unleash

The Unleash Project: Das war das zweite Wochenende!

«Durch ganzheitliches Denken und Handeln zum gesellschaftlichen Wandel» war das Thema des zweiten Trainingswochenendes von The Unleash Project in Zürich. Wir fokussierten die beiden Tage auf den Ebenen Organisation/Institution und Gesellschaft. Welche gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen beschäftigen uns und haben in unserem Umfeld eine Auswirkung? Was sind mögliche Lösungsansätze und Methoden, um diese anzupacken?

Während des Wochenendes begleiteten uns unter anderem die Themen…

…Systems Thinking & Systems Constellations
Wir bewegen uns in komplexen, voneinander abhängigen Systemen. Das Verständnis für diese Dynamiken, Ursachen und Wirkungen ist nötig, um mit unseren Tätigkeiten eine positive Wirkung zu erzielen. Durch systemischen Aufstellungen können die verschiedenen Elemente eines Systems, deren Interessen, Bedürfnisse und Ängste sowie Verbindungen zu anderen Systemen an die Oberfläche gebracht werden.

…Macht
Es gibt nicht die eine Macht, die wir haben oder nicht. Das Bewusstsein über die verschiedenen (sicht- und unsichtbaren) Formen von Macht und welche jede/r von uns besitzt, kann helfen, diese für einen guten Zweck einzusetzen und andere zu be-mächtigen.

…Gastgeben und Dialog
Art of Hosting ist die Kunst, gute Gespräche zu ermöglichen und dies als Führungsinstrument einzusetzen. Aus dem Methodensammelsorium dieser Praxis eignet sich speziell das Pro Action Café, um Projektideen weiterzuspinnen und von der kollektiven Intelligenz und Kreativität einer Gemeinschaft zu profitieren.

…Appreciative Leadership
Um die aktuellen globalen Herausforderungen anzugehen, braucht es mehr Leadership. Und Leadership können wir alle praktizieren, unabhängig von unserer Position im Job oder der Gesellschaft. Appreciative Leadership ist ein möglicher Ansatz.


Mit einigen Theorieinputs, aber vor allem praktisch durch Erfahrungen, Reflektionen und Dialoge erforschten wir unser persönliches Veränderungspotenzial und diskutierten mögliche Lösungen für die gesellschaftlichen, ökologischen und wirtschaftlichen Herausforderungen, die uns beschäftigen.

Ein herzliches Dankeschön geht an die Gastfacilitators Ursula Hillbrand vom Bregenzer Salonnetzwerk und an den Constellations-Facilitator Antonio da Silva sowie an das euforia Team mit Anna, Simon, Clara und Martina.

Die Durchführung dieses Unleash-Wochenendes wurde ermöglicht dank der grosszügigen Unterstützung der Drosos Stiftung, von Varieta und des Kulturparks Zürich.

The power of Constellations

In the next Unleash Project in Zurich on November 3/4 we will explore Systems Constellatios with Antonio da Silva in order to realize the interdependence of things and the importance of alternative perspectives in some situations. What Constellations is about is explained by Antonio in this interview.

What are Constellations, can you describe it for us?

It is a process used to explore certain situations that we go through in our lives and get insights about them allowing us to deal with them differently. Through this approach we can see how certain patterns we experience can be connected to our relationship to members of the family, for instance, or even how this is also inherited from our ancestors. Events we face in life are sometimes connected to our lineage. So we are carrying this process through time without being aware of it. The idea is that family or systems constellations make you aware of these patterns and allow us to release blockages we currently have. Many people have been using this process in different situations. It is not only restricted to family and personal issues anymore, but also to topics in organizations, social groups, and even for collective issues, as some of the many possibilities of application of this powerful tool. Constellation allows us to deal with parts of ourselves that are not really conscious, giving us the opportunity to have a completely different outcome.

So, what kind of topics can Systems Constellations deal with?

