{"id":537,"date":"2009-01-14T20:15:42","date_gmt":"2009-01-14T20:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theworldcafe.com\/interview-with-nancy-margulies"},"modified":"2015-08-16T02:23:06","modified_gmt":"2015-08-16T02:23:06","slug":"interview-with-nancy-margulies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/interview-with-nancy-margulies\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Nancy Margulies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nancy\"<\/a> World Cafe host (and so much more) Nancy Margulies, interviewed by Nicole Anne Boyer:<\/p>\n

NAB: When and how did you first become involved in TWC?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NM:\u00a0 About the time Juanita and David were figuring this out, they came out to Sundance where Margaret Wheatly was doing a workshop.\u00a0 I was up there working with her, doing workshops on chaos, complexity, and self-organization. She had just written her foundational book Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

When I heard Juanita describe the World Caf\u00e9 as a process and a way of understanding the power of conversation, I immediately said \u201cI want to work with you and support you in any way I can\u201d because we had been talking about this \u201cother way of being together\u201d, of being part of a healthy living system, but didn\u2019t have a a specific way to practice it\u2014 it was all theoretical. To me Open Space and the World Caf\u00e9 were good examples of what Margaret\u2019s theory suggests.<\/p>\n

Juanita and I put a poster together, and I started to illustrate and host caf\u00e9s myself and developed my own variations, like the \u201cPassion Cafes\u201d \u2013 think of Open Space meeting TWC where people define their topics and the caf\u00e9 tables are organized around those topics. And then the Climate Change caf\u00e9 started.\u00a0 I also used TWC in New Orleans to help the recovery process, and then to help people around the country consider what we can learn from what occurred in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

I have a set-up in my home that allows me to host caf\u00e9s as well, which I use for dialogues within my community. So I just got involved.\u00a0 I was sick when Juanita was writing the book, so I feel bad that I didn\u2019t help there, but I just wasn\u2019t available. When I started feeling better, I just got back into it again.<\/p>\n

NAB: What does stewardship mean for you personally? <\/strong><\/p>\n

NM:\u00a0 It means I care for the whole of the World Caf\u00e9 community.\u00a0 I keep an eye on the notion of how we\u2019re doing on the largest scale \u2014 how it\u2019s going out in the world.\u00a0 My particular area of stewardship, what I\u2019m concerned about and interested in, is what I call the \u201cRunaway Caf\u00e9\u201d.\u00a0 That’s where people see the World Caf\u00e9 once and want to host it, but don’t learn and understand the elements needed for a World Caf\u00e9.\u00a0 For instance, they assign a leader to each table, or the have a specific outcome they know in advance.\u00a0 This is a situation where you have people at tables, but it\u2019s not a World Caf\u00e9.\u00a0 The real value is in the guiding principles, and its important that these principles not be lost.\u00a0 So as a steward, I keep an eye out for that.\u00a0 I make myself available.\u00a0 I mentor and coach in setting up World Caf\u00e9s all the time.\u00a0 About once a week I field an inquiry, send some artwork, or help with what questions to ask, and remind them of the elements that make it a world caf\u00e9 versus a table conversation.<\/p>\n

NAB: Why are you a steward?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NM: The World Cafe like an offering, a gift to the world, to help us take the next step in our evolution as human beings.\u00a0 We have the possibility to listen to each other and know that we have the wisdom we need to think together, to become a system that knows that it knows.\u00a0 Instead of homo sapiens, we can become homo sapiens sapiens<\/em>.\u00a0 In other words, we are capable of collective intelligence, we can draw from a shared morphogenic field, and we need know and experience that we can do this.\u00a0 Even [inherent] in casual conversation is the way we create the future\u2014 it frames what\u2019s possible, it motivates us to take action.\u00a0 How we spend our trivial time really matters.\u00a0 For instance, if we spend our time talking about how much we hate our president, to use a recent example, we are creating that kind of negative energy.\u00a0 On company coffee breaks, instead of complaining, we could say, \u201c hey, we are the company, we can explore what the company can become.\u201d<\/p>\n

NAB:\u00a0 What are some of your favorite stories of the World Caf\u00e9 in the field? <\/strong><\/p>\n

NM: When I was hosting a caf\u00e9 at a University last semester, during the break I was talking to the professor.\u00a0 She told me students were complaining to the teaching assistant, so it was clear they were at the rebellion stage.\u00a0 So we used the last round of the caf\u00e9 to talk about this.\u00a0 I explained: \u201cwe\u2019re going to apply the Caf\u00e9 process directly\u2026 we\u2019re going to look at this very class and your experience of it.\u201d\u00a0 The questions I asked were: What’s working? What would you like to see happen? And how can you contribute to making it happen?\u00a0 Well, this changed everything.\u00a0 This reminded them of what they liked, and there was a lot they did appreciate, and what they wanted to add or change was discussed in the context in how they could make it happen. This was a wonderful turnaround.<\/p>\n

Another time in New Orleans, we did a Caf\u00e9 to give people a chance to tell their stories and feel heard. Then we asked them to create a \u201cmap of hope\u201d.\u00a0 We first asked them, \u201cCreate a symbol that represents New Orleans for you.\u201d\u00a0 Then we asked them: \u201cWrite down some of the things you are seeing now that give you hope.\u00a0 Talk to people at the table, and as you listen, add things to your map of hope that give you hope.\u00a0 As you go around to other tables, keep building your map.\u00a0 At the end I suggested they each Look at their maps, highlight one action that can be taken next.\u201d\u00a0 Everyone left in a very different mindset than when they arrived.<\/p>\n

My daughter and I hosted a caf\u00e9 in a small colleague town.\u00a0 The students and the people who lived in the town didn\u2019t get along at all.\u00a0 So our Caf\u00e9 focused on how to live together in collaboration.\u00a0 The results were amazing with so many creative ideas.\u00a0 The art students, for instance, agreed to go to the main street and decorate all of the shops with boarded up windows and put in art installations.\u00a0 The business students then helped the local merchants get more business back on Main Street, and creating businesses tailored to students so they didn\u2019t drive to the next big city.\u00a0 It was a great example of how the Caf\u00e9 enabled people to discover ways to help each other out.<\/p>\n

NAB: What are your current passions and interests? What are you particularly excited about now? <\/strong><\/p>\n

NM:\u00a0 Are you familiar with The Natural Step<\/a>?
\nWell, I\u2019m working with Terry Gips<\/a>, who lives in Minneapolis.\u00a0 Building off the Natural Step, which arrived in North America in the early 1990s, Terry has been going around the country teaching this concept and improving it \u2013 making it more compelling and the science more accessible.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re developing a curriculum for all age groups and all segments within various communities and at the national level.\u00a0 We may do this with Obama\u2019s \u201cGreen Team\u201d and a huge publisher, so we\u2019re partnering for
\nthe largest possibilities.\u00a0 The way Terry teaches is extremely clear and very valuable, and I can make it fun with visuals like animation and clear graphics.\u00a0 The workshops may be followed by Climate Change
\nCaf\u00e9s like I\u2019ve been hosting, and there may be a blog forum as part a larger sustainability initiative.\u00a0 For instance, after Terry does a workshop, we can encourage people to host caf\u00e9s, and discover what it
\nmeans to their community.<\/p>\n

I have a proposal in for Obama to go on TV once a month and pose a question for national conversation and dialogue for people to talk about in their communities, the results of which he would reflect back
\nto the nation. We\u2019ve got a web address already, www.conversations4change.com, which would showcase TWC and other methodologies to help people host their own conversations.\u00a0 We\u2019d then expand the conversation to the international level.<\/p>\n

The first questions are unifying questions.\u00a0 They are about our common values and dreams.\u00a0 None of them would be about handling little details, but more about helping us figure out what we all want for our
\nchildren and the future.\u00a0 These would be Appreciative Inquiry types of questions.<\/p>\n

In order to do this work with Terry Gips, I\u2019ve been learning to do simple and fast animation, combining existing and new techniques. Animations like this are little advertisements for an idea, which are
\neffective and interesting, because they are passed around on YouTube.\u00a0 This is like coming full circle for me because I used to do animation in the 1960s, but that involved painting on acetate.\u00a0 So learning these
\nnew technologies has been quite the learning curve.<\/p>\n

NAB: What inspired you to get back into animation? <\/strong><\/p>\n

NM: The Story of Stuff<\/a> really inspired me, if you\u2019re familiar with this. It was so viral and amazing.\u00a0 Also Playing for Change <\/a>particularly inspired me, which shows different musicians around the world playing the same song, \u201cStand by Me\u201d. That just blew my mind.<\/p>\n

Look what\u2019s possible\u2014 on the iPhone you can download an application called Ocarina<\/a> which plays like a flute.\u00a0 You see on the phone the holes in the shape of a flute and you simply blow into the phone\u2019s mic
\nto make music.\u00a0 And it gets even better.\u00a0 You can look at the iPhone and select a screen that shows a picture of the globe where people are also playing flutes, and you can hear them play\u2014 like Kiko from Japan.
\nIt\u2019s a very powerful visual, the knowing that we\u2019re all playing songs, and that these songs are coming from the same earth.\u00a0 There is a Native American expression that when you are singing, and you stop singing,
\nsomeone somewhere else starts singing at that exact moment\u2014so the song never stops and that we have this continuity, through artistic expression.<\/p>\n

There is also a photo essay on line of young people in a small tribe near Ethiopia, who like to dress up.\u00a0 They use natural dyes and local plants and flowers to make the most sophisticated and gorgeous things,
\nsomething beyond what you\u2019d see in Vogue Magazine.\u00a0 Just seeing all of these faces of African teenagers, being able to see them in their creativity, I\u2019m really stunned by that.\u00a0 We\u2019re able to capture interesting things like this.<\/p>\n

