What does it take to germinate the regional metamorphosis initiative (RMI) meme-seed and grow it into a thriving generative business ecosystem?

Why “Ten Most Wanted”?

* The ultimate success of a regional metamorphosis initiative will be a function of the generative alliances spawned by that initiative. These unpredicted entrepreneural ventures will be born out of “marriages” between the region’s developmental needs/opportunities and those evolutionary entrepreneurs who see these needs/opportunities as their special niche.
* The “Ten Most Wanted Evolutionaries” list is our early imagining of a critical mass and requisite variety of players who could provide the collective capacity to grow a thriving generative business ecosystem in the service of the metamorphosis of a region.
* This list is our prayer and our intent to attract, engage, connect and support those players whose work it is to pioneer the work of regional metamorphosis.
* Check out this early version of our “10 Most Wanted Infinite Players — Our First Casting Call.”

TEN MOST WANTED EVOLUTIONARIES:

Angel Investors — With seed funding there are a number of ways we can begin to get traction in a pioneering region. Ideally, we attract a group of angels who want to become full participants in this journey, providing not only seed funding where needed and justified, but also serving as on-going Stewards for the Future. Our prayer is for angels who will become masters at guiding regional resource flows in a way that maximizes the True ROI on ever-growing entrepreneurial ventures spawned by the RMI opportunity.

Multimedia Story-tellers — The regional metamorphosis movement will evolve through story. The story implicit in this web site is but a skeletal depiction of the possibilities of this movement. The real stories will begin to emerge as growing numbers of evolutionaries throughout begin to embrace and develop the generative possibilites that will rise up as we learn to transform our social systems. Our broad strategy is to support pioneering players from pioneering regions to keep evolving their story of their envisioned journey to an ideal future. As more and more people flesh out this story as their story, we pull this ideal future into the present.

Transformational Leaders are positional leaders (from any sector) who are deeply committed to transform the system(s) they steward, and can marshall the resources to begin such an undertaking.

Champions of Generative Initiatives are entrepreneurial spirits who are deeply committed to a dream that that’s distinguished by its generative ripple potential. Within MISA’s immediate family of generative allies we have several such “champions:”

• The idea for the Academy for College Excellence (ACE) was born in 1999 as founder Diego Navarro envisioned a program through which he could help people in poverty transform their lives through higher education. The program has been extraordinarily successful, showing huge promise for application throughout California and the rest of our nation.
• The Hartnell Center for Sustainable Design and Construction was made possible in 2007 through a unique collaboration of the construction industry and the leadership at Hartnell Community College in Salinas. Mike Thomas provided the entrepreneurial leadership behind this highly successful program with multiple and multiplying benefits throughout the region.
• Pele Rouge Chadima and FireHawk Hulin, carriers of the Earth Wisdom Teachings, co-founders of Resonance, “create ceremony and guide individuals and groups committed to going on a learning journey toward wholeness for themselves, their loved ones and for our world.” The ripples from their work have been profound.
• David Sibbet founded The Grove and has been a world leader in promoting and supporting the growth of visual planning and change for over 30 years. His approach has resulted in generative ripples within and through that field in a way that keeps growing through time and geographies.
• Marilyn Veltrop and I (Bill Veltrop) founded PathFinders in 1999. We have just completed our 12th season of Pathfinder Circles, an innovative developmental experience for those who are ready to take their game to quite another level. All of the above listed “champions of generative initiatives” were importantly influenced by their Pathfinder Circle experiences.

Leader for Center for Regional Metamorphosis — Implicit in a regional metamorphosis initiative is pioneering on-going “purpose-driven action-learning education” for leaders and practitioners throughout that region. This calls for a re-invention of how we normally think about higher education and leadership development. The “Center for Regional Development” is a placeholder name for whatever infrastructure would serve as the center for this re-invention process.

Bridge-builders from Academia — The work of regional metamorphosis is fundamentally an educational challenge. However, our traditional approaches to education are often outdated and ineffective. We need to grow generative alliances with innovative educators. We need to do this in a way that both supports them in re-inventing our educational systems and also draws on the potential of those systems to support the transformation of all of our social systems that shape our culture.

Online Collaboration Web Weavers — As we move through this decade we will increasingly be able to communicate and collaborate across essentially all of today’s boundaries. Technology to support working together remotely and growing ever-improving quality of relationships, agreements and purpose is already available. By 2020 it will have evolved to yet another level of accessibility and functionality. We need to take full advantage of these advances to support growing a region where co-creative collaboration becomes our normal way of being.

Developmental Mavens — The core work of a regional metamorphosis initiative is an on-going educational process we call GALE (Generative Action-Learning Expedition). The GALE strategy is used to kick off a RMI and then is spun out into many different on-going action-learning expedition — GALEs everywhere. A lot of developmental work is involved in bridging from various areas of expertise, translating and transforming that knowledge in a way that best fits the needs of your region. The “developmental maven” is a master translator, bridge-builder and designer of learning processes.

Providers of Generative Services — The providers we want to attract would be a reasonably good fit with the following profile:

• You’ve mastered your craft, whether it be as an organizational consultant, a media whiz, R&D, communications—whatever you might contribute to the success of a regional metamorphosis journey.
• You’ve transcended your ego and are deeply into service — making a lasting difference.
• You’re much more interested in what lives and evolves after your involvement than you are in the applause for the magic of your work.
• You’re a synergy-seeking co-creative collaborator. You love to find ways to bridge to and help multiply the contribution of other interdependent providers.
• You’re able to see and bring forth the uniqueness of whoever you work with.

Regional Conveners — These are conveners who happen to be committed to enhancing the well-being of life throughout their region(s). Here are a few who have already contributed to the emergence of this embryonic regional metamorphosis movement:

• Patricia and Craig Neal of Heartland Circle have been conducting Thought Leader Gatherings in their home Minneapolis/St. Paul region and in the Bay Area for the last 10+ years. Over these years they have grown a community that is becoming increasingly focused on regional well-being. Not only have they mastered their craft, their book, The Art of Convening, is a wonderfully clear and insightful guide to all now and future conveners.
• Celia Wade-Brown — Celia, mayor of Wellington, NZ, helped introduce the regional metamorphosis by hosting breakfast meetings with regional leaders to explore the possiblies for the greater Wellington region.
• Howard Lieberman — Howard, CEO of the Silicon Valley Innovation Institute (SVII) has convened several gatherings to promote/support the possiblity of a Silicon Valley RMI. We are in the early stages of growing a “generative alliance” between SVII and MISA.
• Spencer Critchley — Spencer, managing partner of the Boots Road Group, is deeply committed to transforming the Salinas Valley/Monterey Bay region, and has convened a number of “Imagination Coast” gatherings to promote our movement in service of Salinas Valley/Monterey Bay becoming a truly sustainable region.

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