We need time to think about what we might do and where we might start to change things. We need time to develop clarity and courage. If we want our world to be different, our first act needs to be reclaiming time to think.
Tyler Norris
Peter Senge popularized the idea of learning organizations–organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. (Peter Senge. The Fifth Discipline, 1990. p. 3) His idea is that in times of change, individuals and organizations have to be flexible, adaptive and productive to survive and excel.
Like Senge, we believe that learning is integral to the kind of personal and social transformation that will create Loving Communities. Not just informational or academic learning, but learning that helps us understand and make sense out of our experience. It means living in a continual learning mode. It means recognizing that there are always things that we won’t know or understand and continuing to develop and move even though things may not be clear. A learning stance slows us down and helps us connect with our courage to shift away from doing the same things in the same ways.
The issues we face are complex. The way toward transformation and Loving Community is complex. The Center values learning–individual and organizational–as a critical part of navigating the issues.
