The future is in sharing

Tonight I will drive  the roundtrip of Fårö to Visby to fetch Oscar who comes with the ferry from the mainland.  The journey to Visby is 70 km and takes an hour including the short ferry ride between Fårö and Gotland.
Yesterday I got a email from another Fårö-dweller who asked if someone could pick up a son who was landing at the airport in the afternoon and was heading for Fårö.  I responded so now I have filled up the car, but there is still yet another available seat.

This reminds me about a conversation with a client almost 12 years ago.  I was a facilitator in IBM's Customer Room Program which was centered around a shared space in Lotus Notes for IBM's Global Sales team, to use for collaboration around their customers.  We ran a two day workshop around Team Mission, roles, diversity and training in using the Customer Room space.
One client was IBM's Peugeot - Citroen team who at that time (1999) was very much involved in the pioneering of Telematics. The teamleader, Bernard visioned in a lunch break.

I believe that in the future cars will become a service, because the only way to solve the traffic situations on the European roads is to automate traffic.  And when you are no longer in charge of your car, owning it will be less of a freedom symbol.  It will be much more practical if you can use a car that makes sense at each moment.  

Let's say you are going on vacation with the family.  Then you need a big car.  But when you travel to work, then you would share a smaller car with others, or use public transportation.  

It is impossible to build roads to accomodate the growing number of cars with the current idea of each person owning his/her own car.

Some people say that development is happening fast today.  I tend to think that sometimes it is remarkably slow.  After all this is 12 years ago.  But now things start to happen.  In the book "The Mesh" (and on TED) by Lisa Gansky talks about how the future is in sharing.  A privately owned car is used in average 9% of the time.  The rest of the time it is just consuming space and money.  The car is perceived as a means to freedom.  But for more and more people now, NOT having a car makes them feel free.

Here on the islands of Gotland and Fårö the concept of Mesh could revolutionize public transportation.  All it would take is the information about "who drives where" in their own car, combining it with "who wants to go where" and a secure way to transfer money between those who provide a space in their cars and those who gets a ride.

In the debate about sustainability and around the question if growth is desirable this is an interesting opportunity.  If sharing cars could increase the average use of a car from 9% to 50%, what would be the consequences?

Sharing cars is just one aspect on the Mesh.  How about if we started to share the future?

Vision Day - Sustainable Chemistry - From #almedalen 2011

After two years of being the curious explorer of The Almedalen week (previously described HERE and HERE),I got the opportunity to be working at an event.  The consulting company MacMannBerg invited me to work with their customer The Swedish  Plastics and Chemical Association who wanted to use the space for an exploration of the future.  Six speakers introduced six seminars each moving the audience to the year 2030.  When the speaker had presented the vision, the audience where split up in groups who each was instructed to explore how this vision was made possible.

My role together with Olle Torgny was to capture this day in words and images so it could be presented at an exhibit and cocktail party later at night.

The six seminars was listed in the official program of #Almedalen which means that anyone can come to listen and join the conversation.

Here are the topics of the day and some notes. Above are some images

Sustainable Development 2030 – How be became the investors favorite country
Jan Svärd – AkzoNobel
We no longer burn forests for energy. Windpower and continuous use of nuclear power leads to a strong position for Sweden.  In Sweden not only half but the whole population can be engineers with a strong position of women.  A woman with immigration background invented the paint that was capturing solar energy:  “We paint the world with solar power”

Where did the knowledge go – And how do we get it back again?
Lena Englemark Embertén – Sweden Science Centers

2030 Sweden is at the top to value knowledge.  We have created a knowledge culture. The proudest teachers of Europe can be found in Sweden. We work problem based, learning for life.

Stenungsund Valley 2030 – Networks, coordination and innovation for sustainable development.
Gert Inge Andersson – Chairman of the Regional board Västra Götalands Region.

A climate strategy to be fossile independent was established in 2009 and a vision for sustainable chemistry was adopted in 2011.  600 people from business, politics and society cooperated in this. Now 2030 we are here!

The four system conditions

1. The use of finite resources must to go faster than new formation
2. No unnatural  substances in nature
3.  Give space for biological diversity and the natural cycle
4. Turnover of resources needs to be adapted to what the natural cycle can manage

Forest, grass and waste – commodities for chemical business in Stenungsund 2030
Lars Josefsson – Chairman of the board INEOS Sweden

Bio based is the natural choice for companies and consumers.  Sweden is leading in this change.  Industry, research, poltics, academy. TOGETHER we have achieved this.

Capturing ideas – Collaboration between universities and industry in 2030
Karin Markides – President Chalmers University, Göteborg

The knowledge triangle was launched in Göteborg 20 years ago.  A new way to work in Europe that integrates research,  commercial awareness and innovation. Today, 2030, there are no more industry clusters. EVERYONE participates to collaborate around new opportunities.  And people from the whole world comes to little Sweden.

Blue and Yellow in top 2030 – When the world switches to sustainability
Tomas Kåberger – General Manager – Sweden Energy Authority

An industry that was associated with planks, paper, chemicals and oil has come a long way.  Now call it the organic material industry and by that we men both the old forest- chemistry- and refinery industry.  Our ability to collaborate lead to competitive solutions and an elegant ability to continue collaborate even though their companies changed owners, names or logotypes.

Today is the start of #Almedalen - Probably the largest open event in Europe for Media, PR, NGO, Politics, Lobby....

