Nourishing Social Action
by Wendy Webber
Over a year and a half ago, the Windham Environmental Coalition (WEC) established their monthly column titled Earth Matters. I'd like to address here how I see that earth matters, specifically, to connect what we know about good soil in a good field, from which nourishing plants grow, and good soil within the social field, from which nourishing and life-giving social actions and new social forms grow.
I’ll contextualize my remarks by sharing some of what Otto Scharmer of MIT has to say as he describes the 'U' Process - a social technology for leading profound innovation and change.
Growing up on a biodynamic farm in Germany, Scharmer understands that the living quality of the soil is the most important thing in organic agriculture, and that each field has two aspects: the visible and the invisible, what is above the surface and what is below. Sustainable farming focuses on sustaining the quality of the soil. Similarly, sustainable actions and structures in the social field need nourishment from renewable resources.
An important question for those engaged in "growing" a social structure that supports sustainability, health and well-being for all is, What is the best leverage point for intentionally shifting the structure of a social field? Scharmer answers this by saying that it is at precisely the same place as in the organic farmer’s field–at the interface between the visible and invisible dimension of the social field.
So what do we mean by visible and invisible in the case of the social field? The visible is what we do and say and see–the social action that could be recorded with a camera. The invisible realm is the interior condition from where the participants of a situation operate. According to Bill O’Brien, former CEO of Hanover Insurance, his greatest insight after years of facilitating corporate change was that “the success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor”; that is, it is not what leaders do, but how they do it. Scharmer talks about this as the "blind spot" of leadership - lack of awareness of intention and where we place our attention.
Awareness brings choice. At one end of the attention spectrum there is "downloading" where we rely solely on past experience and habitual judgments, and at the other end is "generative listening," where we practice developing an open mind, heart and will, so that a future possibility that is trying to emerge can find form through our collective sensing and co-creative action.
At its August meeting, I sensed that WEC was developing a new way of defining itself. On reflection I think an important aspect of that was the clear intention and invitation of the steering committee for that meeting which read: “The meeting will be a chance to pause, understand where we are, and envision our future." To me, that was an invitation to generative listening, and quite simply, from people there stating what was true for them in that moment–for example, a reluctance to add to an already overtaxed "to do" list, a group wisdom started to emerge. Part of that was a recognition that there is an abundance of inspired groups and actions already represented among its members and that maybe part of WEC's function is to be a nourishing container–a social field with good soil that people can contribute into and draw from in relationship to their specific projects. That certainly was apparent at the meeting, as the initial ingredient of the meeting was to share and listen to what was inspiring each other's passion and focus–recognizing that our own particular "plant" is adding to this whole social field of change where the intention is "to help inspire, educate and lead our communities in adopting sustainable practices that promote environmental health and community well-being." (The WEC mission).
Generative listening, a strong leverage point, is a practice that needs cultivating, just as good soil does. It means letting go of the quick fix, or habitual ways, being willing to slow down and create a clearing for a deeper knowing to inform us, both individually and collectively. To quote Otto Scharmer: “The turbulent challenges of our time force all institutions and communities to renew and reinvent themselves. To do that, we must ask: Who are we? What are we here for? What do we want to create together?”
Wendy Webber is a founding member of Vermont Peace Academy, lives at the Taoist Center in Marlboro and is founder of Eye of a Needle Enterprises to support individual and social transformation. Contact: wendywebber1947@yahoo.com This monthly column is sponsored by the Windham Environmental Coalition.
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