Art of Dynamic Competence: Creating Success in Changing Times

 In Episode 44, we're building on this background and talking about Deborah Nielsen's new book, Breaking Whole; Holding On, and Letting Go. We'll dive into the inspiration behind the title and what it means to us as we explore our own Dynamic Competence Most importantly, we'll talk about her concept of integrative bridging. It's a way to identify and acknowledge three universal aspects to all of us the adult, the little child, and the wise one. 

 In Episode 43, we'll explore the power of the divine feminine, not in how she steps into the openings within the dominant culture, but rather what happens when these openings close. Listen for the ways Alison talks about how these dialogs mirrors our own personal work. At first, openings, and then the closings as our ego structures and our instinctual ways of being rise up and try to re-establish the homeostasis of cultural norms.

Episode 42 is the first part of our interview with Alison Hine on her new book, "A Journey of Inquiry through the Gospel of Mary Magdalene." We explore how Alison is able to enliven and intensify our understanding of Mary Magdalene in the first two dialogs of the Gospel. She provides an opening to   a new understanding of the archetype of the divine feminine, weaving cultural context and her own musing with the translation of the Gospel.  

In Episode 41, we continue our conversations with Dr. Kerri Welch, we're utilizing these quantum mechanical concepts to explore our sense of the past, present, and future experiences and how they manifest within us. As we oscillate between satisfaction and desire, we also have the potential to feel different manifestations of time. And from this, we can begin to explore the differences between life as a separation from things and life as a journey that is unfolding. 

In Episode 40, we are joined by Dr. Kerri Welch who guides us through a conversationabout the quantum mechanical concepts of fractals, wave function collapse, and entropy and how they relate to different qualities of time.  If you are not interested in exploring the podcast from a scientific perspectives, we would like to encourage you to sense into the stories that we're telling. See what arises for you as you're listening to the back and forth of the discussion.   See how we dance with these quantum mechanical concepts as they play with our notions of experience, awareness, and self awareness. Dr. Welch got her degree from California Institute of Integral Studies, and her work considers the philosophy of temporal perception, physics, and time. Kerri continues to teach at CIIS in the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness and resides much of the year on the Washington State Peninsula. Kerri has an incredible way of explaining quantum mechanical concepts that lets us explore different ways of experiencing time. Especially as we move across different dimensions of scales and different structures of consciousness. 

In Episode 39, we are exploring a really interesting book that Susan found, A Demon Haunted Land: Witches, Wonder Doctors, and the Ghosts of the Past in Post WWII Germany. Written by Dr. Monica Black (Univ Tenn), the book explores the impacts and trauma of the German's WWII defeat on its people. In the podcast, we will explore ways that the trauma expressed itself and how ordinary Germans cope with this trauma.  What we found fascinating about Dr. Black's research was the applicability of the German's issues and outcomes in today's tumultuous world. Combined with Carl Jung's essay, After the Catastrophe, we gain insight into our own "moral inferiority" and how transformation requires this deeper understanding before we can begin again anew. At University of Tennessee, Dr. Black is a historian of Modern Europe. As such, she provides us with deep, rich insights into her historical research process, actually providing us with ways to explore the history within our own lives. 

In Episode 38, we are joined by Steve Goyer and Dennis Whittle, a minister and an entrepreneur, who walk regularly, contemplating what is working and not working in today's religious organizations. We wanted to talk with them about their walks and explore what has arisen from their conversations. As we interviewed them, it was clear that Steve and Dennis were giving us a peek at their own dynamic competence as they wrestled with this question of what a new church might look like for them, both internally and externally. Steve Goyer is the current interim Pastor at Riverside Presbyterian Church in Jax, Fl.  He has been a Senior pastor at Presbyterian Churches in Charlotte, NC, Atlanta Ga, and Jacksonville Fl. Steve retired in 2019 and was asked to stay on the interim Paster and is retiring again this year…we'll see how that goes. We know many of his congregational members and Steve is a beloved figure in the church. His humbleness and devotion to his community, combined with his porousness to new ideas and approaches provides the vessel for a rich connection to the spiritual.Dennis Whittle is a very successful entrepreneur who has spent many years focusing on entrepreneurship for good. He is the founder and president of The Whittle Group and facilitates a number of wide ranging networks that focus on global issues of change to local citizen feedback loops. Steve has worked globally as Economist, including a stint at the world bank and continues to share his knowledge as a visiting lecturer and fellow at top universities and non-profits, like the Center for Global development. A funny story, while we were working on the podcast, Dennis took a week off and sent a photo to us of him sitting with Yo Yo Ma, discussing social entrepreneurism, I perfect way to capture the seriousness and influence of Dennis as well as the fun he has with life.  

