About Creating the FutureThe experiment: We all encounter systems every day – the habits, rituals, customs and rules that make up “just the way we do things.” Those systems are actually answers to questions (e.g. What should we do about X?). The experiment at the heart of Creating the Future’s work is to see how much more humane the world could be if the questions at the heart of those systems were aimed at bringing out the best in people. This ten year experiment began January 1, 2017.Catalytic Thinking: Overview -- Catalytic Thinking practices are rooted in three interrelated observations about the cause-and-effect of positive change: * Our power to create powerful results lies in our power to create favorable cause-and-effect conditions towards our dreams. * The most favorable conditions begin and end with bringing out the best in people vs. focusing on stuff (money, food, education). * Together we have everything we need; it is only on our own that we experience scarcity. (The reality of Collective Enoughness)Creating the FutureCTF_59e92712-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea00Creating the Future is a collection of people around the world, supporting each other in a grand experiment in systems change.CTF LeadersWhat does it make possible when the leaders of social change organizations see themselves as leading a movement vs. an organization? And importantly, what does it take to be that kind of leader? Being an experiment to see how much change we can effect to create a more humane world requires that our leadership be focus on leading the charge out in the world vs. making sure the organization is strong. From opening our doors to shared leadership with our community, to restructuring the whole organization to be more movement-like, we hope the links here entice you to think differently about leadership in your own work. And we hope they entice you to be part of the work we are doing at Creating the Future!Hildy GottliebHildy Gottlieb is a social scientist and asker of powerful questions. She is the co-founder and Chief Boundary Pusher at Creating the Future, a 10-year experiment to answer the question, “If people everywhere are asking the kinds of questions that bring out the best in themselves and those around them, how much more humane could the world be?” Hildy is a TEDx speaker, as well as a contributor to The Huffington Post, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review. She also created and hosted the Making Change podcast, where she has interviewed leaders from around the world about the factors that create powerful, positive change. All Hildy’s work is rooted in a combination of research and practical experience, built upon her decades as a consultant, a social change theorist, and a serial social entrepreneur. Hildy helped develop the current Masters degree program in Community Leadership at Duquesne University (pron. Dew-cáyne), where she and her partner, Dimitri Petropolis, taught as professors. The team also co-founded the world’s first Diaper Bank, sparking the diaper banking movement across North America, and garnering them a Points of Light Citation from President Bill Clinton. Hildy’s best-selling books on the nuts and bolts of social change have all become industry standards and are used as texts in both undergraduate and graduate programs around the world. When not working, Hildy can be found in the garden, at the movies, or shooting photos.Dimitri PetropolisDimitri Petropolis, co-founder of Creating the Future, has dedicated his life to making the world a better place. Since 1993, that has meant working side-by-side with Hildy Gottlieb, to aim the Social Change arena at its potential for creating the future of our world. Prior to his work with Hildy, Dimitri was an organizer for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, helping to grow the small local of 225 workers into a statewide organization of 6,000. In 1993, Hildy and Dimitri co-founded the consulting firm Help 4 NonProfits & Tribes, assisting community organizations with strategy, governance and resource development. By 1998, Hildy and Dimitri were aiming their skills at social change and leadership systems themselves, in work that has now become Creating the Future At Creating the Future, Dimitri is the wizard behind the curtain, making everything work. From designing and producing websites and videos to ensuring there are tech platforms to support our open participatory leadership, Dimitri ensures this online organization is able to do its work. Among Dimitris many awards, the highlight is a Points of Light Citation from President Bill Clinton for his work in co-founding (along with Hildy) the world’s first diaper bank - an effort that grew to spark the Diaper Banking movement across the U.S. When not working, Dimitri is taking apart computers, designing wacky artwork, cycling, or cooking phenomenal meals for the people he loveDr. Angela M. EikenberryAngie is an Associate Professor of Public Administration, Public Affairs and Community Service at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Her research has been featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Her book, Giving Circles: Philanthropy, Voluntary Association, Democracy (Indiana University Press) won CASE’s 2010 John Grenzebach Research Award for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy. She was recently awarded a 2014-2015 Fulbright Scholar Award to conduct research on giving circles in the UK, affiliated with the University of Birmingham Third Sector Research Centre. Angie's research and creative interests include the social, economic and political roles philanthropy, voluntary associations, and nonprofit organizations