söndag 20 december 2009

My 2009 in bullet points…

2009 has as any other year been an incredible year for me. One of those years where I have experienced things that if I would have known how tough they would be I would probably not have dared to experienced them all, however, looking back it is with an enormous gratitude that
I remember 2009 and look forward to 2010!

What tied it all together was my close relationship to majken, my amazing family, some incredible friends and a profound love to nature!

• Finalizing my masters and releasing my second book
I was very pleased handing in my thesis in the beginning of year, a process that at times was really painful, but in the end a great learning experience and result! Key discovery: Its not done until its done!

I was pleased that VDM was keen to publish it for me and that I have my second book available for sales, a lot better than the first one! Find it here

• Aconcagua
Our inexperience became the experience – an extraordinary connection with nature and a memory for life! Key discovery: nature makes me calm, cities makes me stressed!

• Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia
South America by bus – key discovery: what ever happens is the best thing. If it happens to me, I am equipped to handle it.









































• Learning Spanish

An initial love for language but also a reconnecting to basic learning! Key discovery: it is first when you dare to take a step back you really learn!

• Argentina & Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, the third city I can say that I have lived in. Key discovery: Argentina has the best meat, wine and ice-cream and is a perfect mix of Europe and South America


















• Geneva
Connecting with ambitious youth and reaching out to the world and the global humanitarian forum – the video from the conference is here! I have hesitated quite a lot to share this video, simply because I found it quite tough to see myself on the screen… with some distance though, the key is what learning I took out from seeing myself there and I feel content with what I could extract! Key Discovery: The power of guiding ideas

• Tallberg
Converging crises – complexity – solutions – very powerful and impactful four days! Sweden is beautiful. Key discovery: Welcome complexity!

• The Swedish Archipelago, Bornholm and vacation!
Two of the most beautiful places that I know of in the world – the Swedish archipelago and Bornholm! Every time I am there I feel so much hope, inspiration and compassion for what the world can look like! Key discovery: How a sustainable vacation can look like with sailing, swimming in the water, and being close to nature, family and friends!

• London
The fourth city I can say that I have lived in and currently actually really like to live in. Funny enough, my 2009 actually started in London. Key discovery: If you know what you want, you can find it here!

• Cadbury
My new learning environment and employer. Very promising, challenging and impactful start – I am keen to understand what’s emerging! Key discovery: interpersonal skills, v. e.g. marketing skills, very different, but mutually dependent!

• 2010
A new year, probably fewer events than during 2009, but I sense that I have an intense learning journey ahead of me! Important components as always: relationship, health, family, friends, learning and development!

Guiding ideas: Journey; Now; Choice; Within!














Happy Holiday!
Emanuel










About AIESEC – finally a well deserved good case practice


When I was in AIESEC I always had the feeling that the organizations was in between 5-15 years ahead of time… being a proud alumni I still believe that is the case and that is why I am still keen to monitor what the organization is up to!

The last few weeks have been amazing and almost emotional because AIESEC has achieved enormous results and being aware of them! Back in 2005 the organization created a dream – not a random dream, but a dream that was based on real events. The method appreciative inquiry helped the organization understand: when the organization is at its best, how is it and how can what it is, be replicated, every day! (read again if difficult to understand)

From when the dream was created, generation after generation have had clarity, consistency, determination and measurement in place to understand health and success of the organization and that has enabled AIESEC to double its impact in 5 years!

How many organizations in the world can say that they actually over achieved a 5 year vision? Maybe a few! How many can say the same, after having changed leadership every year during those 5 years? Very few! This is not only a good case practice for AIESEC, but for any organization…clarity, determination, consistency, monitoring and measurement have had a profound impact!

I am the first to admit that I was one of the people who did challenge some of these goals two years back… I asked if they were too ambitious? If they were still motivating etc! I am glad that some of my peers fought back!!! Thank you for doing that and for proving me super wrong then and also now!

Congratulations AIESEC – spread the word, what you have done is amazing!

Thank you 61 generations of AIESECers, but in particular, Brodie, Dey, Gabiza, Juan and Aman!

A proud alumni and a big fan!

Emanuel

lördag 19 december 2009

About the way we reward behaviours…

Today we are rewarding un-sustainability… as a consumer it is always cheaper (in terms of what we actually monetary pay from our pockets) to buy un-sustainable products! How can we transform the way we reward companies aiming at sustaining ability?

