What do we do?

We help complex social systems (e.g. regions, cities, large organizations and foundations) grow their capacity for ‘chrysalis work’ – purpose-driven, paradigm-shifting, continually-evolving systemic learning and change.

Our primary approach to working with any system is to co-design and help implement a Generative Action-Learning Expedition (GALE) within that system.

We typically start with a GALE Leadership Intensive – an introductory transformational experience designed to equip 18-24 leaders/practitioners to play pioneering roles in shaping and implementing a startup strategy for their system’s transformational journey.

We serve as —

• Guides on this extraordinary action-learning quest
• Social architects of new developmental infrastructures (chrysalis work) required to support the ‘metamorphosis’ of the system
• ‘Companions of destiny’ — sharing a quest for a world that works for all life
• Generative allies to those ‘stewards for the future,’ developmental entrepreneurs and ‘providers of generative services’ who together will create a ‘generative developmental ecosystem’ — a marketplace intended to support our transition into an Age of Conscious Evolution.

The following FAQ helps further clarify what we do:

What do we do?
How do we do it?
Who are we?
10 Ways We Create Value
What do we mean by ‘chrysalis work?’
Why is the ‘capacity for systemic chrysalis work crucial?’
What is our mojo?
How is GlobalGEA structured?
What is our business model?

How do we do it?

Our primary approach to working with any system is to co-design and help implement a Generative Action-Learning Expedition (GALE) within that system.

GALE can be seen as a unique developmental strategy designed to grow the systemic capacity for chrysalis work — purpose-driven, paradigm-shifting, continually-evolving systemic learning and change within a system — in a way that continually increases the system’s contribution to the wellbeing of all life impacted by that system.

The design of each GALE is tailored to the specific culture and needs of the system(s) involved. A typical GALE usually starts with a GALE Leadership Intensive – an introductory transformational experience (a mini-GALE) designed to equip 18-24 leaders/practitioners to play pioneering roles in shaping and implementing a startup strategy for their system’s transformational journey.

NOTE: An important part of the GALE strategy is growing a vibrant marketplace connecting transformational leaders and generative initiatives with that expertise most relevant to and efficacious for their developmental journey.

Who are we?

Max Shkud and Bill Veltrop serve as instigating leaders of MISA’s GlobalGEA initiative. We are a growing community of transformational leaders, champions of generative initiatives, providers of generative services, stewards for and investors in a future that works for all life, for all time.

We choose to believe that the root cause of our myriad local and global crises lies in the flawed/unconscious design of our social systems. Collectively our systems are caterpillar-like — myopic, focused on growth and consumption. Essentially all of our social systems (governance, finance, education, health care, commerce, agriculture, media, etc.) share the same design flaws.

We choose to believe that the growing global crises are a clear signal that the time has come to address the root causes, and to learn to transform our social systems in ways that reverse those pervasive design flaws:

1. Redefine ‘success’ in terms of systemic contribution to the wellbeing of all life affected by those systems.
2. Design for control with people vs. control over people
3. Design these systems with the capacity to self-evolve in ways that best address ever-changing challenges and opportunities.

GlobalGEA is a commitment to promoting and supporting a societal metamorphosis throughout our planet.

10 Ways We Create Value

1. Holding the highest vision for our social systems and humanity as a whole — a Blue Star Future — compelling, audacious and (if we shift a few key paradigms) attainable.
2. Finding ways to help cities, regions and organizations grow their capacity to support their metamorphosis — their journey toward their version of a Blue Star Future. This involves developing local expertise, infrastructure and resources that will best support that journey.
3. Fully investing our selves and our unique ‘experiential, spiritual, social and intellectual capital,’ in those cities, regions and organizations blessed with pioneering leadership committed to multiply their lasting contribution to the wellbeing of all life they impact.
4. Co-evolving pragmatic, low risk, high leverage first steps toward their version of a Blue Star Future vision.
5. Serving as ‘architects and guides’ in supporting the planning and execution of those first steps.
6. Identifying and building on existing initiatives in ways that can multiply their lasting contribution to the wellbeing of the life they touch.
7. Identifying, engaging, appreciating, challenging and developing providers of ‘generative change methodologies’ in a way that best supports regional, city and organizational metamorphosis.
8. ‘Seeing’ and calling out the special genius in individuals and their organizations. Every city, region and organization has the potential to multiply its lasting contribution to the wellbeing of life they impact. The same is true of the individuals that make up those social systems. Where there is commitment to unleash that capacity, we are committed to helping them ‘make it so.’
9. Growing local expertise, developmental infrastructure and the relevant forms of capital needed to sustain this special journey.
10. Co-creating and co-evolving generative alliances in the service of all of the above.

We are not in the business of improving ‘caterpillar effectiveness.’ Nor are we in the business of ‘butterfly design.’ What we are best for the world at is helping complex social systems become masterful at chrysalis work — at all levels of system.

What do we mean by ‘chrysalis work?’

Chrysalis work involves the creation of safe “containers” in which individuals, groups and systems can transform themselves and the systems they inhabit. Read this post to gain some insight into the nature of chrysalis work, its key design principles and ripple effects.

Chrysalis work varies dramatically as a function of the size, complexity and nature of the social system involved. In the case of complex social systems (e.g. large organizations/institutions, cities and regions), chrysalis work involves growing and evolving special developmental infrastructures – special ‘scaffolding’ – that support the system in the deep learning and emerging newness implicit in its transformational journey.

We see chrysalis work as the missing link required to consciously evolve our social systems in a way that will best serve all life.

Why is the capacity for ‘systemic chrysalis work’ crucial?

