doing no harm to something positive that is about creating processes and means to do better. Trying to overcome latent negative connotations around sustainability - we have to remediate. To something we are drawn toward something that is going to make life better.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:13:18 -0700 2009
Evonne - Opennesss - allows people to foothold in and allows people to connect to this. Yes, part of that is transparency.
Valdis - we need to stress positive thrivable - and some systems I see are not very positive but seem thrivable in their context. It is not thriving for us but not for you. Inclusive positive thing.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:15:25 -0700 2009
The Golden Rule - as brought up in the Human Engagement group. It feeds into that idea that Valdis is talking about - positive direction. Kevin - golden rule is not translated between languages - it emerged in all cultures.
Do onto others as you would like them to do onto you. Next level of this - do onto others as they would like done to them. Thrivability is about appropriate sharing of ideas and technology that allows cultures to use them in ways that works for them.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:18:26 -0700 2009
Valdis - one of the key things in the thrivable network is awareness - how you can add to what others are needing. The next level of the golden rule there is a fit for me.
Tracy - in the philanthropy world that I am seeing. A lot of tension between fear/lack of confidence in the future and a desire to go baby go, let's evolve. In between there, what I see a lot, words like thrivable needs to get some grounding. The piece here that seems difficult to me is this stagnation - withdrawl of donors and their panic. Are you going to evolve? Are you going to co-create and evolve? Thrivability really having energy - community, personal, etc evolving... words like co-creation are so important in this. Something has to take us out of our narcicism.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:22:05 -0700 2009
Create more value than you consume. Yes. Persistent intention.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:22:50 -0700 2009
Kevin - perceptual motion. thrivable is inherently a perpetual value creation. Non-zero. For me to win you do not have to loose. Robert Wright non-zero. When you reach the stage of full interdependence, you can start to create energy and resources that did not exist before. In the realm of human affairs, there is no reason to apply physics rules. It is not simply about getting by, it is about making our future better.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:25:11 -0700 2009
Valdis - to be able to do that, you need to have that awareness be maximized in the network - it helps you sense and see the interdependence that is there. Internmediaries creates distance which leads to delay and distortion. So people at one end of the problem don't have direct connection with the people who can resolve.
Tracy - lots of energy of perceptual motion...and all this action. Being thrivable is also about self-care and taking care of those around us. We are so busy being busy that we are not taking good care of ourselves.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:27:38 -0700 2009
Tracy - is there something visual that we can present that can help people grasp this visually. - self, family, community. - give people the ability to contribute. Evonne - visual storytelling. Jean - WDYDWYD for thrivable world.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:31:26 -0700 2009
Organic - non-polluted by chemicals and also in the sense of evolving - ameoba-like.
Valdis - is an attractor - it is a magnet.
Tracy - points to the thrivability blog
Jean - we are already responsible for it. The tension of me/we. Caring for both the whole and the self.
Kevin,
if you put this in the language is what others will understand - what we are really talking about macro-succession. What is it going to take for your world to thrive in a world that is ever-changing. Now, what are the principles then. We can't assume that everyone is ready to embrace the entire planet. Not everyone is ready for that.
Can change the globalization in a larger context. The puts and takes - to cooperate and collaborate across boundaries. Instead of seeing treaties as win-lose situations. Instead, we could learn a lot from the "third world" - why don't we use their cisterns, for example.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:39:49 -0700 2009
Jean- empathy - about connecting to another and what can we share together rather than compassion which holds one as priviledged above another.
Tracy - does using the principles above thrivability to help transcend ego. People are following a lot. We can't follow what has been done. If this is a path that we want people to consider... And besides thrivability - who are are the best friends of thrivability.
Valdis - we eventually need to go there... the more we create like-thinking neighbors, the more we can spread out.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:43:56 -0700 2009
Evonne - how to communicate this to both those in the green meme as well as those in capitalistic modes. It is easy to reach the sustainability focused people. I am not sure what communication mode would make it most reasonable. What are things that people can grab onto.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:45:57 -0700 2009
Kevin - creating a variety of stories to reach people of different constituencies.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:46:59 -0700 2009
http://s3.amazonaws.com/nurture.wagn.org/card_files/14/ThrivableValues.jpg
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:47:50 -0700 2009
Tracy - how do we move something....what do we learn from that. - if we want that to be useful. We need carries who exemplify this.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:49:33 -0700 2009
Valdis - contribute our stories to next call.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:51:28 -0700 2009
Evonne - Deep passion and dedication - as a core principles.
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:52:22 -0700 2009
Kevin: mutual benefit rather than empathy or reciprocity....
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:55:23 -0700 2009
Evonne - Presence is a value we have not talked about - but is so valuable for all the conversations we have around these ideas....
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 08:59:00 -0700 2009
Tracy emailed the following link: http://www.reimaginemoney.org/initiatives/initiative.php?initiative=1 for the Sequoia Principles:
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Thu Sep 24 09:16:27 -0700 2009
Thanks all for these rich comments.
Here is an article by Dana Meadows on Dancing with Systems that seems to me to fit well in our Thrivability conversations: http://www.pegasuscom.com/PDFs/dancing-with-systems.pdf
Also, I will see if I can create a visual for contextualizing both sustainability and thrivability and post it this week.
--Ken Homer (Not signed in).....Sun Sep 27 12:53:57 -0700 2009
Stories:
Example: Growcology is a new nonprofit in Riverside, CA growing edible gardens of 2 acres of underutilized property as a model for suburban local food cultivation. They have worked with local officials to offer free permaculture classes and provide training to others on how to grow their own food forests at home. In less than a year with almost no $ down they have grown a valuable asset that is connecting thrivable leaders in their hometown through a new Ning site, MyGreenRiverside.com. --Evonne @amoration
I would also point to thewaterpod.org as a thrivable example. ~ Jean
--Jean (Not signed in).....Tue Oct 06 14:55:45 -0700 2009
some lovely adjectives David Hodgson pointed me to: http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2009/10/02.html#a2448
--Jean Nurture Girl Russell.....Tue Oct 06 15:56:23 -0700 2009