Skillsfest 3.0 Reflections
It was great to have so many contributors to Skillsfest 3.0 which was hosted at Lawrence University on September 19-20, 2018. This year we engaged all participants by sharing and debriefing after each triplet of speakers. The five rounds of feedback led us to two major themes:
- Most thorny community problems are “complex” and that means these problems need to be addressed by complex adaptive system (CAS) methodologies. One future focus of Skillsfest (or whatever we may name the next gathering) will be to explore these CAS methods more deeply.
- A second view has emerged around “generativity” – what are the conditions or principles necessary to create a generative world. Instead of “solving” a complex problem, might we actually “dissolve” the problem by creating generativity. So is homelessness a complex adaptive problem to be addressed? Or if we focus on creating the conditions of generativity, will homelessness disappear? for a view on generativity, please see the article, “What is Generativity, Pt 1?”
These learnings have led to the creation of the GLCI website, the exploration into CAS Adaptive Problem Solving, the fleshing out generativity as a concept, and the exploration of several possible generative domains (education, democracy, business, etc.)
Join us on this journey and play a part in creating a generative world!