For instance we can apply Constellations to understand why I have difficulties to have money, how to have better relationships, what is behind a certain physical symptom, or why certain organizations experience specific challenges.

Can we also use it to explore more societal issues?

Absolutely! For instance I started to do work with friends to understand the influence of money here in Switzerland. There are groups using Constellations to look into the consequences of the Holocaust in Germany, or about the effects of Colonialism in different countries, conflicts in certain regions of the Globe etc..

And how can we imagine Constellations when we treat a case that is more societal where the people in the Constellations do not necessarily represent other people but maybe institutions, things, or actors?

When we sit down to look into a social issue we actually are looking into our own relationship with the topic. And by doing that it does not necessarily mean that we are going to be able to solve the whole situation but we are at least working to change our perspective around that. In this way we have the potential of reaching more harmony and peace for ourselves, ends up having an effect on the our environment also. This allows us to become at least an inspiration for other people to look into the same situation also differently. We basically learn how to deal with the certain challenges we all face collectively with more maturity and getting less triggered emotionally by them, for instance. That's the power of this process.

What is your favorite thing about Constellations?

It allows me to look into stuff that is really unconscious, things I was not aware of but that influences how I experience life. And this is a wonderful gift, since it gives me the opportunity to bring light to unconscious points, giving me the choice to deal from another perspective. This is what I find fantastic about constellations.

- 30.10.2018

Antonio da Silva - Constellations wizard

Antonio da Silva - Constellations wizard

Luft hole und öppis us der Luft usehole

“Rhythmus und Pouse,
Rhythmus und Pouse,
Rhythmus und Pouse.

Luft hole und öppis
us der Luft usehole.”

schreibt der Mundart-Schriftsteller Pedro Lenz in seinem Text “Fahre”, der vom unterwegs sein in der Schweiz handelt. Dabei beobachtet er die vorbeiziehenden Landschaften, vielmehr aber auch die Menschen, wie siemiteinander kommunizieren und wie sie zueinander in Beziehung stehen.

“Überau gsehtme Buechstabe,
wo me häreluegt, Buechstabe,
Buechstabe mache Wörter
Und Wörter mache Musig.

Luft hole und öppis
us der Luft usehole.”

Dieser Text inspiriert mich schon seit Jahren stets von neuem: Rhythmus, Pause, Luft holen und atmen. Wörter, Stimme, Musik. Doch was steckt dahinter? Und wie passt das alles zusammen? Ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass ich einmal an einem Workshop Wochenende darauf Antworten finden würde und alles einen Sinn ergibt; im Mensch sein, als Teil einer Gruppe dies zu erfahren.

Auch das Unleash Project von euforia inspiriert mich stets von Neuem: bisher nahm ich an jeder Durchführung des Unleash Project teil, und so fühlte sich dieses erste Wochenende des mittlerweile dritten sogenannten “Unleash-Cycles” wie ein nach Hause kommen an: zurück zu teils vertrauten Gesichtern, hin zu teils noch unbekannten Menschen und ihren persönlichen Ansichten. Menschen, deren Hoffnungen, Träume und Wünsche auf positive Veränderungen in der Gesellschaft mir noch unbekannt waren. Und auch zurück zu mir und der Auseinandersetzung mit meinen ganz persönlichen Stärken und Schwächen, meinen Leidenschaften und Interessen, und wie ich mein Potenzial weiterentwickeln kann, um meinerseits an der Gestaltung einer wünschenswerten Zukunft mitwirken kann.

Angeleitet und liebevoll begleitet durch ein erfahrenes Facilitation Team von euforia, begann der gemeinsame Weg am ersten Tag mit einem Foto-Dialog, führte weiter entlang dem Fluss des Lebens, wo wir eingeladen wurden zum Verweilen und zur Auseinandersetzung mit den Fragen «Woher komme ich? Was hat mich geprägt? Was ist mir wichtig?». Ein Improvisationstheater, vier Perspektiven und ein Blick in die Zukunft rundeten den Tag ab.