It seems clear that our current way of doing is rewarding the wrong behaviour. Thus, what we really need to do is to transform the cost side of the production, i.e. ensuring that every single product contains cogs + real cost of production… if the cost side would fundamentally change it would be financially unwise for companies to produce unsustainable products…by rewarding the right behaviours, i.e. keeping social cost of production down, companies wouldn’t afford not to produce sustainable products…from a consumer point of view it would be cheaper to buy sustainable products and thus naturally the market would transform in the sense there would be no market for unsustainable products as it wouldn’t make financial sense to produce them… this seems super logical that this is how it ought to be, but its not…!

What an opportunity to change the guiding ideas for companies as they are innovating and developing on new products!

Rewarding desired behaviours, another piece in the puzzle…

Until next exchange

Emanuel

Are we living a prisoner’s dilemma?

Prisoner’s dilemma is a fundamental problem in game theory and it is a good way to articulate why it is so difficult to cooperate even if it is in everyone’s interest to do so! Maybe the COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen was from the start to the end a prisoner’s dilemma?

Our current guiding idea is that if someone win, someone ells has to loose. I believe there are no situations that has to end in a win-loose situation! Some could argue I am naïve and maybe I am – but I would argue again, that it only comes back to our guiding ideas….! Having been a quite ambitions soccer player I was taught that for me to win someone has to loose and it is actually first now, years after I have stopped playing that I am realizing how destructive that was for me, for my team and for sport… sport should be about uniting through competition and in the end, simply the fact that sport is existing and that games are played is a win-win!

I do appreciate competing, but the element of winning is not about making sure someone ells loose, but instead making sure we all thrive in what we are doing.

In the context of the world we cannot afford to continue to have a win-lose guiding idea, simple because earth is one and need to be treaded as ONE and if we want to be here we need to be one team, humanity in nature together as ONE...Our opportunity as a collective – shape and create new guiding ideas, an opportunity of a lifetime and it has never been more important that it is right now! Lets not focus on talking about the failure in Copenhagen and nopenhagen or whatever, but instead start creating and shaping new guiding ideas.. it can start NOW! In everything that I do I will seek win-win, as my fundamental guiding idea recognizing that there has to be such outcome no matter what I do!

Until later

Emanuel

the most important consensus of our time















the agreement (?)(framework convention on climate change) to be downloaded here

the last point emphasis 1.5 degrees C – which means according to 350.org 350ppm, i.e. the safer climate path, now what does it mean that it's not binding?

clearly it is just the beginning to what's needed in terms of a governing agreement, however, an agreement will never be enough and maybe not even the beginning! the people of the world came together the last few weeks and that can never be seen as a failure... in the end, our choice on what to do now will always come back to us and our guiding ideas for what it means to live a prosper life... is up to us and with that comes an enormous responsibility, but also an opportunity to shape the future guiding ideas of the world - i.e. the ideas that fosters our actions! It is an amazing time to be alive right now! we must grasp this opportunity because our situation really requires all of us to be great!

söndag 29 november 2009

Making an impact in the 21st century - what does it take to make a difference?

What is the role of work? How can you make a difference in 2010?

These were some of the questions fitting in the flow that I went through during yesterday (Saturday the 28th of November. )Jarda, Emma and Maritna had kindly put together a wonderful space aiming at creating meaningful elaborations on the questions above both on an individual level, but also for us as collective.

The last three months have been about scaling down, building context and practicing the beginners mind in my current context. I learn, I have fun and I am challenged–I feel a lot of gratitude towards my current context. That aside, yesterday was for me a reconnection to some of the bigger questions that I continuously need to ask myself, but also that we as humanity need to ask ourselves.

Yesterday was an investment in myself. An opportunity to bread and listen to what’s emerging. It was also an opportunity for me to understand how the last three months have impacted the way I think. Yesterday meant a lot for me because the space helped me to show up, ask questions, explore answers, learn and ask more questions. I was also happy connecting to some old friends and meet some new.

The key discoveries include issues on three dimensions: World, Society, Individual.

