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Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now
No One Is Coming to Help. Now What? In this era of increasingly complex problems and shrinking resources, can we find meaningful and enduring solutions to the challenges we face today as individuals, communities, and nations?
In Walk Out Walk On , we invite you on a learning journey to seven communities around the world to meet people who have walked out of limiting beliefs and assumptions and walked on to create healthy and resilient communities. These Walk Outs who Walk On use their ingenuity and caring to figure out how to work with what they have to create what they need.
From Mexico to India, from Columbus, Ohio to Johannesburg, South Africa, we discover that all communities have the intelligence and inventiveness to solve their seemingly insolvable problems. "We discovered a gift inside ourselves," one Brazilian said, "something that was already there."
In Walk Out Walk On , we invite you on a learning journey to seven communities around the world to meet people who have walked out of limiting beliefs and assumptions and walked on to create healthy and resilient communities. These Walk Outs who Walk On use their ingenuity and caring to figure out how to work with what they have to create what they need.
From Mexico to India, from Columbus, Ohio to Johannesburg, South Africa, we discover that all communities have the intelligence and inventiveness to solve their seemingly insolvable problems. "We discovered a gift inside ourselves," one Brazilian said, "something that was already there."
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
55 people are currently reading
794 people want to read
About the author
Margaret J. Wheatley
35 books174 followersMargaret Wheatley, Ed.D. began caring about the world’s peoples in 1966 as a Peace Corps volunteer in post-war Korea. As a consultant, senior-level advisor, teacher, speaker, and formal leader, she has worked on all continents (except Antarctica) with all levels, ages, and types of organizations, leaders, and activists. Her work now focuses on developing and supporting leaders globally as Warriors for the Human Spirit. These leaders put service over self, stand steadfast through crises and failures, and make a difference for the people and causes they care about. With compassion and insight, they know how to invoke people’s inherent generosity, creativity, kindness, and community–no matter what’s happening around them.
Margaret has written ten books, including the classic Leadership and the New Science, and been honored for her pathfinding work by many professional associations, universities, and organizations. She received her Doctorate from Harvard University in 1979, an M.A. in Media Ecology from NYU in 1974, and a B.A. from University of Rochester in 1966. She spent a year at University College London 1964-65.
Margaret has written ten books, including the classic Leadership and the New Science, and been honored for her pathfinding work by many professional associations, universities, and organizations. She received her Doctorate from Harvard University in 1979, an M.A. in Media Ecology from NYU in 1974, and a B.A. from University of Rochester in 1966. She spent a year at University College London 1964-65.
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December 14, 2012I didn't like this book at first - the writing felt aimless and laced with pot-pourri vagueness that challenges the black and white certainties that my mind prefers. But once I got past the writing to the real meaning and after really sinking into the chapter about the challenging work done in Joubert Park, South Africa, I found that there were some concepts that integrated into my work underway already: the non-profit world, the adaptive learning community and the political community.
1. Community building is messy, frustrating and not duplicatable. 2. Scale across, not up. 3. Start where you are, go anywhere 4. Nobody else will save us, we have to do it ourselves. 5. When people get pushed into adaptive space, there are very real complexity shock reactions. This is where the "Walk Outs" will walk on.
An inspiring book for those doing community development work or systems-level pattern seeking.
1. Community building is messy, frustrating and not duplicatable. 2. Scale across, not up. 3. Start where you are, go anywhere 4. Nobody else will save us, we have to do it ourselves. 5. When people get pushed into adaptive space, there are very real complexity shock reactions. This is where the "Walk Outs" will walk on.
An inspiring book for those doing community development work or systems-level pattern seeking.
February 8, 2018
This a book about walking out of limiting beliefs and assumptions, and walking on to create healthy and resilient communities. The message is that more is possible, and that walking out walking on can propel us beyond the safety of our daily routines, the security of our habitual ways of thinking, and send us out into the world to find answers.[1]
The book is based on the basic insight that community is nothing like a machine, and that citizens rarely surrender their autonomy to experts. Exchanging best practices often doesn't work. What does work is when team from one organization travel to another and, through that experience, see themselves more clearly, strengthen their relationships, and renew their creativity.[2]
In Western culture, the primary focus is to create easily replicated models and then disseminate them. This process is based on the assumption that whatever worked here will work there—we just need to get it down on paper and train people. The assumption is that people do what they are told. So instructions get issued, policies get pronounced. When we don't follow them, managers just create more. When we still fail to obey, we're labeled as resistant to change.[3] People don't support things that are forced on them. We don't act responsibly on behalf of plans and programs created without us. We resist being changed.[4]
Change starts with a few people focusing on their local challenges and issues. They experiment, learn, find solutions that work in their local context. Word travels fast in networks and people hear about their success. They may come to visit and engage in conversations. There's usually a lot of energy in these exchanges, but these exchanges are not about learning how to replicate the process or mimic step-by-step how something was accomplished. Any attempt to replicate someone else's success will smack up against local conditions, and these are differences that matter. What others invent can inspire us to become inventive, and show us what is achievable. Then we have to take if from there.[5]
Many managers assume that people are machines, that they can be programmed, motivated, and supervised through external force and authority. This command-and-control approach smothers basic human capacities such as intelligence, creativity, caring, and dreaming. Yet it is the most common form of management worldwide. When it doesn't work, those in power simply apply more force. They threaten, reward, punish, police, and legislate.[6]
People resist the imposition of force by withdrawing, opposing, and sabotaging the manager's directives. Those in charge then feel compelled to turn up the pressure and apply even harsher measures. They seldom notice that it's their controlling leadership that creates the resistance. And so the destructive cycle continues to gain momentum, with people resenting managers and mangers blaming people. This cycle not only destroys our motivation, it destroys our sense of worth. This destruction of the human spirit is readily visible in places where people have suffered from oppression. It's also visible in rigid hierarchies where people, confined to closed spaces, can't remember when they last felt good about themselves or confident in their abilities.[7] Power of this kind breeds powerlessness.
The familiar weapon of control must be consciously abandoned. Communities have what they need. The human spirit can never be extinguished, even in the darkest places.[8] The work of community change can be done with play without suffering, with confidence that our efforts will make a difference. What does the community need? What do you care about?[9] When did we become estranged from work? Why do we deny human needs? How did we forget to who we are? Do you want to play at transforming the world?[10]
Margaret J. Wheatley and Deborah Frieze write that:[11]
• Play is not a foolish waste of time.
• Play is not a mindless diversion from work.
• Play is how we rediscover ourselves.
• Play is how we ignite the human spirit in which our true power lies.
To summarize, the book is a story of what becomes possible as we work together on what we care most about, discovering what's possible when we turn to one another. This is a new story and an ancient one. The book is filled with insights for how we can work together now to create the future with want. It's a future already being practiced in thousands of communities around the world.[12] They share the following principles:[13]
• Start anywhere, follow it everywhere.
• We make our path by walking it.
• We have what we need.
• The leaders we need are already here.
• We are living the worlds we want today.
• We walk at the pace of the slowest.
• We listen, even to the whispers.
• We turn to one another.
Walking out is never easy. We have no idea where they will lead, what we'll do, or what we'll become. Yet our first actions are a declaration of our new identity. We accept the risk, step onto the invisible path and walk into the unknown. And there, we discover other people already bringing this new world into form.[14]
Walking on is often invisible. None of us can do this work alone. When we gather together, we learn quickly from one another, discovering new ideas and solutions. Little by little, our work becomes recognizable as evidence of what's possible, of what a new world could be.[15]
This is a book full of deep insights on how to work together on what we care most about. See for yourself. See your self.
Notes:
[1] Margaret J. Wheatley and Deborah Frieze, Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2011), p.14.
[2] Ibid., p.35.
[3] Ibid., p.44.
[4] Ibid., p.45.
[5] Ibid., p.46.
[6] Ibid., p.68.
[7] Ibid..
[8] Ibid., p.69.
