Clarity First
A notebook about how we work and learn and love and live.

In our spare time we've been looking for the good stuff. Happy Friday.

Today’s problems come from yesterday’s solutions
Let's stop blaming ourselves and each other. We're really trying. Most problems are rooted in the unintended consequence of previous efforts to reach for change. Let's stop blaming and stopping. Let's start learning and moving faster. Great article that ties Peter Senge’s laws of system thinking to navigating a complex adaptive system like the education system.
Article: The 11 Laws of Systems Thinking

The Dalai Lama on the responsibility of business
"Once they understand that reality is constantly changing and that everything is interconnected, leaders begin to realize that they have to keep the consequences of all their actions always in mind."
Article: The Dalai Lama on the Responsibility of Business

Institute for the Future names seven new worker archetypes of the on-demand economy  
The Institute, which has been studying the future of work for 50 years, says we’re on the cusp of a dramatic transformation in the workforce. This report provides a baseline understanding of the workers who are being hired today.
Report: Voices of Workable Futures. People Transforming Work in the Platform Economy.

What value does your brand offer?
This project you’re working on, the new business or offering, what sort of value does it create? In his inestimable style Seth Godin has compiled a value creation checklist. It's a cool tool to have at the ready.

What 26 co-learning leaders look like
Last week the latest class of clarity-seeking leaders came together at the DIY Brand Camp to learn to find their own brand resonance. Heres a photo album of the afternoon sessions.

Playlist
This week the halls have been alive with the sound of Fantastic Negrito's recent album The Last Days of Oakland.  Is it soul? Rock? Hip-Hop? He erases the lines so cleanly that we stopped classifying and just started moving. Here's a clip of him and his band performing at Madrid's Sala Clamores Jazz Club this summer. ("That's it, it's jazz." "Stop. It's just groovy music.")

Image of the week
Red Tape Labyrinth; Immigration Meditation, a site-specific participatory art installation on display this weekend at Art in Odd Places 2016. This year's festival uses the activist history of NYC's Union Square and 14th Street as the underpinning for artist-initiated conversations and critiques of “Race.” Today  – Sunday along 14th Street from Avenue C to the Hudson River.

What's Clarity First?
If you're new to Clarity First, it's the weekly newsletter of Clarity, the agency that helps mission-driven companies use their purpose, values, and stories as powerful tools for transformation. Learn more.