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What is Creating the Future? |
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Our
Mission
Creating the Future envisions communities where people
are living well, individually and collectively. We know such a future is
possible, simply because it is not impossible.
To accomplish
that, our 10 year mission is to change the questions embedded in the day-to-day
work of individuals and organizations, so everyone naturally brings out the
best in each other and in our world.
Our Theory of
Change
Creating a world where people are living well, individually
and collectively is not a matter of finding the next innovative action; it is a
matter of rethinking the assumptions that go into those actions.
If we want a
world that celebrates the power and collective resource that we, as a planet,
all share (vs. assumptions of scarcity); a world where we bring out the best in
each other (vs. suspect and compete with each other) and aim for what is
possible (vs. react to what’s wrong) – those assumptions must be
built into our actions.
Assumptions are
the questions we are answering, that we didn’t even realize we are asking.
At the heart of our decision-making and planning and everything else we do in
our lives are questions. What should we do? Who should we engage with? How will
we make it happen? Is there enough? And hundreds more lined up behind those.
Change the
questions, and we will root those decisions and actions in Collective
Enoughness – the reality that together, we have everything we need, and
that it is only alone that we face scarcity.
Change the
questions, and we will aim our plans and decisions at creating the future we
want, vs. reacting or trying to prevent or plan for what we do NOT want.
Change the
questions, and we will bring out the best in ourselves, each other, our
organizations and businesses, our communities and our world.
What Happens in
the Living Laboratory
Rooted in research in the fields of
neuroscience and behavioral psychology (individual behavior) and history and
sociology (group behavior), along with 15 years of our own experimentation,
Creating the Future’s 10 year mission is to see a tipping point in the
questions that guide day-to-day living and work around the world.
Our network of changemakers spans
the globe – people in all walks of life, working together and supporting
each other in real life and online communities. We invite you to join them in
all aspects of their work!
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Research
and Development: |
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What
we're doing |
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Asking more effective questions
means rethinking "that's just how we do things" in any organization –
business, government, nonprofit. That's why every aspect Creating the Future's
day-to-day work is a live R&D project, from the work of our board to our
approach to program development, how we sustain our work, and everything
else. |
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How
you can participate |
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- Explore along with us. All our
meetings are open – live streaming online with twitter parcipation via the
hashtag #CTFuture. (Subscribe here to be notified of upcoming meetings.)
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Share what you love doing. Writing? Brainstorming?
Whatever your talents and joys, let's explore how those gifts can move this
R&D work forward!
- Be your own experiment. Put into
practice what we are exploring together, and
share your
results with us, so that we can all build upon what each other is learning
and experiencing..
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Demonstration: |
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What
we're doing |
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Creating the Future is its own
demonstration project – demonstrating what we learn, while we're learning
it, as well as the results. These live case studies provide opportunity for
anyone to see what the theory looks like in action.
- Internal Demonstration
Project: Our board meetings, branding meetings, resource development and
program development meetings every meeting at Creating the Future streams live
online as a demonstration of what it looks like in action to ask questions that
bring out the best in each other. (Subscribe here to be notified of upcoming meetings.)
- External projects: We
seek proof of concept projects with other organizations, to scale results
broadly across a geographic region or a field of study.
Examples of those projects are here.
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How
you can participate |
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- Learn along with us, during any
of our meetings. (Subscribe here to be notified of upcoming meetings.)
- If your organization is
interested in being part of a proof-of-concept project,
let us
know! Capacity building organizations, foundations, on-the-ground service
organizations, businesses if you have an idea for helping to scale our
approaches, let us know!
- Be your own experiment. Put into
practice what you learn from our explorations, and
share your
results with us, so that we can all build upon what each other is learning
and experiencing.
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Education: |
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What
we're doing |
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From articles on narrow how-to
topics, to week-long immersion courses; from 30 minute recorded webinars for
people on the go to full day live workshops in communities – our education
programs are taught by practitioners in the field who have done this work and
seen its impact. See our education programs here. |
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Convening
& Engaging: |
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What
we're doing |
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- Sparking a different
conversation: From
podcasts to blogs (both
in-house &
mainstream) to our
YouTube channel, we are asking questions that can change
the world and by asking, demonstrating questions others can ask in their own
lives.
- Gathering people to inspire,
support & learn from each other online and in communities around the world.
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How
you can participate |
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- Use the conversations we are
posting online to start your own conversations. Share those posts via social
media, and start asking your own "questions that can change the world."
- Join with others who are already
starting new conversations at our
Facebook page and at
Twitter.
- If you are a consultant, join
with other consultants who are learning to ask "questions that can change the
world" at our Community Benefit Consultants group at Facebook, and at
our monthly #NPCons Twitter
chat for consultants.
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Status: 10 year
goal
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2011 - 2013:
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Groundwork
Completed: Tax exemption; international board of directors; built initial
internal systems; begin seeking partners for program development; delivering
initial programs. |
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2014:
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Expansion and
strengthening of existing programs and infrastructure; identify partners to
ramp up programs in all 4 mission areas. |
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2015:
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Program and
Infrastructure design in all 4 mission areas. |
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2015-2025:
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Program roll-out
and ongoing operations. 10 year clock begins in 2015. |
Highlights:
Initial Programs
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Our most mature
program:
Immersion
Education: To date, +100 trained community leaders around the
world. |
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Our highest
visibility programs:
- Our board’s R&D and
Demonstration of Open Participatory Governance (for which we received an
Awesome without Borders award)
- Making Change interview series
at the Chronicle of Philanthropy
- Online Social Investment
Roundtables: The funding effort for our own scale-up is an R&D exploration
into building more authentic funder partnerships
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The
Invitation
The only way this living lab will accomplish its mission
is if we are all exploring, experimenting and learning as “lab
partners” together. If you’re curious about what that might mean for
you, let’s get to know each other and find out!
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