[9] Ibid., p.70.
[10] Ibid., p.72.
[11] Ibid..
[12] Ibid., p.219.
[13] Ibid., pp.220--225.
[14] Ibid., pp.227.
[14] Ibid., pp.226.
The book is based on the basic insight that community is nothing like a machine, and that citizens rarely surrender their autonomy to experts. Exchanging best practices often doesn't work. What does work is when team from one organization travel to another and, through that experience, see themselves more clearly, strengthen their relationships, and renew their creativity.[2]
In Western culture, the primary focus is to create easily replicated models and then disseminate them. This process is based on the assumption that whatever worked here will work there—we just need to get it down on paper and train people. The assumption is that people do what they are told. So instructions get issued, policies get pronounced. When we don't follow them, managers just create more. When we still fail to obey, we're labeled as resistant to change.[3] People don't support things that are forced on them. We don't act responsibly on behalf of plans and programs created without us. We resist being changed.[4]
Change starts with a few people focusing on their local challenges and issues. They experiment, learn, find solutions that work in their local context. Word travels fast in networks and people hear about their success. They may come to visit and engage in conversations. There's usually a lot of energy in these exchanges, but these exchanges are not about learning how to replicate the process or mimic step-by-step how something was accomplished. Any attempt to replicate someone else's success will smack up against local conditions, and these are differences that matter. What others invent can inspire us to become inventive, and show us what is achievable. Then we have to take if from there.[5]
Many managers assume that people are machines, that they can be programmed, motivated, and supervised through external force and authority. This command-and-control approach smothers basic human capacities such as intelligence, creativity, caring, and dreaming. Yet it is the most common form of management worldwide. When it doesn't work, those in power simply apply more force. They threaten, reward, punish, police, and legislate.[6]
People resist the imposition of force by withdrawing, opposing, and sabotaging the manager's directives. Those in charge then feel compelled to turn up the pressure and apply even harsher measures. They seldom notice that it's their controlling leadership that creates the resistance. And so the destructive cycle continues to gain momentum, with people resenting managers and mangers blaming people. This cycle not only destroys our motivation, it destroys our sense of worth. This destruction of the human spirit is readily visible in places where people have suffered from oppression. It's also visible in rigid hierarchies where people, confined to closed spaces, can't remember when they last felt good about themselves or confident in their abilities.[7] Power of this kind breeds powerlessness.
The familiar weapon of control must be consciously abandoned. Communities have what they need. The human spirit can never be extinguished, even in the darkest places.[8] The work of community change can be done with play without suffering, with confidence that our efforts will make a difference. What does the community need? What do you care about?[9] When did we become estranged from work? Why do we deny human needs? How did we forget to who we are? Do you want to play at transforming the world?[10]
Margaret J. Wheatley and Deborah Frieze write that:[11]
• Play is not a foolish waste of time.
• Play is not a mindless diversion from work.
• Play is how we rediscover ourselves.
• Play is how we ignite the human spirit in which our true power lies.
To summarize, the book is a story of what becomes possible as we work together on what we care most about, discovering what's possible when we turn to one another. This is a new story and an ancient one. The book is filled with insights for how we can work together now to create the future with want. It's a future already being practiced in thousands of communities around the world.[12] They share the following principles:[13]
• Start anywhere, follow it everywhere.
• We make our path by walking it.
• We have what we need.
• The leaders we need are already here.
• We are living the worlds we want today.
• We walk at the pace of the slowest.
• We listen, even to the whispers.
• We turn to one another.
Walking out is never easy. We have no idea where they will lead, what we'll do, or what we'll become. Yet our first actions are a declaration of our new identity. We accept the risk, step onto the invisible path and walk into the unknown. And there, we discover other people already bringing this new world into form.[14]
Walking on is often invisible. None of us can do this work alone. When we gather together, we learn quickly from one another, discovering new ideas and solutions. Little by little, our work becomes recognizable as evidence of what's possible, of what a new world could be.[15]
This is a book full of deep insights on how to work together on what we care most about. See for yourself. See your self.
Notes:
[1] Margaret J. Wheatley and Deborah Frieze, Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2011), p.14.
[2] Ibid., p.35.
[3] Ibid., p.44.
[4] Ibid., p.45.
[5] Ibid., p.46.
[6] Ibid., p.68.
[7] Ibid..
[8] Ibid., p.69.
[9] Ibid., p.70.
[10] Ibid., p.72.
[11] Ibid..
[12] Ibid., p.219.
[13] Ibid., pp.220--225.
[14] Ibid., pp.227.
[14] Ibid., pp.226.
January 20, 2018
The focus of this book is to consider solving community problems by using a community group to get together to solve those problems, not waiting for a government solution. One example early on is the use of a bicycle to power a blender. In the story, a group has figured out a way to do this well, but other groups in other communities are asked to do the same thing without the benefit of shared learnings from other groups. And in the case mentioned, one community comes up with a design that might be better. The book consists of many stories from around the globe concerning local solutions. I was left with two thoughts after reading this.
First, this book has the sound of a “post-hippy” description of solving problems. It is very much an update of something I would have expected to read from 60s DIY literature. If you are familiar with the “Whole Earth Catalog” or more “Mother Earth News”-type of stories, this had the same kind of feel, but with a distinct third world perspective. And with a distinct difference.
The second thought I have after reading this book is that the authors are against sharing results in the belief it taints the thought processes of other community groups in coming up with the answers that might work best for them. This felt akin to ignoring science. I don’t see the need to ignore progress. While I understand the intent on building community buy-in with the approach described here, you are likely left doing a lot of work repeating what others have done, and can well end up with a worse solution than if you considered other’s learnings and experiences. The perspective that the world’s problems will be solved if we had enough non-communicative tinkerers seems misguided.
Overall, while I liked the descriptions of solving problems in different parts of the world, I didn’t appreciate the methods proposed. I also found the writing a bit condescending at times. I did find it interesting from the perspective of how this line of reasoning has changed, or not, since the 60s.
First, this book has the sound of a “post-hippy” description of solving problems. It is very much an update of something I would have expected to read from 60s DIY literature. If you are familiar with the “Whole Earth Catalog” or more “Mother Earth News”-type of stories, this had the same kind of feel, but with a distinct third world perspective. And with a distinct difference.
The second thought I have after reading this book is that the authors are against sharing results in the belief it taints the thought processes of other community groups in coming up with the answers that might work best for them. This felt akin to ignoring science. I don’t see the need to ignore progress. While I understand the intent on building community buy-in with the approach described here, you are likely left doing a lot of work repeating what others have done, and can well end up with a worse solution than if you considered other’s learnings and experiences. The perspective that the world’s problems will be solved if we had enough non-communicative tinkerers seems misguided.
Overall, while I liked the descriptions of solving problems in different parts of the world, I didn’t appreciate the methods proposed. I also found the writing a bit condescending at times. I did find it interesting from the perspective of how this line of reasoning has changed, or not, since the 60s.
June 8, 2015
The book is a well-written and insightful journey to Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Greece and the United States. Although that sounds quite big, the focus is on particular locales in each of these countries. The book shows how communities in “. . . the face of hunger, poverty, ill health, environmental degradation, and economic injustice . . . [can] . . . respond, adapt, invent.” That’s what makes them healthy and resilient. Members of these communities take their fate into their own hands, rather than waiting for “heroes”—experts, foreign aid and ineffective bureaucracies.
The people who “walk out” are those who become disillusioned with how they are living their life and “walk on” to help in an altruistic and mindful manner. Generally, they are not “experts;” they gain helpful skills by doing, all the while deferring in large part to the local people in the communities where they serve. This whole concept of working from the bottom up—or Thomas Friedman’s “The Earth is Flat”—seems to me to illustrate self-reliance on the community level; in other words, seven billion “loose cannons” aiming for the good of all, community by community globally.
