Brandon is a very bright and energetic problem solver with a deep commitment to Aikido in the world. I think he will do great if anyone can at this challenging time during the unnecessary and intentionally fabricated economic collapse.
Your skills are ideally suited to help non-profits take their next step in vision, from living with an essential idea to realizing its potential in a way that everybody involved gets what they need.
CEO and President of Sagacent Technologies, Silicon Valley
"If you assume that "harmony" pretty much covers all the bases, then your aikido will be oriented a certain way. In my opinion, harmony is an essential aspect, but I believe aiki embraces a much larger field of thought and action. For this reason, I've been a huge fan of Brandon's trademark "aikido is conflict done well." Harmony may or may not be an outcome of aiki. At the same time, I readily affirm that as conflict is done increasingly well, an increase of harmony is almost an inevitable artifact."
Dojocho - Still Point Aikido Center
AH! Now I understand!!! Thanks. You are a patient teacher--a quality I know and appreciate in others.
Retired Teacher
I just thought of a possible gig for you. I've been dealing with this sticky/issue laden interaction in one work relationship. As I was going out to the garage I thought, "Brandon would be the perfect person to de-escalate situations like this." And then I thought what a good fit it would be for you to be an on-call person to go to red line conflicts, and bring things back to sanity.
Elder Care Professional
Brandon was great. Very professional, enjoyable and easy to work with.
Assistant Clinical Professor
UCSF Department of Pediatrics
I found this morning's conversation the absolute juiciest....conflict resolved in a flash....no residual debris. What a rush...We tackle the thorniest issues imaginable...it takes about 5 min.....it's over. Wow. How cool is that?
my Dad
thanks for not saying i was being extreme.
trying to get me to look at what was going well.
by doing that i was able to recover much more quickly.
and this morning have a more balanced perspective on how things are going.
a good friend and colleague
Labels: bdwc, bio, professional, responses
| posted by Brandon @ 7/10/2009 08:24:00 PM
- practicing group facilitation in order to build sustainable communities wherever there is an opportunity (neighbors, non-profits, service clubs, intentional communities, religious groups, businesses, etc.). Professionally, I use variations of the phrase "doing conflict well" in consulting gigs, and aikido is one of my favorite somatic metaphors for learning that process. I use various names for the methods I teach, most of which are clarified at bdwc.net under "Big Ideas."
- proposing to other facilitators that we identify as a field of study and community of practice so we may have a collective impact, of which consequent generations may be proud, on peace-making worldwide.
- treating the larger culture as a community in the making, as though a global, communitarian mythology were being constructed that is psychologically mature and designed to opt out of fundamentalisms.
Labels: bdwc, bio, processarts, professional
| posted by Brandon @ 4/22/2009 09:00:00 AM
to direct focus
wherever it needs to be
right now
in relationship and any agreement
and good to
with strength and flexibility
wherever we have agreed
to make positive changes
My work history is an even mix of special teams assignments and long term relationships for mutual benefit. What I do best is find ways everyone involved in a sphere of influence can get what they need, some of what they want, and want more of the same. Right now I'm working with Aiki Extensions through Association Building Community providing AE's Administration. I'm looking for people who need any of the below:
- a community of support for local training and international peace work, or
- a facilitator for a project or initiative who has learned to develop and communicate cutting edge work, run small non-profits, mediate top-level conflicts and build consensus between differing parties, and is known for unusually effective professional ethics, or
- a highly educated training professional with unique methodologies to offer a dynamic learning process for your organization or non-profit Board, combining systems analysis with martial discipline and performance oriented creativity, or
- an excellent place to collaborate, learn about Aikido and building peace communities, or offer a tax-deductible donation to build the work suggested here.
Labels: bdwc, bio, employment
| posted by Brandon @ 2/19/2008 02:59:00 PM
Brandon D. WilliamsCraig
Culturesmith 
( 8 6 6 ) 2 3 6 - 0 3 4 6
p u b l i c at b d w c dot n e t
Objective:
To partner with your organization and working groups making the transition into dynamic community by making collaboration an art and a pleasure.
Background:
· President and co-founder of Association Building Community 501(c)3 (ongoing)
· Professional Martial Artist, Aikido (Yondan - 4th degree black belt) - Daisempai and Instructor of adults and children for Kayla Feder Sensei (Rokudan - 6th degre black belt) Dojo Cho of Aikido of Berkeley
· Ph.D. candidate Pacifica Graduate Institute: Mythology and Depth Psychology (Jungian) (six years)
· Trained Community Building Facilitator in the method of the Foundation for Community Encouragement, founded by M. Scott Peck
· Guardian of Peace (co-founder, Council, tutor) – a partnership of conflict facilitators
· Administrative Director, including I.T. and web design, for Moving On Center – international School of Participatory Arts and Somatic Research (four years)
· State of California Certified Mediator, organizational consultant, peace activist
· 22 year Professional Regional Theater career – national touring actor, director, teacher, performer, Choir Director and Liturgical Cantor, professional musician,
- Montessori background
Overview
The word Culture applies to individuals and to groups of any size, not simply to societies as a whole.