Today is the start of the amazing Almedalsveckan in Visby, Gotland. This is a week when almost everyone who is someone, wants to be someone, or wants to see someone who is someone, goes to Visby, Gotland.

The park of Almedalen becomes center of the universe for a week. 
More than 1500 Open Seminars are published in the official catalogue which is one of the legs of what this event is resting on. 
The other leg is the speeches of the leaders of the political parties. 
The Almedalsveckan is arranged by the political parties of Gotland.
I'll give you an introduction to the Swedish political scene.
Name - abbreviation - my guess of current % of sympathies  - English translation of name - my comment

• Vänsterpartiet (v) 5% -Left party - previouslly communist, now against all change
• Socialdemokraterna (s) 35% Social Democrats - A bit lost as the Moderaterna stole their visible ideas, and as they forgot their values, they don't really know what to do.
• Miljöpartiet (mp) 10% (Greens) - Only party that is navigating outside of the traditional right-left paradigm
• Folkpartiet (fp) 5% (Liberal) - Previously social liberal but currently profiling in negative talk about our school system even though the party leader is minister of education
• Centerpartiet (c) 5%  - Kind of liberal but with rural history - Might select a 28 year old woman next partyleader 
• Kristdemokraterna (kd) 5%  Kind of liberal with religous history. Unlike countries like the US and Iran it is not adviceable here to make religion your profile.
• Moderaterna (m) 30% Now very liberal, previously conservative. Has stolen the welfare language from (s)  The Treasury minister has become the rockstar of recovery as Sweden has hardly been affected by the current financial crisis. 
• Sverigedemokraterna (sd) 5%- Xenophic party targeting muslims as source of all evil.  For that purpose now embracing groups they previously hated, like gays, who they hope will hate muslims as some islamists hate gays.

Each night for 8 days a political party leader holds a speech in the park of Almedalen.  The speech is broadcasted direct on national television and afterwards it is analyzed by political commentators. 
This is only part of the story.  As it has become, "everyone" goes there, so the event is now a gigantic arena for seminars and exhibitions for anyone who wants to influence the future of Sweden our place in the world.  More than 1500 seminars are arranged under theses conditions.

1. Any participant is welcome.  You are not allowed to exclude someone.
2. All seminars must bee free of charge. No entrance fee
3. You are not allowed to sell something at the seminar.

Tomorrow I will work the whole day, documenting a full day of seminars for the Swedish Association of Plastics & Chemistry Companies.  It will be a vision day where the current time is set to year 2030 and Sweden has become world leading in Sustainable Development.  More about that after tomorrow.  I will now be a happy daily commuter from Fårö to Visby

Everything becomes easy (eventually) when you allow for complexity

For years I have been struggling with identity.  Who am I?  What do I do? Why do I do what I do?  And for whom?  So much in the stories of todays world is about clarification.  “Keep it simple stupid!” The messages we meet on newspapers, billboards, TV goes like this:

“Become a better XXXX in 20 days”

“This is how you XXXXX”

We are offered answers to everything, even before the questions are asked. I hate that.  I have always hated that.  I love the world to be wonderfully complicated.  When we allow the world to be complicated we can also look at patterns without judgement and prejudice.  If we think that the world is wonderfully mysterious and that we each have our own story of this mysterious world, that is the point when the world becomes interesting.

The paradox is that when you allow the complexity to be present, this also creates possibilities to make things more simple.

In my last post I wrote about the Essay in Two Voices and attached the first Essay I wrote together with Madelyn Blair: Space.  Later  the same day I got an email from Belgrade, Serbia.  Rosemarie Cairns is editor for the digital magazine of International Association of Facilitators (IAF)

We had contact before and she has previously published some material from our network in the magazine.  Rosemarie had read theessay on Space and had become interested…

Hi Leif.
I just saw your Essay in two voices through Facebook. I am intrigued! I wondered if there might be a way I could reprint some of this in the IAF Europe Newsletter - what do you think?

I was so struck by one thing you said in the essay, which spoke to where I feel I am at the moment:
"But then, from times to time, it is like the ability to weave space disappears. The fragility ofthe web overwhelms me and I find myself without purpose and energy. I loose connection with the network of people. The switch is turned OFF and the Space of Dialogue is gone. This scares me."
And then you said, in response to Madelyn's response:
"The infinity of choices can easily overwhelm us and we can react very differently to the space of opportunities. While we have the opportunity to venture out to find unchartered land and unknown opportunities in the infinity of space, this can also cripple and paralyze us. For a creative person this is both an opportunity and can be a deadly trap."
How do you deal with this when it happens? How do you turn the switch back on?
Best regards, Rosemary

So now I have to spend some time to think about Rosemary’s questions.  How do we deal with weaving space in the new world?  And how do we deal with the unlimited space of opportunities?

Maybe you can help?  What do you think.  By the way, this is exactly 500 words, the length of the first Essay in E2V

Essay in two Voices - Dialogues of Discovery. From blog to tweet in 2,5 hours

The result of Networking can be very unpredictable.  Who'd think that I´d be appearing in two books this year?  Not me. 