Welcome to the Art of Dynamic Competence. I'm Susan Clark. Join me and my       brother Thomas May for season four of our podcast as we apply what we have been exploring over the last three seasons.  We hope to dive deep into Dynamic Competence and allow it to expand into new ways of living our daily lives. This work is not always easy, but can be truly fulfilling, allowing us to better relate to the situations we find ourselves in and encouraging us to take on the hard work we all need to do. Based on the great feedback we have been getting from our listeners, we're shifting our format a bit. This season, both Tom and I are inviting you into our prep for these sessions, sharing how we learn from each other, seeing how to bring new felt senses, new insights into our conversations.We have been really exploring the porosity, the openness, of our mental maps, also our left brains, our conceptual world, as we feel into these fluid stories that we are sharing with you. This approach has had a profound impact on both of us over the last years and we now understand how much you are sensing that in your comments to us.  So, let's see what arises!

In this podcast we are sharing an introduction to the new 3x3 matrix that he is calling "I'm Where?" We have been exploring how Tom has been merging our work in Dynamic Competence, with this wonderful, light way that Jean Gebser's writings are exploring the worlds that we live in. This podcast came together as an amazing intro to why Tom created this matrix and the impact of Gerber's writing on this life and work. For all you exploring new ways to live into this world, this is an amazing example of the impact of all this work. As a highly successful Corporate Executive overseeing multiple billions of dollars of assets and thousands of employees, Tom has huge influence over the transitions that our corporations and culture are currently undergoing. Listen to how Tom is exploring new ways of engaging people and his work and how his view of the world and our place in it is changing. 

Welcome back to the next podcast in a series where we are asking the question, “I'm Where?” This week my cohost Tom May takes us on a deeper journey into the matrix that he created, linking metacognitive principles developed by Mary May (Instinctual, Intentional, and Integral). With three of Geber's structures of consciousness., Magic, Mythic, and Mental. If you want a visional aid, go to our website at dynamiccompetence.com and look under podcasts 34 or 35. You can also download a copy there.  

In Episode 34,  we're doing something a little different. From the last sessions, Tom May has pulled together a matrix that he is now using in his work and life. We thought that we might share it with you and see how you might refine it with us. Tom was inspired to combine the original metacognitive work by our mother Mary May with the new work that I have been doing with Jeremy Johnson on Jean Gebser's book, Ever Present Origin. You can download Tom's matrix from our website at dynamic competence.com under Season 3 podcasts, Session 34 if you want to look at it. Think of a box with 3 columns and 3 rows. At the top of the columns three of Gebser's structures of consciousness, Magic, Mythic, and Mental are listed. At the end of the rows three metacognitive perspectives, Instinctive, Intentional, and Integral are arranged top to bottom. For this podcast, Tom is presenting these structures of consciousness and perspectives from the unique way that he processes this information. Of course, this is only one way of looking at it. Next time, we will dive deeper into what is inside of this matrix. Take a listen and see what you get from it. 

In this episode, we're talking with Fred Sigman. Fred is an acclaimed photographer who also worked with Will Roger on his Handbook for a Burning Age and contributed several essays to the book. Fred currently resides in Cambodia teaching remotely, hosting tours, and writing a book on Angkor Wat the largest temple structure in the world. I recorded a long interview with Fred that ranged from Asian religious history, core understandings about photography and the focus of his work, as well as other personal experiences. If you are interested in more information, we will provide links to the rather impressive range of his work from our website. For this podcast, we narrowed down the discussion I had with Fred to emphasize our current  exploration of what we call “integral” or “spiritual”, or the integration of multiple perspectives, especially our latent understandings of magic and mythic with our predominate mental structure of today. What Fred allows us to talk about is how the huge historical context of Angkor Wat might relate to the integral and spiritual in our everyday lives. 