As opposed to attacking the problems, we tried to understand the causes. The group working on the world dimension phrased their cause beautifully as a “sense of separation” - between earth and humanity, body and mind. Exploring our societal issues we talked about the importance of de-couple carbon and development, and consumption with happiness, we discussed the rapid nature of the way in which things happens, we distinguished between knowledge and wisdom, east and west and we also discussed guiding ideas. It is important to recognize the difference between ideas and guiding ideas, guiding ideas being ideas, leading to action. Someone said, logic help us draw conclusions, feelings makes us act, the same distinguishes ideas from guiding ideas.

It could be argued that today’s guiding ideas in terms of success on an individual level is the number of cars we own, on organizational level it is shareowner return and on national level it is GDP growth. These guiding ideas have helped us to achieve prosperity in some parts of the world, but they are also causing some of the most pressing issues of our time. If we accept that our guiding ideas are steering our action and that the power of guiding ideas have created the prosperity in the western world during the last 200 years, an enormous opportunity to attack our current pressing issues emerges.

Viewing guiding ideas on these different levels also help us recognize the important of different types of solutions on different levels. On national level, e.g. a new guiding idea could be happiness, if that would be our guiding idea, our actions would fundamentally be different and the countries that we would look up to would also be different… as opposed to understand the western world being the index, Colombia would be the most advance nation., recognizing that Colombia has the happiest people in the world…! This shows how incredibility important the upcoming meeting in Copenhagen is, because that is an opportunity to change our guiding ideas on a national level.

It took 50 years to build the global brand of coke, 3 years to build the global brand of Yahoo, 2 years for google and 1 year for youtube… the rapid nature in which ideas can be spread and reach mainstream is super quick and that is really what make me hopeful. Combining the opportunity of guiding ideas and the rapid way in which those can reach the world, it is possible to be hopeful... because if we can get it right, the speed in which change can happen is enormously fast….!

As we came to understand some of the underlying causes to today’s issues, we continued to understand the personal visions that were in the room. I had the opportunity to visit 2014 and my life at that time – a very powerful journey! The remaining work will be to put that vision into a painting that I will carry with me going forward! I feel that I have a big mandate and responsibility, but I also feel very clear on my present and future!

Hosts and participants of yesterday – thank you for being there and helping me to create clarity about my present and future and for giving me hope about the world!

This was a rushed post, because Sunday also means preparing for another week, however, I wanted to get some of these feelings and thoughts down and then hopefully revisit the post soon again to add some more thoughts at a later date!

Until next exchange

Emanuel

söndag 18 oktober 2009

On patience, order, comfort and core…

As I was walking around in town today, the word patience came to my mind!

Naturally I am an incredibly inpatient person, which is good and bad...it's good because I usually get a lot of things done in a fairly short period of time, both on a task basis, but also when it comes the journey I am on! However, it can be bad from the perspective that I sometimes I might not be allowing enough time to see my full potential emerging. I.e. I don’t allow myself to master whatever I am doing, because as soon as I feel comfortable I am moving on... comfort, doesn't mean mastering...! In all of this, I am trying to understand what is the core that follows me unconditionally what I am doing? Fortunately for me, I am realizing that I am patient around my core, i.e. when it comes to my core, i.e. my values system, my struggles, my development areas on areas that fundamentally defines who I am, I do allow myself to continuously thrive and learn. These areas are the aspects of my personality that I can carry with me, unconditionally what I am doing! The question I am asking myself is if I want to expand my core, i.e. allowing some of the things that I am doing to be part of my core...i.e. becoming a specialist in marketing for example. Being a marketer becomes something that defines part of who I am, i.e. an area where I am patient, allowing my full potential to emerge...! I admire people who do make such a choice, i.e. on the question on who they are, they expand who they are do what they do, i.e. that have made a choice on what they do, and then naturally what they don't do!

When am I ready to make such a choice? IS it my role to make such a choice, or is my calling different…Thus, will I ever make such a choice? Being general, is easy and difficult, it is easy because I can thrive and make what I do a passion no matter what I do, but it is also difficult because it doesn't naturally delimited or direct me in to a secure path...! I guess it comes down to what Ken Wilber will refer to as the balance between order and chaos…a balance between a large defined core, i.e. a very directing core, and everything that comes with that, (order), or a rather smaller core, and everything that comes with that (chaos)…my general take in the past, intimacy with nature, love, family and health, enables my personality to allow more chaos…!