Am Sonntagmorgen erwartete uns Peter Roth mit seiner Leidenschaft für die menschliche Stimme, die Klänge der Natur und seinen Instrumenten. Peter nahm uns mit auf eine Reise in die Welt des Atems, der Stimme und des Rhythmus: Nahrung für Körper, Geist und Seele. Schwingungen, Wellen, das Unmittelbare und die Intuition wurden auf verschiedensten Ebenen angesprochen und ich erlebte, wie durch die Durchlässigkeit meines Körpers und jener der anderen Teilnehmenden ein musikalisches Gruppenerlebnis entstehen konnte, wie ich es bisher noch nicht kannte.

Der Transfer des Erlebten in unser Alltagsleben rundete das – aus meiner Sicht - bisher stimmigste Unleash Wochenende ab. Im Laufe des Wochenendes entstand eine tiefe Verbundenheit, und das Bewusstsein, wie wichtig es ist, Raum zu schaffen, damit Menschen ihr Potenzial erkennen und entfalten können.

Der Zauber, der aus dem echten Interesse an den anderen Menschen und dem Zuhören und Verstehen-Wollen unterschiedlicher Perspektiven entstand, wird mich bis zum nächsten Unleash Wochenende begleiten. Die beiden Tage im November widmen sich den Themen Diversität und neue Arbeitsweisen als Katalysator für Wandel in Organisationen und der Gesellschaft.

Bis dahin begleitet mich auch Pedro’s Text, der in seinen letzten Zeilen etwas anspricht, was mir nach dem Unleash Wochenende sehr präsent ist und nachhallt:

“(...) aber genau dörte, genau ir Luft,
vermehrt sech vilecht der Wärt,
vo däm wo me nid cha mässe.”

- Matthias Goldenberger, 16.10.2018

Die Durchführung dieses Unleash-Wochenendes wurde ermöglicht dank der grosszügigen Unterstützung der Drosos Stiftung und des Kulturparks Zürich.

Our Easter present: Win a ticket for The Unleash Project

Easter.jpg

It's Easter time! Before going into the long break, you'll have the possibility to win a fancy Easter present! We draw three tickets for The Unleash Weekend – Societal level from 7 - 8 April in Geneva.

The next weekend is the last one of this 2017/2018 cycle and will be on the topic "Societal Level". Among others, there will be people from Amanitas who show us different models of living and working together. We'll also talk about System Thinking and co-create solutions to societal challenges the participants see in their work environment. Inspiring stories, ideas and people guaranteed!

Sounds good? Then participate in the draw by sending an e-mail to unleash@euforia.org with the Subject "Easter Draw" and three reasons, why you are the right person to win the ticket.

The draw will be open until Monday, 2 April. We'll announce the winners on Tuesday, 3 April per E-Mail.

This happened at The Unleash Project last weekend

How can we bring more wellbeing, impact and meaningfulness into institutions? This and more questions we explored the past week end at The Unleash Project in Geneva. It was already the third weekend of this cycle and consisted of different workshops and sessions around the Institutional Level.

With Yoko Malbos from euforia we dived into the topic of Teal Organizations, with a special focus on «Evolving Purpose», «Self-Management» and «Wholeness». We shared our experiences about different types of organizations and learned practices and processes of Teal Organizations.

In the afternoon, Reini Hauser introduced us to the World Work Facilitation, a practice that works a lot with what’s not visible in group discourses, especially when conflicts appear: feelings, intuitions, tensions. We experienced this method in a simulation with the topic IN/OUT Switzerland by taking on the different roles of expats, refugees, Swiss and others.

The end of the day we spent with an apéro and the Share & Grow Night with an interesting input from Hans-Jürgen Koch, a former manager in the finance sector with over 30 years of experience. He gave interesting insights about how to navigate big institutions.

