I tend to say something different whenever I need to introduce myself. Maybe it is because I'm always changing. Maybe it is because I'm bored with fitting into any fixed slots.

My calling is to make structures and tools and activities for connecting the big picture with the small details, the abstract with the concrete; specifically to make a communication network for people doing good things in the world. I also write to inspire groups of people to connect up. I do personal change work with individuals. My main tools are human communication, and computer programming.

I started the New Civilization Network to bring together people both interested in whole systems thinking, and willing to take action. It was with the hope that self-organization and spontaneous collaboration would organically emerge. Some times that happened. Mostly it didn't.

Lately I have come to realize that I need to do my part better. I have a greater clearity of what that is. So, right now I mainly do computer programming to materialize some of what I see being needed:

• Online directories;
• Search facilities;
• Event listings; and
• Shared information databases.

Now to make it really useful, I need to get enough people to actually use it.

Many, many times, I have tried to get groups of people to do what I envisioned they should do. For example, I would put out a great vision, and I wait to see who would show up to implement it. Lots of people showed up, but nobody ever implemented it. I tended to forget that I am the one who's here to carry out my vision.

Duh!?!

So, I'm going to work more on what I see needs doing, and I'm going to spend little time waiting for others to agree.

Catalysts For Change As Viewed By Flemming Funch

1. Extremes - exposure to the edges of reality:

   Things need to be shaken up in order to change. The potential for change is highlighted by contrasting the current reality at hand with something different, possibility something very different.

   Change happens at the borders - any and all kinds of borders. So, the exploration of the borders and edges of your familiar reality is what might give you inspiration and impetus. The shock of the totally unexpected can be a powerful kick towards change.
   
   

2. Heart - openness and acceptance of all of life:

   To change, you need to be open, open to that which is different from what you already know. You need to embrace something that is mostly unknown to you. The mind doesn't easily accept something new - it mostly traffics in the old and supposedly known. The open heart connects through a recognition that all of life is made of the same stuff, so it welcomes that which is different - because it knows that deep down it really is not.
   
   

3. Discomfort - lack of "fit":

   You notice a need for change when something doesn't fit. The lack of fit would often be experienced as some kind of dissatisfaction or discomfort with the status quo. That might range from a casual observation that something is not quite perfect, all the way to a pervasive rage against what is there. At any rate, time is ripe for change when the old solutions no longer work. Our experience of discomfort - or lack in what is there - is often what drives us towards the inevitable change. Stuff that doesn't fit will change.
   
   

4. Humor -
   
   
   The ability to see and enjoy the discrepancies in reality:

   If you have the capability to notice when things are out of place, mismatched or odd, and you can enjoy and celebrate your observations, you also have one of the key ingredients for change. Lots of people do not notice that they live in ridiculous circumstances. So, if you're able to see the absurdity and humor in what others find perfectly normal and familiar, you're also ready to provoke change.

All catalysts for change become effective when the mix is right. Too much or too little doesn't work. Things do not change when you're comatose, and they do not change when you're overwhelmed by chaos. They change when something pokes at you, and you're sufficiently present and proactive to actually do something with it - or about it.

Flemming Funch
ffunch@worldtrans.org
www.newciv.org and www.worldtrans.org

Questions: Submitted by Bernie Slepkov of DreamTEAMS International For your second catalyst, you said, "Heart – openness and acceptance of all of life." Your placement a second 'of' compels me to ask, why you did not just say "openness and acceptance of all life"? How has this unique awareness enhanced your life – or its meaning to you? Saying just "all life" sort of limits it. It positions "life" as something smaller than the place or environment it is in. Like, you have a desert island, and on it there is a flower. That flower would be "life". Saying "all of life" is more expansive. I essentially believe that everything is in some fashion - at some level - alive and conscious. I believe that everything is made of the same stuff - it is all of the same quantum soup or; it is all the universal mind in its myriad of diverse, but inextricably connected manifestations. I am part of "all of life", and could never be separate from it. So are you, and everybody and everything else. The personal knowledge and experience of that, at a deep level, within a large enough number of people, might very well be the thing that makes the world, very suddenly and surprisingly, work for all of us. For example, the realization within many people that they are not really separate, they are not really as small and insignificant and temporary as they thought. They are the stuff of dreams; they are of the same substance that rainbows and galaxies are made of. They have never really been separate from it. They never will be since the universe is whole. Once you realize that you really are the universe, currently expressed by your unique life, unique experience and work, it would be meaningless unless you both express that uniqueness to the fullest and work for the benefit of the whole. Please relate to us, without all the hype, terminology and buzzwords what your personal interests are in affecting change in your area of interest. What might your fears be if changes in those areas are not realized? I am interested in creating a space and some tools and mechanisms that connect good people together in ways that will serve the whole; that will help the participants in clarifying what they are here to do. My fear is that the world is fragmenting and getting more dispersed and confused. I would like to put structures in place that makes things more clear and useful, the more they are used, rather than less clear and useful. Questions: Submitted by Karla Ingleton, Editor & Chief of Seen.com What changes do you see evolving as we enter - 2001? • New Economy: Where are the lines of commerce converging? What changes in our money-systems are still to come? Commerce is converging with collective, shared mindspace. It will eventually be bad business to try to sell anything that is not aligned with what people generally want. The days of commerce as tricking people into buying stuff they do not need and want, and buying things that are not best for the job - are numbered. Money systems will eventually have to align with that as well, so that what is valuable in money is truly what is valuable, rather than what somebody can fool enough people about for a while. What will make the difference will be the effective sharing of information. If people know then they can't be fooled. The old money system is still based on keeping the anonymous masses in the dark. next question

• Communications: Where is high-speed communications, media broadcasting, and information delivery system going? Into a lot of blind alleys along the way. We need some systems that have not yet been invented. More and faster is not going to do it. • Culture: What changes are evolving due to internetted-communities and globalization? What is still to come? Internetted communities did not turn out to be as great and transforming as they looked like they would be. What will make the difference will be effective systems for knowledge sharing, and enabling personal realizations to be made in people's lives. Online communities will not in themselves, change the world, or so it seems. • Visions: What is the most common vision of most entrepreneurs in their business focus? They see themselves succeeding while ignoring all the reasons why they should not succeed. • Ventures: What will be the new ventures opening up for entrepreneurs in the new economy? Tools for inter-connecting. The areas of expansion are in the in-between spaces. Affiliate programs, business-to-business, communication tools, knowledge management, new kinds of economies, ways of connecting solutions to more people, and making solutions more global and easily accessible. • Stress: What will be the most common stress relief? Where will stress be placed in the business environment? The stress relief will ultimately be that you will be doing what comes naturally - what you truly are inspired to do without trying to fit square pegs into round holes pretending you are available for something you really are not. • Leaders: What types of businesses will lead in the new economy? Businesses that speak with a personal and sincere voice, and businesses that listen to and care about their customers. • Education: What types of useful information will entrepreneurs need in order to increase their knowledge base? Information about what really works, what people really want, and what they do not want. Continous feedback about how well they are succeeding at delivering that. • FreeTime: How will free-time change and mold to the new economy? What types of entertainment will fill the free-time spaces? There will be no free time. Your life and your work will take all the time. There is no empty time left.

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