Conversations on Forgiveness
Responsive Org newsletter — July 28, 2018
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We’ve been deep in the weeds working on Responsive Conference, so I thought I’d share some specific sessions that I’m just thrilled to have at the conference this year.
Whether it is parent’s punishment of children, punishment in the workplace, or harsh sentences for non-violent crimes, the world today has an overly punitive approach to justice. Rather than finding more opportunities for empathy and forgiveness, we punish. With an aim to heal ties between neighbors, we are closing Day 1 of Responsive Conference 2018 with a conversation about forgiveness.
Marcus Glover will lead a discussion with a handful of activities and entrepreneurs to explore theme of forgiveness — in business, criminal justice, and beyond.
Marcus Glover is a partner at the VC firm Southbox Ventures. He also holds a deep commitment to social justice and criminal justice reform serving as a board member of New York Tri State Board of Directors for DefyVentures.org and LiberationPrisonYoga.org. Through his work with these organizations, Marcus has become a dedicated mentor to incarcerated men, women and youth and also volunteers as a yoga and meditation instructor leading juvenile programs at Rikers Island Prison.
Meanwhile, Deb Seidman has joined our team as this year’s Lead Facilitator. If you’re a long-time subscriber to the newsletter, you may remember that Deb used Kickstarter to finance her ticket to Responsive Conference 2017, and then documented her experiences and lessons learned (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3).
We’re trying out a new interactive format for this year’s Responsive Conference — Small Group Huddles of 15 or so attendees. Each small group will have a facilitator to guide the conversation, and each group will meet up for an hour each day. Even if you meet no one else at Responsive Conference, rest assured that you’ll get to know your small group!
What We’re Reading
This interview of Aaron Dignan and Spencer Pitman at The Ready by Nick Rockwell, CTO of the New York Times. First off, congrats on the interview, gents! But more importantly, it is a great example of making abstract concepts about the Future of Work concrete and approachable.
Transformation Tuesday is a newsletter put out by this year’s speaker Tara-Nicholle Nelson. Tara has a compelling voice for human kindness and soulfulness at work, and in the newsletter she uses great metaphors to get her point across. This week she talked about the diuretic effects of coffee and tea, to make a point about achieve flow.
Portland, OR is one of a few outspoken critics of Lyft, Uber, and similar ride-sharing services, that has held out against adopting them. The former mayor of Portland just published this argument for what a city-centric, smart ride-hailing tax would look like for American cities. And, if you haven’t already, read Triumph of the City.
A New Zealand company “Perpetual Guardian” tried an experiment: have people work 4 days a week without impacting pay, and measure the productivity. This ABC article summarizes their findings succinctly, but their recommendation was to make the change permanent.
The audiobook version of Responsive: What It Takes to Create a Thriving Organization will be coming out soon! If you prefer audiobooks and thus far haven’t read Responsive, never fear! It’ll be out soon.
Wishing you the best in your change efforts,
-The Responsive Team
