Meet Calum Graham
As the reality of Monday morning settles in I offer you something completely different...but not in the Monty Python spirit. Calum Graham is an Alberta artist that astounded me at TEDx Banff last week. This 18 year old guitarist has a great talent and wonder touch and a warm engaging personality.
Don't watch this video now. You have to get your day organized - its Monday morning and I know you are going to be busy right now. Look at it later today, when you need some 5 minutes of solace and peace to get away from the din of the day. Then come back to this blog post and find some repose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lNxlnuFHW0
Robert Genn's Letters
I was in Banff on the weekend and stopped in at a showing of new works by Robert Genn, one of my favourite Canadian artists. The great surprise was the book of collected letters Robert has been writing every two weeks since July 1999. I scanned some content and was hooked. This guy can write as well as paint. Had a nice chat with Robert and we agreed to follow each other on line. I really recommend the book even though I have only rad a few letters so far. They are the kind of writing that makes you think, reflect and reason about a wide range of issues, ideas and events. Here is a link if you are interested in more info. http://www.painterskeys.com/ and want to subscribe to his letters.
Fil Fraser has a new book too!
My long time friend and author Fil Fraser is launching his new book "How the Blacks Created Canada." The event is at Audrey's Books 10702 Jasper Avenue in Edmonton at 7:30 pm Tuesday April 27, 2010. Fil is the lead on the monthly column we do (with others) on business ethics entitled "The Right Call" for Ruth Kelly's Alberta Venture magazine.
Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta
Cambridge Strategies Inc. is co-sponsoring a lecture series in Calgary (May 31) and Edmonton (June 1) with authors Gwynne Dyer ("Climate Wars"), David Peat ("Certainty to Uncertainty: The Story of Science and Ideas in the Twentieth Century") and Scott Murray, a senior advisor in Human Resources in Science and Technology, Stats Canada. Scott has just completed some amazing research on the literacy ;levels and essentail skills gap in various labour, industry and professional sectors in Alberta. For tickets and more information go to http://www.learningourway.ca/ or email me at ken@cambridgestrategies.com
Moving On!
OK that is the good news for Monday morning. Now into the serious stuff of being Albertan and how we can be better at it. The first example will be the next post. It will be about the Greening the Oilsands: Canadian Science and Clean Tech Leads the Way symposium my business partner Satya Das and "Green Oil" author is participating in at Ottawa on April 29th. He is on a panel entitled "The Big Picture - Public Opinion, Politics, Policy." A very interesting event focused on federal government decision makers that is being organized by our friends at BlueSky Strategy Group Inc. with Canada 2020.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
EYJAFJALLAJOKULL
Mother Nature at her magnificent best!
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html
Will Integrity Be Returned to Alberta's Public Accounts Committee Tomorrow?
Will wisdom prevail tomorrow at the Public Accounts Committee and the decisoin to effectively muzzle the Chair of the committee be reversed. I expect most Albertnas have no clue that yet another erosion of accountable and transparent democracy was done to us by the governmet recently.
There are rumours that the anti-democratic decision may be proposed to reveresed at the Public Accounts Committee meeting tomorrow by the same PC MLA that put the motion forward in the first instance. Here is a link to an audio broadcast of the Public Accounts Committee meeting scheduled for 8:30 am tomorrow. You might want to tune in.
Here are some links to news items and some key blog posts that will give you some background on these events.
http://communities.canada.com/EDMONTONJOURNAL/blogs/electionnotebook/archive/2010/04/20/tories-on-muzzling-public-accounts-committee-never-mind.aspx
http://daveberta.ca/?p=2492
http://daveberta.ca/?p=2401
http://www.calgaryherald.com/columnists/Braid+Dave+Rodney+veto+power+puts+democracy+peril/2927067/story.html
The price of democracy is vigilance. Tune in on-line and hear what those who have your consent to govern you are doing.
There are rumours that the anti-democratic decision may be proposed to reveresed at the Public Accounts Committee meeting tomorrow by the same PC MLA that put the motion forward in the first instance. Here is a link to an audio broadcast of the Public Accounts Committee meeting scheduled for 8:30 am tomorrow. You might want to tune in.
Here are some links to news items and some key blog posts that will give you some background on these events.
http://communities.canada.com/EDMONTONJOURNAL/blogs/electionnotebook/archive/2010/04/20/tories-on-muzzling-public-accounts-committee-never-mind.aspx
http://daveberta.ca/?p=2492
http://daveberta.ca/?p=2401
http://www.calgaryherald.com/columnists/Braid+Dave+Rodney+veto+power+puts+democracy+peril/2927067/story.html
The price of democracy is vigilance. Tune in on-line and hear what those who have your consent to govern you are doing.
Nature is Disrupting Our Lives! Can We Change or Will Nature Have to Change?
I love the fuzzy logic of climate change deniers that the “science is not conclusive.” What they can’t get their head aroudn is that is why we call it science. New ideas, innovations, realizations, discoveries and understandings are replacing old ideas all the time, thanks to science. Inconclusiveness and change is the essence of science.
