Matthew’s Blog

I’ve decided to take on the Concept II Holiday Rowing Challenge. The Challenge has two parts 100,000meters (100km) or 200,000meters (200km). I am shooting for the 200km. All records must be made between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2004. Thats 30 days and I am starting 6 days late Dec 1st. This will be an interesting challenge for me as I haven’t rowed this much since college and that means I must average 8333meters a day between now and midnite ET Dec 24th

I created a new blog to track and be held publicly accountable for my progress.
http://matthewsrowingchallenge.blogspot.com/

Feel free to add comments and messages of encouragement.

President Elect’s Message:

Let’s Change Our Language to "People who hold a different worldview than my own"

I have been having several conversations lately with coaches, friends, colleagues, and others who angry, confused, frustrated, lost with respect to the results of the November Election.

The Spiral Dynamics program at ICF sparked something in me with respect to how to deal with the election fallout. Basically it said that if we keep approaching the issue the same way that we have been we are not going to get anywhere. What is the definition of crazy? – doing the same thing over and over again expecting it to be different.

So what new paradigm do we need to adopt in order for us to stop, re-engage, learn, and move forward?

Upon my return to the U.S. I realized that the discussion was framed in mono-syllabic labels – RED vs. BLUE. I actually had people coming up to me and asking if I knew any RED people. This same discussion was going on in reverse by the way since I seem to float between both camps in my life.

Wait a minute~ You do not even see them as people. They are objects in your life that you need to convert to YOUR WAY OF THINKING. You do not see them as human beings with needs, wants, and desires in life just like yourself. Only as the enemy, the other, the democrats, the republicans, the reds or the blues. You prefer to dehumanize them in order for you not have to confront your own potential errors in thinking, because only people (people like us that is) have the right to do that. YIKES!!!!

What if we change our language!? What if we address the humanity of the situation? These people who we want to understand, we have to first acknowledge and see as people before we get anywhere.

Instead of saying RED or BLUE. What comes up for you when you say "People who hold a different worldview than my own?" YES, I know, 13 syllables, it is a mouthful, AND it is respectful of the person and acknowledges their right to hold and have a view different than my own. This does not say that one is better than the other. This does address that their can be another way of seeing things. This does acknowledge the gap and what the gap is between these two cultures. When you can identify the gap, you can start addressing what is going on – really!

What is the conversation you really want to have?

Overwhelmingly I hear people are confused and they want to understand. What about you?

~Matthew Rochte, President Elect 2004

Thank you or your incredible support for the Global Seasoned Coaches Cafe that I did with Karen Kimsey-House and Shirzad Chamine. It was a pleasure to convene, a great turnout, and a bold step for the ICF to take. Shirzad, Karen & I were quite pleased with the level of conversation and the provocative directions that people want to take themselves, the community and the ICF.

So many people asked for more information about the findings. I have summarized the findings from the cafe and made them available on the SeasonedCoachesCircles.com website. I hope that the community, the individual coaches, and the ICF leadership will heed the findings and incorporate them into their thinking and understanding of our community. We closed the program – Take this conversation to the streets.

I look forward to MCA’s Seasoned Coaches Circle first meeting on Nov 30th.

The SeasonedCoachesCircles.com website is to inform and be a resource for using the conversation circle to engage the seasoned coaches in our communities. If you have any comments or suggestions about the site or the findings, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Matthew Rochte

I have been having several conversations lately with coaches, friends, colleagues, and others who angry, confused, frustrated, lost with respect to the results of the November Election.

The Spiral Dynamics program at ICF sparked something in me with respect to how to deal with the election fallout. Basically it said that if keep approaching the issue the same way that we have been we are not going to get anywhere. What is the definition of crazy – doing the same thing over and over again expecting it to be different.

So what new paradigm to we need to adopt in order for us to stop, re-engage, learn, and move forward.

Upon my return to the US I realized that the discussion was framed in mono-syllabic labels – RED vs BLUE. I actually had people coming up to me and asking if I knew any RED people. This same discussion was going on in reverse by the way since I seem to float between both camps in my life.

Wait a minute. You do not even see them as people. They are objects in your life that you need to convert to YOUR WAY OF THINKING. You do not see them as human beings with needs, wants, and desires in life just like yourself. Only as the enemy, the other, the democrats, the republicans, the reds or the blues. You prefer to dehumanize them in order for you not have to confront your own potential errors in thinking, because only people (people like us that is) have the right to do that. YIKES!!!!

What if we change our language! What if we address the humanity of the situation. These people who we want to understand, we have to first acknowledge and see as people before we get anywhere.

Instead of saying RED or BLUE. What comes up for you when you say “People who hold a different worldview than my own?” YES I know 13 syllables, its a mouthful, AND it is respectful of the person and acknowledges their right to hold and have a view different than my own. This does not say that one is better than the other. This does address that their can be another way of seeing things. This does acknowledge the gap and what the gap is between these two cultures. When you can identify the gap, you can start addressing what is going on – really!

What is the conversation you really want to have? Overwhelmingly I hear people are confused and they want to understand. What about you?

One of the best programs that I attended at the ICF 2004 Coaching Conference in Quebec City was one on Spiral Dynamics. I’ve been picking up pieces of this stuff for about a year and half now. The program so clearly laid out the model and how it helps to explain the great rifts in our society and the world. Where people are at, what they are evolving into.