In Part 2 of Will's Podcast. As I have alluded to, I am working a lot in understanding how deeper, latent knowledge that we have (magic and mythic) can help us function from a more integrated whole.  In a class that I am hosting, we are exploring how our magic and mythic perspectives/cultural structures dance with our mental conceptual world to create this integral understanding and being. Many philosophers, religions, and practices incorporate aspects of this dance, but Jean Gebser drives right to it. He states that there are four differentiated cultural structures, magic, mythic, mental, and integral.  We live in the magic, you experience the mythic, and each of us creates our own conceptual understanding in the mental. And the integral is the efficient interweaving, backleaping, blending, oscillation, etc. between these structures/perspectives. Gebser, along with many other thinkers and writers, then states that our current over emphasis on the power of the mental to structure our lives and solve our problems is deficient and failing us. It is this integral approach that will help us reimagine our world and help us move through this pinch point, over this threshold, and better survive and thrive in the coming times.In Will's second part of his podcast, we can tease out those magic and mythic elements that are so important in waking up to new ways of seeing the world and ourselves in it. 

Will Roger Peterson is a co-founder of Burning Man and current is a Senior Advisor to the Fly Ranch Project. His life journey has been to understand this thing we call "integral; a way of being in the world that integrates multiple perspectives and frees us up to be, as Will says, "who we really are." We were introduced to some of the basic concepts that Will lives by in Episode 9. In Part 1 of this current podcast, we return to our conversations with Will to talk about some images and thoughts he presents in his new "Handbook." Ways of being that can help us live in what Will calls, "this Burning Age."

We are joined today by Michael Hogan. Michael originally joined us way back in Episode 5 of our podcast. We asked Michael back for several reasons. With all the fires in the Western US, a lot of money is being invested in post-fire work and a lot of folks are needed to help with the clean up and restoration efforts. These folks often have varying degrees of understanding and ability to implement methods that can have a positive impact on forest health as we move forward. Michael has also been the go-to guy for difficult and challenging restoration projects in the Western US. Michael's approach is not a formula, but rather a way of being that integrates the best scientific knowledge with the uniqueness of a oven location. His approach can really inform us regarding the integral elements of Dynamic Competence.  An finally, now that Michael is mostly retired, our goal is to get him to really reflect on his incredible career, pulling our aspects that can help us get to effective long term goals for our forest health and gain insight in his integral perspectives. 

In Episode 28, we are joined by two young architectural professionals who have been asked to participate in, as well as lead, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within their firms. Jayla Huseyn and Chris Roberson come from diverse backgrounds. Jayla is Middle Eastern and Chris is an African American who originally hailed from Chicago. They both received their Bachelors of Architecture at University of Houston and are currently employed at substantial architectural firms in Huston. As you will hear in the podcast, DEI can become a heavily charged initiative within companies, fraught with a lack of understanding about DEI, its purpose, and even a lack of real desired outcomes. DEI conversations can make us very uncomfortable and even threatened. But from a Dynamic Competence lens, there are ways that we can engage DEI that is more inclusive and allows us to address more deeply questions of equity and inclusion. In the podcast, we will explore the techniques and tools that Chris and Jayla are exploring and testing in real time as well as new ways framing the issue. 

In the second part of his podcast, we dive deeper into integral teaching  with Ryan Derby-Talbot. From Quest University in Canada to Fulbright University of Vietnam, we will explore Dr. Derby-Talbot's adventures in building structures that support faculty and students as they immerse themselves in profound learning environments. 

As we start Season 3, we are so happy to have Ryan Derby-Talbot join us on our podcast. Ryan received his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin in Mathematics. He is a well-published and quite accomplished theoretical mathematician. We recently spent the weekend with Ryan and he graciously explained his research in low dimensional topology in a language that we could not only understand, but could see the elegance of his work. In his first podcast, we will explore his "accidental career" and how he stumbled into integral methodologies that have infused his teaching and administration. 

In Season 3, we explore some integral and integrating aspects of Dynamic Competence allowing us to better relate to the situations we find ourselves in and the hard work we all need to do.  Join Susan and Tom as they set up the context for Season 3. 