The Metafari is a network product, and the Metafari has lead to other things.
After launching the Metafari in 2007 I was invited by Madelyn Blair, (owner of Pelerei Inc, and an influental person in the Storytelling community) to come and present the Metafari at the Golden Fleece Storytelling conference, in Washington D.C.
I did so, and got to know Madelyn who is a great person.  Madelyn then started to join network meetings in Europe and I have visited her home in Maryland a couple of times.
At some point of  time, Madelyn told about an idea about "Essay in two voices" which she had developed together with Victoria Ward.
We agreed to use the format to write an essay on "Space".
First to write 500 words each and in the next step write 250 words.
It took me 9 months to write the first 500 words.
I told about the idea to my friend Eva Wetterdal on Gotland, who replied

"Why not continue to cut in half until you reach 140 characters?"

Great idea!  I presented it to Madelyn who thought it was great.  We agreed to meet at her home in january 2010 to work on this and the current version of Essay in Two Voices was created!

We tested this way to write with friends, colleagues, partners and we were begeistred!  The parallell process of writing gives a unique insight in each others thinking, and this way of writing can be used for almost any topic.

Madelyn who is a woman with amazing energy, decided to write a book about.  You can read about the book here.  You can also order the book from Amazon here

It starts with a blog post, and it ends with a tweet....

If you want to try it, I'd be glad to do a first Essay with you or advice you how to use it with someone else.

And you can click here to download our first Essay in Two Voices - Topic was "Space"

#Almedalen. Probably the coolest adult education event in the world...

I don't want to spoil my new habit of daily blogging now that I have started. But today here at Fårö I have been busy with so many other things.  Anyway, now that my wife and her friends Anna Bergström & Maria Liedholm is busy with the opening of the Bergman week, I find some peace of mind to write.

Today I want to write about a unique event that is now over 40 years old, and is growing for every year:  The Almedalsveckan.  I start with quoting the official site

"In 2008, Almedalen Week celebrated its 40^th anniversary. It was 40 years since Olof Palme spoke from the back of a lorry at Kruttornet, Almedalen. The political speeches of the early years have developed into Sweden’s biggest political meeting place which, via democracy and openness, gives everyone who wants to debate social issues the opportunity to take part. The openness and accessibility are unique both for Sweden and for the rest of the world."

Together with Sören Wallin (See proof from National News below) I have been scouting at Almedalen for the last two years, taking part in what could best be characterized as a fantastic people's open university.

This year there will be over 1400 seminars on all kinds of topics in this event where the political, newsmedia and lobby scene has moved to the medieval town of Visby.  Walking the streets, popping in to great seminars, sneaking in to grab a free glass of rosé wine, breakfast or an evening buffe.  Finding yourself face to face with government representatives, political celebreties, TV journalist, actors or whoever is present at the scene which becomes a grand Open Space arena.
Two years ago everyone thought the event had reached the limit with around 1000 seminars.  Last year was election year and many thought that it now could not get bigger with almost 1400 seminars.  This year there will be even more.
There are many interesting observations from our participation.

A social media orgy
With almost everyone from politics, PR, lobby organisation, NGO's here this is the Mekka of social media.  I was timing the frequency of tweets during a couple of party leader speeches,  (Each night the leader of a political party represented in the parliamant holds a speech)  and measured a tweet frequency of appr 6tpm (tweets per minute).  Being able to follow the comments from the tweetsphere and compare it with the noice from the audicence in applause and acclamation was interesting.  One party leader got really enthusiastic appplause, but was smashed in the tweets..  It becomes an almost absurd experience watching the crowd walking around with their nose into the IPhone or Android gadget.

Three simple rules does the work
With any traditional business logic imaginable these rules would not work.  In order to get a seminar into the Almedalen Catalogue you have to comply with three simple rules:

1. Seminars must be open to everyone
2. You are not allowed to charge an entrance fee
3. A seminar must not sell a product or service.

So how come organisations, parties, companies are spending hundreds of thousands of kronor to arrange seminars where they cannot choose who comes, cannot charge money for participation, and are not even allowed to sell something to the people who come?


The Right Chemistry

This year I will continue my scouting,.  However, on Monday July 4th I will also work for Plast & Kemiföretagen / The Swedish Plastics and Chemical Federation to be responsible for Process Documentation of the "Vision Day" they will arrange at Gotlands Museum.  The topic is how Sweden can be world leading in sustainable development and the time will be set at 2030. It will be a full day with six seminars each with a specific topic that will set a vision out of the present moment of 2030.  The participants (you could be one of them) will work in groups after each presentation to create scenarios on how the vision became reality.  Stay tuned in this blog and I will share that day.


Good night.  Enjoy the slideshow at the top from last years Almedalen.
For twitterers:  The hashtag is #Almedalen

The actual and metaphorical transformation from being a father to becoming a grandfather

For over a year I've had an ongoing conversation with a wise man in Denmark. It started with exchanging emails around the development of the "Begeistring Community - The European Network around Appreciative Inquiry and Strength Based Change" where he introduced some concepts about this Community of Practice as a Playground in addition to the metaphor of Landscape.

But Kaj Voetmann has also been a speaking partner on other topics, and today I want to explore the idea of transformation from being a father to becoming a grandfather.

Every day we get older.  We pass through milestones. (examples are from a Swedish context)

• Day 0:  Delivery
• 6 Years.  School starts
• 15 years: Drive a moped
• 18 years: We can vote, get a drivers license and order alcohol at restaurants (in Sweden).  
• 20 years: Buy alcohol at the Systembolaget (in Sweden)
• 30 years: Average age for first child
• 31 years: Average age for marriage
• 50 years: Age when you are no longer attractive at labor market
• 63 years: Average retirement age
• 85 years: Expected termination

Ooops!  Where did the 50 year milestone come from?  It is not supported by statistics but the story of becoming useless at the labor market is there.  Just open a newspaper and you are very likely to read a story about employers not hiring people over 50. So what is there to do if you are closer to 60 than 50?