I guess, part of why am exploring this topic today is part of what I will be doing in my new role is to understand the core of something. Unconditionally if we in the past have been conscious of it or not, or understood why what we have done, what we have done, I hope to understand what choices we have made, I.e. what has been the core of what we have done... as we are conscious of our core, we can start to choose a course of action...! Expand our core, from that order, i.e. allow chaos, or magic to emerge out of a clarity.. maybe, clarity is what enables chaos, i.e. order is the ultimate enabler or chaos…!?

My concluding thought: Balance!

Balance between patience and impatience, between order and chaos, and direction and non direction. Our level of comfort is what defines our level of uncomfort. Our challenge – keep pushing the barriers of where we feel comfortable so that we consciously are allowing ourselves to thrive!

Until next time

Emanuel


lördag 10 oktober 2009

Obama's response

Friend --

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

lördag 19 september 2009

about building context and practising the beginners mind

I have completed the 2nd week in my new learning environment. I call this period: Building context and practising the beginners mind. Building context is about building relevance in my ideas and reflections and practising the beginners mind is about re-emphasizing for myself that I can learn something from everyone around me, all the time. It's also about pushing myself a Little extra to engage in every single opportunity to connect with a new person...!

I have also started to follow inspiring marketeers on Twitter and subscribed to a number of newsletters - a new world is opening up! This week various forums launched the 100 most valuable brands. I keep asking myself the question, how would that map look like if or when rather those brands or companies need to carry all the cost of their production...i.e. the cost of production as we know it today and the cost of production as we will get to know it tomorrow, i.e. inc the social costs...as the companies carries those costs their products will be more expensive and the question we need to ask ourselves - are we willing to pay for that or will we modify the selection of products we consider as important to live a prosper life in the future? Thus, forcing some of the power companies of our generation to fundamentally re-evaluate why they exists...I guess the car industry is the first industry seeing the consequences of this shift, but I believe there are many more to come...Thus, I believe the map will look very differently in not too long time period ahead...

until next time
emanuel

söndag 30 augusti 2009

about the most important consensus of our time


...and the demands of of the youth of the world...




The Copenhagen Manifesto

During the last afternoon of the Youth Forum 2009 the participants drafted in a common effort the Copenhagen Manifesto, a document stating the young adults’ demands and expectations towards the representatives of their home countries at the COP 15. Expressing the participants’ concerns and hopes about the high-level meeting, the Youth Forum 2009’s Copenhagen Manifesto should be received as a legacy of the Youth Forum 2009.

We the young adults demand, that:

1. The leaders of nations and organizations no longer justify emissions caused by their acts, but act for the benefit of all

2. Developed countries have to support developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change and must create an effective renewable energy development fund

3. Climate refugees must be given the same legal status as any other refugee

4. Climate awareness must be a part of every school curriculum

5. Negotiations should be viewed through collaborative online media, to create complete transparency and openness

6. It be a human right not to suffer from climate change related disasters

7. There be pressure on countries to meet their Kyoto commitments and that the Copenhagen agreement should drive fundamental systemic change

8. The Copenhagen conference must result in an agreement that addresses the needs of all

9. We all move beyond self-interested concepts of nationalism to an integrated vision of one system: earth

I can't in words express how concerned I am about the current state of the world. The COP 15 meeting is one part of the solution. However, the most important part of the solution is to be found within us all...!

Until later

Emanuel

torsdag 20 augusti 2009

about my new city

Two days back I arrived to London, the city where I will be living the period ahead. I will be joining Cadbury, a happiness factory, working for the global office. I am very inspired by the opportunity and the challenge ahead of me and very pleased with my choice of company... i left for argentina confused, tired and socially exhausted, but i am coming back clear, fresh and ready to take on new challenges... a really nice feeling, though the path there at times were very challenging...! for those of you who fear to take a step out from a perceived flow to insecurity and uncertainty, dare to do it sometimes, as i discovered that it is first when you allow space for new discoveries to emerge they (the discoveries) dare to emerge...

on the agenda the nearest couple of days is to find a comfortable place to say and get ready to take on my new challenge!

more updates to come as i am writing on a new chapter of my life)

until later
emanuel

onsdag 5 augusti 2009

about incredible june and july

after more than a month in silence i am back in front of my computer and a lot of things have happened... as opposed to start updating on some of my experiences the past month i thought that I ll be posting an interview that helps articulating some of my discoveries after having participated in the Global Humanitarian Forum Youth Forum, The Global Humanitarian Forum, the Tällberg Forum and after having spent a wonderful vacation in the Swedish archipelago with my love, my family and close friends...! I have had a fantastic time and I am so excited about my recent past, present and future!