Deborah Jean Nielsen Honoring the Child 3/2/2222Susan Clark: [00:00:00] Well, welcome, Deborah, to the Art of Dynamic Competence. Deborah Nielsen: [00:00:03] Thank you, Susan. So glad to be here with you. Susan Clark: [00:00:06] It's great having you. We chose as a topic today to really talk about Self. I'd like to start out by having you explore why it is that we're talking about Self on this podcast called The Art of Dynamic Competence. Deborah Nielsen: [00:00:20] That's that's a good place to start, because from my perspective, it's not Self in the sense of let's be self centered, it's Self in the sense of what is our idea of what a Self is. The way I'm thinking about is from the inside out, right, looking at what is our core Self, what is that which drives us gives us a perspective of how to see the world, how to become more dynamically competent by grounding into really our core self more; so that gives you some idea. Susan Clark: [00:01:02] Great. And so as we get into this, I'd like for you to explore a little bit for our listeners. What are these aspects of Self that you feel are so critical that we're looking, we're going to explore today? Deborah Nielsen: [00:01:16] I think of it as the three key Self aspects, and they are universal. They are absolute. It is the adult, the child and the wise self. The adult is what is the operative daily Self who has the ability to choose actions, words, direction, path. Susan Clark: [00:01:43] Would you call that the more rational one? Deborah Nielsen: [00:01:45] Well, yes, but not only rational but absolutely rational is an important part. Yes. So the adult has the ability to make a rational decision about, OK, what is my course of action? Absolutely. Where the child might be smart, but not necessarily rational. Susan Clark: [00:02:06] So tell me a little bit about the wise one. Deborah Nielsen: [00:02:08] The wise one is intuition, moral compass, sense of just knowing without being able to explain exactly why I know. And it's also the bigger vision, the bigger picture. And so when we are stressed, sometimes in my experience, I've had that sense of, oh my gosh, it's like tunnel vision here. When we open up and can access the wisdom, there's a much bigger picture. We can see the broader vision of not only our own impact in our life, but how we're impacting others and how they're impacting us and what our sense of purpose can be, for example. Susan Clark: [00:02:54] Well, what is the role of this child, this little one? Connection, maybe to the wise one or going beyond our normal, rational functioning? What's the importance of this child? Deborah Nielsen: [00:03:07] The child Self has natural, beautiful, essential qualities, for example, the ability to just bond to build trust. That is what I believe. We're just born with ability to connect and trust. Unquestionably, then the child has wonder, or which is just like, Wow, Oh, Look at this tree, look at these leaves, look at this flower. It's just like everything's amazing. That opens up to a different kind of learning. And then also spontaneity, being able to just be in the flow. Mm hmm. Some days, of course, we're going to have crunchy, stressful days. But when we're in a flow, that's where what the child can easily access. So the child part of us can help us get into the flow. The child part of us can help us learn in a more holistic way. The child self can help us be creative. Susan Clark: [00:04:20] Well, does the child self then help us become more operational as adults? Deborah Nielsen: [00:04:26] Absolutely. And part of why the little self helps us to become more operational is

We finished last year with Steve Goyer's story of how the traumatic loss of his wife helped him begin to experientially understand the difference between Beliefs that we hold onto and the development of a whole new Faith and Trust in God as well as the world we live in. In Episode 25,  we start this year with Eileen Hamra's story of how the tragedy of her husband's untimely death just before Christmas created opportunities for her to continue to open up to what is possible, create the space for her to really lean into experiencing things anew, including those magical bits that exist in the liminal spaces in our lives. Eileen was ultimately able to reconstruct her family into something totally new and beautiful. In her book, “Time to Fly” Eileen encourages us not only consider that it is time to fly in our own lives, she provide wonderful guiding examples with us of what that looked like for herself and her family. 

In Episode 24,  we are joined by Dr. Stephen Goyer, who is one of the more amazing Pastors that I have recently met. Steve received his Doctorate at the Union Theology Seminary in Virginia and was the Minister of a Church in Jacksonville Florida. Although he is officially retired as a Pastor, Steve continues to do incredible work as a spiritual and grief coach to individuals and families. After our interview, I can see why. As Steve and I talked, it became clear that the gratitude with which he lives in his life, is both hard won and at the same time, critical to his ability to help others find that place of gratitude in themselves. One of my questions to Steve was, given the world that we live in, and the reduced interest in organized religion, what kind of church and ministry does he think we need in order to begin to move beyond the angst, anxiety, and hatred that swirls around us every day.  