There is a paradox here.  Let me see if you agree with me in this observation.
It seems that when it comes to sustaining yourself we become of age later and later in life.
The age when we form family and get children now is around 30 years. When it is about duties and obligations it seems that we enter adulthood later than ever.

But when it comes to benefits and rights it seems that we are becoming adult earlier than ever.  A youngster is the owner of a mobile phone and computer even before entering adolescence.
It is a human right to have your own room before you even start school.  At the age of 12 most kids have travelled across the world with their parents.

But it is not until you are around 30 that you have entered society as a full citizen.
And then, when you are 50, you have become to old.  So for about 65 year of your life, you are either to young or to old. And between the age of 30 and 50 you have to parent your children, make a career, save money for the time when you are to old and to support all the people that are to old or to young to support themselves.  Tough shit.

Maybe this observation is a bit biased.  However, learning from my Maasai partner Rafael ole Moono and from my conversations with Kaj Voetmann I have been starting to think of life transitions.  I believe we should start to look at life more as a series of cycles.  For a Maasai male there are four cycles in life.  From boy to warrior.  From Warrior to Retired Warrior/Young elder And from Young Elder to Elder.

During this spring Kaj and I have had a conversation about the transition from being a father to becoming a grandfather.  I choose the image of "Creative Grandfather" as the goal for my transition.  

Here are some grandfather competencies I look forward to master

• Patience
• Inviting to many perspectives
• Finding use of the diversity of my background
• Designing spaces that invites to dialogue and new perspectives
• The abilitiy to be in the right position in helping others to fulfil their needs
• Observe patterns, and reflect on the observations
• Follow with a deviation, and make unnoticable adjustments
• Trusting my wisdom
• Asking for help without shame
• Allowing younger people to be in the spotlight, whispering in their ears

As a creative grandfather I have just begun my career, and I can let go of the stories that there is anything like "to old" or "not useful".  We need a new way to look at the different stages of life.  This is one aspect of what MetaSpace is about, and certainly an interesting topic for the Metafari!

Finally, here is an image that has been of great help to me during the last year

Self  Directed Learning

The Metafari within

 It has been 4 months now since the last post in this blog.  What happened?
I was talking to a friend early this spring, and I expressed my struggle with finding a way to reach out with the Metafari, and also about how to find a way to describe the true offer of MetaSpace.

But, have you done your own Metafari?  If you want to sell it to others, have your really done the Metafari yourself?

From end of March until late May I was struggling.  Concerns about money, about competence, about the future, about becoming older.  It was all there and I  felt lost.  Talking with another wonderful friend she came up with a perspective.

I see you as sort of an Indiana Jones.  Always out in the world exploring new territory. But you are doing the exploration on the inside territory as well.

It took some time for me to accept that, but gradually I started to accept and like the idea of being "Indiana Josefsson".
All true exploration involves going outside of the comfortable and wellknown landscape.  It means going through unchartered territory, which sometimes can be a hot, humid, dense jungle where you have to chop your way forward with the machete, gaining inch by inch.
So I was fighting my way forward, step by step.  It was a tough journey, but with a realization that I was on my own Metafari.
Another aspect of this journey is the path towards becoming a Zen coach which I entered last year. The approach has included a mixture of Zen, Non Violent Communication (NVC), Focusing, the Diamond approach and created a way of coaching that includes acceptance of what is, body awareness, and a very strong support for the clients own path.
I had been looking for a certification path in coaching for quite some years and when I found the Zen-coaching a decided to join.
In my own coaching process I was searching for the essence of my feelings I was trying words to describe it such as feelings of Loneliness, abandonment and annxiety.

From a friend in Denmark I got a harsh comment.

I am interested in see what happens when you discover the power of your own stories in your own life and take charge of the stories. 

( ....)

Back to the 9 basic emotions of human beings: Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, Fear, Jealousy, Love, Guilt, 

Hope,Lonelines, abandonment and anxiety are not on the list, so I guess they all are socially constructed.

All three of them belong to the psychoanalytical language where the stories are based on a trauma you have repressed and now works from your subconscious and have taken control of your whole life. I have noticed you use these kinds of descriptions of emotions and all the ocean of meaning that is connected to these words. I find them harmful, simply because they make it harder for you change your life.

I started to explore my true feelings.  Behind my reactions I found fear, a feeling of fear (just like I felt the in the plane on my way up for my second parachute jump in 2004). It opened my eyes, and in a couple of coaching sessions I entered into the landscape of fear.  Eploring it with daring curiosity I found no real danger, so I allowed it to be where it was, and left.  I will probably return when there is a need for it, but for the moment there is nothing to fear.
Bye bye fear!
And in this process I started to sleep well in the nights to wake up happy in the morning.
The purpose and offer of MetaSpace is also getting clearer inside me.  Describing this is where the next part of my journey is about.  Coming up!

ps.  Do you wonder about the image at the top?  My first IPad artwork, created with the App Drawing Pad
Inspired by Lars Triers wonderful film Melancholia.