I am writing this review while in Mumbai; and as I look out my hotel window I see a lot of dilapidated huts that symbolize to me the 1.2 billion people in abject poverty worldwide. The authors of this engaging book, Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze, and the “walk ons” described in this book, show how ordinary people can make a joyful difference.
The authors reference Margaret Mead’s brilliant comment that the world changes by the committed actions of small groups of dedicated people. I believe this pertains to the authors, walk ons and those of us—myself included—who are seeking to be pathfinders toward a heaven on earth. Below I will give you some of the high points of the authors’ interesting and worthwhile journeys.
Unitierra, Mexico: From Scaling Up to Scaling Across
A wonderful statement is made that summarizes the authors’ attitude, “Learning is not about getting it right or becoming an expert; it is about creating an environment of conviviality, discovery, and joyfulness.”
Frieze states they are not opposed to globalization because it is the only way large-scale change can be accomplished. However, she writes, “. . . we believed that for an idea or innovation to be meaningful and lasting, it needed to arise from the unique conditions of people and place.” For instance, no one knows as much about Unitierra, Mexico, as the people who live there.
Using discarded bicycles, local people invented a manually powered cycle-mixie, washing machine. Of course this type of invention could theoretically be patented and “scaled up” into a business. Instead, this “bicimaquinas” is working its way globally without a patent or a manual. The authors write, “Scaling across happens when people create something locally and inspire others who carry the idea home and develop it in their own unique way.”
Elos Institute, Brazil
Frieze was invited by the Elos Institute to participate in a “game.” The purpose of this game was not to help, save, or fix anyone else, but rather to “discover how play unleashes everyone’s creativity, how it invites us to see what’s possible rather than what’s so.”
The Elos Institute works with “. . . people from high-risk urban and traditional communities in the Sao Paulo area” and with youth and social entrepreneurs from four continents. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, with the fifth largest population and the eighth largest economy. Its economy exceeds Canada and Russia. Their economy is five times the size of South America’s next largest economy, Argentina.
Frieze was told that “. . . the purpose of this game . . . is to play at changing the world.” The project allowed two days to change a site of urban blight into a new, positive creation. The approach was not to accept the following (as quoted from the book):
· The answers are out there—and the experts have them.
· To get things done, you need people of power and influence to champion your cause.
· Plan ahead and stick to your plan.
· Nothing gets done right unless you’re in control.
· Don’t ask for other people’s opinions.
· We don’t have time to experiment and tinker around.
· We mustn’t fail! (And when we do, find someone to blame.)
Instead, the approach in the urban blight project was to use play where “. . . people are invited to break rules, experiment, innovate, and be original.” This fits right into my belief that we are in the Innovation Age. If we can innovate in the field of technology, then we can do so to solve poverty–globally and concurrently.
The authors state, “Play returns us to a state in which we can see what’s possible—not what’s so.” My vision of a heaven on earth, cultivated since the year 2000, is based on this same sort of thinking. Why not eliminate the poverty of 1.2 billion people on schedule with the millennium goal? The principles in this book could drive such a revolution.
The project was a success and another concept was identified—“up cycling.” This is described as “…the practice of inventing beautiful, useful, and surprising products out of waste materials—such as water pumps from salvaged bicycles . . . solar cookers made from discarded suitcases and car windshields . . and jewelry crafted out of soda cans and plastic bags.” This is the stuff of the Innovation Age in unlikely places. The authors explain how in 2006, Google searches for “up cycling” produced only ten resources, but that in 2010, that result jumped to 217,000.
The authors explain the helplessness that many feel when they believe that a strong leader is necessary to progress. Instead, the authors believe, as I do, that self-reliance and self-discipline are the keys “. . . if anything is going to get done.”
The authors present a revealing statistic, that by 1998, “. . . psychological journals had published more than forty-five thousand articles on depression” and only four hundred on joy. I think our work must be our play and our play must include our work.
Joubert Park, South Africa: From Problem to Place
Here the authors tell the sad story of the terrible wrongs of Apartheid—the suffering—and then the bright spot of the rise of Nelson Mandela, who forgave the Whites. They go on to describe the degradation of the South African economy, and of the crumbling of infrastructures, including Joubert Park, an old park in the heart of Johannesburg.
The project was to “start anywhere [in Joubert Park], follow it everywhere.” The authors write that “No one planned this process.” According to Frieze, “They aren’t trying to solve the problem of homelessness; they’re figuring out how to support homeless people in Joubert Park. They aren’t trying to eliminate illiteracy; they’re teaching their neighbors to read.” Later, the authors write, “. . . the power of acting locally to heal one place—to bring it into wholeness—has the potential to sweep through a far larger system in ways that we may neither seek nor predict.” Learning by doing, starting anywhere, going everywhere, may be just the formula for that journey to heaven on earth.
The authors explain that, “Anytime experts emerge from the deep tunnel of specialization, many good things bloom in the light of day. We discover more is possible with curiosity than with certainty.” Concentrating on one location, Joubert Park, was a successful community-based venture. I invite you to read the book and marvel at the before and after photographs of this and other projects throughout its pages.
Kufunda Learning Village, Zimbabwe: From Efficiency to Resilience
Zimbabwe was experiencing hyperinflation at the time of Frieze’s visit. It had taken fewer than ten years to go “. . . from being the breadbasket of Africa—a modernized nation funded by tourism, diamonds and agriculture—to a nation in which over half the population is facing severe food shortages; more than 80 percent are unemployed, 3,500 people die each week of HIV/AIDS, and everyone is subjugated to a government that long ago substituted corruption, cronyism, and cruelty for serving its people.” Robert Mugabe’s reprehensible government is far beyond any foreign aid/macro type solution to its awesome ills.
The Green Revolution was a disaster for Zimbabwe, which had been a net exporter of maize, beef, sugarcane, cotton and tobacco. The lack of diversity in the efficient Green Revolution destroyed the less efficient, yet resilient multiple crops previously planted and harvested.
In response, resourceful citizens in Kufunda Learning Village turned to the elders of the village to relearn the proven agricultural practices of the past. And for the village, it worked. As the authors stated, “A resilient system that has the capacity to rebound from disturbance does this by increasing its diversity and redundancy, by foregoing growth and speed in favor of sustainability, and by engaging in a wide range of small local actions that connect to one another.” This approach is being adopted all over the world according to the authors.
Shikshantsar, India: From Transacting to Gifting
In this chapter I have to voice my disagreement with some of the statements. One quote by Arundhati Roy is, “The structure of capitalism is flawed. The motor that powers it cannot but vastly increase the disparity between the poor and the rich globally and within countries as well.” I believe that free enterprise tempered by democracy with free, fair trade is the engine of prosperity if regulations, taxes, and laws allow it to do its job.
Cows are sacred in India, so they wander around in cities and the countryside. The authors state, “. . . of today’s 840 million Indians who live in rural villages, nearly half of their domestic fuel requirements are met by India’s 280 million cows.” Making fuel from cow dung is widespread.
The authors write, “We desperately need a global ethic that is richer than our mere concern about ourselves as consumers.” I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. We must adopt the positive, wisdom-associated values of Copthorne Macdonald’s “The Centrality of Wisdom,” an essay included in my book, How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth, while shunning the negative values of selfishness, envy, hate, greed and revenge.
The authors write about a gift culture, but state, “Of course, we can’t live in a gift culture all the time.” Gandhi had a concept of trusteeship. I won’t explain his ideas, but it is important that individuals have the financial incentives to take care of themselves and their family. If they prosper, the goal is to avoid greed and to be generous in wise ways, sometimes passing wealth from generation to generation until a worthy use for such funds are enacted. Some may give as wealth is accumulated. Others, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, may amass their fortune and then give it away in a very purposeful and meaningful manner.
The authors state, “We can consider how we want to feel at the end of our lives, what achievements will have enduring value.” I want my life to count. I also want my descendants’ lives to count.