Today we are joined by Chip and Laynette Evans. After the 2016 election, Chip and Laynette, along with a handful of progressive activists, founded Indivisible Northern Nevada. From their website, Indivisible is a nonpartisan, volunteer organization focused on advancing humanitarian values through applying consistent, informed and ongoing pressure, primarily on our members of Congress.Under the umbrella of the Northern Nevada Chapter if Indivisible, Chip and Laynette developed a new project known as the Issue Voters Project, to encourage like-minded voters who are neither registered Democrats nor Republicans. What is amazing is that this non-party block of voters is gaining voters faster than either of the two major parties. Over the last 2 election cycles, the Issue Voters Project has had phenomenal results, and is now being promoted nationally by Indivisible. The process they use and the results that they are getting give us good insight into how we can build dynamic competence in our larger communities and even in our families. 

In Episode 22, we are talking with John Sagebiel. John received his Ph.D. at UC Davis in environmental chemistry and has spent a career really understanding the engineering behind clean environments and specifically how to create and maintain more sustainably built environments.  An important event in the development of his career was the design, and building, and ultimately living in a sustainable home. His education in this new world had quite an impact on the spreadsheets in his head!  

In Episode 21, we are talking to Dr. Albert Lee, a tenor who was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, attended University of Connecticut, Juilliard School, and received his Doctor of Music at the Florida State University. He has taught at Troy University and University of Nevada at Reno. Most recently, Albert was hired by the Yale School of Music as the Director of a new Program in equity, belonging and student life. Albert has a beautiful voice and is skilled in Opera, Oratorio, and Recital performances. For this podcast, we will also explore his knowledge and skills around his involvement in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. I wanted to talk with Albert  for a lot of reasons, but his Ted Talk, “When I sign the National Anthem” really demonstrated an important point about Dynamic Competence. Embracing intentional and collaborative perspectives is really about holding multiple opposing ideas simultaneously. In this podcast we will explore this idea further, including what happens when we don't.   

Deborah Nielsen LMFT, ATF, joins us in Episode 20. Deb has an amazing 20 year plus psychotherapy practice that specializes in complex and family trauma.   In her practice, Deb utilizes art therapy and mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy.  She's also certified in EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. She is also a EMDRIA consultant. EMDR is a fascinating therapy, much like the somatic mindfulness that Bethany Crowley talked about in Episode 13.   During Deb's visit, our conversation spilled late into the night and started up again in the morning. We ended up exploring how the new dream work that I'm doing connected with the unique trauma work that Deb is doing.   As part of the conversation we explored the concept of homeostasis and how regulating set points shift and change.

In this episode, we are visiting with Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry, founders of the non-profit Land Art Generator Initiative, also known by LAGi. LAGi was started in 2008 and has rapidly grown to become an international player in the conversations and solutions around our current transition to post-carbon economies.  The Land Art Generator's goal is to accelerate the transition of energy landscape from traditional carbon-based fuels to renewables. The LAGI mission is to build new energy infrastructure that adds value to public spaces in ways that inspire and educate, all while providing equitable power to homes around the world. Elizabeth and Robert are very clear that this transition, has been, and will continue to be incredibly challenging for a wide range of reasons, including the scale of the infrastructure changes that are needed as well as the visual impacts on the landscape of these changes. To accelerate this transition, we need to rethink the development process for renewable energy projects, so the built outcomes are a reflection of the culture and places within which they are located. To this end, LAGi's has focused on holding international design competitions that are linked to multigenerational, community-based education and art. Their approach is to build a bridge between communities, their existing policies, and renewable energy developers to accelerate the implementation process. Their projects span from the initial 2010 launch in Abu Dhabi, to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Melbourne Australia. US projects include New York City's Freshkills Park, in partnership with Parks and Recreation, Santa Monica, CA, in partnership with the City, and the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada, in partnership with Burning Man Project.  LAGI's process focuses on community co-creation as a means to directly address social justice issues in our communities as a means to accelerate the adoption and implementation of renewable energy projects. In each step, they fully engage community members, empowering them as decision makers and project ambassadors. With a wide range of age levels, they weave together technology education with art, what is now known as STEAM education.  In addition to corporate support, LAGi has also received a National Endowment of the Arts grant and has won an Innovation Prize from the JM Kapland Fund. Most recently, they completed a design competition with the Burning Man Project for 10 iconic prototypes to be built at Fly Ranch as part of a long-term, sustainable community.