Every gathering of people brings different stories and histories together, generates, and develops its own culture that impacts every aspect of its collective life. This diversity generates friction, no matter what. Conflict is most often resented and extreme attempts are regularly made to avoid what can be a profoundly creative opportunity.
In the endless movement toward more effective collaboration, areas of life often written off as out of control or off limits are accessible to a process directly engaging a group in terms of its culture. Not everyone is willing to do the hard work required discovering and co-creating truly satisfying work. The only requirement for beginning is the determination to try.
From the moment we begin our dialogue I offer compassionate facilitation as well as modeling the kind of interactions that can develop an organizations ability to be a community of collaborating artists, sharing responsibility for their conflicts as well as their other products. I bring to bear the areas in which I have been proficient longest – my strengths in martial discipline and group facilitation, professional collaborative decision making, inspirational teaching, even music improvisation and performance, to find the road your group can travel together toward mutual investment and shared leadership.
The groups with whom I work form a core that stays together, produces the goals they set, and does so sustainably, with mind, body, and heart. Implementation of proposals and the ensuing process requires time and buy-in from existing leadership. Even if your organization is already in the process of dying - how you close your connections can make all the difference. If your group choses to live the end result can be the most satisfying creative environment any group member has ever known. Imagine the effect on the world we pass to our children if every workplace could lay claim to that. Everything works - is moving to satisfy some need. It is likely you work every day with people who love where they are and what they do. Imagine, hope, and call for change.
Aiki Extensions, Inc. - established in September, 1998 to support and enhance communication among those who apply the practice and principles of Aikido in venues outside of conventional dojo settings.
Aiki Extensions Mission Statement
Aiki Extensions Organization Structure
American Academy of Religion - Founded in 1909, the AAR is the world's largest association of academics who research or teach topics related to religion.
Association Building Community - aspires to be a consensus driven community that practices, develops, and reaches out to spread and take part in the movement toward widespread demand for the Process Arts. ABC houses the nascent Association for Cultural Movement and Education.
Foundation for Mythological Studies - primary objectives: 1) a renewed interest in the cultural heritage of mythologies, 2) the development of an approach to mythology that recognizes inherent spirituality without insistence on adherence to dogma or creed, and 3) the creation of educational projects in the fields of mythology, ecology, and depth psychology. 4) familiarity with and appreciation for mythological stories from various cultures provide a foundation for understanding that is beneficial to a pluralistic society. 5) provide non-faith-based initiatives and programs that are geared toward addressing the growing sense of isolation from each other and from nature.
International Association for Jungian Studies provides a forum and focus for the exciting and important work being done in Jungian and Post-Jungian studies all over the world and is equally (and refreshingly) open to academics, analysts, therapists, practising artists, students and candidates in training.
National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation - (Planning Team) a loose-knit community of practitioners, researchers, activists, artists, students, and others who are committed to giving people a voice and making sure that voice counts. NCDD provides the infrastructure needed in this community so we can work together to increase both our individual and our collective impact.Nexus For Change Conferences (Planning Team and "Thought Leader") - Over 330 participants from more than 20 countries gathered in March 2007 at an unprecedented, sold-out collaboration of practitioners, business & community leaders, social entrepreneurs, students, and activists. Synergies were formed and social networks established through conversations, collective sense-making, and resource sharing. The survey results were positive (70% referral and overall satisfaction with conference and facilities of 3.9). And, there is much room for improvement as well. View survey results at www.nexusforchange.org. After the conference an online community exists that allows us post our work, share information, and follow through on initiatives that emerge from the conference.
Pacific Coast Theological Society - nominated for membership by Huston Smith in 2007 and accepted to this private academic association for "theologians and philosophers interested in theology" which meets at the Graduate Theological Union Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley CA.
Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) is a non-profit organization that was formed in 2001 as a result of a merger of the Consortium on Peace research, Education and Development (COPRED) and the Peace Studies Association (PSA). Both organizations provided leadership in the broadly defined field of peace, conflict and justice studies. We are dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice, and social change. PJSA also serves as a professional association for scholars in the field of peace and conflict resolution studies.
| posted by Brandon @ 3/30/2002 09:43:00 AM
I am a professional facilitator and teacher, and co-founder of Association Building Community. In the 90's I coined and we developed the term " Process Arts" now used widely by Peggy Holman, Tom Devane, Steven Cady, (see this entry for the text from their The Change Handbook), John Abbe, and several others in Organizational Development, psychology, and social justice fields, to refer to the participatory practices which build cultures of change able to work with and through conflict.
Process Arts relate to the kind of education that is essential for democracy and are so named to invoke and parallel the Liberal Arts, as the curriculum of schools around the world already includes practices like conflict resolution and mediation. As an approach to full participation, Process Arts have also proven quite useful in bridging the distance between citizens and representatives, as well as "progressive" and "conservative" groups eager to discuss and have a hand in social changes already in progress.
I have focused on building and articulating my contribution to this work for the past several years, working within our community and Council, obtaining an (almost finished) Ph.D., and contributing to or initiating online and face-to-face projects which are in the process of maturing.