On Sunday morning we continued with Osi König from Collaboratio Helvetica with whom we learned more about cross-organizational collaboration. He shared his realization of the personal identity as a requirement to build a collective identity in order to achieve successful collaboration between organizations and a real change in society. Together we explored the questions what hinders us to collaborate with others and what are the conditions for fruitful cross-organizational collaborations.

Human-centred Design or Service Design was the topic of the workshop with Christoph Pian. The method really puts the human in the centre, meaning that the act of designing aims at improving the experience of people. Hence, empathy and good observation, coupled with a set of creativity/problem-solving tools are the key ingredients of a human-centred design process. we discussed and tried out the four steps to use in a real design process: Defining the problem statement, Stakeholder Map, Creation of a Persona and Storyboarding.

After the inspiring workshops we continued with a reverse coaching session in pairs in order to reflect on our personal and professional experiences and challenges. The coaching session is something we do every weekend and it helps to find ways on how to transform the learnings into real life. We finished the weekend with a debriefing and reflection round.

We want to wholeheartedly thank our amazing host team, the volunteers and of course the participants who co-shaped this inspiring weekend with us! The next one will take place on April 7-8 in Geneva with the topic «Societal level: SDGs and Impact Initiatives». Get more information and register here.

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the unleash project: this is what happened at the first weekend!

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The first weekend of the 2017/18 cycle of the unleash project has successfully happened! Over 30 people explored together attitudes, skills and knowledge to unleash potential for wellbeing and impact at the personal level. Different experts shared their knowledge in four workshops:


Presence and Self-Connection - your body as a compass (Johanna Risse)
Johanna showed us how to sort out the different feelings we have and to embrace them no matter if they're good or bad. She tought us how to connect with our body through listening, breating, moving and making sounds. We explored how our body reacts when different thoughts and emotions come up and how we can embody them but also shake them off and let go. We played with different kinds of music and movements and practiced to be fully present and to use our body as an inner compass.

Personal vision – Exploring drawing as a tool (Simon Kiener and Marietta Scheurmann)
Simon started with a personal story: a person with two faces of life, one of them looks silent on the desk and the other is like a wolf in the mountain, who lives far from a village, alone, dangerous but very curious about the village. The story showed a simple black and white picture, but it helped us to imagine colorfully about the two faces of the same person. It, therefore, shows us that painting is a great way to grow our imagination. It is only us who can color by ourselves our own story, in our own color. We drew your personal story and then shared with a partner. The task was to tell our partner (and vice-versa) what we saw in his or her picture. Only one picture (some time with some cycles and square) but they can speak 10' or even more about what they saw magically. Finally, some of the participants confessed that they believe they are able to draw (what they hadn't thought before).

In the second part, we split our life into three steps: Our birth, We in the present moment, we as 80 years old. We reflected about questions such as "What is your "hero genie" story?" "What are you doing now?" "Who are the people accompanying you on your 80 birthday party?" All of the life path makes us realize deeply about what the important thing of our life if and that we may not pay attention to reflect on the different perspectives of our life path.

Overcoming: Befriending your inner critic (Greta Rossi)
Most of us have experienced this sensation of a voice at the back of our awareness that tells us that we are not qualified enough for that job, that we do not deserve the love of our partner, that we are not beautiful enough, smart enough, courageous enough. Sometimes we can control these thoughts, but other times they seem to overwhelm us and dictate our reactions. That voice is the voice of our inner critic; we all have one – it is part of the human experience. With Greta we explored this inner critic:

  • When did it first appear
  • Are we aware of it?
  • What is our relationship with it and how do we deal when it appears?

We reflected deeply on our self-limiting beliefs and habitual thoughts to maintain a healthy relationship with their inner critic, an essential element to wellbeing. For the practice experience, we were in the safe space with another participant to share our own inner critic in a humoros way which allows for transformative and healing experiences to take place.