Beginning as a fourth generation Nevadan, Jill Derby, Ph.D. has built a long and distinguished career, allowing her to work and visit amazing places all around the world. In this podcast, Jill will focus on issues regarding the sustainability of Higher Education to continue evolving as the beacon of our American Marketplace of Ideas. After completing her undergraduate degree at Berkeley and UCSF,  Jill worked abroad in Saudi Arabia for three years. When she returned to the U.S., she returned to school, completing her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology with specialization in the Middle East.   Jill has been involved in politics for years, and ran well as a Democrat in a very Republican District, demonstrating her expertise in bridging political gaps. Jill also has 30 years experience in higher educational governance and is highly respected for her work both nationally and internationally.  In 2011, she received a U.S. Senate appointment to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which advises the U.S. Secretary of Education on higher education policy and oversees the accreditation process. She currently serves on the Board of Governors of the University Of Iraq, Sulaimani.

In preparation for the second season of Art of Dynamic Competence, Tom and Susan explore how we can build a middle ground in these contentious times. Using the metaphor of a swinging pendulum, they ask not only what drives the swinging of the pendulum, but how can we slow it down. In this episode, they explore the role of Instinctual, reactive, Level 1 thinking in creating all this excess swirling energy and the role of Intentional, collaborative, Level 2 thinking in finding a middle ground. 

This episode is a reflection of Susan's latest trip to Florida to visit her mother, Mary May, as she was released from a recent hospital stay.  Based on their readings and dialog, Mary and Susan wandered deeply into the concept of attachment; attachment to what serves us well as well as what no longer serves us at all.  They also explored how to shift our attachment from Level 1, instinctual and reactive perspectives to Level 2, intentional and collaborative perspectives, and to what end. Join Susan on this journey to the old beaches of Northern Florida and what they tell us. 

In this podcast, we're continuing with the second part of our summary of the first 13 podcasts. In our last episode, we focused on preparing to engage with Dynamic Competence. Now Tom and Susan are going to talk about what goes into identifying problems and executing solutions. They'll also review what prior podcast speakers had to say about this. As they mentioned before, the goal for these summary discussions is to create a framework to help organize your listening of the coming podcasts as well as review of past podcasts. 

As we mentioned in our very first introductory podcast, we've let a wide range of folks share their experiences in, and thoughts about, Dynamic Competence.  So far, we've produced 13 podcasts, including the introduction and collected a lot of interesting information.Based on feedback from our listeners, Thomas May and I decided to create a summary of what we have heard and lay out some definitions and simple skills associated with Dynamic Competence.Part of our consulting approach has always been to focus on not only the actual problem solving needed by our clients, but also the preparation needed to get the best outcomes. In today's podcast, we will focus on that preparation and what out interviewees had to say about this in their podcasts.

In Podcast 13, we're going to explore how to better understand the situations we find ourselves in, both within us and around us. This awareness is truly foundational to practicing the Art of Dynamic Competence. We are joined today by Bethany Crawley, who is doing some extraordinary work in somatic mindfulness and having great success with complex relational trauma including PTSD. In addition to her private practice, Bethany is working with medical personnel at multiple hospitals and health service providers to enhance existing treatment of these complex traumas, providing critical relief to patients.  In this podcast, Bethany explores how we can focus on our bodies and what we are sensing as a way to create pauses and self-regulatory practices that allow is to tap into our mindfulness and begin to rewire our neurology to create a robust internal coping infrastructure that not only eases some of the suffering we feel but also allows us to make more self-aware choices in our lives. These skills become a critical foundation to successfully adjusting to the changes that arise before us.   

In this podcast, we're taking a look at the ways that organizational dynamics often react to change and how change can be optimized. We're joined by Ted Powell, Managing Partner/Co-Owner of Stop At Nothing, Inc., a leadership consulting firm, who believes that self-awareness and personal responsibility (or lack thereof) contribute more to success or failure than any other leadership skill.  Outside of his consulting practice, Ted devotes his public speaking skills and experiences to combat fear-driven stress and polarization in our society. Ted's TEDx speech on the perils of negative thought patterns has attracted over 500,000 views as people seek ways to live joyfully in a seemingly chaotic world. We'll discuss the three levels that Ted and his team work from, the systemic, the interpersonal, and the intrapersonal. We'll also explore his Tedx talk titled, When Your Mind Works Against You. Links to his Tedx talk can be found on his podcast webpage at https://dynamiccompetence.com/12-ted-powell 

In this podcast, we're going to dive down deeper into the management of complex teams. In this case, we're exploring how to build and support effective teams in ecological restoration with a strong focus on the people. We are joined by Carla Scheidlinger who has 30 years of experience in resource management and restoration from the perspectives of a volunteer advocate, environmentalist, and contractor for major corporations. To say the least, she has seen it all! Carla will talk about how people and their organizations both drive, as well as adapt to, successful projects. Specifically, we'll focus on her very artful work of balancing adaptations in management practices, the partners she brings to the table, and need for empowerment to create success. Thomas May will join us at the end to talk about the perspectives needed to make this all work. 

This podcast looks at how we unconsciously respond to social information.  Lucas Molleman, Ph.D., who is currently at the University of Amsterdam, and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development published a paper in 2020 on what happens when we are presented with information that is inconsistent or even contradictory to our expectations. In their paper, Lucas and his team set up a very simple experiment to test whether a participant would change their guesstimate of how many animals they saw on a computer screen depending on how similar their peers' guesses, on those numbers of animals, were to theirs. And then using computer modeling, the team was able to then test the effects of a wide range of situations where peer responses were both very similar and quite different from the participants guesses. In this podcast, we will talk with Lucas on what results they found to each these situations. This research provides an interesting insight into the ways that social information, that we are exposed to, can affect our thinking, and ultimately the maps that we use to understand the world around us.   Thomas May will also join us for a great summary chat at the end. For more information on Lucas Molleman, Ph.D. see https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/staff/lucas-molleman.

Will Roger. Who We Think We Are. February 24, 2021.This podcast focuses on the distinction between “Who we think we are” versus “Who we really are”. We are joined by Will Roger; artist, author, teacher, innovator and environmentalist. As one of the Founders of Burning Man, Will was instrumental in developing the infrastructure that allows a city of over 70k people to rise up from the desert playa in less than a month, and then return to its natural beauty after a week of celebration. Most recently, he has published two books and is now working on a new manifesto, known as REALIZE the Paradigm Shift. In sharing a bit of his life, Will has let us experience what it feels, and sounds like to begin to become conscious of that which is often hidden inside of us. A true manifestation of the Art of Dynamic Competence.

This podcast focuses on a mix of climate change and ecological art, and how they both relate to Dynamic Competence. We're focusing on the experiential ecological and landscape art of Helen and Newton Harrison. Helen and Newton were part of only a handful of globally acclaimed artists known as ecopioneers in the 1960's and 70's. In these early days, Helen and Newton committed to only producing art that directly benefitted the ecosystems they were working in. This art is a combination of museum and gallery exhibits, paired with ecological restoration work on the ground and implemented through a wide range of global public and private partnerships. Over the years, they have built on their original environmental and ecological concerns in the 60's and 70's to reimagine how we interact with our surrounding landscapes to increase its energetic output in the midst of, and directly in response to, global climate change. Helen and Newton have received commissions from countries around the world, even corresponding with the Dali Lama on the reimagining of the Tibetan Plateau as a water retention landscape. Their first major work, the Lagoon Cycle, commissioned in 1973 and 74, is still considered a foundational work for the Art and Ecology Movement. Much of their work, preceding 2015, is summarized in their beautiful book, the Time of the Force Majeure. Thomas May joins us for the summary discussion. If you would like more information about the Harrison Studio see http://theharrisonstudio.net/

