Labor of Love

On the coattails of a spirited Laddership Pod this summer, 9 alums shared presentations of their labor-of-love experiments in service. Many intruiging design questions surfaced, such as:

• What happens when compassion is a core organizing principle in a community? (Ruth)
• How can business designs mirror the beauty and harmony embedded in nature's design? (Emily)
• Beyond planning and executing 'my' vision, how do I search-and-amplify the way these values are emerging in my community? (John)
• How to design community spaces like a 'fountain' where each individual is empowered to contribute to others? (Elyse)
• How can I listen in a way that mirrors the collective wisdom, and 'ladder' the patterns of positive deviance that the 'field' is ripe for? (Jan)
• How to create contexts that allow each person's unique 'voice' to shine? How can my intention honor 'we-to-we' quality of ties to support kindred efforts? (Olyver)
• How does the quality of our 'seeds' echo the quality of our 'fruits'? (Emilie)
• How can I pay-forward the 'miracle' of giving? What design nudges help establish a context of gift? (Sonya)
• What designs foster high trust in a decentralized community? (Tricia)

To build on the collective wisdom and exploration, we're convening for a weeklong "Labor of Love" Pod to delve into the nuances of designing for generosity, leading with love, and experimenting in a gift ecology. This is an opportunity for project initiators to reflect, experiment, and support kindred designers as we iterate our labor-of-love projects! While we can't promise any conclusive answers :), our hope is that our exposure to each other can help refine the questions we ask and nuance the hypotheses that guide our actions and work in the world. And who knows what synergies and ripples may unfold in the 'field' of so many big hearts coming together!

If you have a budding labor-of-love experiment that you'd like to incubate further in a peer-learning space, register below!