Axladitsa – Avatakia, Greece: From Intervention to Friendship
This chapter focuses on a group of forty-six people who gathered for ten days on one of the Berkana Exchange’s own member’s land to help decide how this property should be used. Frieze wrote, “There were no experts, no panels, no workshops, and no teachers—just us, turning to one another to explore our differences and our similarities, our triumphs and our challenges.”
I found that Frieze wrote something quite noteworthy—both as a description of what went on in this Greek meeting and something that is certainly applicable elsewhere:
“I’m learning how to control my heroic urges. When I’m in meetings or with a group, sometimes I literally sit on my hands, reminding myself to refrain from offering a solution. I’ve learned that when I listen rather than tell, when I wait for the community’s wisdom to surface rather than impulsively offer my own, then so much more is possible. We are smarter together than we are apart – an assumption that lies at the root of democracy. Perhaps Greece, the birthplace of democracy, was the perfect place for us to be together after all.”
Another aspect of this chapter quotes Moyo as writing, “One of the most depressing aspects of this whole sad fiasco is that donors, policymakers, governments, academicians, economists and development specialists know, in their heart of hearts, that aid doesn’t work, hasn’t worked and won’t work.” The authors state, “It is time to walk out of the interventionist mindset of outside experts.”
Microloans are a good alternative to aid—one of which is described in an essay in my book, How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth—as invented by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunas and his Grameen Bank. An amazing 96.7 recovery rate has been experienced, mostly by groups of women. A full 68 percent of the bank’s eight million borrowers have crossed the poverty line. The Grameen Bank has ascribed ownership of its equity—95 percent—to the borrowers themselves. This imagination by Muhammad Yunas and the borrowers shows what free enterprise can do.
The success in Greece is reflected in a magical photograph of the face and body language of one of the authors and others gathered around her.
Columbus, Ohio: From Hero to Host
Regarding Columbus, the authors write, “Leaders in some of America’s largest institutions—health care, academia, government—are changing how they lead. They’ve given up take-charge, heroic leadership, choosing instead to engage members of their communities in difficult social issues that other communities still find intractable.” The system of “hosting” is described as this crucial difference. It’s the art of listening with attention and speaking with intention. Hosting allows personal responsibility at all levels and provides a voice for all levels.
The authors say that in Western cultures, power is held closely and people are told what they can and cannot do. I believe that top-down system is being eliminated to a large degree, partly due to cultural changes and technological advances.
What is the purpose of health care? In an interview with Toke Muller, he states that, “We want optimal health.” A physician states, “Producing wellness becomes a personal responsibility. It’s not how I am/going to make you well. It’s how you are going to make you well.” Obviously, diet, nutrition, exercise, not smoking, moderate alcohol use, no harmful drug use, are all part of this self-help toward optimal health.
The authors write, “We make our path by walking it.” I believe that learning by doing is very powerful. I want my life to count as I’m convinced my calling is calling for a heaven on earth. We all have our calling(s). The authors write something else in which I fully concur, “We have what we need. Our creativity produces infinite wealth.” We shouldn’t wait for the experts or the heroes or the government.
Key concepts are, “Connecting is finding others who share our purpose . . . Nourishing is turning to one another for ideas, knowledge, practices, and dreams . . . Illuminating is sharing our stories so many more people can know we’re out there and join in.”
This book is a wonderful journey full of wisdom and encouragement to solve the world’s problems and, in my words, create heaven on earth—community by community, with imagination and joy. God’s enduring, steadfast love will be vital in that ultimate journey.
The people who “walk out” are those who become disillusioned with how they are living their life and “walk on” to help in an altruistic and mindful manner. Generally, they are not “experts;” they gain helpful skills by doing, all the while deferring in large part to the local people in the communities where they serve. This whole concept of working from the bottom up—or Thomas Friedman’s “The Earth is Flat”—seems to me to illustrate self-reliance on the community level; in other words, seven billion “loose cannons” aiming for the good of all, community by community globally.
I am writing this review while in Mumbai; and as I look out my hotel window I see a lot of dilapidated huts that symbolize to me the 1.2 billion people in abject poverty worldwide. The authors of this engaging book, Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze, and the “walk ons” described in this book, show how ordinary people can make a joyful difference.
The authors reference Margaret Mead’s brilliant comment that the world changes by the committed actions of small groups of dedicated people. I believe this pertains to the authors, walk ons and those of us—myself included—who are seeking to be pathfinders toward a heaven on earth. Below I will give you some of the high points of the authors’ interesting and worthwhile journeys.
Unitierra, Mexico: From Scaling Up to Scaling Across
A wonderful statement is made that summarizes the authors’ attitude, “Learning is not about getting it right or becoming an expert; it is about creating an environment of conviviality, discovery, and joyfulness.”
Frieze states they are not opposed to globalization because it is the only way large-scale change can be accomplished. However, she writes, “. . . we believed that for an idea or innovation to be meaningful and lasting, it needed to arise from the unique conditions of people and place.” For instance, no one knows as much about Unitierra, Mexico, as the people who live there.
Using discarded bicycles, local people invented a manually powered cycle-mixie, washing machine. Of course this type of invention could theoretically be patented and “scaled up” into a business. Instead, this “bicimaquinas” is working its way globally without a patent or a manual. The authors write, “Scaling across happens when people create something locally and inspire others who carry the idea home and develop it in their own unique way.”
Elos Institute, Brazil
Frieze was invited by the Elos Institute to participate in a “game.” The purpose of this game was not to help, save, or fix anyone else, but rather to “discover how play unleashes everyone’s creativity, how it invites us to see what’s possible rather than what’s so.”
The Elos Institute works with “. . . people from high-risk urban and traditional communities in the Sao Paulo area” and with youth and social entrepreneurs from four continents. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, with the fifth largest population and the eighth largest economy. Its economy exceeds Canada and Russia. Their economy is five times the size of South America’s next largest economy, Argentina.
Frieze was told that “. . . the purpose of this game . . . is to play at changing the world.” The project allowed two days to change a site of urban blight into a new, positive creation. The approach was not to accept the following (as quoted from the book):
· The answers are out there—and the experts have them.
· To get things done, you need people of power and influence to champion your cause.
· Plan ahead and stick to your plan.
· Nothing gets done right unless you’re in control.
· Don’t ask for other people’s opinions.
· We don’t have time to experiment and tinker around.
· We mustn’t fail! (And when we do, find someone to blame.)
Instead, the approach in the urban blight project was to use play where “. . . people are invited to break rules, experiment, innovate, and be original.” This fits right into my belief that we are in the Innovation Age. If we can innovate in the field of technology, then we can do so to solve poverty–globally and concurrently.
The authors state, “Play returns us to a state in which we can see what’s possible—not what’s so.” My vision of a heaven on earth, cultivated since the year 2000, is based on this same sort of thinking. Why not eliminate the poverty of 1.2 billion people on schedule with the millennium goal? The principles in this book could drive such a revolution.
The project was a success and another concept was identified—“up cycling.” This is described as “…the practice of inventing beautiful, useful, and surprising products out of waste materials—such as water pumps from salvaged bicycles . . . solar cookers made from discarded suitcases and car windshields . . and jewelry crafted out of soda cans and plastic bags.” This is the stuff of the Innovation Age in unlikely places. The authors explain how in 2006, Google searches for “up cycling” produced only ten resources, but that in 2010, that result jumped to 217,000.
The authors explain the helplessness that many feel when they believe that a strong leader is necessary to progress. Instead, the authors believe, as I do, that self-reliance and self-discipline are the keys “. . . if anything is going to get done.”
The authors present a revealing statistic, that by 1998, “. . . psychological journals had published more than forty-five thousand articles on depression” and only four hundred on joy. I think our work must be our play and our play must include our work.
Joubert Park, South Africa: From Problem to Place
Here the authors tell the sad story of the terrible wrongs of Apartheid—the suffering—and then the bright spot of the rise of Nelson Mandela, who forgave the Whites. They go on to describe the degradation of the South African economy, and of the crumbling of infrastructures, including Joubert Park, an old park in the heart of Johannesburg.
