Agenda
- Check in
- Opening Blessing
- Review WWWs
- Weekly event logistics
- Review Agenda
- Newsletter
- Strategy/Tactics Talk
- Evaluations
- Closing Blessing
Next business call
- Tactics Talk (in context of our strategy metaphor, roots, stalk, fruits)
- We Believe
- Daily Practice
- 2017 travel plans/goals Summer (including Eclipse August 21)
Check-in
- Brandon … Feeling good
- Ben … Just before the call I got started on adding links to the newsletter ... it will feel good to finally get that done
Opening Blessing
May we take stock of all that we are doing, so that when we look at what we are not doing, but that we aspire to do, we can come to it as opportunity rather than with shame. May we find our way forward together to really be who we seek to be. --Blessed Be
WW(W)s from last time
Ongoing
- Brandon … Bedtime is 9:30 every night with alarm at 5:30, enroll Shelley in it
- Brandon … spend 15 minutes every day on Machine Learning
- Brandon … make a daily 1 minute video check-in for Ben and Eric
- Brandon … Meditate regularly with Eric
- Ben … meditate regularly with Eric
- Ben … spend at least 15 minutes a day on Flight in a Cage
- Ben … Send Brandon/Eric a video message each day about what I did
- Eric … Watch videos and make mine at 8:45pm before Ben calls
- Eric … Send Brandon/Ben a video message each day about what I did
- Eric … Work on Buckleberry at least 15 minutes a day
- Eric … Meditate regularly with Ben
- Eric … Meditate regularly with Brandon
Sometime soon
- Brandon … research our legal status as an informal religious organization
Time-specific
- Ben … check with Aunt Ruth about space in the house for the eclipse … by tomorrow
- <s>Brandon … invite the Sarvatas and Rico's family to Riverrain … by today</s>
- Brandon … add Nag! Or something similar to phone … by today
- Brandon … check with Ted about his daily practice (can I do it with him somehow?) … by today
WW(W)s
Ongoing
- Brandon … Bedtime is 9:30 every night with alarm at 5:30, enroll Shelley in it
- Brandon … spend 15 minutes every day on Machine Learning
- Brandon … make a daily 1 minute video check-in for Ben and Eric
- Brandon … Meditate regularly with Eric
- Ben … meditate regularly with Eric
- Ben … spend at least 15 minutes a day on Flight in a Cage
- Ben … Send Brandon/Eric a video message each day about what I did
- Eric … Watch videos and make mine at 8:45pm before Ben calls
- Eric … Send Brandon/Ben a video message each day about what I did
- Eric … Work on Buckleberry at least 15 minutes a day
- Eric … Meditate regularly with Ben
- Eric … Meditate regularly with Brandon
Sometime soon
- Brandon … research our legal status as an informal religious organization
Time-specific
- Ben … check with Aunt Ruth about space in the house for the eclipse … by tomorrow
- Brandon … check with Eric, Rico, and Shelley about whether 7:30 works for the service next week … by today
- Brandon … check with Shelley about the evening time for the business call next wee
- Brandon … add Nag! Or something similar to phone … by today
- Brandon … check with Ted about his daily practice (can I do it with him somehow?) … by today
Weekly Events Logistics
Service rotation: Eric, Ben, Brandon, Rico, Shelley
- February 11 Service: 7:30 AM PST / 10:30 EST … Shelley
- February 12 Business Call: 5:30 PM PST / 20:30 EST
Newsletter
Brainstorming for the subject line
- How to Shape This ___ Change? (Brandon likes this)
- Chaotic? Devastating? Turbulent?
- Gut-Wrenching? Soul-Sickening? Heartrending?
- We'll go with Heartrending
- Something about "Falling"?
Should we just call this the Winter Newsletter even though we're mainly talking about Autumn?
Strategy Talk
Six Thinking Hats
- Green … brainstorming
- Yellow … positive (Sunny) evaluation
- Black … negative (Shadow) evaluation
- Red … emotional <done>
- White … logic only
- Blue … process (noticing which hat is happening, actively selecting a hat)
Blue Hatting
- Brandon … I'd like to create some sort of a long-term plan again, one that maps our work into some phases
- Ben … I feel like we can do that with Buckleberry, but I think we need to actually decide on what else we are doing … my novel is not very phase oriented
- Brandon … this wouldn't be about any individual project … instead let's look at what phase SolSeed is in now, and whether we're transitioning to a new phase … my desire for this is about trying to frame what it is we're doing overall with SolSeed, and to be able to have a meaningful conversation about that with Rico or other potential allies/new members
Green Hatting: Phases
- Initial visioning/deciding who we are as a group: DONE
- Deciding on/piloting concrete ways to work on our vision
- We've said that we probably need to be doing something interesting for people to be interested in us
- As we grow we will get more of what we are already doing, so lets be sure to be doing something we want more of!
- Figuring out how to grow (find the people and explain the value in a compelling way)
- Growth (put in X and get back X + Y … where X is membership, time, $, etc)
- Mainly about growing the membership
- There's a concept from the startup world called the Growth Engine
- Sticky … get people super invested (not luke-warm, fuzzy) and keep them that way for the long haul … this is what we're mainly aiming at
- Viral … spread quickly by offering something lots of people are immediately attracted to, watering down your core offering to make it more widely palatable
- For us, our early structure, Gaia’s People, Space.wiki, etc were efforts along these lines
- Rico may be looking to do this, but Ben thinks he wants his offering to be fairly unique
- Paid
- Brandon wants to make it okay that we are trying to find our Growth Engine, but haven't found it yet … when we do find it, we'll put our foot on the gas pedal
Refined description of phases and current status
Start with the end in mind. Fruits are the goal, they are a concern that lives during all phases.
- Roots/Identity (establishing our vision and who we are as a group) … mostly done (living and growing, but we know who we are) … non-negotiable (cannot change this for the sake of growth)
- Pilot Fruits (experimenting with projects/practices/etc) … ongoing ... nothing is worthwhile without this (must be positive and aligned with identity) … there are many fruits that work
- Stalk Experiments (finding a method of growth that gives us the structure and mass we need to create lots and lots of the fruits we want) … early stages, mostly failures so far … required if we want to have massive impact in the world
- Growing the Stalk … not yet, triggered by finding a reliable method of growth
- Fruits … achieving something concrete that aligns with the vision
For future discussion: Phase transitions
- How do we know when a new phase is starting?
Evaluation
- Brandon … I needed this, it’s very helpful for me, thank you
- Ben … I guess I’m feeling a little impatient about getting back to more concrete planning ... maybe we should have a Tactics Talk about our actual projects
Closing Blessing
We have worked together toward a common vision for years, and our achievements so far have been modest. May we cultivate patience and not lose heart. May we trust that we are still capable of achieving great things. -- Blessed Be