Narrative Ecology – Blog of Ron Donaldson – fACILITATOR, TRAINER AND COACH

I have heard Alicia mentioned many times before but have never seen her present and this short 27 minute video is a must watch. This is from the recent Lean Agile conference (but don’t let that put you off) in the US back in April  and I notice that last years video of Alicia is also available here.

Alicia is a professor of Philosophy and when she speaks you can hear the perfect insightful explanations just click into place without any visible signs of notes or cues.

The study of living systems (and especially of ecosystems) has taught us that nature and evolution do not favour stability and equilibrium: instead, natural processes select for resilience and adaptability—for characteristics that foster evolvability. Living things learn from the past and anticipate the future – and then modify themselves to handle ambiguity, uncertainty, and unwelcome perturbations. Handle and manage, not avoid and eliminate ambiguity and uncertainty.

I have also found, on Google books, what looks to be a terrific read in a book entitled ‘Mind, Brain and the Elusive Soul from which this is a brief extract: