We live in the age of hyperbole.
A time when understatement seems to be a thing of the past. It’s no longer
sufficient simply to say something was good. It has to be awesome or
mindblowing. And if something is bad, it’s not just bad, it’s “literally the
end of the world”. So, I’m fully aware that what I’m about to type may well be
taken with hefty shovelfuls of salt. You’re going to assume I’m exaggerating.
But I’m not. I promise.
Last week, I had an experience
that was life changing. Literally.
And, yes, I am using that word
correctly...
As we approached the launch of our
crowdfunding campaign for our Satish Kumar Documentaries, I realised that I was
missing out on a key part of the work he has spent his life engaged in –
namely, Schumacher College. Satish was one of the key founders back in the
1990s. It was his original document of intention that set the template for how
Schumacher has progressed ever since. Far more than just a college, Schumacher
is a community, an idea, an ever-changing new paradigm in learning.
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| Old Postern - Schumacher College |
I have been
meaning to do a short course at Schumacher ever since Fern came home after her
first time there totally invigorated and inspired but the timing has never
seemed right. But when Fern and I met with Satish at his home in Hartland in
early February to discuss the documentaries, he happened to mention that
Margaret Wheatley was coming to Schumacher in April to host a short course called 'Leaders as Warriors for the Human Spirit'...
and the die was cast. I had to be there.
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| Margaret Wheatley |
You see, Margaret Wheatley, for
those who have never heard of her, is a truly remarkable woman. Like Satish, Meg is a teacher, an activist, a thinker, a philosopher. Her
revolutionary work in the field of leadership and systems theory offers an
entirely holistic and interconnected way of looking at our means of organising
our world. Her seminal book, ‘Leadership and the New Science’, first published
in 1992, brought together advances in quantum science, biology and chaos theory
to show how hierarchical structures are actually contrary to natural systems
and that chaos, interconnectedness and change are, in fact, the only route to
transforming how we work together. A lifelong teacher and activist, since 1973, Meg has published eight books and worked as a consultant and speaker with every possible type of organisation:
"They range from the head of the U.S. Army to twelve year old Girl Scouts, from CEOs to small town ministers. This diversity includes Fortune 100 corporations, government agencies, healthcare institutions, foundations, public schools, colleges, major church denominations, professional associations, and monasteries. I have also been privileged to work on all continents (except Antarctica). These organizations and people are wrestling with a similar dilemma—how to maintain direction, integrity, motivation, and effectiveness as we cope with relentless turbulence and unending change in this very troubled world." Margaret Wheatley, bio.
Fern’s very first Schumacher
course when she was Fellow for Wales on the Clore Leadership Program was with Meg Wheatley after having read ‘Leadership and the New Science’.
The connections Meg’s work gave to Fern between holistic thinking, systems theory and
leadership lead directly to the creation of Emergence – indeed, emergence as a
theory of how things come into being sits at the heart of Meg’s work. Despite
my desperate resistance to change, Fern’s insistence that I really should take
note of this woman lead me to go to one of Meg’s seminars in Cardiff in 2014.
And to say that I wasn’t disappointed would be a huge understatement... You can see the day for yourself on artplayer. Or, alternatively, here's a brief taste of Meg recorded this past week at Schumacher.
Fern was right, as she so often is. Meg is, as our American cousins might say, 'the real deal'. I saw someone speaking
candidly and openly about the genuine, unvarnished, un-spun problems we face as a race at this time
on planet Earth. A time when we are stuck in old systems, desperate to change
and yet desperate to stay the same, hurtling towards a terrible fate that we
can clearly see yet find impossible to accept. Meg spoke with compassion and real
understanding of the overwhelm so many of us feel at the crushing weight of the
systems we live under, of the sense of lostness we feel, and of how we are
reacting to that by redoubling our efforts to do the same things. As Einstein is famously supposed to have said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting
a different outcome and yet here we are, propping up the failing capitalist
economic growth system again and again, all while it continues to undermine and
destroy the eco-systems that keep us alive.