The Spiral Dynamics model is a model of cultural evolution. The models have come from a scientific compilation of sociological and psychological theories and models of human behavior, cognitive development and even good ol’ Maslow. It is a progression of modes of culture. One of its fundamental principles lies in the fact that the problems of an era/cultural stage can not be solved using the same state of mind that created it. So when a culture reaches a saturation point and has to evolve to solve a problem that is when it moves forward collectively. Also one must progress through each of the levels and not skip any of them, for in order to be healthy you need to have completed the lower levels and the strength of the highest level comes from the solidity of the level below it. Anyway.

Basics of Spiral Dynamics – Levels are described by color
Tier 1

Beige - hunter gatherer, survival
Purple – clans, age of story, myths, nomads, family
Red – honor, warriors, gladiators, warlords, fiefdoms, chivalry, feudalism
Blue – collective, common ideal, religion, democracy
Orange – enlightenment, industry, harnessing power, hierarchy, corporations, militia (400? years ago)
Green – “We’re All Together Now”, collective love, sharing, community, me generation, yuppy (150yrs ago)

Tier 2 This is an integrated tier. It repeats tier 1 but in an integrated manner

Yellow - integration, systems, flow, gaia (50-60yrs ago)
Turquoise - interconnectivity, full integration of mind-body-spirit, wholistic (in the last 20-30yrs)
Coral - unknown but starting to emerge (5-10yrs ago)

Note: One is a not just one color or cultural level. You are the culmination of all the levels up to that level. Then there are maturity and balance issues in each level. You might notice the similarities of the first tier with child development.

Interesting findings and thoughts that were shared at the conference with respect to Spiral Dynamics.
1) Most of the world is either in BLUE or RED. NAmerica, Europe, Japan run the spectrum up into YELLOW, TURQUOISE and CORAL. However most of the world is RED & BLUE. What does this mean?
2) Take S Africa – Don Beck, one of the founders of Spiral Dynamics was called into S. Africa at the end of appartide to help them through the transition. The world wanted SA to become ORANGE right away. However in SA they were dealing with a predominantly PURPLE culture which had been oppressed. The PURPLE culture remember is one of stories. They need to be heard, they need to be told. Thus was born the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which allowed this PURPLE culture to heal and then move into RED, BLUE & ORANGE.
3) Take Iraq. Here we have a RED culture – a feudal land with a RED dictator. We have come in with a plan to “evolve” their country into a BLUE culture “democracy”, a belief in something greater than oneself. The “Allies” have taken an ORANGE approach to doing so – corporatization, military strength, hierarchy, command and control which has resulted in a regression of the culture to PURPLE (tribal, clans with mythology and story ~ what kind of stories do you think they are creating about “America” and “democracy”). The people against the war are predominantly GREEN culture where everyone should get along and we just need to sit down and talk, we shouldn’t get involved. As a result we have a ORANGE culture trying to remove a RED culture (2 level difference) with out an appreciation for the fact that they need to bridge the gap between these two culture memes, now three given the regression to PURPLE. And the GREENs don’t see what all the fuss is about – because aren’t we all the same?
4) November 2004. 51% v 49% largest voter turnout in history in the US. If you are a Bush Supporter take a look around and look at the model. If you were a Kerry Supporter, take a look around and at the model. What do you think is going on in the USA? OK, so if you want to persuade, evolve, converse, with those who have a worldview (culture) different from your own what do you have to do? Remember they do not perceive the world the same way as you do.

We are going to be hearing more and more about Spiral Dynamics in the coming years.

What level are the people who put together What the Bleep? movie? Notice the approach to the movie. It works on several levels of the spiral to share elements of what is going on.Православни икони

Dear World: Sorry About Bush / No, seriously. Very, very sorry. How sorry? Well, let America show you … in pictures

Great article about a several new websites out there following the Nov 2nd Election. Real people, real messages.

http://sorryeverybody.com/ from the 49% of us. Take the time to flip through the pictures. They are not profane. Just regular "real" people, understanding the loss, and apologizing to the world.

http://www.apologiesaccepted.com/index.html The world’s answer to sorryeverybody.com

George, Deb, Diana, Carrie and I from the board and several other MCA members are off to see what’s new at the 9^th Annual International Coach Federation Conference in magical Quebec City.

Having been to Quebec City both for pleasure and for a conference, I can say it is just a joyful bit of Europe here on this continent.  They speak French. It has got a castle (fortress & hotel really, but looks like a castle!).  It’s got windy streets of cobblestone and art galleries and an awesome view of the river.

The conference is in a new format this year with longer and fewer sessions to allow people to get really deep into the programs.   I will be presenting with Karen Kimsey-House and Shirzad Chamine in a Conversation Café for seasoned coaches.

Starting at the end of November I will be convening a new project for Seasoned MCA Coaches (defined currently as 5+years in the industry and practicing, or ICF PCC, MCC status – if you did not receive a notice and you fit the above criteria, please contact me).  We are creating the MCA Seasoned Coaches Circle, a conversation circle and sage circle to explore what we are not talking about as a profession, to check the compass, and expand. 

The intention is to report from the field back to the MCA the learnings from group.  We will also use this experience to discover if we want to branch out further into other experience levels, ie 2yr coaches, 3yr coaches, business coaches, spiritual coaches, etc.   This is a tricky balance of inclusion and dilution control, so please bear with us as we experiment with this.

Be well and treat life well this month,

~ Matthew Rochte, MCA President Elect