Actualizing - Tools for self-management and effectiveness (Urs Scheffer and Jan Mezger)
With Urs and Jan we collectively explored tools to achieve our visions and goals. Firstly and most importantly, they showed the example of several famous entrepreneurs and companies, like Steve Jobs. They shared how the attitude of the individual is what makes the biggest difference when it comes to just having great ideas vs. bringing them into life. Among those were "Keep it sexy and simple", "Just do it" and "Think broader".

Urs and Jan suggested to start reflecting on "What kind of attitude would help me for my current vision/objective to move into doing?" After a break-out reflection session, we shared the attitudes we discovered we need in order to move from vision to doing:

  • Don't stay in your head - get down to your desk and visualize and plan how your idea will actually look in real life!
  • Don't keep it to yourself - get out there and start talking about the idea, and you might get some allies and get into collective prototyping!
  • Quick prototyping and feedback – don't make it complicated. Think how to try out your idea or vision in a simple step, get feedback and then adapt.

After focusing on the attitudes, we collectively shared practical tools to start bringing our ideas and visions into life, among others objective journals,  to-do boards, action formulation, motivation boosters and snoozer tools.

Action Learning and Reverse Coaching Session
We finished the weekend with a reverse coaching session where participants prepared in pairs how to apply the learnings in their «real life».

We want to say thank you to our amazing host team, to all the facilitators and especially the participants who co-shaped this weekend with us.

The next weekends will take place:
> in Bern from November 3-4 (Team Level)
> in Romandie from February 2-3 (Institutional Level)
> in Romandie from April 6-7 (Societal Level)

Participation is also possible if you couldn’t make it to the first weekend! Interested? Get more infos here.

 

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Get to know the facilitators of The Unleash Project: Greta Rossi

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As a person who can inspire you and may change your opinion when you discuss with her, Greta decided to rejoin again The Unleash Project this year. After a huge success of her training last year, she will be back for a session on "Letting go - Befriending your inner critic" at the Personal Development weekend in Zurich. We are grateful that she took the time to talk with us and give a powerful message to the future participants.

Please tell us about your experience for the Unleash project last year?
It was overall a very positive experience! I enjoyed leading a workshop on personal wellbeing in Bern, but above all, I loved seeing my colleagues in action and learning from their ideas and experience. It felt like The Unleash Project was built in such a way that everyone was able to give and receive knowledge and expertise – everyone was a learner.

Why did you decide to "come back" to The Unleash Project this year?
I am curious to see what this second edition of The Unleash Project will bring to the world based on the first year and I absolutely want to be part of this. I am very grateful to have been invited to facilitate another workshop, this time in Zurich, and I look forward to engaging with all other facilitators and participants!

We understood that the topic of this year is "Letting go - Befriending your inner critic". Please tell us a little bit about this training.
Have you ever experienced a voice at the back of your awareness that tells you that you are not qualified enough for that job, that you do not deserve the love of your partner, that you are not beautiful enough, smart enough, courageous enough…? Sometimes you can control these thoughts; but other times they seem to overwhelm you and dictated your reactions. That voice is the voice of your inner critic; we all have one – it is part of the human experience. This training will invite participants to reflect deeply on their self-limiting beliefs and habitual thoughts to maintain a healthy relationship with their inner critic, an essential element to wellbeing.

What are you looking forward to this training?
This training can be very powerful and intense, so I am looking forward to creating a safe space with all participants to allow for transformative and healing experiences to take place.

You are Co-founder of ImpactAimers. You may guide the young entrepreneurs through an exploration of their passion and talents to develop essential competences. In this aspect, what do you think about the role of The Unleash Project and its impact on the world?
The Unleash project is particularly important because it helps people to understand the interconnectedness of their work in relation to themselves and others, their community and society, and the wider world. There is no separation, only connectedness. So we must learn to improve our relationship with ourselves if we wish to bring about positive change in the world. This simple concept is by no means easy to grasp so I am grateful that The Unleash Project creates a space for people to experiment and learn together.

Do you plan to join The Unleash Project in next year?
If you’ll invite me back, absolutely!