What particularly struck me about
Meg was that she doesn’t possess a trace of ‘guru-itis’ – she doesn’t insist
that she has all the answers and that one must only ‘do it her way’ to be happy
forever. On the contrary, Meg embraces doubt and uncertainty and thrives on the
cut and thrust of questioning and open conversation. At the heart of everything
she talks about is a deep and abiding faith that “humans can get through
anything as long as we’re together”.
I must admit that I found that
last notion impossible to reconcile myself to after a lifetime of cynicism and
disappointment. However, when Satish said Meg was coming to Schumacher, the
stars seemed to have aligned and I signed up like a shot.
So, how was the course?
I’m not going to tell you. Not
because I want to deprive you of the life changing experiences I had there but
because, frankly, I’m unable to put it into words that would even come close to
encompassing it.
I will say that I sat with Meg and fourteen fellow humans from
all walks of life in the beautiful surroundings of the Dartington Estate and we
shared ourselves with openness, compassion, grace and love. We talked of our
struggles to find sustenance and energy at this difficult time in the world. We
spoke of feeling lost and exhausted. We spoke of our doubts and fears that we
were doing the right work – work that might be of service to others and to
ourselves. We spoke of warriorship – not destructive, aggressive actions against
others but of being brave, of staying, of seeing it through and being there for
each other, fully aware of the pain and suffering around us and not wanting to
add to it. And we spoke of the impermanence of life – the divine beauty in the
small moments of joy and sadness, the blossom and the birdsong and the wind in
the trees.
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| Spring flowers at Dartington |
Oh, and we laughed. My God, how
we laughed. Such delight in each other’s company. I can’t tell you... In the
midst of some of the darkest ideas that Meg challenged us with – letting go of
believing we can change the world, giving up on relying on hope to get us
through – the humour and warmth of the group made it all okay. We laughed till
we cried. The range of Meg Wheatley T-shirts may not be global bestsellers but
they certainly made us chuckle... my personal favourite being a simple ‘Meg
Says No’. Close runners up: ‘The Pope of No Hope’ & ‘We’re All Going To Die’.
I guess you had to be there... I
certainly did. I needed to be there. I couldn’t have been anywhere else. It
literally changed my life. Literally. I am not the same person as I type this
today that I was before I went to Schumacher.
By the end of the week, with
tears in my eyes, I was able to say, hand on heart, I do truly believe one of
Meg’s key maxims for Warriors for the Human Spirit – the one I found impossible
to reconcile myself to last year:
“Our actions embody our
confidence that humans can get through anything as long as we’re together.”
I believe it now. I really do. Because
I feel it in my bones. And it doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s a daily practice to
be compassionate and open and understanding of each other. But I know that it’s
the only thing that makes life bearable. To be together, truly together, with
our fellow creatures – human and otherwise – on this small, fragile blue ball
we call home. It’s the only thing that matters.
That is one hell of
a college...
Towards the end of the week we
headed down to see Satish at The Old Postern on the Dartington Estate where Schumacher College has been based for a
quarter of a century. Our course was in the Elmhirst Centre at Dartington Hall,
a sign of the burgeoning health of Schumacher as it bursts its seams with so
many people wanting to be part of its optimism and paradigm-shifting courses.
In the warm sunshine, Meg and Satish greeted each other as the old friends they are – and two halves of my world became whole.
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| Meg and Satish 16/04/15 |
Schumacher College is a
remarkable place. You should go if you can.
I recommend Meg Wheatley and her
work to you without reservation. Her book, ‘So Far From Home: lost and found in our brave new world’ is an incredibly tough but vital work. On the course we
lovingly referred to it as Meg’s ‘Dark Book’ and we laughed. It won’t make you
laugh... but it could very well change your life...
I leave the last words to Meg in
one of her favourite quotes. And I send it out to my fellow warriors, now all
back in their lives, wondering, like me, if any of that was real.
It was, my
friends, it was.
We were together.
I forget the rest.
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