* Conference themes always mean something more to the participants than others who just see and read the name. What was the theme really about?

The theme really was about understanding the current state of the world, when it comes to our planet, the economy, technology, learning/education and building on these four, governance. What tied it all together was an understanding of the world as one system, the key to be able to comprehend the scale and opportunity that comes as we recognizing converging crises in a time of diverging interests. Towards the end the theme helped defining the need for an integrated approach on solutions to the defining issue of our time, climate change.

* (Assuming the theme is really about sustainability and climate change, the global crisis being the climate one) What are the underlying issues of this global crisis?

As articulated above, we are currently operatin g in a world with converging crises. We have a financial crisis, an economic crisis, natural systemic crises within all our ecological sub-systems, we have a health crisis, a food crisis, a water crisis and humanitarian crises. All of these crises seen as separate events are to fundamentally misunderstand the problem, thus also the possible solutions.

From one perspective the body works really well to articulate this point. We can live our life as we want until our body indicates that we are not living in harmony with it. We might get fever or feel stressed. These crises are just symptoms of a lifestyle which clearly has not been in harmony with all aspects of our personality. Sometimes, we just get a cold, a signal from the body that something is wrong, our actions on that symptom will ultimately determine if we will recover fast or becoming even sicker. It is really from this perspective I have come to understand the for example the issue of climate change. Our nature is indicating that it has fever. The sickness of the nature is articulated through natural disasters, e.g. flooding, hurricanes etc,. The symptoms of our natural fever are causing humanitarian disastrous, such as poverty, starvation and a rising food prices just to mention a few. Thus, the key challenge to approach a solution is really to listening to the feedback on our actions. All these crises gives us the feedback we need to approach a solution.

* So in short, the underlying issue of climate change is our inability to balance all aspects of society?

Yes and no. Yes because it is true, no because there is not a one liner to articulate this complex issue. I do believe metaphors are incredibly powerful support tools to help articulating problems as such, however, as we start seeking solutions or even speaking about solutions, we must become tangible again. Thus, move away from metaphors and use simple commonly used language. Bottom line, we, meaning all of us, fundamentally need to change the way we live our lives. We can choose to see this change as a step back, or we can see it as a forward roll, as i have chosen to see it here: http://vimeo.com/5378535. Allow me to share for you about the past two weeks of my life. I decided to have my vacation in the Swedish archipelago.
At the place were I lived there were no water so we cleaned ourselves by swimming in the sea. One of the highlights of the two weeks was my sailing trip in between some of the beautiful island in the archipelago. My day activities were about reading, meditating, training and spending quality time with my family and friends. In short, I used maybe a litre of water a day on average and my carbon footprint was heavily reduced compared to a life in the city. My conclusion, my vacation was incredible, a forward roll as opposed to a step back. Imagine the impact if I would have chosen a vacation across oceans instead...

* What were some of your favorite solutions proposed at the end?
As we recognize the connection between our guiding ideas and our actions we are approaching a solution. We need to change our guiding ideas because as we have changed our guiding ideas our actions fundamentally will change as well. As opposed to be driven by ego, greed and consumption, we need to be driven by clarity, compassion and choice. As opposed to have GDP growth, profit growth and the number of cars as su ccess indicators, as guiding ideas, on national, organizational and individual levels, we need to re-invent the way we understand these objectives. An important component for this to happen is that we achieve a deal in Copenhagen, not any deal, a good deal, meaning that it is good enough for planet earth to be able to contain humans on it. Bottom line, earth will survive, the question is if it will be able to safely have human living on it. The experts tells me that for us to be able to continue to live here safely in harmony with nature, we, i.e. all of us, meaning every single one of us, need to achieve 350 parts per million as a global roof for carbon emissions, on top of stop destroying our forest and over eat and drink our natural re-sources. The negotiators in Copenhagen in December need to agree upon what should be the framework that help ensures that. Some would argue that what we need to do now is a step backwards, but I would see it as a step forward. It is time fo r humanity to reconnect to what it means to be a human being.