From a warm chaos to a cold chaos

I came back to a Stockholm where the snow was gone on the streets, but the promise was for more snow for the night.  And so it came.
By late afternoon the snow was falling and continued over the night. 
This morning all buses in Stockholm were cancelled, it was impossible to find a taxi.  Only the underground was in operations.
What a change from the +32C of Dar es Salaam. 
Enjoy the slideshow from winter Stockholm!

Ho ho! Hello...! Where are everybody?

On Arlanda Express, the train that will take me the 40 km to Stockholm City in 20 minutes.

It's cold, empty. Pale. Only 24 hours ago we were in the traffic of Dar es Salaam on our way to have lunch with Regina Mchao, the wonderful woman who is a childhood friend of Rafael.

5 hours in Addis Ababa went fast as I found a wifi network that did not allow for web surfing, but Skype worked!
So Calle, mother, Mika, Fritz, Andreas, Pernilla, Johanna. Thank you for making the staying Ethiopia so enjoyable.!

Rafael, I miss you already!

Will it be able to fit in the box we might need, to be able to reach out?

This is our last full day together. Rafael and I talk about where we are right now.
Our day started in the Swedish Embassy where we met with Margaretha Brisman.
We told our story, as usual with lots of words which is a tendency for the two of us.

But when we gave Margaretha the space we heard very encouraging words. That Sweden will focus on fewer areas of which energy is one with priorities. And that another priority is to change the view of this part of Africa as a place of poverty and need of aid, to a place of opportunities and resources.

So where our "Off Grid Community Development" ideas fit into the energy priorities, our Metafari fit very well into a focus on changing peoples views.

There were a lot of ideas coming up in the conversation.

-Why not targeting at all these companies who spends lots of money on incentive travel. With this they could get out something meaningful!

-We'd be happy to help you with feedback and answers. Just email us. And Rafael, please contact us next time you're in town!

We are definitely on the right track.

Metafari: A leadership journey into the new landscape of a changing world of opportunities and possibilities.

MetaMarket: Intermediatory services for green tech companies who wants to explore market possibilities, do feasability studies and test their new producs here in Tanzania.

I want to get some more out of Rafael to discuss the project application for the Rural Development Agency about bringing HiLight to the district of Handeni, but he fell asleep before he said good night.

So, good night from Dar es Salaam. Tomorrow at this time I will be in Addis Ababa, waiting for the flight home!

We live an ancient life with lots of modern thinking.

We have breakfast with Mac Odell of http://www.macodell.com
He is here on a project where the NGO Africare is responsible to facilitate the process of resettlement of people affected by the construction of a new powergrid across Tanzania.
Mac is also a long time practitioner of Appreciative Inquiry and has been working a lot in Nepal with the ideas of AI.

For breakfast we talk about basic values of humanity and the importance of belonging to a community, something that is often lost in the western world.
Rafael reflects:
-This is about depending on each others as humans, on fellow community members as part of your life and your responsibilities.
The paradox to me, is that even though we are what could be called a 18th century people, it seems that our our thinking is very modern and very relevant. This becomes apparent in areas such as leadership, sustainability, diversity. Our challenge is to bring education to our people, mostly literacy.

Leifs reflection.
-Yes, but then not being exposed to the 20th century ideas of schools. This could be a great model for the education of the later part of the 21st century in our part of the world.

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Sent from a mobile device
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Low tide. Same place, and yet not.

I ask Rafael to reflect on the low tide.

-It is when everything is down at the ground level. Things that were submerged by the high tide come up over the surface. Bottom level details, big and small becomes prominent. Dead shells, small life. All debris that is left behind by the outgoing tide.

Mangrove roots are given space to breathe and many other small details are clearly visible. You see underwater life become active. Small crabs are crawling around, being active, digging holes, moving sand.

How often have we gotten really low, coming to the bottom of our lives? How often has our full tide life hidden all these features and details that exist at the bottom level?

How often have we failed to appreciate the lessons of the low, of hard times.

The Mangrove Tidal Swamp is the theme for one of the days of the Metafari. The images in this and the previous post is from Tanga International Conference Centre.

http://www.meetingponttanga.net

As leaders, have we just been floating on the full tide? How often have we forgot to see the details that equally matters, daring to curiously explore also the low tide.

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Sent from a mobile device

High tide at the Mangrove tidal swamp.

Sunrise and high tide here at Tanga International Conference Centre. www.meetingponttanga.net
The tide is theme for Wednesday of a Metafari.
Right now it's high tide. We like being in this state of mind. Getting into the water is easy.
The morning sun rays turn the water into gold.
Nothing disturbs the image of a perfect world

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Sent from a mobile device

Connecting people and the cause of change.

Michael Schrage wrote 1989 that it is probably more correct to say that the tools create us than that we create the tools.

Tools like Facebook or mobile phone networks were created by people who had no idea what the real impact would be.

The mobile network mast here create patterns of change of which we have no idea of where this will lead to in the future.

It is now bringing change to societies. Estimates here in East Africa indicates that for every 10% of mobile phone penetration, this creates a growth of approximately 1%.

Is the development in North Africa signs of something profoundly new to happen?
What do you think?
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Sent from a mobile device

The longest blogpost ever on Metafari, Begeistring Community and the power of networking.

A background

The Metafari is to 100% a product of networking. Five years ago I was asked by Sven Sandström from Kebbe Sandström to join a meeting in Vinkeveen, Netherlands. The invitation came from Kees Ahaus of TNO Management Consultants "on behalf of" Anne Radford, founder of AI Practitioner.