The capacity for systemic chrysalis work is crucial when the nature, depth and complexity of change call for a true metamorphosis of the system – when the system’s stories, structures and behavioral patterns must be reinvented to fit the new purpose and new paradigms.

GlobalGEA’s commitment is to support and guide complex social systems through a deep metamorphosis – from mechanistic/myopic to consciously evolving blue-zone social organisms, from caterpillar-like to butterfly-like.

Chrysalis work is distinct from more traditional, incremental approaches to change that in most cases aim to make the existing system more effective at what it already does.

What distinguishes chrysalis work from other approaches to change and transformation?

While our systemic chrysalis work includes and builds upon some of the [more generative] traditional approaches to organizational learning and change, it is distinct in the following ways:

• It facilitates and supports a metamorphosis in every aspect of the system’s functioning – its purpose, values, relationships, agreements, structures, patterns and outcomes
• It aims to grow generative B/C-work capacity within the system – rather than relying on a variety of specialized change methods delivered by external practitioners
• It is 10X commitment-based for all participants — every step of the way
• It embraces action-learning as a key design principle. Action and learning are multiplicative: All learning in service of generative actions; all actions designed to generate learning ripples
• It is wholeness-centric — learning and developing from wholeness toward wholeness, every step of the way. It transcends the separatist philosophies, ideologies, designs and practices endemic to most all of today’s social systems
• It embodies a Blue Star Future — is a collective commitment to evolve Blue Zone relationships and agreements among its participants and in all of its immediate and extended stakeholder families
• It is designed to become self-sustaining, self-regulating, self-propagating and self-evolving
• It is designed to maximize generative ripples both within the system and extending to other allied systems
• It is thus truly capable of supporting and guiding the system through a deep metamorphosis – from mechanistic/myopic to a consciously evolving social organism, from caterpillar-like to butterfly-like

What is our mojo?

Our magic lies in our ability to see the unique genius within individuals and social systems, and to co-design the chrysalis experiences that enable those individuals and systems to learn how to discover, develop and unleash that extraordinary potential.

In the Industrial Age we learned economies of scale. The Digital Age has introduced us to economies of scope. We’re entering a planetary era where our capacity to survive and thrive is dependent on our embracing economies of wholeness — where we awaken to who we are as co-creative beings and who we can become as conscious, caring social entities. Our mojo lies in our capacity to support systems in realizing these ‘economies of wholeness.’

It is becoming clear that our future capacity to survive, much less thrive, as a species depends on developing the capacity of our social systems (education, finance, heath care, governance, etc.) to shift from their myopic growth and consumption-centric caterpillar-like state to becoming butterfly-like, beautiful forms that co-create with their environment.

How is GlobalGEA structured?

We might best be described as an emerging network of generative alliances. These alliances all share the vision of evolving our social forms in ways that best move all cities, regions and planets toward a Blue Star Future — a commitment to promote and support societal metamorphosis — a movement toward an age of consciously evolving social forms.

What is our business model?

Implicit in each generative alliance is what we refer to as a ‘WeBe Agreement,’ an agreement to find the most generative ways to mutually support the wellbeing of each other and the alliance itself as an integral part of the work of the alliance.

Our goal is to approach the mutual nurturance design challenge in ways that —

• Respect the unique needs and appreciate the unique contributions of each party to the success of the initiative
• Maximize the generative ripples of all kinds that flow from this alliance (including the ripples from the nature of the WeBe Agreement itself — think ‘sacred economics’)
• Best ensure that all parties are delighted with the results from the agreement

Possible Business Model for when in generative alliance with a pioneering city, region and/or organization:

Phase 1 — GALE Leadership Intensives

• Exploratory conversations — No fee
• Field visit (3 person team) — Out of pocket expenses + modest honorarium
• 5-Day Leadership Intensive(s) — Mutually agreeable lump sum + expenses covering design and delivery of initial Intensives(s)
• Follow up conversations — No fee

Phase 2 — ‘Wisdom Accelerator Gathering’ following the Intensive(s)

• Exploratory conversations — No fee
• Detailed strategic planning for WAG event — Lump sum or per diem
• Wisdom Accelerator Gathering — Mutually agreeable lump sum + expenses covering design and delivery of WAG

Phase 3 — Startup and Demonstrate Developmental Teams

• Retainer fee for 6 months
• Evaluate and repeat for 2^nd 6-month period, etc.

Phase 4 — Scale Throughout City/Region/Organization — Fees TBD based on to-date experience

Hypothetical Example for Phase 1:

1. Several progressive leaders want to explore the possibility of regional metamorphosis for their home region.
2. They contact Bill and/or Max and engage in exploratory conversation to co-imagine how they might ‘bootstrap’ such an initiative — how they might co-evolve a plan/story that would attract a critical mass and requisite variety of players and resources to take the first step on what could become the journey of their life times.
3. They invest in bringing a small GlobalGEA team to the region for face to face ‘conversations for relationship, possibility, opportunity and action.’
4. In this hypothetical example, the f2f coming together yields —

• A strategy for video and/or audio interviewing highly visible/credible players in a way that 1) begins to grow a Blue Star Vision for the region, 2) creates media artifacts for both local and GlobalGEA.net utilization, 3) educates and engages these prospective evolutionary architects (PEAs) in a way that grows their sense of ownership for the initiative.
• Appreciation for the kinds of capital needed to begin this regional initiative, and plans for attracting that capital.
• A solid foundation for continuing to grow a generative alliance between GlobalGEA and this core team of regional stewards.
• A clear plan for proceeding with ‘Phase 1’ of their regional metamorphosis initiative.

5. First cohort attracted
6. GALE 5-Day Intensive
7. Harvest learnings from joint experience to date
8. Decide on next steps

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