September 2024
The Vibe
Another month, huh?!?! Well, it's supposed to be Spring, but I am learning that doesn't translate to immediate warming or a sunny disposition here in Adelaide. According to the Kuarna calendar, we're still in Winter or Kudlila, which runs through July, August, and September. In this period, the earth is washed (kudlinthi), and conditions are windy (wait). That matches! It's hardly been warm, and there seem to have been only a few glimpses of broad sunny days.
At home, we still don't have a fully functional kitchen. I managed to get a local handyman to come in and help fix the floors so we could slide the new fridge into place, and I did move most of the items into the new cupboards and cabinets. The oven and dishwasher are working, but we are still in benchtop limbo, with a date of the 8th of October for them to be fitted. Once they're in, we can finalise the plumbing for the sink and get the cooktop in!
At work — the chaos continues. I've resigned myself to not being in control or able to influence anything any more. It's defeating, but there's no point railing against reality. There have been some good moments working directly with Academics and getting them to rethink some of their existing strategies and assessments. The process is still so focused on individuals that we are missing the opportunity for broader change. I made alternative recommendations (and repeatedly argued for them), but we're continuing with a process that seems wholly inefficient and unsustainable over 18 months - but hey, that's the job.
And that would have been the end, but I did realise that my job is not my career. While they tend to cross over, that's not always the case. So, while I've been getting my work done, I've also been trying to pull together more future-thinking efforts. Back in January, I made it a goal to run a Learning Design workshop, and last Tuesday, I did that at the HERGA Conference here in Adelaide. To get there, I've been working away on a couple of projects - a big refresh of the Learning Patterns website and developing two new ones - Learning Types and Pattern Learning. The idea is to begin a side hustle under the Pattern Learning guise and offer some workshops and consulting options. So, I've put a bit of effort into the branding here - trying to rely on my skills in design and what I can control myself. As Stephen Downes put it,
My first thought on reading this is that this is clever branding. Tim Klapdor writes, "Learning Types is a resource developed to create and share a typology of learning to aid the design and development of engaging learning experiences." We're all familiar with the categories, but I like the (b)right colours and logos.
Yes, that's about right. The branding is important as it links a lot of my work together. The types are linked to the patterns, which will link to the processes I've been working on and developing these workshops to teach. The workshop was just 40 minutes, but it was a good test of what I could cover quickly. I've gone from a 10-minute presentation to a 40-minute workshop in a month and a bit, and I hope to have a full-day workshop by the end of the year.
I also still have a software project in the background that we're hoping to commercialise, but that's not really in my hands to do anything about directly.
The other big event for the month was when one of my best and longest friends moved to town. He and I go back to year 4 in primary school, and it's amazing to have someone close by after five years of being on our own here in Adelaide. It's been great to have someone to hang out with in a way that is just second nature. He's also been there for us during an emergency with Frankie. I was supposed to write this post while relaxing with friends in Victoria, but I'm at home alone with the dog. After a night at the kennels, the staff found him in the morning with blood everywhere. My mate stepped up and got him to the vet and stayed with him there till he was admitted and in their care. After a day of completely freaking out, I flew home the next day and picked him up from the vet. Nothing serious in the end, so we're very relieved and so glad we have a friend like that around!
Photos
A few photos from the month.
Read
Kardashev Street: Planetary energy system changes at street level - Like the way this article framed changing the energy system as a driver for change. We are so far below the potential to just capture what the sun produces, that just upping out solar production would be a game changer for the globe.
Watched
I finished off Season 1 of Silo. It was my second attempt at watching, and I think I was in the right mood this time. This is a slow-burn style of show that builds over time, and while the resemblance to Fallout is undeniable, this is a completely different beast.
Life of Crime 1984-2020 is a documentary that spans almost 35 years of filmed footage. There's no voiceover, it's all told through the protagonists, with occasional questions from the director, Jon Alpert. The film is a sad ride to the bottom for the trio of Freddie, Rob and Deliris. It's heartbreaking to see them struggle and try to redeem themselves and just fail so outright as they destroy themselves over time with drugs. There are patches of light and redemption along the way, moments where it seems like things will change, but ultimately, they are let down. More by a society that writes people off, rather than giving them a hand up, gives them a high five.
Listened
I finished off another season of Scene on Radio - this time Season Three on Men. I do love this show and series - there are so many great moments and stories in there that really dig into men and masculinity. S03E11 - drops this bombshell on shifting from hierarchical thinking to relational - from linear to ecological.
John Biewen: Yeah it just becomes hard to say "I dunno!" The words Terry Real uses to talk about this issue are shame and grandiosity. He says, as a couples therapist, he spends a lot of time trying to help men "come down from" grandiosity, as he puts it. And to make a shift from hierarchical thinking - either I'm winning or l'm losing - to a relational way of being.
Terry Real: When you shift from that dominant hierarchical thinking to relational thinking, you shift from linear thinking to ecological thinking. You're not above the system, you're a humble subcomponent part of the system, you live inside of it, and it's in your interest to keep it clean and healthy.
You are not above the system, you live in it. You are a sub component of it.
Celeste Headlee: Keeping the system clean and healthy. Whether the system you’re talking about is a relationship – say, a marriage – or whether you’re talking about the literal ecosystem.
The delusion of dominance is also important:
Terry Real: The delusion of dominance over the feminine, including Mother Nature, will kill us. Let me be clear about the stakes. If we continue to believe that we are technologists above the rule of nature, nature will prove otherwise. And the consequences will be severe. And they are coming.
In a similar thought-provoking episode of The Informed Life the discission with Michael Becker on Knowledge Work was really interesting. I really liked
“Value is not created in your output. The output is the byproduct of your value.”
I was interested to hear about Micheal when he discussed output software, and how that output shapes your thinking. I found the "shapeless" way of working in software like Miro, Obsidian and Markdown in general really interesting. Markdown for me has been a game changer, especially being able to write and present your ideas from the same document (see iA Presenter which I used for my HERGA presentation). With our software project I am starting to see that this might be crucial for us to get right and move away from a "locked-in" output we're currently working in.
Binged Season 1 and most of Season 2 of SNAFU this month. I love the story and the topics in both seasons. There's a really great movement and you can see the threads of the story being woven in each episode. I also loved the bonus episode discussion with Rachel Maddow about her Ultra series, which is similar in it's "uncovering" of a historical story.
Also SNAFU the acronym = Situation Normal: All Fucked Up. I'll be using that more.