That said, my real motivation behind this blog post is to consider the way we, as a species, cope and adapt to the impluses of Nature that disrupt our lives. The Iceland volcano impacted the world, most obviously parts of Europe but the ripple effect of grounded airlines is a global story of enormous economic proportion. It has shown us, in no uncertain terms, just how much humanitiy is embedded in the planet and how much we humans are embedded in each other - and how uncertainty is the default state of nature and man.
As I have said before the future of planet Earth is fine. Nature will adapt and evolve. The real over arching question for humanity is what is our future, as a species, going to be on the planet? Are we going to be adaptable and nimble enough to survive? Or are we, self-consious, self-satisfied and self-distructing in the face of what we are doing to the planet’s ecology. One thing for sure, the planet won’t miss us and does not need us. The converse is not so true.
In the short term we are being inconvenienced by Nature’s Icelandic antics that disrupt has many lives but nobody had died from this event. We have other serious disruptions of Nature going on right now that are causing death and dispair like earthquakes, floods, tsunamis. The point about the effect of disruptions is well made by Harvard’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter. In her blog, “Surprise! Four Strategies for Coping with Disruptions” she aptly notes that “Surprises are the new normal, and they are not fun.”
She outlines manmade disruptions like “…financial crises, currency fluctuations, disruptive technologies, job restructurings, shortages of vital drugs, populists’ rebellons, possible pandemics, and terrorist threats….” Those are some of the joys of us humans being embedded in each other. She then notes we get to add on the “…devastating earthquakes and extraordinary weather events.” Man embedded in Nature!
The consequences of the unexpected, according to Kanter, are a “leadership imperative” and that is about the ability to make fast effective decisions in the face of surprises. She outlines four leadership based strategies for quick response and to minimize disruptions. They are Backup, in the form of a Plan B. Communications that must be quick and spread virally. Collaboration based on human relationships grounded in commitment to one another and resiliency that empowers people to act. Finally she points out the importance of values and principles. Clear standards and values are needed to guide people in deciding on what is the right thing to do and doing it without waiting for permission.
Good food for thought. At Reboot Alberta we have taken extra effort to look at communications, collaboration and values and prinicples in our political and governing culture in Alberta. Reboot people feel there is a leadership shortfall and a shallow aenimic public policy agenda in Alberta these days. What Albertans have not come up with yet is a viable alternaitve to the status quo. We have not yet engaged in making a Plan B and turning it into the Plan A.
In the future Reboot Alberta progressive citizen’s movement has to move beyond bitching and complaining about the democratic deficit and leadership shortcomings. We have to quit merely admiring the problems and get into an activist solution space for citizens to re-imagine the purpose of politics in a more modern democracy. We need to get serious about designing some alternatives that will replace the conventional political institutions. In short we need more than a reboot of the existing political and governance culture of Alberta. We need a system upgrade.
That said, my real motivation behind this blog post is to consider the way we, as a species, cope and adapt to the impluses of Nature that disrupt our lives. The Iceland volcano impacted the world, most obviously parts of Europe but the ripple effect of grounded airlines is a global story of enormous economic proportion. It has shown us, in no uncertain terms, just how much humanitiy is embedded in the planet and how much we humans are embedded in each other - and how uncertainty is the default state of nature and man.
As I have said before the future of planet Earth is fine. Nature will adapt and evolve. The real over arching question for humanity is what is our future, as a species, going to be on the planet? Are we going to be adaptable and nimble enough to survive? Or are we, self-consious, self-satisfied and self-distructing in the face of what we are doing to the planet’s ecology. One thing for sure, the planet won’t miss us and does not need us. The converse is not so true.
In the short term we are being inconvenienced by Nature’s Icelandic antics that disrupt has many lives but nobody had died from this event. We have other serious disruptions of Nature going on right now that are causing death and dispair like earthquakes, floods, tsunamis. The point about the effect of disruptions is well made by Harvard’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter. In her blog, “Surprise! Four Strategies for Coping with Disruptions” she aptly notes that “Surprises are the new normal, and they are not fun.”
She outlines manmade disruptions like “…financial crises, currency fluctuations, disruptive technologies, job restructurings, shortages of vital drugs, populists’ rebellons, possible pandemics, and terrorist threats….” Those are some of the joys of us humans being embedded in each other. She then notes we get to add on the “…devastating earthquakes and extraordinary weather events.” Man embedded in Nature!
The consequences of the unexpected, according to Kanter, are a “leadership imperative” and that is about the ability to make fast effective decisions in the face of surprises. She outlines four leadership based strategies for quick response and to minimize disruptions. They are Backup, in the form of a Plan B. Communications that must be quick and spread virally. Collaboration based on human relationships grounded in commitment to one another and resiliency that empowers people to act. Finally she points out the importance of values and principles. Clear standards and values are needed to guide people in deciding on what is the right thing to do and doing it without waiting for permission.
