Organization Unbound | Changing the way we change the world

The unConference
April 14th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Warren Nilsson & Tana Paddock | 11 Comments
They are scattered about the steps and lawns. A knot of people puzzling over the relationship between education and politics. Sari-clad women practicing Brazilian martial arts. A group of home-schooled 10-year-olds selling handmade paperweights. A young man recounting with artistic precision his transformative experience on the front lines of the Egyptian revolution. There are workshops […]
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Pioneering change from within
March 30th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Tana Paddock | 3 Comments
Check out this thought-provoking theory of social change that Debbie Frieze of the Berkana Exchange describes in this 7-minute video clip. I particularly appreciate the question that Debbie raises towards the end, one that she says has been an important point of debate and exploration for her organization: Is it possible to create pioneering change […]
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The people in the room
March 25th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Warren Nilsson & Tana Paddock | 2 Comments
Gregory Branch is a doctor and public health official who also happens to direct an unusual gospel choir in Baltimore. We knew Gregg a number of years ago when we lived in Maryland, and for a little while we even sang in the choir. Gregg is a fiercely kind man with a large spirit and […]
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From the archives: “The experiential turn”
March 13th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Warren Nilsson | No Comments
We just arrived in Mumbai, India and are getting oriented to our new surroundings. Here’s another post from our archives to enjoy until we get back on our blogging feet.
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Appreciative feedback triads: Kupa humbowo muhutatu
March 7th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Warren Nilsson & Tana Paddock | 1 Comment
At Kufunda Learning Village, we’ve recently experimented with a powerful exercise called ‘Appreciative Feedback Triads’ or ‘Kupa humbowo muhutatu’ in Shona. Here’s how it works…
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Sounding
February 24th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Warren Nilsson | 4 Comments
The most catalytic organizational practice I’ve encountered lately is humblingly simple. It involves nothing more than pausing in the middle of a meeting or discussion and going around the room to hear from each person how they are actually experiencing the issue at hand – right now, in the moment. It seems like an obvious […]
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Unbinding continued
February 13th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Warren Nilsson | 3 Comments
Tana’s recent post on “unbinding” reminded me of some reflections I had made in a paper I wrote a few years ago. In a section that was actually called “The Unbinding,” I was thinking about how difficult it can be to recognize exactly what it is that binds us. For someone like Tana (disciplined, orderly, […]
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From the archives: “The giving field”
February 4th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Warren Nilsson & Tana Paddock | No Comments
From time to time, we’ll be highlighting blog posts from our archives. We’ll start by focusing on those we wrote in the first couple of months of Organization Unbound’s existence, before we actually had a readership. This first one is called “The Giving Field”.
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Unbinding
January 26th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Tana Paddock | 11 Comments
I have to admit, my yearning for control often outweighs my yearning for a better world. My visions are large, but my daily interactions are laced with an urge to put things in nice orderly lines and boxes. My ‘shoulds’ outnumber my ‘what ifs?’ Literally. I use the word ‘should’ promiscuously (I had been doing […]
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Turn to wonder
January 16th, 2011 | Expressive Change | Tana Paddock | 2 Comments
Several years ago, when I was in the thick of major organizational shifts at COCo, I came home one evening in a fit of tears and with a back full of knots. I felt horrible about how things felt at work and frustrated that my attempts to move things to a better place seemed to […]
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