Besides various engagements, you were Youth Coach. Indeed, making a change, helping transformative people are what we really need to make a better world. If you can send a message to the young people in our society now, what do you would like to say to them?
My message to the young people in our society now is not to wait to take the first steps as changemakers. You don’t have to follow traditional paths until you are fifty and then start “giving back” to the world. The world needs your passion and your courage, your energy and your talent, your motivation and your creativity… and it needs you now. Having said so, don’t rush – take your time to understand yourself better, to discover your purpose, and to choose a path that will allow you to honour your values. We live in a time of urgency, but we must confront chaos with calmness of being.

Remember — don't wait to take the first steps as changemakers! Sign-up for the first weekend of The Unleash Project (22 - 23 September in Zurich) now!


Greta is the co-founder and Chief Empathy Officer (CEO) of Ākāśa Innovation, a not-for-profit social enterprise in London that prepares, inspires and empowers a new generation of changemakers to co-create a world for all life to flourish in. Greta is also the co-founder of ImpactAimers, an initiative that empowers young changemakers through immersive residential experiences; and of Recipes for Wellbeing, an initiative that aims to create and spread a culture of wellbeing in the field of changemaking. Additionally, she is the European Regional Coordinator of ChangemakerXchange, a programme by Ashoka, and the Project Manager of the 2017-2018 Social Innovation to Tackle Fuel Poverty programme, a partnership between Ashoka and the Schneider Electric Foundation. Greta holds a BA (Hons) in International Relations and is a qualified coach and facilitator in radical collaboration, and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

The interview was made by Quynh-Giang Nguyen who is part of our wonderful volunteer host team.

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Cat’s Cradle - The first euforia Unleash weekend in Bern

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Katalin from unMonastery is engaged as part of the host team to organize the first workshop cycle of the unleash project.

 

“The task is to make kin in lines of inventive connection as a practice of learning to live and die well in each other’s thick presence” — Donna Haraway: Staying With The Trouble

According to the dictionary, Cat’s Cradle is a collaborative game played with strings by two or more people. During the game complex patterns are formed. Each person needs to focus on the collective effort as they take over and complicate their partner’s configuration.

Playing together requires many skills beyond the rules of the game. According to the author of Radical Collaboration, Jimm Tamm, the five principles of collaboration are:

Radical Collaboration ©

Radical Collaboration ©

Interestingly, 4 out of the five principles refer to feelings rather than intellectual capacity. It seems to be the case that to be able to work together better, a personal journey to deal with unresolved feelings, vague fears, inarticulated needs and hidden assumptions is necessary.

I have to admit, I am not comfortable with the term, personal well-being, and the army of self-help books that teach tricks on how to solve problems within oneself. There seems to be a whole new level of consumerism directed to feelings, as if now that the world has become nearly uninhabitable both on a physical and an emotional level thanks to unsustainable practices of production and consumption, we are now offered the opportunity to spend yet more money and time on learning ways to be able to deal with this devastation.

However, having worked with various groups in the last years, and seen beautiful projects go astray due to personal conflicts, lack of communication, and an inability to move beyond personal defensive attitudes instead of moving forward together, it seems inevitable that personally taking responsibility for one’s own inner universe is absolutely necessary in order to work together in new forms of organisations such as Teal or Open Organisation.

It is therefore not a coincidence that I found the first weekend of the Unleash program by euforia focused on personal wellbeing not only interesting but quite useful. We learned a wide range of different methods enabling us to engage with and accept our own fears, aspirations and vulnerability, and use these insightful strategies also to relate to each other.

For a weekend focused on the individual, most of the workshops required team work and in-depth conversation with one another. It provided an opportunity to get to know each other beyond the visible roles we each play in that particular community. The only thing the various techniques required us was to be truly present for ourselves, and for the others, not as experts, problem solvers, critics, defenders, judges or protectors, simply “as mortal critters entwined in myriad unfinished configurations of places, times, matters, meanings.”