play in democratic governance. Empirical and theoretical areas of focus include: Giving circles and collaborative giving, marketization of nonprofit organizations and philanthropy,and social equity/justice and public and nonprofit administration. She is currently the President of ARNOVA - the Association for Research on Nonprofits and Voluntary Action. Her most recent book is Reframing Nonprofit Management: Democracy, Inclusion, and Social Change, which she co-authored with Roseanne Mirabella and Billie Sandberg.Vu LeVu Le (“voo lay”) is a writer, speaker, vegan, Pisces, and the former Executive Director of RVC, a nonprofit in Seattle that promotes social justice by developing leaders of color, strengthening organizations led by communities of color, and fostering collaboration between diverse communities. Vu’s passion to make the world better, combined with a low score on the Law School Admission Test, drove him into the field of nonprofit work, where he learned that we should take the work seriously, but not ourselves. There’s tons of humor in the nonprofit world, and someone needs to document it. He is going to do that, with the hope that one day, a TV producer will see how cool and interesting our field is and make a show about nonprofit work, featuring attractive actors attending strategic planning meetings and filing 990 tax forms. Known for his no-BS approach, irreverent sense of humor, and love of unicorns, Vu has been featured in dozens, if not hundreds, of his own blog posts at NonprofitAF.com, formerly nonprofitwithballs.com.Justin PollockJustin Pollock is principal and founder of Orgforward, a consulting agency working with agencies and capacity builders to develop strategies that encourage meaningful community benefit and organizational sustainability. His practice focuses on strengthening the connection between vision and the leadership, programming, finance, and infrastructure needed to make change happen and on supporting organizational leaders with what they need to effectively govern and operate their organizations. Prior to launching Orgforward, Justin served in a leadership role as Chief Operating Officer for Maryland Nonprofits. Justin has trained and presented to board, staff, and volunteers from hundreds of nonprofit and government agencies ranging from small start-ups to large well-established businesses on topics of governance, financial management, strategic planning, supervision, leadership development, and organizational sustainability. He has more than 20 years of experience in the education and nonprofit fields with an extensive background in the areas of leadership development, organizational management, group process facilitation, curriculum development, teambuilding, and facilitator/trainer development. Justin's career also includes work in the fields of information technology, classroom education, and experiential, outdoor learning.Karl WildingKarl Wilding is the CEO of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations in England (NCVO). He is an Honorary Visiting Fellow at Cass Business School's Centre for Charity Effectiveness, where he also contributes to the ESRC Centre for Giving and Philanthropy. His professional interests include voluntary sector funding and finance, the relative roles of the state and voluntary organisations, and the impact of new technologies on voluntary action. Karl is a trustee of St Albans Centre for Voluntary Service.Systems bring out the best in people_59e928d4-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea00To teach people to change the systems they find themselves in_59e929ec-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea00ThinkingCatalytic Thinking focuses on “thinking” because the results we see of any effort begin with the thoughts and assumptions that create our actions. That is true whether we’re seeking results in an effort to communicate with a loved one or an effort to alleviate poverty in a community.AnswersChanging assumptions is not difficult, once we realize that assumptions are simply the answers to questions we didn’t even realize we were being asked. What will happen if we do X? Who can we trust? How will we survive? Are there enough resources?CatalysisThat is why we call it “Catalytic” thinking. By changing the questions we ask in our day-to-day lives, small actions create big results, and fast. Focused on cause-and-effect conditions that bring out the best in people, Catalytic Thinking’s questions are embedded with different assumptions than the questions we are all used to hearing and asking.VisionDetermine how the future will be different as a result of the stakeholders' actions_59e92afa-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea001What is the future we want to create, and what will it take to create that reality?RequirementsDetermine what will be required to achieve the desired results_59e92bfe-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea001.1StakeholdersIdentify those whose interests may be affected as well as those whose support and resources will be required_59e92d02-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea002Who else cares about this?ObjectivesDetermine what the stakeholders can accomplish together_59e92e10-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea002.1What can we accomplish together that none of us can accomplish on our own?ResourcesIdentify resources that can be collectively applied_59e92f14-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea003What resources do we have together that none of us has all of on our own?_59e93018-c3a6-11ea-97b4-d4251883ea002017-01-012020-07-11https://creatingthefuture.org/about/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net