Stop consuming news, start making it (Thanks to Jack Ricchiuto)

Submitted by Charles Frost on Sat, 02/20/2010 - 23:00.

Jack  Ricchiuto is one of the brightest lights in this city.

His post today reminded me of the "pick-up team" that is here at REALNEO...

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February 20, 2010

Stop consuming news, start making it

Filed under: Appreciative living — Jack Ricchiuto @ 11:11 am

Forbes claims that my home, Cleveland, is now the most miserable city in the country on the basis of a handful of financial and physical health criteria, a city with more bank locations than grocery stories and art galleries. It is at the bottom in health of all the 88 Ohio counties, a city plastered with billboards about how we have the best sick care hospitals in the country.

This, the city where, when I am home on any given night, as I did the other night, I can walk to one of the best rated restaurants in the country, listen to a couple of hours of magnificent poetry, and then finish the night at a live blues jam.

Earlier in the day, I taught a room packed with Cleveland emerging leaders how to convene the community in the four conversations that build community and keep them from the four that destroy and prevent community. You could hear a pin drop and the enthusiasm was palpable. Just before I spoke, one of the established leaders chided the group with the injunction that if they “just read the newspaper every day,” they would, “become more interesting,” an apparently core requirement for community leadership and amazing expression of disrespect for this passionate group of emerging leaders.

The pragmatic reality is this. If people here want a future different than the recent past, it will not come from re-telling headline stories that might as well be a daily reminder: “It sucks to be us.” Every minute wasted in this media is a postponement of conversations about dreams, gifts, actions, and invitations. My dream is that more people put down newspapers and remotes, and instead discover the literally thousands of people trying to do something new here and ask them how you can help. Transformation is not hard unless you’re engaged in only conversations that make transformation near impossible.    (the emphasis is mine)

From: http://www.jackzen.com/2010/02/20/stop-consuming-news-start-making-it/

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About Jack

Filed under: Appreciative living — jackricchiuto @ 7:58 am

Jack/Zen, originally launched as Gassho in August 2004, continues to be a space of research and reflection on how we think about the future. As it turns out, we can learn more from the future than we can from the past, the future we get is the future we create, and the future is the lens through which we see present possibilities more clearly.

Jack Ricchiuto is a designer and writer working with groups in organizations, communities, and networks designing the best ways for them to work together to make a difference. Jack works with boards, leadership and operational teams, project teams, civic and community groups, and strategic planning teams.

As a writer, he is author of 8 books and the 7 year old daily blog, jackzen.comand has written for local and national publications. For over 30 years, Jack has been working independently and in collaboration with international and national consulting firms. His work as designer spans 30 industries and a variety of urban, rural, and virtual communities.

With an undergraduate degree is from John Carroll University (1974) and graduate degree from Goddard College, Vermont (1980) in positive psychology, Jack continues teaching with undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctorate programs. His website is DesigningLife.com