*I understand that this is a critical solution but I do not see it as realistic. Do you think an agreement at Copenhagen will be reached? What was the consensus on that question at Tällberg?

My short answer to your question. It has to be. The most important consensus in our history needs to be agreed upon in Copenhagen at Cop 15, the number we all need to dream about and remember is 350. To read up on it, please visit: http://www.350.org/.

Realistic or not, the nature of the challenge we are facing are starting to fade out all realistic solutions available, thus, we need to dare to think big about what we as humanity can do and will do. I believe we deserve to be saved.

* Share with us some of the most interesting conversations you found yourself in?
A very tough question as I found myself in so many interesting and what I call shifting conversations. With shifting conversations I mean conversations that you leave feeling somewhat different. You feel, see or view something differently after you have had the conversation. Amongst the one standing out happened during a lunch that I had with Richard Barret. He is a values based leadership guru and he was asked by the nation of Iceland to analyze the current state of the country. He made a values review of Iceland in September, concluding that if Iceland would be a company they would be bankrupt as of that date. We all know the path that Iceland took after September until today. I shifted during this conversation because I realized that there are new ways of measuring how we are doing as na tions that are non financials, yet credible and effective. Thus, Barret represent the new way of thinking, the new era where we have expanded the way we understand growth and success on national, organizational and individual level.

* The youth contingent at forums such as these are usually small, how many young adults were present? Two questions on youth: What was their unique contribution to the forum, what made them valued to the forum? And what were they saying in the talks, what were their perspectives?

The youth representation at Tällberg was made through an organization called YES. I am not sure on their views and perspectives, so I wont comment them, however, when it comes to the agenda as such, I do believe there was an underrepresentation of youth, a dangerous mistakes as today’s youth are key players in the solution. For next years forum, I hope to meet many AIESEC participants that takes part in the agenda.

until later
emanuel

onsdag 17 juni 2009

Geneva Forum Young Adults 4 new results- Reflections after day 1,

It's late, thus, I ll keep this post short! I wanted to capture something today because it was a meaningful day, yet I am looking forward to write a consolidated post on my dominating impression fro the forum here in Geneva when its over.

The forum, Young Adults 4 new results, http://www.youthforum2009.org/ has so far over exceeded my expectations. The highlights from the meeting today here in Geneva was the UNFCCC Simulation and the interactive session with Mr. Kofi Annan! My reflections from both these powerful experiences will come shortly, for now I just have one question, or statement rather: there have to be a better way to enable meaningful and important conversations than the UNFCCC model. It all turned out well and it was an incredibly interesting process, yet, it doesn't enable engagement and learning about the real issues, thus, there has to be a better model! More elaboration shortly! as for the session with Mr. Kofi Annan, truly inspiring to get the opportunity to meet and listen to a person who is embodying a role modeling leadership!

Until next exchange
Emanuel

tisdag 9 juni 2009

I have a dream

today i had the opportunity to visit Martin Luther King Jr.s memorial, it was special.

to honor him as a person and as a leader I felt like posting his so inspiring speech: I have a dream. The youtube video can be found here.


I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

söndag 7 juni 2009

About excellence and cultural shock

Today's run was special because it happened at the Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia! as I was running I took a few moments to think about some the extraordinary achievements that happened here 13 years back. There were two runs that stood out, both performed by an extraordinary individual Michael Johnson. As I was thinking back watching his 200 and 400 m world records in Atlanta I realized that there are achievements that one doesn't need to be an expert to appreciate or an expert to tell that they are extraordinary. Michael Johnson achievements in Atlanta 13 years back are of that nature. Please press this link to watch his run again, I just did. What made these moments super special were that they happened during Olympics. An incredibly good example for how the world is coming together through competition, that is really the paradox pf sport, that it unites through competition. I believe Olympics is an incredible event and organization, but my mind keeps asking the question: what could the role of Olympic also be? It is not of the scope of this post to elaborate on that question, but as it is recurrent in my life, I will come back to it.

