The World Cafe

Written by Kamyar Tuesday, 20 May 2008 00:00

One of the new ideas I came acquainted with at the SoL Global Forum at Muscat was The World Cafe. It's a methodology to create dialogues and conversations about issues that really matter to us. It includes a couple of principles to follow in order to enhance the level of the dialogue between people:

1. Set the context
2. Create a hospitable environment
3. Explore questions that matter
4. Encourage everyone's contribution
5. Connect diverse perspectives
6. Listen together for patterns, insights and deeper questions
7. Harvest and share collective discoveries

You can read more about the 7 principles in detail.

This method can be practiced by any group of people at any place. You can start a dialogue with your family in your living room, with a group of friends in a cafe or your collegues at the office. Diversity of the people can add value to the conversation. Through this methodology, a group of people from different cultures, generations or industries can come up with great solutions for the problems.

I also found the following video which is a short introduction to The World Cafe:

Dr. Randy Pausch - The last lecture

Written by Kamyar Sunday, 18 May 2008 00:00

A few months ago Susan told me about the last lecture of Dr. Randy Pausch. It's a very inspirational lecture, one hour long. Since then I have been talking to people around me and suggesting them to see the video. Later on I found a short version which is 10 minutes long, presented at Oprah show.

One day when I was at the SoL global forum in Muscat, the discussions lead to how to inspire people to take their dreams more seriously. A lady at our table started talking about this video and how inspirational it is. And I agree. Specially at the times when you feel disappointed or lost, just watch this 10 minutes video and it will put you back on the track.

Here is the short version at Oprah:

You can also view the one hour version of Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams at Carnegie Mellon University.

The Dance of Unity

Written by Kamyar Tuesday, 13 May 2008 00:00

Organizational learning, that's what my mind has been deeply engaged with in the past few months. It started with quality management classes at Wollongong. I was impressed by the teaching model of Alaa Garad. More focused on understanding simple basic rules of quality, in contrast to the common type of teaching which includes pushing as much information as possible into your memory. It was about understanding the big picture before going into the details.

I got introduce to The Fifth Discipline book by Alaa and a few months ago I got the chance to read it. While I was reading it, many of concepts and ideas were resonating with things deep deep inside me. To express it more simply, it opend up a door to a new wold. A world which I feel connected to everything. All of a sudden everything about my life started to make more sense. And this is where I came up with the name of the blog, Dance of Unity.

The First Post

Written by Kamyar Thursday, 08 May 2008 00:00

Blogging is a great experience. When I started my first blog, I was feeling disconnected from the world. I have been living in Dubai for a couple of years but I could never match my needs with the pure materialistic culture of the city. Eehum - my first blog - openned up a new window to the world for me. It helped me to connect to many lovely people in different parts of the world.

It also helped me to reflect, to move away from myself and observe, trying to figure out Who am I and What am I doing here? Another kind of connection; connection to the self.

It doesn't matter how regular this blog will be updated. Let's go with the flow. Even if this post is going to be the last one. It's going to be a new experience, a new chance to learn and explore.

Welcome to the Dance of Unity.