This episode explores how we absorb new information and the different ways that we can respond to that information. We will discuss three basic cognitive levels, Instinctual, Intentional, and Integral and how the perspectives that arise in each of these levels can affect what we see and think about new information. Both Thomas May and I wanted to interview our mother, Mary May as she has been a major source of metacognitive concepts for us and has provided the foundation that we have continued to rub up against as we have grown into practicing adults. Its these ideas that she has published with Jim November, Ph.D. that have influenced both Tom and me the most. We wanted to share these basic concepts so that we can expand our discussions in the coming podcasts to talk deeper about the Art of Dynamic Competence. Thomas May joins me to talk with Mary May to explore about how we look at the world and most importantly how we respond to what we see and hear, especially when that information doesn't meet our expectations and runs counter to our maps of the way we think the world should be. 

This episode focuses on mental fitness at the intersection of mental toughness, emotional intelligence, and mental health. I was interested in talking with Anthony Taylor not only because his shift in careers provides a nice model of how someone can reconstruct their future, his approach to mental fitness highlights some of the critical elements to practicing the Art of Dynamic Competence. Anthony is based in the UK, but consults all over the globe, become a rising star as a corporate trainer for middle management. Thomas May joins us for a chat at the end.For more information about Anthony Taylor's work see https://threefifty9.com/

This episode explores dynamic competence through ecological restoration. Scientists have clearly documented how the environment is always changing, eroding, reshaping and reforming itself. When humans show up, this rate of change is often accelerated, sometimes faster than living organisms can adapt. This is the core challenge of the climate change that we are currently facing. How we cope with these accelerated changes determines whether we have a resilient, diverse ecosystem supporting us or something that is stressed and chaotic. As you can guess, effectively working in the field of ecological restoration calls up the best of our dynamic competence skills. Today, Michael Hogan will join us to talk about his 40+ years of work in the beautiful Lake Tahoe Region as well as the Eastern Sierra Region of California. In this podcast we will explore the dynamic competence skills he has deployed in his projects. I think you will find them quite applicable to any thorny situation you find yourself in. Thomas May will also join us for a brief summary at the end. For more information about Michael and the team at Integrated Environmental Restoration Services, IERS, see http://www.ierstahoe.com/

In this second part of her interview, we will dive deeper into a discussion of cognitive fitness with Dr. Fiona Beddoes Jones. We will explore characteristics of authentic leadership and discuss the possibilities of prosocial leadership in our lives. We'll also talk with Fiona about the benefits and challenges of neurodiversity in the workplace and how her approach to Thinking Styles can help us deal with any demotivation that arises. Over the last 35 years in her practice, including the psychometric tools she has created, self-awareness, discipline, and ethics are at the center of the conversation, allowing us to think in the right ways at the right time.For more information about Fiona Beddoes-Jones' work see http://www.cognitivefitness.co.uk/

This episode focuses on Cognitive Fitness with Fiona Beddoes-Jones, Ph.D. Fiona has over 35 years of experience in the field of Cognitive Fitness, exploring how to support leaders to think more effectively; what she calls thinking in the right ways at the right time.Fiona has worked with a wide range of leaders and consultants in the UK with a variety of cognitive tools she has developed including Thinking Styles, a psychometric test that measures your preference for 26 different ways we think. Over the last 25 years, her research has also focused on defining Authentic Leadership and the development of a unique 360 degree tool that gets at the essence of authentic leadership skills. Since we found Fiona's interview to be jam packed with great information, we decided to divide it into 2 parts. This is her first section. 

This episode explores applications of Dynamic Competence in construction focused companies. Traditionally, the construction industry has struggled to adapt to data-driven operations and more diverse workforces. Because of these challenges, exploration of any successful evolution in these companies tells us a lot about the value of an approach that emphasizes Dynamic Competence. As we will see, this approach can have significant effects on your company operations, culture, and ultimately improvements in your bottom line. We're talking with Thomas May who has over 35 years of experience in construction materials companies. 

Welcome to our first episode! Join our host, Susan Clark, Ph.D. as we explore the Art of Dynamic Competence from a wide range of disciplines and tools, creating success in changing times.