Recent thoughts and happenings
It was a great pleasure to lead a small group of curious people to “Incredible India”. We visited Delhi, Agra, Varanasi, Jaipur, Mysore, Bandipur Tiger Preserve, the backwaters of Kerala, Cochin, Amritsar (home of the Golden Temple), Chandigarh, and amazing Shimla. Some deep learning came from being in the country during the demonetization of the […]
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In November my colleagues Dawn Gelderloos, Melanie Lindsay-Brisbin and I had the pleasure of conducting the 2nd Tanzania Leadership Exchange on behalf of the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. Shrinking Borders was asked to return after our first Exchange last year. This year we spent 4 days with leaders from the Northern Diocese discussing a variety of leadership topics. My thanks to Bishop Dr. Fredrick Shoo for sponsoring this event and to the staff of the Lutheran Uhuru Hotel in Moshi for the great venue and food.
Ever since it was first introduced to me by my friends and mentors Carol & Tim at FGI, the Spiral Dynamics theory of the evolution of human values has provided a fascinating framework for interpreting the world around me, understanding barriers to change (in people, organizations, and cultures), and communicating more effectively across these barriers.
An understanding of Spiral Dynamics (based on the work of Dr. Clare Graves, and supported by decades of research) can improve leadership, make organizations more effective, and help one just “make sense” of the news. I am happy to announce that Shrinking Borders is now a partner with ValueMatch, a provider of profiles that make it easy to understand what is behind an individual’s worldview. ValueMatch profiles assess the Spiral Dynamics Value Systems active in people, teams and organizations.
Contact me if you would like to learn more about this.
Leaders of the ELCT Northern Diocese
In October, Shrinking Borders conducted a first of its kind leadership development event in Tanzania. This 2 day event provided experiential learning in Emergenetics and a variety of leadership topics. The participants included 31 Tanzanian leaders from the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) and 5 Americans. Shrinking Borders LLC, Real Life Works, Emergenetics International and ELCT Northern Diocese jointly sponsored the event.
Leaders in the church in Tanzania face very difficult challenges, working in one of the poorest countries on the planet, while operating major social services (schools, hospitals, orphanages, as well as parishes). The American participants learned much from their Tanzanian counterparts.
One of the participants, the headmistress of a secondary school for many years, said: “I can’t wait to let you know how much I am transformed by the seminar. Now I know myself better . . . Now I know why I do things the way I do them; why I take a lot of time trying to explain things to others and why I talk much. I am a new creation now.”
I had the pleasure of spending a week with my good friend Bob Kasworm of Alegent Health at Machame, Tanzania. Bob is Alegent’s representative at Machame Hospital. The main goal of the trip was to initiate installation of a new computer lab at the Machame Hospital Nursing School. The equipment for the lab had been […]
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A very inspiring and special group of young Nebraskans was with us in the schools of Kampala last week. They call themselves the World Energy Project. These recent graduates of the University of Nebraska are dedicated to bringing solar energy to bear on the energy problems in Africa. After their week with us, they are […]
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This is by far the toughest Namasuba story for me to write. On our last days, all 5 of us had kids approach to personally hand us letters, always with a plea to not forget them – and looks that would melt the heart. The 3 young people (20-somethings) in our delegation each got big […]
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The schools are required to teach a government-prescribed curriculum – which is the basis for student advancement exams. I am not qualified to evaluate curricula, but the teachers’ guides I looked at seemed thorough and comprehensive. I participated in Primary 6 during math, art, science (the topic was climate), hygiene, and English. The teachers allowed […]
Read MoreThe events of the day suggest that I divert briefly from the Namasuba experience. More on that in the next day or two. I want to discuss the plight of teachers here. Opportunity Education Foundation (OEF) partners with Louisiana College to provide a professional development seminar for teachers using OEF materials. It started with two […]
Read MoreThis is a continuation of my first note about my time in Namasuba Muslim Primary School in a very poor area of Kampala, Uganda. The first day we were with the kids in Namasuba; we were a curiosity and probably created more trouble for the teachers than we were worth by the distraction of our […]
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