The project was to “start anywhere [in Joubert Park], follow it everywhere.” The authors write that “No one planned this process.” According to Frieze, “They aren’t trying to solve the problem of homelessness; they’re figuring out how to support homeless people in Joubert Park. They aren’t trying to eliminate illiteracy; they’re teaching their neighbors to read.” Later, the authors write, “. . . the power of acting locally to heal one place—to bring it into wholeness—has the potential to sweep through a far larger system in ways that we may neither seek nor predict.” Learning by doing, starting anywhere, going everywhere, may be just the formula for that journey to heaven on earth.
The authors explain that, “Anytime experts emerge from the deep tunnel of specialization, many good things bloom in the light of day. We discover more is possible with curiosity than with certainty.” Concentrating on one location, Joubert Park, was a successful community-based venture. I invite you to read the book and marvel at the before and after photographs of this and other projects throughout its pages.
Kufunda Learning Village, Zimbabwe: From Efficiency to Resilience
Zimbabwe was experiencing hyperinflation at the time of Frieze’s visit. It had taken fewer than ten years to go “. . . from being the breadbasket of Africa—a modernized nation funded by tourism, diamonds and agriculture—to a nation in which over half the population is facing severe food shortages; more than 80 percent are unemployed, 3,500 people die each week of HIV/AIDS, and everyone is subjugated to a government that long ago substituted corruption, cronyism, and cruelty for serving its people.” Robert Mugabe’s reprehensible government is far beyond any foreign aid/macro type solution to its awesome ills.
The Green Revolution was a disaster for Zimbabwe, which had been a net exporter of maize, beef, sugarcane, cotton and tobacco. The lack of diversity in the efficient Green Revolution destroyed the less efficient, yet resilient multiple crops previously planted and harvested.
In response, resourceful citizens in Kufunda Learning Village turned to the elders of the village to relearn the proven agricultural practices of the past. And for the village, it worked. As the authors stated, “A resilient system that has the capacity to rebound from disturbance does this by increasing its diversity and redundancy, by foregoing growth and speed in favor of sustainability, and by engaging in a wide range of small local actions that connect to one another.” This approach is being adopted all over the world according to the authors.
Shikshantsar, India: From Transacting to Gifting
In this chapter I have to voice my disagreement with some of the statements. One quote by Arundhati Roy is, “The structure of capitalism is flawed. The motor that powers it cannot but vastly increase the disparity between the poor and the rich globally and within countries as well.” I believe that free enterprise tempered by democracy with free, fair trade is the engine of prosperity if regulations, taxes, and laws allow it to do its job.
Cows are sacred in India, so they wander around in cities and the countryside. The authors state, “. . . of today’s 840 million Indians who live in rural villages, nearly half of their domestic fuel requirements are met by India’s 280 million cows.” Making fuel from cow dung is widespread.
The authors write, “We desperately need a global ethic that is richer than our mere concern about ourselves as consumers.” I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. We must adopt the positive, wisdom-associated values of Copthorne Macdonald’s “The Centrality of Wisdom,” an essay included in my book, How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth, while shunning the negative values of selfishness, envy, hate, greed and revenge.
The authors write about a gift culture, but state, “Of course, we can’t live in a gift culture all the time.” Gandhi had a concept of trusteeship. I won’t explain his ideas, but it is important that individuals have the financial incentives to take care of themselves and their family. If they prosper, the goal is to avoid greed and to be generous in wise ways, sometimes passing wealth from generation to generation until a worthy use for such funds are enacted. Some may give as wealth is accumulated. Others, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, may amass their fortune and then give it away in a very purposeful and meaningful manner.
The authors state, “We can consider how we want to feel at the end of our lives, what achievements will have enduring value.” I want my life to count. I also want my descendants’ lives to count.
Axladitsa – Avatakia, Greece: From Intervention to Friendship
This chapter focuses on a group of forty-six people who gathered for ten days on one of the Berkana Exchange’s own member’s land to help decide how this property should be used. Frieze wrote, “There were no experts, no panels, no workshops, and no teachers—just us, turning to one another to explore our differences and our similarities, our triumphs and our challenges.”
I found that Frieze wrote something quite noteworthy—both as a description of what went on in this Greek meeting and something that is certainly applicable elsewhere:
“I’m learning how to control my heroic urges. When I’m in meetings or with a group, sometimes I literally sit on my hands, reminding myself to refrain from offering a solution. I’ve learned that when I listen rather than tell, when I wait for the community’s wisdom to surface rather than impulsively offer my own, then so much more is possible. We are smarter together than we are apart – an assumption that lies at the root of democracy. Perhaps Greece, the birthplace of democracy, was the perfect place for us to be together after all.”
Another aspect of this chapter quotes Moyo as writing, “One of the most depressing aspects of this whole sad fiasco is that donors, policymakers, governments, academicians, economists and development specialists know, in their heart of hearts, that aid doesn’t work, hasn’t worked and won’t work.” The authors state, “It is time to walk out of the interventionist mindset of outside experts.”
Microloans are a good alternative to aid—one of which is described in an essay in my book, How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth—as invented by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunas and his Grameen Bank. An amazing 96.7 recovery rate has been experienced, mostly by groups of women. A full 68 percent of the bank’s eight million borrowers have crossed the poverty line. The Grameen Bank has ascribed ownership of its equity—95 percent—to the borrowers themselves. This imagination by Muhammad Yunas and the borrowers shows what free enterprise can do.
The success in Greece is reflected in a magical photograph of the face and body language of one of the authors and others gathered around her.
Columbus, Ohio: From Hero to Host
Regarding Columbus, the authors write, “Leaders in some of America’s largest institutions—health care, academia, government—are changing how they lead. They’ve given up take-charge, heroic leadership, choosing instead to engage members of their communities in difficult social issues that other communities still find intractable.” The system of “hosting” is described as this crucial difference. It’s the art of listening with attention and speaking with intention. Hosting allows personal responsibility at all levels and provides a voice for all levels.
The authors say that in Western cultures, power is held closely and people are told what they can and cannot do. I believe that top-down system is being eliminated to a large degree, partly due to cultural changes and technological advances.
What is the purpose of health care? In an interview with Toke Muller, he states that, “We want optimal health.” A physician states, “Producing wellness becomes a personal responsibility. It’s not how I am/going to make you well. It’s how you are going to make you well.” Obviously, diet, nutrition, exercise, not smoking, moderate alcohol use, no harmful drug use, are all part of this self-help toward optimal health.
The authors write, “We make our path by walking it.” I believe that learning by doing is very powerful. I want my life to count as I’m convinced my calling is calling for a heaven on earth. We all have our calling(s). The authors write something else in which I fully concur, “We have what we need. Our creativity produces infinite wealth.” We shouldn’t wait for the experts or the heroes or the government.
Key concepts are, “Connecting is finding others who share our purpose . . . Nourishing is turning to one another for ideas, knowledge, practices, and dreams . . . Illuminating is sharing our stories so many more people can know we’re out there and join in.”
This book is a wonderful journey full of wisdom and encouragement to solve the world’s problems and, in my words, create heaven on earth—community by community, with imagination and joy. God’s enduring, steadfast love will be vital in that ultimate journey.
July 13, 2020
The book left me feeling very hopeful. That despite having authoritarian or failing governments, positive change was possible at community levels. I feel empowered knowing people are capable of finding solutions to problems on their own. It's a great book for anyone working on the field of development or anthropology, but it's also a great book if you are looking to inspire change.
April 22, 2018
9.14.2012
One friend is increasingly bored and dissatisfied with her Christian Sunday church services.
Another left her job of teaching 175 high school students a year in the public school system to volunteer for three months teaching in the Palestinian West Bank. She’s now happily using her foreign language skills to work with the parents of youth in the school system.
A third is a medical student about to graduate who is worried that the grind of an upcoming residency may obstruct his vision of the kind of humanistic medicine he really wants to pursue.
