Change Maker School -- Laying the Foundations

[Joe Brewer]

Hello Fellow Change Agents,

I'd like to kick up the conversation about a Change Maker School again with a specific course of action.  A few months ago I mentioned a series of workshops I'm putting together on How to Bring About Large-Scale Behavior Change that inspires broader discussions about curriculum development.

I am partnering with Sustainable Seattle to take the materials covered in this workshop series and turn them into a Design Manual for Large-Scale Change.  We have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for this initiative.  I'd love to collaborate with all of you to take these small steps and build on them as we start to envision what a Change Maker School might look like.

Also, I am beginning to explore the possibility of going back into academia to pursue a Ph.D. in the application of cognitive science to global change.  If I choose to go down this road, it will pave the way for the creation of new research centers and education programs that can integrate our collective knowledge with established academic institutions.

Does any of this sound like something you might be interested in collaborating on?  Let's explore together!

In Solidarity,

Joe

--
Joe Brewer
Founder & Director
Cognitive Policy Works
http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com
--
Founder & Director
Seattle Innovators
http://www.seattleinnovators.org
206.914.8927 (mobile)
--

[Elise Hudson]

Joe,

 

I know we’ve never met, but I would be very interested in this collaboration. I’m actually considering going back for my PhD as well. I just finished my Masters in Public Administration in May. My undergraduate degree was in cognitive science, so that also resonates with me. I’m experienced in academic graduate-level research and writing, as well as statistics and SPSS use. So let me know if there’s anything I can do to help! Thanks for opening this up to others as a collaboration!

 

Elise Hudson, MPA, PMP

el...@elisehudson.com

(615)787-7049

---

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1390 / Virus Database: 1518/3776 - Release Date: 07/20/11

[Joe Brewer]

Hi Elise,

I'd love to talk more with you about collaborating... here's something I wrote up last week about the Ph.D. idea:

http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/blog/2011/07/13/the-future-of-cpw/

As you can see, I am seeking partners in this work because it is so big and ambitious.  An important considering for me is whether I can partner with enough researchers AND practitioners to establish a new academic field over the next decade.  So it is vital that we come together and explore what knowledge bases we want to establish, which questions are foundational to explore, and where we set the bounds for our application space.

For my part, I am exploring the intersections of cognitive and behavioral science with urban innovation, global system dynamics, and regional economic development.  These are huge areas in and of themselves!  

Let's talk more...

- Joe

--
Joe Brewer
Founder & Director
Cognitive Policy Works
http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com
--
Founder & Director
Seattle Innovators
http://www.seattleinnovators.org
206.914.8927 (mobile)
--

[Eric Storm]

Joe,

 

Not to sound too cynical, but I am curious how your idea of collaboration will benefit the others that participate.  I sensed a lessening of interest (at least in me) when it seemed that you had a specific course of action and plan for yourself that you were hoping others would join in on or contribute to (rather than a collaborative exploration of the topic for the mutual benefit of all).  If you cold outline your thinking at this juncture, if might help people reingage (or at least make a choice abut how to spend their time).

 

I hope these comments are seen as constructive (if a bit abrupt and honest) and not as putting a damper on things.  If others feel I am just off-base here, please say so.

 

Eric

 

 

From: Joe Brewer

Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 11:08 AM

To: change-ma...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Change Maker School -- Laying the Foundations

[Joe Brewer]

Hi Eric,

You're not off base at all.  It is important for each of us to express where we are coming from and what we'd like to get out of the process moving forward.  

The initial conversation about a Change Maker School focused on creating a framework for curriculum development that establishes a wisdom commons for emerging best practice.  I intend to make my curriculum free and open source (as laid out in the crowdfunding campaign -- see link in my initial message) so that it can be collaboratively owned and freely distributed.  With regards to the larger discussion of what we might do together, I hope that you and others in this group will step forward and express what you'd like to see us create together.  

Some questions I would ask of the group are:

Are we interested in creating a wisdom commons of sharable curriculum tools?  If so, how shall we proceed?  If not, is there something else we would like to do together to advance the professional domain of change agentry? 

I am open to dialogue and would love to hear your thoughts.  

Best,

Joe

--
Joe Brewer
Founder & Director
Cognitive Policy Works
http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com
--
Founder & Director
Seattle Innovators
http://www.seattleinnovators.org
206.914.8927 (mobile)
--

[P. Dines]

Hey Joe - I appreciate you asking questions about us being effective change agents. I haven't studied your proposal, but here are  my first feelings reading the emails: *  I don't know if the change agent methodology is mature enough to narrow it down to best practices. It seems like we're in the days of many ideas still bubbling up. * Maybe just a database of different approaches would be helpful and move it forward. Setup with some kind of commenting system on each approach. This would allow room for the different approaches to continue finding their way before being "normalized."  * Also, I find in my work that I use ideas from many fields, including activism, psychology, business, etc. Where would I draw the line about the methodology of being a change agent?  * I find that it has a lot to do with each person's style and personality, and the kinds of circles they're already in. I feel that anyone can be a change agent anywhere. * Keeping each person's ideas as their own also allows people to have the fun of owning and developing their ideas, without merging into some vague commons and having to sort out the differences to agreement.  * Also some of us who are trying to make a living at this (right livelihood) and our ideas are what we have to offer that's of value. It's important to reward and support those who are taking the time to think these things out. Just my thoughts, in case they might be useful - Best - Patricia --- On Wed, 7/20/11, Joe Brewer <circ...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Joe Brewer]

Hi Patricia,

Your thoughts are very useful indeed!  Perhaps it makes sense for us to unpack a bit more of what we see the emerging domain of practice with an eye toward the celebration of individual creativity... while also pulling out nuggets that feel essential for expanding the space of change making.

