An example of this form and content dance is an ecological community restoration project. We have had a diverse group of ’stakeholders’ working together for the past seven years to lead a ‘green street meets main street’ project. No one knew it would take this long and there have been many times where people have gotten worn down and wondered if we would ever get this built and if so what would this look like. I’ve found one of my primary roles on this project has been to keep this very diverse group strongly connected to our core intentions around creating both a ‘green’ street and ‘main’ street. The trick is we don’t know exactly what this looks like or the forms it can take. But what we have been able to do is explore all sorts of possibilities and come back to our core intention and see if it fits, if the possible forms are congruent with the shared vision we have.

This is a delicate dance as we need both the intentions/values/visions and the forms/structures/shapes that give our goals expression. But, remembering and being true to our core and allowing forms to evolve is great accomplishment. I’m reminded again of my favorite principle around strategic planning, create a plan and hold it lightly.

Reflection: Think of a challenge you are working with and notice where you may be getting sidetracked by over emphasis on what things should look like? Then you can notice how coming back to your core intentions and goals as the foundation can help you reimagine future possibilities

I’ve just finished devouring the second season of the AMC series Mad Men. For those who haven’t been graced with this beautiful show, it’s set in the early 60’s around an ad agency and the unfolding histories of civil rights, women’s rights, cold war, and morality and truth. Two observations about the show that was created by Matt Weiner who was one of the key folks involved in the Sopranos.

One, we have in this series an example of the higher octave of what television entertainment is evolving, complex characters  and relationships  the history of the times. These can be explored over the course of years in these series and get at nuance and subtlety and richness that wasn’t possible in the same way in two hour movies or plays and even in novels. The examples of this that I have found the richest are the series Deadwood, Six Feet Under and The Wire. Each in it’s own way explored an arena of life or time in the sort of depth and time and paradox that counterbalances the short attention span media bites that many lament.  This applies in development projects. There is resource pressure to stay close to the surface and just get things done. Yet often we can lose touch with the nuances of what will make this project matter to us.

The second aspect of ‘Mad Men’ that moved me was the richness of relationships the series explores. So often dramas rely on either a strong story or strong characters, but ‘Mad Men’ does a beautiful job of depicting the complexity and humanity of relationships in work and love that is masterful. And for those of us who work with groups and cultivating richer collaborative efforts, this show is a lovely reminder of how difficult and challenging effective collaboration is. We have to pay attention to the subtle signals and psychology’s at play. One of the most effective means I have found is go to where the most energy in a group is. Not necessarily the loudest, but where you can feel real strength, usually in someone suggesting a surprising possibility that can easily get missed if we are not paying attention.

I consider Mad Men essential viewing and education, like looking in a mirror sometimes  at things we don’t always want to see in ourselves. Highly recommended.

Reflection: Where in your life may you not be fully appreciating the subtlety and complexity and richness that is playing out? How could you do a better job of savoring the complexities and paradoxes in your life right now that can contribute to a more savory experience?

A recent Sunday Oregonian had a nice piece on Portland based design firm Ziba Design and the firm’s  evolution over the past twenty five years. What felt intriguing and relevant was the idea from Ziba founder Sohrab Vossoughi saying (consumer) culture has entered the ‘Age of Meaning’ with consumers craving a connection to the things they buy, that the mass economy is over. I would extend this to people longing for a deeper connection to themselves and life around us.

I notice in people I work with in city agencies or small businesses or local developers the challenge to be unique and express real character. There is so much pressure to conform to what is known in today’s tight economy and shrinking budgets and staff. And yet, it will  be those who express uniqueness and even eccentricity that can stand out with a grounded integrity to what they most value that seems to be rewarded over time.

The Division Street Green Street meets Main Street revitalization project has been an ongoing learning laboratory for the tension between unique visionary plans and the pressures of stretched city staff and not enough money that can dilute the possibilities that exist. This is not just another example of aspirations meeting reality, to me it gets at the more fundamental issue of what really has ‘meaning’ for us in our local neighborhoods and how do we support this.

Despite civic goals of city agencies, they are also very large and complicated human organizations that struggle to create meaning in their programs with we citizens as customers. One of the biggest challenges we have faces in our seven year efforts on the Division Street project is to clarify who is responsible for what? What seems to have worked on projects is to have a very robust shared understanding of core values and framework for a project. And then allow a great degree of openness in what forms these values can take.

Reflection: Notice some place you may feel frustrated and see if there are ways that you may be compromising your own values and beliefs to conform to some others expectations. Imagine small ways that you can begin to start to stand up more for the values you care about .