Humainologie creative dialogue Wednesday February 24 Positive Deviance

“In every group there are a minority of people who find better and more successful solutions to the challenges at hand …even though they have access to exactly the same resources as the rest of the group, their uncommon practices or behaviors allow them to flourish.” – from The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World's Toughest Problems by Richard Pascale, Jerry Sternin, and Monique Sternin (2010)

Our topic for creative dialogue on Wednesday, February 24, is Positive Deviance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_deviance Trina Listanco will facilitate, and has provided a carefully structured session for us, which I have appended below this message. Tim McGowan, Fund Development Associate at Inn from the Cold, will inspire us with a glimpse of his genius and experience in service to others. Trina and Tim have each provided a biographical sketch:

Trina is a Placemaker. She studied Geography and Environmental Engineering and is most interested in frontier spaces, i.e. inside/outside/ internal/external/ the intersections of human health and the built environment, "Where does the (human) body end and nature begin?" Her work and experiments include aquatic manual therapies + public transit advocacy and placemaking + urban design + sustainable infrastructures. Creating "Geographies of Care" is the embodiment of her work: www.SpaAquaPrima.com Trina's personal creative world: www.WobbitHole.com

Tim McGowan, BA, Fund Development Associate, Inn from the Cold: A passionate fundraiser and community builder, Tim truly believes in the work being done by non-profits like Inn from the Cold where he works full-time in Calgary. Service to others has become an essential part of his work and he relies on a team of individuals to serve the most urgent needs of families in our community. Born and raised Albertan, but no stranger to outside of the box thinking after he completed his BA in Policy Studies in 2018. Tim enjoys playing golf, going on dates with his Fiancé, volunteering, and being able to travel with family/friends.

Think like a bakery and make it fresh every day!

Arthur

Here is Trina’s workshop structure for your careful review:

Positive Deviance Workshop Outline

Participants, please prepare: paper and pen + story outlines + answers to probing questions ahead of time

Part I. Introductions & What is Positive Deviance?

a) Trina will make a 8-10 minute presentation on the topic i.e. origins of "Positive Deviance" + myth of "self-made"

b) Trina will introduce guest speaker, Tim McGowan.

c) Tim will share his inspiring life's work and experiences at The Inn from the Cold.

Part II. Group Investigative Exercise:

Each of us likely knows a/ several "positively deviant" person/s. It could be someone in our family or community, who seems to have defied odds, standards, and normative expectations.

For example, someone who despite suffering abuses and violence manages to overcome trauma to live a grateful, gentle, and peaceful life.

Or perhaps, someone who was very poor and downtrodden, yet managed to succeed and be generous everyday.

Or perhaps, we have been positively deviant ourselves, when we rose up to the challenge when nobody else would...

Can you briefly share this person's inspiring story?

Why do you think he or she or they were able to get over hurdles/ adversities?

What resources or qualities did they have and how did they activate/ optimize those?

Where did support come from and how did they recruit support?

What are then the critical steps in their or our own flourishing?

Part III. Self Reflection: SWOT Analysis

We all have the potential to overcome whatever challenging situations we are in.

We will take this opportunity to scan ourselves and our lives to map out our "SWOT":

Strengths/ Weaknesses (internal qualities) and the "Opportunities/ Threats" (external conditions)

1) What are the assets/ talents/ skills and gifts that we already have?

2) How can we mobilize and leverage these assets, gifts, and skills to move forward or solve problems or address weaknesses in life?

3) What do you need from your community?

4) What can you offer the community in return?

Part IV. Closing and Accountability:

A quick calculation of time left...

"You think you have time." --- Buddhist proverb.

Embrace,

Trina