A fourth had enough of 12-hour social worker days (into nights) and is now seeking a life path to integrate contemplation, beauty, and healing.
A fifth has “left” the Catholic Church, but isn’t sure of where he is now.
A sixth, a university professor, is increasingly aware of the limitations of academic writing and is looking for other ways to share and exchange knowledge and insight.
Several of us recently started a monthly meditation gathering when we utilize the teachings of Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.
__________________________________________________________
The experiences of these friends remind me of Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze’s recent book, Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now. The authors define “walk outs” as “people who bravely choose to leave behind situations, jobs, relationships, and ideas that restrict and confine them, anything that inhibits them.” The authors note a second decision made by the walk outs: “They walk on to the ideas, people, and practices that enable them to explore and discover new gifts, new possibilities.”
Throughout the book, Wheatley and Frieze explore small communities of people—in Mexico, Brazil, Ohio, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India and Greece—who have devised ingenious projects that address the needs of the communities in which they are rooted. You can read more about these experiments at the book web site, for example, in India
___________________________________________________________
I offer the following notes from my reading to entice those who may want to think more along the lines of this book to start conversations and write entries in their notebooks about their own dissatisfaction and possibilities.The authors suggest eight simple principles to foster creative walking on:
Start anywhere, follow it everywhere: “At the beginning, we don’t have to know where we’re going. We don’t have to have an organization ahead of time. We don’t have to have approval, funding, expertise or answers. We just have to get started. …. As walk outs, we can start anywhere—we can go to a community meeting that we’ve avoided in the past, we can speak up at work, we can talk to a few friends about what we care about, we can decide to learn more about an issue that troubles us rather than ignoring or denying it.”
We make our path by walking it: “If the road looks familiar, if we’ve walked it before, if we feel comfortable knowing where we’re going, then we aren’t walking on, we aren’t pioneering something new.”
We have what we need: “Our creativity produces infinite wealth. We share what we have, and there’s more than enough to go around.”
The leaders we need are already here: “A leader is anyone willing to help, anyone willing to take those first steps to remedy a situation or create a new possibility.”
We are living the worlds we want today: [Walk Outs Who Walk On] let go of complaints, arguments and dramas; they place the work at the center, invite everyone inside and find solutions to problems that others think unsolvable.
We walk at the pace of the slowest: “Speed is not our goal. Growth is not our purpose. Winning is not evidence of our success.”
We listen, even to the whispers: “Which voices do we listen to? Are they the familiar voices of power—those with position and authority, influence and wealth, expertise and training? Or do we make the road to the future by listening to the voices of everyone: the faceless, the nameless, the invisible, the indigenous people of Chiapas, the squatters in Brazil’s cortiços and favelas, the dalits of India, the homeless in Columbus, and everywhere, the voices of women, elders, children.”
We turn to one another: “Here’s a miraculous gift: It doesn’t matter if no one is coming to help. We have what we need, right here, right now, among us all.”
___________________________________________________________
How many of us have heard many times the line attributed to Einstein about insanity—doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results? The authors point out some assumptions that may keep us bound to such uncreative repetition. We might keep one of these in mind during the week and be on the lookout for how often we ourselves and others use it.
The answers exist out there—and the experts have them.
To get things done, you need people of power and influence to champion your cause (a peace group recently called on Michelle Obama to use her influence with her husband to deter him from attacking Iran).
Plan ahead and stick to your plan.
Nothing gets done right unless you’re in control.
Don’t ask for other people’s opinions.
We don’t have time to experiment and tinker around.
We mustn’t fail! (And when we do, find someone to blame.)
___________________________________________________________
Next, a few short passages questions from Walk Out, Walk On to stimulate our imaginations…
The Elos people have walked out of the notion that we need to leverage power to produce results. They have walked on to the belief that creativity is in everyone, play unleashes that creativity and if we want to create a healthy and resilient community, we need to invite the members of that community to play together. When we play, everything once again becomes possible.
Leaders as hosts invite us to experiment and take risks—rather than to avoid failure. They invite us to discover new and surprising connections—rather than to stay inside our box on the org chart. They create the conditions for information to flow freely and abundantly—rather than to manage the message. And they call forth the visionary leadership of the many, rather than the few.
We can notice all the strings we attach to our efforts—our need for approval, recognition, status, appreciation—and think about whether we want to cut them.
Our work is to see what’s right in front of us and to step forward to claim it. And then to keep seeing, to keep paying attention, to stay with the hard places, the uncomfortable relationships, the unanswerable questions.
___________________________________________________________
Finally, three questions to explore …
How are the demands of consumer culture impacting me, my family, and my community?
What behaviors am I willing to walk out on?
Where might I next offer my talents, ideas, skills, as gifts?
One friend is increasingly bored and dissatisfied with her Christian Sunday church services.
Another left her job of teaching 175 high school students a year in the public school system to volunteer for three months teaching in the Palestinian West Bank. She’s now happily using her foreign language skills to work with the parents of youth in the school system.
A third is a medical student about to graduate who is worried that the grind of an upcoming residency may obstruct his vision of the kind of humanistic medicine he really wants to pursue.
A fourth had enough of 12-hour social worker days (into nights) and is now seeking a life path to integrate contemplation, beauty, and healing.
A fifth has “left” the Catholic Church, but isn’t sure of where he is now.
A sixth, a university professor, is increasingly aware of the limitations of academic writing and is looking for other ways to share and exchange knowledge and insight.
Several of us recently started a monthly meditation gathering when we utilize the teachings of Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.
__________________________________________________________
The experiences of these friends remind me of Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze’s recent book, Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now. The authors define “walk outs” as “people who bravely choose to leave behind situations, jobs, relationships, and ideas that restrict and confine them, anything that inhibits them.” The authors note a second decision made by the walk outs: “They walk on to the ideas, people, and practices that enable them to explore and discover new gifts, new possibilities.”
Throughout the book, Wheatley and Frieze explore small communities of people—in Mexico, Brazil, Ohio, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India and Greece—who have devised ingenious projects that address the needs of the communities in which they are rooted. You can read more about these experiments at the book web site, for example, in India
___________________________________________________________
I offer the following notes from my reading to entice those who may want to think more along the lines of this book to start conversations and write entries in their notebooks about their own dissatisfaction and possibilities.The authors suggest eight simple principles to foster creative walking on:
Start anywhere, follow it everywhere: “At the beginning, we don’t have to know where we’re going. We don’t have to have an organization ahead of time. We don’t have to have approval, funding, expertise or answers. We just have to get started. …. As walk outs, we can start anywhere—we can go to a community meeting that we’ve avoided in the past, we can speak up at work, we can talk to a few friends about what we care about, we can decide to learn more about an issue that troubles us rather than ignoring or denying it.”
We make our path by walking it: “If the road looks familiar, if we’ve walked it before, if we feel comfortable knowing where we’re going, then we aren’t walking on, we aren’t pioneering something new.”
We have what we need: “Our creativity produces infinite wealth. We share what we have, and there’s more than enough to go around.”
The leaders we need are already here: “A leader is anyone willing to help, anyone willing to take those first steps to remedy a situation or create a new possibility.”
We are living the worlds we want today: [Walk Outs Who Walk On] let go of complaints, arguments and dramas; they place the work at the center, invite everyone inside and find solutions to problems that others think unsolvable.
We walk at the pace of the slowest: “Speed is not our goal. Growth is not our purpose. Winning is not evidence of our success.”
We listen, even to the whispers: “Which voices do we listen to? Are they the familiar voices of power—those with position and authority, influence and wealth, expertise and training? Or do we make the road to the future by listening to the voices of everyone: the faceless, the nameless, the invisible, the indigenous people of Chiapas, the squatters in Brazil’s cortiços and favelas, the dalits of India, the homeless in Columbus, and everywhere, the voices of women, elders, children.”
We turn to one another: “Here’s a miraculous gift: It doesn’t matter if no one is coming to help. We have what we need, right here, right now, among us all.”
