"Instant Meeting" Idea

We spend far too many hours in meetings. And we love consensus. But sometimes the discussion goes on far longer than it needs to. I love this idea from Education World:

Consensus is a format that requires getting everyone on board with the agreement. It doesn't mean that everyone in the group loves the idea; it only means that everyone agrees to live with the decision and help implement it.... "Levels of consensus" is an approach that provides a quick way to check consensus.


State the question to be decided and review the levels of consensus (above). Then ask all group members to hold up fingers indicating where they are on the consensus scale.

• 1 finger -- "I can say an unqualified yes to the decision. I am satisfied that the decision is an expression of the wisdom of the group."
• 2 fingers -- "I find the decision perfectly acceptable."
• 3 fingers -- "I can live with the decision even though I'm not especially enthusiastic about it."
• 4 fingers -- "I do not fully agree with the decision and need to register my view about why. However, I will not block the decision because I trust the wisdom of the group."
• 5 fingers -- "I do not agree with the decision and feel the need to stand in the way of this decision being accepted."
• 6 fingers -- "I feel that we have no clear sense of unity in the group. We need to do more work before consensus can be reached."

If a quick scan of the room shows all ones and twos, the group can see that consensus has been reached. If there are several people indicating threes and fours -- or if there is even one five or six -- invite those with threes, fours, and fives to talk about why they chose that number.

Accepting feedback

The Frustrated Writer’s Prayer « Write Sense

The Frustrated Writer’s Prayer
July 14th, 2007



God, grant me the humility to face criticism,
the courage not to lash off when someone suggests a revision,
the serenity to accept when my writing is hopeless,
and the wisdom to know when to stop inflicting my writing on others.



Yes, accepting criticism is, indeed, hard. I have to swallow hard, especially when the critic is right.

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An Earth Day Story

I spent the weekend working on a grant application, so I hardly noticed Earth Day come and go. But this morning I watched this story on Rocketboom and want to share it with you.

What a perfect way to tell a story. So well done.

Update: The links connected to the current day's story rather than the Earth Day piece. Sorry, I'll try to sort it out later today. Tues, 4/24/07

Okay, lets try this link -- http://www.rocketboom.com/stories/rb_07_apr_20

All This to Sell a TV Set

Sony BRAVIA - The Advert

Have you seen this Sony ad? Quite amazing what a company will spend its money on. Be sure to watch the "Behind the Scenes" clip.

Our latest TV ad - featuring massive paint explosions - took 10 days and 250 people to film. Huge quantities of paint were needed to accomplish this, which had to be delivered in 1 tonne trucks and mixed on-site by 20 people.

The effect was stunning, but afterwards a major clean-up operation was required to clear away all that paint!

The cleaning took 5 days and 60 people. Thankfully, the use of a special water-based paint made it easy to scrape-up once the water had evaporated.

Keeping everyone safe was also an important factor. A special kind of non-toxic paint was used that is safe enough to drink (it contains the same thickeners that are sometimes used in soups). It was also completely harmless to the skin.

Web 2.0 - in Four Enlightening Minutes

Wonder what Web 2.0 is all about? Watch this 4 minute video put together by Michael Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. (Actually 4 minutes, 31 seconds.)

Wesch practices the sage advice 'show, don't tell.' You'll find the video well worth the small bit of time it takes to watch it.

Kudos, Professor! Well done.

Raising Money for Innovation

Robert Wood Johnson has a new competition for innovative domestic violence prevention programs ($5,000 awards to top three winners). The competition drives home just how important private fundraising is. Funders want to be sure their money is used wisely. Grants these days support 'evidence-based,' 'research-based,' or 'model' programs.

So, who pays for the innovative programs? If an organization doesn't have private donors, it's pretty hard to find money to innovate.

RWJF - Newsroom - Features - No Private Matter! Online Competition to Showcase Innovative Domestic Violence Prevention Programs: "No Private Matter! Online Competition to Showcase Innovative Domestic Violence Prevention Programs

The competition, co-sponsored by RWJF and Changemakers, is designed to encourage innovators to share promising new ideas and make connections"

New Look for New Blogger

All my blogs got moved to the new blogger -- finally. I've been anticipating the move for some time, mostly because I missed the ability to label posts.

Making the change gave me just the push I needed to spruce things up a bit. I hope you like it.

Checking Out the Competition: Non-Profits on the Web

Here's one way to jump-start your thinking about how your non-profit can make use of web 2.0 strategies. Take a look at these organizations.

THE 59 SMARTEST ORGS ONLINE on Squidoo:

"These charities were chosen for their excellence in online storytelling and collaboration with their donors. We didn't play favorites to one cause over another, nor did we look at their fundraising goals or number of members. Instead, these organizations are winners because of their web 2.0 smarts and a willingness to engage their constituents far beyond asking them to dig into their pockets.

These are organizations that give their volunteers and members a voice and get out of the way. They're pros at mobilizing awareness online. They're experimenters. Innovators. On a mission. They're fearless."

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