Svens wife and partner Lisen Kebbe could not join so he asked me to keep company. The original purpose for the meeting was to discuss about the possibility to arrange a world conference around Appreciative Inquiry in Europe 2008. We soon found out that the timing was not right to arrange such a conference but that we would very much like to continue to meet to start building a momentum for a possible network in the future. We who came from Sweden agreed to invite the network to Stockholm in October 2006. This started a tradition that has led to a network with meetings in Hungary, Greece, Norway, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Slovenia. The last meeting was in Loutraki, Greece October 2010.

From the first meeting I started to take notes, capture flipcharts and post on a website. It then developed to a responsibility to support in organizing the network meetings who has always been arranged by volunteers who does not get paid, and with no fee for the meetings.

The network now has close to 600 members from all over Europe - and the world

How I view it now

Most of my worklife I have spent in the IT business although I started out my career as a pre school teacher. Working with IT project I have often struggled with the question why it is so hard to make people change the way they work when the potential of improvement from the use of technology is so great. To me it has been clear for a long time that although the tremendous change in societies in the world is powered by machines connected to the internet, these are machines that enable us from freeing ourselves of the constraints of the traditional way of looking at organisations and companies - As machines!

Getting in touch with systemic ideas, with Appreciative Inquiry, Open Space technology and other similar thoughts in 1999 gave me a framework in which to think, and it connected to my experiences in the use of technology.

Internet technology is an enabler that allows us to create organisations that are based on images of living systems!

This might feel a bit scary as we now are leaving the comfortable domains of control, right and wrong, finding "the best" solution etc and are entering the domains of simply looking for what brings life, and what works. Instead of finding unity we celebrate diversity. Instead of trying to kill the competition we are inspired by them.

How the Metafari came into being

I was working in a project at a Swedish public agency where we were to create a website around

strategies for public property. Not a very "sexy" topic although much more interesting that one thinks. We were talking about how to talk about the website. What should it be like?

Maybe it should be like a waterhole?

This idea created a big leap of energy. We talked about why you come to the waterhole, about what happens at the waterhole, about the dangers at the waterhole. Hours of interesting discussion.

I had been in South Africa on vacation in 2004 and remembered the great safari guide we had in Hluhluwe Imfulozi National park. I found a phone number on a picture of his car and called Jeff again.

-Jeff, this is Leif from Sweden. Do you remember me? It was the day it had rained so much and we watched a group of elephants that almost drowned?

-Oh yes! I remember! And you sent me the pictures

-Well, I am working with a website here in Sweden and we talked about using the waterhole as a Metaphor. Now I wonder, do you have any good waterhole pictures?

-I am going out over the weekend to do some Safari. I will look for good shots!

-Thank you. Would it also be possible for you to write something personal about the meaning of the waterhole.

-OK

One week later I got pictures and a wonderful story that I made into a presentation that was very succesful.

LOOK HERE AT THE ORIGINAL WATERHOLE PRESENTATION

And then, there in 2006 the idea popped up. There are more places of strong symbolic value. The termite mound, the coral reef, etc. Would it be possible to arrange a journey into the images of living systems, a Metaphor Safari?

I should never have told the idea to Ruth Nesje who was one of the participants in the meeting in Vinkeveen in May 2006. I told her about my idea when we met in Stockholm October 2006.

-I think its a great idea! I am building a Conference Center in Tanzania. So lets do it.

In the original group I also reconnected with Lena Holmberg who was a consultant with a genuine interest for new ideas and a true international outlook.

-I think this is a great idea! Let's partner in doing this!

We planned the first Metafari was to November 2007 and we got four test pilots to join us. The design of the Metafari week was created by Ruth and me on a ferry from Pireaus to Santorini after the network meeting in Athens, September 2007.

And the journey took place, and was a great succes. You can view the blogposts here

But as usual with great ideas, the main work is still yet ahead.

-To do this, you need a local partner. I know a guy, Rafael ole Moono. He is the best Maasai in Tanzania for this purpose

So I went back to Tanzania and Tanga in March 2008 to meet with Rafael, and after that we are partners.

Together with Elisabeth Wollsén we did a second "prototype Metafari" that we called Narrative Metafari or Metafari Ya Pili in October 2008.

We learned even more about this, but as the financial crisis hit the world we postponed our plans of arranging Metafaris until conditions had improved.

During this time we also found another opportunity connected to the fact that almost everyone in Tanzania now has a phone but less then 15% have access to electricity. This means that there is a huge need for "off grid technology". So in Sept-Oct 2010 we traveled Tanzania with HiNation in HiLightin Tanzania - a Market feasability study and test journey for the first batch of production units. But that is another story and you can follow that in the blogposts

Welcome to join the Metafari

We are inviting you to a journey of hope in a space of many voices. You will leave the idea of Africa as a place for problems and poverty behind and find opportunies and new perspectives.

You will be able to explore ideas, issues and challenges using the inspiring places, your journey partners, people you meet along the way, and your Metafari guides; me and Rafael.

In Metafari you will find a generative space, where you will exit as another person then you were when you came.

Welcome to join the Metafari.

And as a text like this probably creates more questions than answers, please use the comment function below, ask questions on Facebook, or email us directly.

leif.josefsson@gmail.com

olemoono@gmail.com

Living the Life of Leif - The honoring of Leif ole Pellos, born October 2010

Wednesday February 2 was a great day. This was the day when Big Leif was to meet Little Leif for the first time.