Good food for thought. At Reboot Alberta we have taken extra effort to look at communications, collaboration and values and prinicples in our political and governing culture in Alberta. Reboot people feel there is a leadership shortfall and a shallow aenimic public policy agenda in Alberta these days. What Albertans have not come up with yet is a viable alternaitve to the status quo. We have not yet engaged in making a Plan B and turning it into the Plan A.
In the future Reboot Alberta progressive citizen’s movement has to move beyond bitching and complaining about the democratic deficit and leadership shortcomings. We have to quit merely admiring the problems and get into an activist solution space for citizens to re-imagine the purpose of politics in a more modern democracy. We need to get serious about designing some alternatives that will replace the conventional political institutions. In short we need more than a reboot of the existing political and governance culture of Alberta. We need a system upgrade.
Monday, April 19, 2010
School Closures Never Easy But How Are They Decided?
The recent process that the Edmonton Public School Board went through resulted in the closure of a number of schools. There was a very interesting Edmonton Journal story that only ran in the on-line editions. It will help citizens get an idea on what basis the elected Trustees used to come to those decisions.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Edmonton+public+school+trustees+talk+about+closures/2783750/story.html
I think it is terrific that the public gets to see and read the opinions and reasoning behind those opinions of each of the elected school Trustees. You don't see that kind of accountability and transparency in the hyper-partisan message managing, command and contol world of provincial government politics these days. We can actually see the different perspectives and personal thinking of the School Trustee policy makers in this Edmonton Journal piece. Whether yo agree or disagree, this openness is refreshing!
Full disclosure: My firm did some research for the EPSB on the values that Edmontonians thought should guide Trustees around school closures. Here is a link to an earlier blog post where I linked to the findings of that research.
The earllier blog post also outlines my feelings about finding more collaborative and creative set of solutions as viable alternatives to school closures. That search for viable alternatives will take cooperation between School Trustees and municipal politicians and their respective administrations. There are barriers to coming up with a reasonable set of alternative proposals but they are mostly due to an ineffective adherance to a traditional political culture bias and just plain hide-bound thinking .
There must be pressure applied on local politicians, at the school board and municipal levels, to find mutually acceptable proposals to preserve schools and enhance communities. They will then have to be presented to the provincial government to bring them on board too but if there is a demonstrated and overt demands by taxpayers/voters for change, it will happen. We saw it in health care - public education should be next.
The current provincial, school board and municipal policy approaches around school clousres are not adept at serving the best interests of citizens, parents, students, taxpayers or other potential users of such facilities. There are municipal and school board elections in October and a provincial election in 2 years. The political timing seems perfect to make some serious policy changes and to update the principles and approaches to school use and community use of schools too.
What do you think Edmonton? Should we find better alternatives to low enrollment schools other than closure and consolidation? Can't we make the facilities community based in ways that serve kids, families and the needs of the surrounding community? Looking forward to your comments. I will make more specific suggestions on how to do this in future blog posts - so stay tuned.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Edmonton+public+school+trustees+talk+about+closures/2783750/story.html
I think it is terrific that the public gets to see and read the opinions and reasoning behind those opinions of each of the elected school Trustees. You don't see that kind of accountability and transparency in the hyper-partisan message managing, command and contol world of provincial government politics these days. We can actually see the different perspectives and personal thinking of the School Trustee policy makers in this Edmonton Journal piece. Whether yo agree or disagree, this openness is refreshing!
Full disclosure: My firm did some research for the EPSB on the values that Edmontonians thought should guide Trustees around school closures. Here is a link to an earlier blog post where I linked to the findings of that research.
The earllier blog post also outlines my feelings about finding more collaborative and creative set of solutions as viable alternatives to school closures. That search for viable alternatives will take cooperation between School Trustees and municipal politicians and their respective administrations. There are barriers to coming up with a reasonable set of alternative proposals but they are mostly due to an ineffective adherance to a traditional political culture bias and just plain hide-bound thinking .
There must be pressure applied on local politicians, at the school board and municipal levels, to find mutually acceptable proposals to preserve schools and enhance communities. They will then have to be presented to the provincial government to bring them on board too but if there is a demonstrated and overt demands by taxpayers/voters for change, it will happen. We saw it in health care - public education should be next.
The current provincial, school board and municipal policy approaches around school clousres are not adept at serving the best interests of citizens, parents, students, taxpayers or other potential users of such facilities. There are municipal and school board elections in October and a provincial election in 2 years. The political timing seems perfect to make some serious policy changes and to update the principles and approaches to school use and community use of schools too.
What do you think Edmonton? Should we find better alternatives to low enrollment schools other than closure and consolidation? Can't we make the facilities community based in ways that serve kids, families and the needs of the surrounding community? Looking forward to your comments. I will make more specific suggestions on how to do this in future blog posts - so stay tuned.
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