___________________________________________________________
How many of us have heard many times the line attributed to Einstein about insanity—doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results? The authors point out some assumptions that may keep us bound to such uncreative repetition. We might keep one of these in mind during the week and be on the lookout for how often we ourselves and others use it.
The answers exist out there—and the experts have them.
To get things done, you need people of power and influence to champion your cause (a peace group recently called on Michelle Obama to use her influence with her husband to deter him from attacking Iran).
Plan ahead and stick to your plan.
Nothing gets done right unless you’re in control.
Don’t ask for other people’s opinions.
We don’t have time to experiment and tinker around.
We mustn’t fail! (And when we do, find someone to blame.)
___________________________________________________________
Next, a few short passages questions from Walk Out, Walk On to stimulate our imaginations…
The Elos people have walked out of the notion that we need to leverage power to produce results. They have walked on to the belief that creativity is in everyone, play unleashes that creativity and if we want to create a healthy and resilient community, we need to invite the members of that community to play together. When we play, everything once again becomes possible.
Leaders as hosts invite us to experiment and take risks—rather than to avoid failure. They invite us to discover new and surprising connections—rather than to stay inside our box on the org chart. They create the conditions for information to flow freely and abundantly—rather than to manage the message. And they call forth the visionary leadership of the many, rather than the few.
We can notice all the strings we attach to our efforts—our need for approval, recognition, status, appreciation—and think about whether we want to cut them.
Our work is to see what’s right in front of us and to step forward to claim it. And then to keep seeing, to keep paying attention, to stay with the hard places, the uncomfortable relationships, the unanswerable questions.
___________________________________________________________
Finally, three questions to explore …
How are the demands of consumer culture impacting me, my family, and my community?
What behaviors am I willing to walk out on?
Where might I next offer my talents, ideas, skills, as gifts?
September 17, 2012
Compelling lens telling 7 stories of social innovation around the world. Outlier description for the inspiration that occurs? "No one is coming to help. Now What?" Good read on how communities form around big hairy questions and inspiring stories of people who create their own solutions. The poem in the beginning of the book is compelling as well. A quote by Pema Chodron, Buddhist teacher:
"The whole globe is shook up, so what are you going to do when things are falling apart?
You're either going to become more fundamentalist and try to hold things together,
or, you're going to forsake the old ambitions and goals and live life as an experiment
making it up as you go along." The book jacket points to communities living the future now."
"The whole globe is shook up, so what are you going to do when things are falling apart?
You're either going to become more fundamentalist and try to hold things together,
or, you're going to forsake the old ambitions and goals and live life as an experiment
making it up as you go along." The book jacket points to communities living the future now."
October 19, 2017
Ignore the tone if it annoys you--focus on the transformative work being done by communities all over the world to respond to community needs in inclusive, sustainable ways. The least satisfying chapter was the one about the US--without concrete details about how the hosting process works (yes, I understand that it's an operating system, but I want to know how the system operates), it's hard to appreciate the potential in the practice. Even if you're not going to walk out completely, rethinking how we interact with communities to take on problems benefits all of us who do "helping" work.
November 20, 2011
I really wanted to like this book but had a really rough time with it. I LOVED the stories of the different projects and communities described. What got in the way was the author's condescending tone. It also became hard to be inscribed by the poor writing and language used. This just didn’t work for me.
October 15, 2012
I loved this book.
It's a new way to understand the world.
I hope more people in the world can to read this book.
It's a new way to understand the world.
I hope more people in the world can to read this book.
October 3, 2023
Demeaning and insufferable tone distracts from some amazing (some less so) social initiatives worldwide. Reminisces of fluff-writing found in organic shops mixed with New Internationalist social musing strangely combined with a corporate leadership workshop.
The book is obsessed with not being a book. Painting itself as a collection of "Learning Journey's" and imploring grandiose self-reflection after each. These Learning Journey's aim to showcase a fresh perspective in different corners of the world. Maybe it should of been a tv series instead? All too often these stories wondered and waffled. Only resulting in basic takeaways: think outside the box, the experience can be better than the result, questioning inherent ideologies, start anywhere and build with like-minded.
I particularly enjoyed the Mexican story focussing on the Zapatista rise and how the separatist autonomous movement spread trans-locally. Shifting in structure as it spread by neighbours, in contrast to copy-paste replication models seen with many world businesses eg. mcdonalds and starbucks. But even this was light on details for someone already introduced with the Zapatista's.
Another enjoyable tale was the place based history of Joubert Park in South Africa and how the residents of this now urban sprawl slum are aiding each other and improving community morale. Although it steered well away from systemic thinking of any sort.
The tale with the cycle-powered blender seemed particularly uninspiring. There was no need for a blender in either struggling community but instead of even sharing technology the 2nd community reinventing the cycle-blender was meant to be an inspiring message about curious ingenuity.
Much of the book relied upon unforeseen reactions and that doing what you can and where you can was always important. There was a far better book written about specifically this: Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
They drop a random quote from this other book that doesn't make any sense but does imply homage.
The book is obsessed with not being a book. Painting itself as a collection of "Learning Journey's" and imploring grandiose self-reflection after each. These Learning Journey's aim to showcase a fresh perspective in different corners of the world. Maybe it should of been a tv series instead? All too often these stories wondered and waffled. Only resulting in basic takeaways: think outside the box, the experience can be better than the result, questioning inherent ideologies, start anywhere and build with like-minded.
I particularly enjoyed the Mexican story focussing on the Zapatista rise and how the separatist autonomous movement spread trans-locally. Shifting in structure as it spread by neighbours, in contrast to copy-paste replication models seen with many world businesses eg. mcdonalds and starbucks. But even this was light on details for someone already introduced with the Zapatista's.
Another enjoyable tale was the place based history of Joubert Park in South Africa and how the residents of this now urban sprawl slum are aiding each other and improving community morale. Although it steered well away from systemic thinking of any sort.
The tale with the cycle-powered blender seemed particularly uninspiring. There was no need for a blender in either struggling community but instead of even sharing technology the 2nd community reinventing the cycle-blender was meant to be an inspiring message about curious ingenuity.
Much of the book relied upon unforeseen reactions and that doing what you can and where you can was always important. There was a far better book written about specifically this: Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
They drop a random quote from this other book that doesn't make any sense but does imply homage.
April 22, 2021
This book has a lot of gems in it and is definitely worth the read. I think an update is in order, considering how much society has moved in the decade since publication. The Columbus example towards the end of the book is out of step with the rest of the book, primarily in that it is not an example of walking out of hierarchical systems, and the logic of that chapter does not align with the rest of the book. More specifically, how can we create more resilient communities when we continue to invite into those communities those who prey on the communities? I'm talking about corporations, NGOs, and most glaringly the police. Should the art of hosting invite in those who profit in some way from exploiting and harming the community, and worse, those whose founding and history is rooted in exploitation and harm? Some will say we cannot solve our problems if we cannot talk to one another. But talking to one another requires us to leave abusive relationships and to tear down harmful power disparities. While abolitionist thinking was considered too radical for most liberals up until 2020, it is now at least being given consideration as a possibility for addressing what interferes with human flourishing. I'd love to see Deborah and Margaret acknowledge this, as minus the Columbus example it seems to be a common thread in all the communities highlighted.
July 11, 2022
It doesn't really feel fair for me to review this book. I have a hard copy, but primarily experienced it through it's audiobook version.
In some ways, this is like a text book. I know it has been used as supplementary reading in courses approaching community building and related topics. The book has some photos. There is a supplementary website with more details and images. But if you're listening in your car from point A to B of a chaotic life, you will miss out on any richness this book might provide. That was me.
There were parts of the book that were difficult to visualize, parts where I wanted more explanation; "But how did you do this?" And I would find myself distracted by the staccato rhythms of one readers speech and the slow almost drunk while in an echo chamber of the other's recordings. Granted I do have some auditory processing issues that might make this my own experience.