Sports helps articulate excellence... other examples of the same nature as Michel Johnson are, Sergey Bubka, Jonathan Edwards...it inspires me to watch these performances because they are all examples of how excellence is supposed to be looking like. Now, these are all examples from the sport world, but the question we all needs to ask ourselves is what we can learn from these, I believe a lot!

My day in Atlanta was about reconnecting to Excellence, but also respecting the work President Obama has ahead of him. After having been shocked by the size and the amounts of cars, I started to ask a few Americans about their thoughts on global warming. The answers I got, was "there is something like global warming going on that they are trying to fix"...? what about green cars, could you think of driving such? "green cars, what do you mean with green cars?" This is my first time in the US,and it happen to be my 40th country I am working in or visiting. Even though I didn't expect, but i did experience a cultural shock here today and I will try to allow it to sink it and see if i can put words on it during the days to come.

Until next exchange
emanuel

lördag 30 maj 2009

"Building Consensus - How Individuals Influence Groups" - my new book is launched

I am very glad to announce that my new book is now available for sales. Please find it by clicking here.

The title of the book is “Building Consensus – How Individuals Influence groups”.









This book emerged out of our ambition to reflect upon our collective experiences in leadership development, teamwork and group facilitation. Throughout the last few years we have had the opportunity to meet and work with other youth leaders in over 40 countries. We have listened to and learned from many extraordinary individuals and one of our key realizations has been that the individual plays a central role in the formation of the world. We have come to believe that it is the actions of individuals that create the world. As creators of the world, individuals are responsible for what they create, but they also have the power to change the world.

This book provides a window to the processes that we use to create collective opinions, and more specifically it provides a look at the acts that constitute those processes. We hope that this book will help individuals to raise awareness of how they themselves contribute to peer pressure, groupthink and other social phenomena of which they are part. If this book can be the slightest support for individuals seeking to elevate themselves from their circumstances and observe how they contribute to what is going on around them, then we have succeeded. Towards this end, we provide practical tools that might be used by individuals and groups to more actively expose the processes that create consensus, and thus bringing about the ability to actively influence them.

The cover text is the following:
The processes through which we construct consensus are important, since they can contribute both to destructive groupthink, as well as rationally justified consensus. Taking Searle’s speech act theory and Habermas’ theory on communicative action as a starting point this study explores how individuals contribute to the construction of consensus. In addition, practical tools, which can be used to help individuals become aware of their contribution to consensus as well as to create rationally justified consensus are provided. Our account of these processes is developed through a case study on a Swedish non- governmental organization: AIESEC Sweden. This book provides insights for anyone interested in learning more about team dynamics, opinion creation and the ways in which individuals attempt to influence the construction of consensus in a team setting.
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The common theme in my two books, beyond that they are addressing the role and responsibility of the individual in the context she is part of, they seek to combine practically relevant issues in an academically relevant way. As opposed to be speculating on what our findings can mean for the world, “Building Consensus – How Individuals Influence Groups” make claims on what our re-search has shown. Thus, we allow and require of the reader to apply our findings in the context applicable for them.

This book should be considered as a work in progress. Should you have any questions or reflections, feel free to contact Aron Lindberg at aron.lindberg@gmail.com or me at emanuel.gavert@gmail.com.

Emanuel

fredag 29 maj 2009

the restaurants we will remember

majken and myself discussed the food and drinks experiences we have had here in buenos aires and we conclude that the below are the ones standing out:
Crizia - a universe and a new way of presenting food and wine
Olsen - a Scandinavian alternative with Argentina touch, also incredible.
La Cabrera - Argentinian meat, super bien, however, because of a lonely planet note, very touristic!
Hare Krishna - Palermo and no address here, but again like entering a new universe.
La Vaca in Puerto Madero - meat, meat, meat, all you can eat! 50 pesos inc a bottle of wine/person:-)
Meditation center restaurant in Palermo - (I do realize that I am bad a names) - sitting on the roof after a nice meditation hour and just eat some delicious healthy food is too good to be true.
The French restaurant - again a garden simply standing out...!

Cafe's that we will remember includes the following:
Tea Connection - super nice and productive environment, healthy fruit drinks!
Freddo - the best icre cream in the worl
Café Torini

Bar - the area around palermo, simple incredible. It is impossible to not be inspired by the creativity you encounter around the area of Plaza Serano, Palermo.

These were just few of our highlights to be remembered!

Emanuel & Majken