Another short example of something I did on www.spotofgrace.com<\/a>.\u00a0 I just drew while my daughter videotaped me, and I listened an audiotape of my friend, Dawna Markova, telling a story\u2014 a very low-tech sort of thing, but we can now use these tools.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m very committed to sustainability and social justice, and so I don’t want to be flying all over the country with a giant carbon footprint<\/a>.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking for local projects that don’t require me to get on planes.\u00a0 My goal is to fly half as much as the year before.\u00a0 The new technologies make it possible to be connected to other people in the world.\u00a0 People can see what I’m drawing and participate.\u00a0 So we have all of technologies things converging.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also working with Gifford Pinchot at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute<\/a>, where I teach a course.\u00a0 He\u2019s asked me to coauthor a book with him called the Happiness Damage Ratio.\u00a0 This is a way to stop and
\nthink, before we do something, about how much pleasure we\u2019ll get or be sacrificing, or what the impact will be on the earth in terms of damage or restoration.\u00a0 It will be a short an easy book on how to make these
\nkinds of decisions.\u00a0 Part of this is redefining the good life.<\/p>\n

Finally, I\u2019m teaching once a semester at The Presidio School of Management<\/a> as well.\u00a0 We\u2019re doing a Caf\u00e9 this Thursday in fact.<\/p>\n

NAB: What does success look like for TWC, for you, in the future\u2014 say 5-10 years from now, what\u2019s your dream for TWC?\u00a0 How can we bring TWC to its greatest potential?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NM:\u00a0 Success would be that the World Caf\u00e9 is built into the culture as a natural part of who we are with each other.\u00a0 Where Obama will have introduced and opened a space for generative dialogue and appreciative inquiry, which becomes as common as a church social \u2013 on Sundays for instance there might be World Caf\u00e9s.\u00a0 Where we see that this is a way for our culture to get together, to think together, with children and parents and faculty \u2014 the whole system \u2014 using this to gather and share ideas, as a way of learning from one another.\u00a0 In the future, this won\u2019t be unusual.\u00a0 You won\u2019t meet someone and have to tell them what a World Caf\u00e9 is.\u00a0 And the principles will become more obvious\u2014 that the wisdom is within us, that conversation is part of how we create shared meaning.<\/p>\n

Success would be that lots of people have the capacity to host Caf\u00e9s.\u00a0 People will have been taught this in schools, and in business schools it would be at a more sophisticated level so that people who are developing leadership skills understand that leadership is about enabling other people to develop strong relationships, share information and learn from each other.<\/p>\n

I imagine little electric vans available for \u201cCaf\u00e9 To Go\u201d, where place an order and the van comes with all the supplies you need, and helps you set up the Caf\u00e9.\u00a0 There would be also a Caf\u00e9 \u201cOn the Road\u201d, where couples get into alternative energy vehicles and travel around the country, hosting cafes on different topics, and sharing with people what they heard form the last community they visited, creating a network of learning with people feeding good ideas into a central area.\u00a0 This would be all networked via the Internet so that you won\u2019t feel that it was just one, individual conversation, but that the larger network was in communication with itself.<\/p>\n

There would be also physical, \u201cBrick & Mortar\u201d Caf\u00e9s.\u00a0 For instance, there might be a regular caf\u00e9 at a restaurant, or Sunday Brunch, with the topics announced in advance.\u00a0 My daughter did something like this in St. Louis where she hosted caf\u00e9s often for women on topics of special interest to them.<\/p>\n

NAB:\u00a0 Wow! <\/strong>What an amazing vision to end on! Thanks very much for your time and stewardship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Nancy\"<\/a> World Cafe host (and so much more) Nancy Margulies, interviewed by Nicole Anne Boyer:<\/p>\n

NAB: When and how did you first become involved in TWC?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NM:  About the time Juanita and David were figuring this out, they came out to Sundance where Margaret Wheatly was doing a workshop.  I was up there working with her, doing workshops on chaos, complexity, and self-organization. She had just written her foundational book Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World<\/a><\/em>.  <\/p>\n

When I heard Juanita describe the World Caf\u00e9 as a process and a way of understanding the power of conversation, I immediately said \u201cI want to work with you and support you in any way I can\u201d because we had been talking about this \u201cother way of being together\u201d, of being part of a healthy living system, but didn\u2019t have a a specific way to practice it\u2014 it was all theoretical. To me Open Space and the World Caf\u00e9 were good examples of what Margaret\u2019s theory suggests. <\/p>\n

Juanita and I put a poster together, and I started to illustrate and host caf\u00e9s myself and developed my own variations, like the \u201cPassion Cafes\u201d \u2013 think of Open Space meeting TWC where people define their topics and the caf\u00e9 tables are organized around those topics. And then the Climate Change caf\u00e9 started.  I also used TWC in New Orleans to help the recovery process, and then to help people around the country consider what we can learn from what occurred in New Orleans.  <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[723,711,32],"tags":[309,308,310,222,217,41],"class_list":["post-537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate-change","category-interview","category-stewardship","tag-animation","tag-art","tag-climate-change","tag-graphic-recording","tag-nancy-margulies","tag-the-world-cafe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6sDis-8F","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1518,"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions\/1518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldcafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}