For the last few years I have been learning more and more about the human condition, our mental models and the mindsets that shape our behaviour and decisions. Chris Corrigan provides a very nice description of ‘mental models’ in his paper on Participatory Engagement … “Mental models are those frames of reference that define our thinking and how we view the world. They are frames that we take for granted, and to view our own mental models is a bit like trying to see the color of our own eyes without a mirror.” Because our own models of world are …

Recently, I have had many requests for copies of the Castlemaine 500 Report – a report that I co-authored in relation to a community scale sustainability project that ran a few years ago in Castlemaine. You can read more about the project here. Why was this project a turning point in my life? Here a just a few reasons … The failures of our efforts to bring about change (i.e. sustained reduction of household energy use) were confronting. I was lucky to have a client (thanks Bron) and a team (you know who you are) willing to go on a …

Neil Perkin penned this terrific post Agile Planning. Image Source This post resonated loudly with me because of the recent work I have been doing as a facilitator with Government agencies. Also, the upcoming Show Me The Change conference in Melbourne this May is also linked. Here’s a snapshot of Neil’s Agile post: We are all bombarded by change and it’s accelerating (and will not slow down) … the enterprise of the future will be hungry for change … but our current business/government are stuck in linear systems that are slow, top-down & inflexible … “Our structures need to be …

A report that I proudly co-authored is now available! It tells a story about a project called Castlemaine 500 (which I also helped to orchestrate) … it’s successes, failures and the lessons learned. It is also an example of how an evaluation report can come alive with design, cartoons and stories! The Castlemaine 500 Performance Story Report was recently launched. You can watch interviews with participating households here. The best summary of the project is contained in the report though! If you want a hard copy of the report booklet email me. If you want to download it click here. …

I am on a Melbourne bound train and just watched another TED presentation – seems to be my favorite commuter activity these days 🙂 In this TEDcast, Clay Shirky (author of Here Comes Everybody) reinforces my belief that we are living through a revolution in the way people interact and collaborate with each other. I’d love to hear what Clay has to say about the impact that Twitterers within Iran are having right now. Like in his original TED talk, new social media is changing the media landscape and giving the man/woman/child on the street a voice to the world …