My wife, Lisa, and I lost our 15 month old son, Aidan, for no reason that anyone can tell us, just before Christmas 2006. We left our apartment and employment to pull up stakes and wander the nation for several months so that our fundamental sense of homelessness might find a place to become more authentic and less something to be repressed. As often happens in transitions of this scope our financial situation became rather tight and the need to connect and continue working is stronger than ever.
I hope you will invite me to visit you and hear about your work. I'd also be happy to:
- facilitate conflicts so that all needs are met and several wants are satisfied,
- demonstrate how Aikido applies to everyday conflicts,
- introduce improvisational techniques for expanding creative responses to difficult situations
- re-energize meetings and work-sessions
- initiate mythological culture-study specifically for your group's growth,
- provide in-service training,
- present any of these ideas publicly or consult privately, and
- carefully consider your needs and those of the people in your sphere of influence.
I have thousands of hours in group process, hundreds of those as a mediator or facilitator, and would be more than happy to offer process options, help plan, or be available for back-up of whatever kind is needed. Humor is a prominent feature in my offerings and deep echoes of grief and re-creation often surface and find a place to rest or move while the process continues.
I also work with large groups to create conferences and seminars. ABC has a Saving Sounds project in partnership with Conference Recording Service, collecting audio and visual records of the Process Arts as they develop, so I record conferences for part of my living. I manage teams of conference recording professionals and would be happy to connect you with CRS or lend a hand in any capacity to make an event run more smoothly. I have been planning, directing, and providing security for events and presenting in public for over thirty years, and would also be happy to provide event coordination assistance as part of your existing team.
Left entirely to my own devices I like to hang a sign somewhere everyone can see that says something like "dilemmas, disagreements, and differences welcome here" and just see who joins in. I'm ready to plant the seeds, or offer water or warmth to grow your ongoing, auto-critical practice so that daily work becomes a pleasure and post-event or crisis debriefs become more rich in the authentic details necessary to improve for next time. Ask me how!
public at bdwc dot net
Toll Free (866) 236-0346 voice mail and fax
Direct to my PC (510) 96-bdwc1 (510) 962-3921
| posted by Brandon @ 2/07/2002 08:02:00 PM
Brandon's community building interactions geared for work with Boards are scalable and take specifically shaped forms:
- A three hour Associative Inquiry (sm) workshop in which the group's goals are set up for success through a thematic review of group history and identifying ongoing dynamics to create a shared vocabulary and process tool-set. This work is based on clarifying creative tensions between group roles, identity, and themes and will set the stage for working together by clarifying how the gravity of opposed ideas can pull an organization apart.
- A full day Working Group moving from an identity process similar to the AsIn workshop. This group uses the process tools created to spark shared creativity and lay the foundation of a platform for action.
- A two or three day Community Building retreat which goes deeper into inquiry and identity work each day but also builds shared expectations for testing and feedback over time and ends with both process and task related agreements specifically designed to create an envisioned future.
All decision-makers agree to the premises outlined herein and guarantee to be fully present. One no-show or unapproved departure while in process will result in an immediate transition to a brief and informal meeting for a closure in whatever way is of greatest benefit to the remaining participants.
Ongoing Context Agreement: an "already in process" framing into a "Three Act" format. The history of the group is Act One. Our work together must be understood as Act Two - the potentially tiring and difficult "middle ground" requiring experienced facilitation because it is of paramount importance to make an art of the process by caring about how we do what we do. The easily tapped energies of beginning and ending are out of sight for the moment. Act Three will be the follow-through after the work is complete and is entirely the responsibility of the group unless an ongoing service agreement has been reached in advance. Insisting on an authentic and thorough Act Two makes your project look less like Big Budget Explosions cinema with inflated beginnings and explosive surprises that benefit a very few... and more like resolving the tensions of natural human drama so that there can be a happy ending.
Unless the gathering is specifically a Class related workshop for a marginalized group, all funds are agreed upon up front, paid in advance, and not tied to outcome. Fees for serving organizations are based on a sliding scale beginning at $100/hr for people both serving a marginalized group and aligned with Association Building Community's goals. For organizations meeting neither criteria fees are loosely based on 1% of the served organization's gross budget and may include additional facilitators, printed materials, in-process training, and an ongoing web-enabled follow-through tracking process.
A three hour Inquiry Workshop would prepare you for taking truly effective steps toward shared success using the new tools at your disposal. These tools will help frame your vision-making process by addressing the completely natural and creative underlying tensions that result in misunderstandings and 'larger issues' that remain at least partly unconscious, interfere with work, and frustrate decision-making.
Since you are aware of the danger of scattering your energies, losing focus, slowing down to the point that nothing gets done, I hope you will deliberately learn these new language and method tools together, and then practice them. Then I hope you will move vigorously into Chapter 3 with the goal of becoming an even more effective team by creating a powerful common vision and a time line of purpose.
Chapter 2 possible date? Let me know several preferences by email to brandon at processarts.net
Warm regards,
Brandon WilliamsCraig | posted by Brandon @ 2/06/2002 12:41:00 AM