Little Leif ole Pellos is the son of the second wife of chief Marias ole Pello. When we were here in October with HiNation Marias told us that his second wife was just about to have a baby.

If it is a girl, the name will be Linda, and if it is a boy, the name will be Leif.

Well, a boy was born, given the name Leif ole Pellos.

So returning to Engaruka was a big day. We started early from Ol Mesera and drove to Marias village that is beautifully situated on top of a hill. We were greeted by the community, and then we were invited under the shady roof of a shed. I had brought a photo book with pictures from our last visit which was really appreciated.

Then it was time to be invited to the hut of the second wife where little Leif stayed. For the first three months in a childs life it is kept inside the hut together with its mother for her nourishment and caretaking. She is provided food and other services by other wifes and neighbors. After three months there is a special ritual done by women to bring out the baby and the mother. For the Maasai, women are the carriers of rituals. I was presented a chair in the little foreroom of the hut where I met with little Leif for the first time. You can see proof of our meeting in the slideshow above.

After a while we moved on to go to the village of Engaruka where Marias has his office and bar. I got tired and was given a mattress where I could have a rest in the shadow of the tree where community meetings take place. It was then time for a traditional lunch where a shoulder, leg and a liver from a goat was served. The meat is grilled over open fire, and is prepared without any spices which are considered to spoil good meat, and ruin the original taste. Specially for me there was also bananas, oranges and mango. A traditional Maasai meal is normally just meat as you see it consumed in the pictures.

Continuing our journey we drove to Engaruka Juu Primary school which is a long term testing place for the HiLight. On the way to the school we encountered a small tornado very close to the car.

The headmaster showed us the HiLight they were testing and were very happy about the product. Only problem was that the battery did not seem to deliver the power it was specified to do. But we discussed that being a tester was about finding out such things. We could also demonstrate how the HiLight could be dismantled to reset the power as it seems that the electronics sometimes get stuck.

Finally we went to see Marias campground which is just below the Engaruka ruins. It is a beautiful lot with access to water. Nice shading trees, flowers, meeting spaces. A space waiting to be developed further.

Returning back to Ol Mesera we were very happy for a great day, and continued sharing stories into the night. Good night!

The story of Ol Mesera luxury tented camp and the fascinating owner Barbara Lavrich

We have now back again staying at the Ol Mesera Luxury Tented Camp. It is situated in the Rift Valley between Lake Manyara and Lake Natron just under the Ngorongoro ridge. Barbara Lavrich is the extraordinary woman who is running this wonderful resort. This is her story

I was a young woman living in Slovenia when i met a young African student who was studying medicine in 1958. We married 1962. 1968 we moved to Tanzania where my husband worked for the government in different places. Moshi, Same, Dar es Salaam.

1973 my husband started a private hospital in Tarime, north Tanzania. We got three children, 1965, 1973, 1975. The oldest son stayed in Tanzania while the two daughters are living abroad, in Australia and the US.

When I entered work live after staying home with the children I was first working in the hospital and then joined a NGO run by an Anglican dioceses as an accountant administrator. During this time I also divorced. When it was time to go to pension I decided not to sit at home and not do something. So I found this place in 2004 and 2005 I started to build, and I could open it in 2007.

To operate a place in such a remote place is special. To get water, for example. Closest water source was 10 km away in the Ngorongoro ridge. So I had to get it here by installing a water pipe all the way and I also funded a pipe to the closest village here. First year we had problems with elephants that dug the pipes out, but then we put the pipes deeper into the ground. Now we have occasional problems with poachers who crack the pipes to attract animals with water so they can shoot them more easily.

I dreamed about creating a place for somebody who would come and see the beauty of Tanzania, the interesting culture of the people. To have a quiet holiday.

Ol Mesera has four luxury tents. One tent with double bed. Two tents with two double beds and one tent with one double and two single bed. In total, 9 people can sleep here. Each tent is equipped with toilet and shower. Electricity is by a generator which is on every night between sunset and around 22:30

I enjoy the work, but I would like to have more clients. Today I get my clients mostly by the website, and by lonely planet. People who come here recommend this place to others, so I am getting more customers by word of mouth

My staff is all Maasai from the local community. I train them for all jobs except cooking where I have found a great cook from Mto Wa Mbo. There are six persons in my staff plus the cook.

This has been working very well. If I was young it would not have been easy to be a manager but as I am older they treat me with respect, as a mother.

I was hoping to employ women but that was not possible. Younger women would not be allowed by their fathers, and the older women would not be allowed by their husbands. But employing warriors works well, and I even managed to get them to do household chores.

What I appreciate most in the Maasai culture is the stubbornness in the way they keep in the traditional way. I find this good. They are not interfered by the church or the government. They accept what they want to accept. They are very aware of modern society, so it is not out of ignorance they choose the traditional way. It is out of choice.

Out of our conversations and meetings, you, Rafael, Marias I believe we could work together promoting modern technology in this valley, working together with the people here to improve animal breeding. Maybe we could work together to find more productive animals. Together with Marias we could promote a special tourism in this area. The nature in Engaruka and the Rift Valley is very unique and unspoiled. The animals that normally can be seen in the parks are still around here. Buffalo, giraffes, zebras, elephants, ostrich, leopards and even on occasion lions can be spotted here.