Nonetheless, this book has real value. It's powerful to recognize that what is highly successful in one community could fail in another. To hear what often makes the typical western approach to issues destined to fail at some point.
I will likely refer to the physical book for years to come, and maybe that will inspire me to add a star to this rating.
In some ways, this is like a text book. I know it has been used as supplementary reading in courses approaching community building and related topics. The book has some photos. There is a supplementary website with more details and images. But if you're listening in your car from point A to B of a chaotic life, you will miss out on any richness this book might provide. That was me.
There were parts of the book that were difficult to visualize, parts where I wanted more explanation; "But how did you do this?" And I would find myself distracted by the staccato rhythms of one readers speech and the slow almost drunk while in an echo chamber of the other's recordings. Granted I do have some auditory processing issues that might make this my own experience.
Nonetheless, this book has real value. It's powerful to recognize that what is highly successful in one community could fail in another. To hear what often makes the typical western approach to issues destined to fail at some point.
I will likely refer to the physical book for years to come, and maybe that will inspire me to add a star to this rating.
December 25, 2023
Tired of feeling like you're just a drop in the bucket facing modern problems? Walk Out Walk On proves otherwise, taking you on a global tour of community resilience, with a powerful stop right in Columbus, Ohio!
Authors Meg Wheatley and Deborah Frieze introduce you to the "Walk Outs Who Walk On" – everyday heroes who've shed crippling assumptions and built thriving communities from scratch. From Mexican food sovereignty to Indian women's cooperatives, each story showcases the ingenuity dormant within every corner of the world.
But Columbus shines as a beacon of hope, proving that even familiar neighborhoods can be breeding grounds for extraordinary solutions. Witness how this Ohio community reimagined education, not with ivory towers and experts, but with locally-driven, heart-centered schools built by and for the people they serve.
As one Brazilian in the book reflects, "We discovered a gift inside ourselves, something that was already there." Walk Out Walk On doesn't just showcase solutions; it ignites a belief that the power to solve our toughest problems resides within us all, even in places as close to home as Columbus.
Authors Meg Wheatley and Deborah Frieze introduce you to the "Walk Outs Who Walk On" – everyday heroes who've shed crippling assumptions and built thriving communities from scratch. From Mexican food sovereignty to Indian women's cooperatives, each story showcases the ingenuity dormant within every corner of the world.
But Columbus shines as a beacon of hope, proving that even familiar neighborhoods can be breeding grounds for extraordinary solutions. Witness how this Ohio community reimagined education, not with ivory towers and experts, but with locally-driven, heart-centered schools built by and for the people they serve.
As one Brazilian in the book reflects, "We discovered a gift inside ourselves, something that was already there." Walk Out Walk On doesn't just showcase solutions; it ignites a belief that the power to solve our toughest problems resides within us all, even in places as close to home as Columbus.
July 26, 2020
I'm a big fan on Wheatley's earlier works so was curious to see where her head is at now.
There was one chapter that hearkened back to her older message of order without control and self-management, but on the most part the book is a very different message.
It smacks a little of entitlement - that a diverse world group of people can even afford to take a ten day retreat in Greece to agree on the most environmental method to wipe your butt for instance, but I get where she was going and am in general agreement. Some great thinking and action points if you are ready to step out of a conventionally western way of life and consumerism.
There was one chapter that hearkened back to her older message of order without control and self-management, but on the most part the book is a very different message.
It smacks a little of entitlement - that a diverse world group of people can even afford to take a ten day retreat in Greece to agree on the most environmental method to wipe your butt for instance, but I get where she was going and am in general agreement. Some great thinking and action points if you are ready to step out of a conventionally western way of life and consumerism.
January 9, 2022
I like the way the book is written. It’s like someone taking me on a tour introducing me to things. There were only about six countries and “solutions” visited. This is a fascinating book for us Westerners because we are conditioned to be a throw-away society. Our creativity and creative problem solving skills are discouraged from an early age. We think we have to fix systems that don’t operate like what we’re used to when our culture needs to be reevaluated and tweaked.
July 24, 2017
I want to preface this review by stating that I listened to it which may be why I didn't love as much as I thought I might. I liked learning about the authentic learning communities throughout the world and how they work to find realistic and attainable solutions to everyday problems.
November 14, 2018
A very great book for development practitioners! I like the flow of the stories, and it was just amazing..A must-read book for people who wants to know how it looks like on working alongside a community.
July 26, 2019
This is the best book I’ve read in my 2019 Reading Challenge, thus far. Last month I was an artist for a World Café; a first for me. This book’s example of how A World Café format can be use for community problem solving resonated with my personal experience.
May 6, 2018
Great book. New way of thinking about development.
August 17, 2019
Read it slow.
This is an excellent, challenging, exhausting, encouraging, and true collection on several "Learning Journeys," with potent reflections. Live into it.
This is an excellent, challenging, exhausting, encouraging, and true collection on several "Learning Journeys," with potent reflections. Live into it.
December 23, 2019
Interesting read,especially if you want to explore how problem-solving occurs in other cultures.
September 1, 2022
The subject was great, but the tone ruined the experience.
January 24, 2023
More books should have pictures. I want to live in the woods
November 1, 2023
Profound and inspiring. An excellent companion to fomenting change. Well written.
March 30, 2025
I read this because Mid-Ohio Food bank is part of the learning journeys profiled as collaborative communities.
December 15, 2024
If a “kum-by-ya” campfire circle were a book.
June 19, 2012
A pretty good read that is somewhat akin to the concepts in "Cultivating Communities of Practice" (http://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Com...), putting them into narrative form. The authors write about their journeys to communities around the world - in places like Zimbabwe, India, and Mexico - and their experience with communities that are breaking the mold and finding their own creative, group-based solutions to problems. These people have "walked out" of the systems that aren't working and have "walked on" to help create their own future and solutions (thus the name of the book, "Walk Out, Walk On," a phrase that is actually used very sparsely in the book itself). The book contains actual pictures of the places/people talked about the authors try to paint a vivid picture of the communities they encounter. The point of the book is that these kinds of community-based, creative solutions come about organically and are not imposed or transplanted. The authors spend a good portion of the book criticizing the West for being a know-it-all and importing solutions into other countries and communities that have ended up causing more harm "e.g., the Green Revolution." Their point is argued very convincingly, but they use a pretty condescending tone and don't seem to recognize that the communities about which they write represent the exception, not the rule. As many books tend to do, the authors write about fascinating exceptions and then create a whole new, over-arching mental framework for the rest of life from these exceptions. In this case, the authors witness these fascinating, community-based solutions in different spots of the world, and then conclude that the answer to poverty and other problems is the impoverished community itself coming up with its own solution. They seem to argue that the worst thing we can do is try to come in and help and impose our own solutions, but they forget that the vast majority of poor communities have NOT come up with their own solutions nor do they seem motivated or able to do so. Nevertheless, the authors make some very powerful observations about the nature of leadership and community, and the stories they tell are definitely interesting. But I found it more frustrating than inspiring to read, because I kept thinking, "I don't know how to make that work in my context."
April 17, 2013
I had to read this book for a class and didn't particularly care for it. Some people might like it but it's very much not my style. It gives short descriptions of a few projects that are going on around the world to create more sustainable or more community driven lifestyles. Some of the projects sounded very worthwhile and practical but I couldn't get past the author's feelings about things. Reading about how magical the writer found their nightly meeting or how beautiful she felt their drumming session was was drudgery for me. I think changing the world is important but I would rather not sit around in the circle and sing songs about it until the candles burn down.
February 7, 2012
I loved this book. If you've ever been on a high school or college "work camp" experience, this book is sort of like that. Turns your assumptions about how we design our society on their ears. I wanted it to go on. I wanted the authors to show me more communities that were creating beautiful change with what they have right in front of them and with their own friendships with one another. I just can't say enough wonderful things about this book. I just loved it.
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