I agree with your sentiment that everyone can be a change agent.  The opportunity before us is to cultivate this mode of being in many, many more people.  Ashoka has a vision of Changemaker Cities with the slogan everyone a change maker that resonates with what I'd like to see come out of conversations like this one.  One thing we can do together is discover shared life lessons and insights that brought us to this place -- with an eye toward teachable moments to share with others.

At the same time, there are important skill sets, tools, and methodologies to codify into something akin to education standards.  From my own work, strategic frame analysis is a shining example.  If more people were trained in the basic skills of cognitive linguistics, they would be more effective at agenda-setting and strategic communications... not to mention culture jamming and guerilla marketing to promote culture shifts.

So there are surely things to be taught (and much to be learned) by communities like this one.

Sincerely,

Joe

--
Joe Brewer
Founder & Director
Cognitive Policy Works
http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com
--
Founder & Director
Seattle Innovators
http://www.seattleinnovators.org
206.914.8927 (mobile)
--

[Richard Reid]

I am partnering with Sustainable Seattle to take the materials covered in this workshop series and turn them into a Design Manual for Large-Scale Change.  We have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for this initiative.  I'd love to collaborate with all of you to take these small steps and build on them as we start to envision what a Change Maker School might look like.

This googlegroup could serve as editors and "kibbitzers." 

I imagine it would be relatively uncomplicated to revise and "package" the "modules" created for the Sustainable Seattle workshops so that they could be used for webinars or some form of distance learning. I think it would be useful to include basic ideas for group facilitation so that interested people could learn and then teach the essentials of Large-Scale Change.

It seems to me that the "wisdom commons" is present and we can draw on it for curriculum design and development. I'm continuing to assume we agree on what large-scale change is for. I'm OK with not articulating the values we seem to agree on at this time but at some point we need to know where we want "emerging best practice" to take us.

Personally I'd like to see large-scale change in voting behavior and am convinced cognitive science can get us there. (I think Lakoff's Thinking Points is one of the best campaign handbooks out there.) So I'd like to see us get a beta version of Large-Scale Change 101 up and running in a couple of months so I can apply what I've learned to local campaigns.

Richard Reid

Salem, OR

[Richard Reid]

Hi Patricia, as I was reading your comments some ideas came up. 

*1 Yes many ideas are always abubbling and they arise in the soup of best practices that has been cooking for decades. Effective change agents are rare in part because there has been no clear path for creating them. Business has its "leaders" design has its "innovators" etc But historically large-scale change has had no practitioners other than those willing to impose their version of power inequality (think despots and dictators).   We can use cognitive science to circumvent common change strategies (ex. political campaigns as marketing campaigns) and build on those "leadership" and "innovator" traditions to create social change agency.

*2 A database of different approaches is a constructive idea because people could pick and choose what might work for them and their idea of the change project before them. After half a dozen political campaigns here, I'm not confident enough of us have the self-awareness or objectivity to pick from a list. I think it would help to have a change agent curricula that trains people how to understand and apply cognitive science and that might make them more sophisticated selectors of best practices.

*3 Good point about being eclectic in drawing from your experiences because that might make you more capable of "drawing the line" than people with less experience. I'm not sure there is any "line" per se but there are bound to be guidelines associated with cognitive science and rhetoric.

*4 I agree that anyone can be a change agent but I don't think all change agents are effective. (Sadly most people marching in the street believe they are affecting change.) More people are motivated to act for change when they feel empowered by a sense of what works. Cognitive science provides that sense and improves effectiveness. 

*5 We've been doing some Mapping the Commons workshops here. One thing we're learning is that we all share the commons and we all maintain our autonomy while sharing. I believe culturally we all use the wisdom commons. Some parts of that commons are vague to me and other parts I'm very sure about. I don't think much sorting out is necessary since we in this "large-scale change commons" are already building on assumed values.

*6 I hear ya about rewards. Let's face it those who support power inequalities are generally rewarded more often than those who don't. Maybe it helps to believe that large-scale change will get us closer to large-scale equity.

In solidarity,

Richard

[Richard Reid]

Hi Elise,

Based on his latest email about "Creating a New Science - Human Interface with Global Change,"  I can't tell if Joe is following through with: "Curriculum Design :: How Social Change Works" or "On Building a Design Team for a Curriculum for Change Makers" or "the three-part workshop series on Designing Campaigns for Large-Scale Behavior Change" or any of the rest of it.

When I posted this question to the CPW blog it was immediately deleted.

Have you heard anything?

Richard Reid

[Richard Reid]

Hi Joe,
I thought this would interest you. They're using global news text
analysis to reveal "global news media tone in time and space" and
finding a correlation between "media tone" and subsequent social unrest.

Enjoy?
http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3663

Richard

[Joe Brewer]

Hi Richard,

Yes, very interesting indeed.  I've worked with a few colleagues who do large-volume text analysis to identify semantic trends in media discourse.  It is a fascinating field of research that gets considerable use in the intelligence/defense sector.

This study is particularly interesting to be as it suggests that shifts in public sentiment can be understood as dynamic phase transitions, wherein a structural change in society arises from the destabilization of prominent narrative arcs in the broad discourse of a society.

Thanks for passing this along!

Best,

Joe

--
Joe Brewer
Founder & Director
Cognitive Policy Works
http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com
--

Innovation Strategist

Chaotic Ripple

http://www.chaoticripple.com
206.914.8927 (mobile)
--