Beginnings that keep giving

We noticed a curious phenomenon in a recent Yellow session.

The session began with each participant taking turns to read a few lines from a short text.

Then there was silence.

Then a bit more silence.

And then someone spoke, sharing their own response to what we had read.

Before we knew it, we were off, diving into a riveting, deep, engaging conversation for more than an hour.

We didn’t ask a question to get the conversation started. We didn’t need to. The group began sharing all on its own.

This has happened many times in Yellow. At first, we were surprised by people’s willingness to jump in and go for it. But by now we have learned that there is something here that allows it to happen organically.

There is a notion in complexity science called sensitivity to initial conditions. The idea is that what unfolds within a complex system depends heavily on its starting conditions. The slightest change in the starting point can have a drastic impact on how the system behaves. And not everything is possible – what can happen depends on where it started from.

Now several sessions into this Yellow cohort, the initial conditions are unveiling the possibilities that were inherent within them.

Months ago in the first session, we were careful to tell participants that they are always invited to share their response to what unfolds. Whether it’s resistance or joy, a thought or a sensation, there is no good or bad. There is simply their response.

Also in the first session, we also brought in Johnnie Moore to lead the groups in an Unhurried Conversation. It’s is a light yet deceptively powerful method of facilitating a conversation, where each person takes turns sharing what’s on their mind without fear of interruption. We only use Unhurried in the first session, and don’t explicitly use it or refer to it in later sessions. But the experience of it sits in the background, making up part of the tapestry of the group’s collective experience. It was an initial condition that set the parameters for where we could go in the future.

Also in the microcosm of each session, we take care of what initial conditions we shape on the day. As we convene and begin, we’re deliberate about the mood, tone, and message we’re are trying to support. It’s not a rigid process, yet nor is it random and negligent.

In hindsight, it can all look planned and obvious. But it isn’t. We can’t predict the future more than anyone else, even on a small scale like a conversation. When starting a new journey, we have nothing to go on but our prior experience and our feelings in the moment.

What if in those precious early moments before we begin, a seed of the future is entering into us? Perhaps it’s letting us know, with the faintest of intuitions, what conditions are needed to the cultivate the future that is wanting to bloom.