The only live volcano in Tanzania can be found here, Oldoinyo Lengai. This is a beautiful climb, and is also the holy mountain of the Maasai.

Other interesting place here is Engaruka ruin, where you find stone paintings and ruins of an irrigation system of unknown origin that is more than 500 years old.

Further north is Lake Natron, a soda lake which is the only place where the Lesser flamingo are breeding.

In Engaresero village fossilized human footprints were recently found in stone. These are very ancient but have not been fully investigated yet.

Welcome to Tanzania. Welcome to this place of wonders.

+255 84 428 332 or info@ol-mesera.com www.ol-mesera.com

The Waterhole - what would bring you here?

Yesterday here in Arusha Rafael and I worked a lot in getting the Metafari information into this site. So take a special look at The Journey facts and What others say for more specific information on what the Metafari is and how others perceive it.

We have set dates for three Metafaris where a maximum of 12 people will travel in two cars. We have a vision; That there should be no more than 5 people from one country in one Metafari. This is a journey in new perspectives where the most important assets are the Metafarians themselves. Using the diversity of the group to explore the places we are inspired by, to create an Open Space of many perspectives.

The Metafari sometimes has a tendency to flow into philosophical language. But the journey itself is more practical than philosophical, and the purpose is determined by the participants themselves.

This is exactly what my husband and I needs regularely to find out directions and new ideas for our Restaurant Business, commented an owner of a large Restaurant in Stockholm

This would be a great training for a group of sales people, said an owner representative of a large car dealership

We have found that in the Metafari some elements of learning seems to be present

• Suspending your assumptions. So much of our actions and our decisions are based on hidden assumptions that we are not really aware of. This becomes very evident in the Metafari
• Exploring the use of dialogue. When you become aware of that much of what you took for granted, you realize the power of open dialogue. What are good questions and answers? And what brings us most learning. The questions we ask, or the questions we are being asked to answer?
• The power of storytelling. The door to good dialogue is understanding how to make use of stories. Listening to stories, helping other in enrichening stories, and telling stories yoursel.
• Accepting what is. Traveling in Tanzania is a wonderful lesson in acceptance. Time plans are disrupted. Power cuts happen. Accepting what is happening, learning to adjust while still being focused on the preferred outcome. And still feel safe, because this is a friendly and safe country.

Join the Metafari

When we say join the Metafari it is not only an invitation to join one journey, it is also to play with the ideas of Metafari, and maybe create one of your own. This is Open Source Leadership, and the Metasaga in Shetland, Orkney, Scotland and Western Isles was inspired by Metafari.

Or maybe you have customers or a network where you could use what we have built and book one of the Metafaris for your purposes.

The Metafari came out of the European Network around Appreciative Inquiry and Strength Based Change A.K.A Begeistring Community

Begeistring is a word that exists in many European languages and means literally "Inspirited". This network community is a European network in search of what brings life to organizations, and the Metafari is a true expression of that search. So please, Karibu Sana, Welcome to join us in any way you want. And as Rafael and I continue our journey here in Tanzania until Feb 9th we will clarify and develop our offers and ideas.

We really appreciate any comments, questions, suggestions here in the blog or in Facebook and Twitter where these posts appear as well.

Is the Baobab tree a good foundation for the MetaSpace logo?

We have been working with the idea that our logo should be based on the Baobab tree. Today here in Arusha we were visited by Christopher ole Ndangoya who Rafael has known for many years. I ask them about the Baobab tree. This is their story.

The meaning of the Baobab to the Maasai.

The Maasai name for the tree is Ol-Mesera. It is a shelter during a long walk in the bush. In the dry season, when there is nothing for the goats to eat you take the fruits , crush the seeds and give to animals.

You can often find beehives in the Baobab from where you can get honey. Standing there alone in the bush it can also be an observation point for warriors, looking out for poachers or enemies.

Observing the Baobab you also can get indications for weather, weather forecasts. For exemple, when the flowers of the tree are early this is an indication of rain which allows for preparations of the shifting of animals from one area to another.

In times of lot of rain the tree knows it can absorb lots of water for future use. It is an enormous storage tank of water. Even though the baobab is very hard and massive, it is not wood but made of fibres. The water is stored almost as if the Baobab was a spunge.

The tree is a symbol for beauty, standing alone in the plains, symbolizing the mother of their land. The fruits are somewhat similar to cocoa. If you taste them you can feel the taste of chocolate. The fruits can be added to hot or cold water to make a drink. You can mix it with honey and put in wine or beer to make a drink.

The seeds can be used as markers in games and the Bao game got it’s from the seeds. There has been proven scientic research showing many nutritional and medical values of the fruit. Twice as much Vitamin C as in oranges. Great effect the immunal system of the body, with effects close to that of Aloa Vera

It is a plant with lots of qualities. High up in the tree the trunk kan form water reservoirs and there can be caves where you can sleep for the night.

An image of a crying Baobab tree has been used in environmental programs as a symbol for the fight against deforestation. It is in a way becoming a picture of a crying mother earth. There are children stories where parents will tell them that if they are not behaving in a good way the tree will be sad, angry or cry. Or in the worst instance, the Baobab might swallow them. Or even being grabbed by the baobab and hung up as a fruit in the tree.

The Baobab is not really threatened by deforestation. The wood is not useful for burning. But if the Baobab is made lonely by the cutting down of trees in the surroundings it can die slowly by loneliness.

So what do you think about this tree as a metaphor for MetaSpace?