9 Whys
Pairs interview each other about their work on a shared challenge, asking "why is that important to you?" again and again — up to nine times — until the answer reaches bedrock p…
Being B1
Inner Compass
A deeply felt commitment to live and act in accordance with values and purposes that serve the good of the whole.
Tools for this skill (14)
Meet Yourself at 90
A guided values visualization from the ACT tradition: after settling into body and breath, participants imagine themselves at their 90th birthday, visited by someone who matters…
Poetic Motivations
Each participant drafts an "I poem" — a structured poem about identity and values ("I am… I believe… I carry…") — revealing the intrinsic motivations behind their engagement wit…
Purpose connection moments
To maintain a thread between daily work and larger purpose. At the beginning or end of regular team meetings, include a brief moment connecting to purpose. This can take differe…
Purposeful Storytelling
A longer arc from inner values to shared story: participants identify what drives them, find like-minded peers, formulate shared values together, and craft a story that communic…
Quarterly purpose reflection dialogue
To keep the team's sense of purpose alive and connected to daily work. Once per quarter, dedicate 60-90 minutes to a structured dialogue focused on team purpose. Address questio…
Story Sharing
In trios, each person tells a story of a moment when their sense of Self clarified — when they knew, for a while, who they were and what they were for — with five to ten minutes…
The Contribution Question
A seconds-scale daily micro-practice for Inner Compass (VCoL collection): In the minute before entering a meeting or starting an interaction, pause and ask: 'How might I contrib…
The Purpose Anchor
A seconds-scale daily micro-practice for Inner Compass (VCoL collection): Before diving into a task, pause for 5 seconds. Silently complete this sentence: "This matters because.…
The Values Check-In
A seconds-scale daily micro-practice for Inner Compass (VCoL collection): When you notice you are about to decide or act, pause for 2-3 seconds. Ask yourself silently: "Does thi…
Threshold Walk
A miniature quest: carrying one real question, each person walks alone in nature for about an hour, stepping deliberately over a chosen threshold — a stick, a stream, a gate — t…
Values Check-in
A five-minute meeting opener before consequential decisions: the team briefly reconnects with its stated values and asks how they bear on today's choices. Prevents short-term pr…
Values emergence through decision-making
Discover actual values through examining decisions and patterns. Try monthly reviews of recent significant decisions, asking: What did we actually prioritize in this decision? W…
Values Mapping
A team maps what matters to it and why: individual values surfaced, clustered into the team's shared landscape, tensions between values named, and the map kept for decisions und…
Also develops it (22)
Acting in Alignment
Participants surface and rank their core values through imagination and ordering tasks, then examine honestly where recent actions expressed or contradicted them, and commit to…
Articulating and co-developing shared purpose
Mobilization requires compelling purpose that others can connect to. Purpose becomes even more powerful when co-developed. Develop clear articulation of the team's purpose: what…
Celebrating progress and successes
Hope is sustained by evidence that progress is possible. Teams that notice and celebrate progress build the foundation for continued hope. Create regular practices for noticing…
Connecting to larger purpose and movement
Hope is sustained by connection to something larger than immediate circumstances. Regularly connect the team's work to larger context: • How does what the team does contribute t…
Cultivating a mindful relationship to consumption and resources
Beyond specific practices lies a deeper question about orientation—the team's fundamental relationship to consumption and resources. Create periodic opportunities to reflect on…
Daily-to-long-term connection practices
To maintain a thread between daily work and longer-term goals. Integrate brief long-term references into regular team meetings: • Occasionally ask: 'How does this relate to wher…
Expanding the system boundary
To extend thinking beyond immediate context to include broader connections. Periodically apply systems thinking to larger questions: Upstream connections: Where do our inputs co…
Extending the circle of care
To cultivate the team's capacity to care about those beyond its immediate boundaries. Periodically extend empathic attention beyond the team: • Who is affected by our work that…
Future generations perspective
To develop capacity to consider how decisions affect those who come after. When facing significant decisions with lasting consequences, explicitly introduce future stakeholders'…
Guided Journaling (Theory U)
Writing through a scripted sequence of questions that walk the U: from current challenges and frustrations, through looking at your journey and self from outside, to the deeper…
Making connections vivid and real
To move connectedness from abstraction to felt reality by creating direct contact with those the team is connected to. Periodically create experiences that make the team's conne…
Making Courageous Decisions
Participants practice recognizing fear in the moment of decision and acting on values anyway — informed by Theory U's letting-go and letting-come: releasing the safe option, all…
My Natural Next Step
A two-hour workshop for the values–behaviour gap: each participant identifies a small sustainability-related change they keep avoiding because it is uncomfortable, explores with…
Owning outcomes rather than just completing tasks
Reactive teams complete tasks. Proactive teams take ownership of outcomes—they care about the larger result, not just their piece. Frame work in terms of outcomes to achieve, no…
Periodic values-behavior alignment review
To examine whether actual behavior aligns with stated values. Review the team's stated values. For each value, discuss: 1. Where have we lived this value well recently? What are…
Public Narrative (Self / Us / Now)
Marshall Ganz's leadership storytelling craft: build a Story of Self (a choice point that shows why you are called), a Story of Us (shared values and experience of the community…
Purpose-To-Practice (P2P)
A design session for anything meant to last: the group works through five elements in order — Purpose (why the work matters to those affected), Principles (must-dos and must-not…
Reflecting on belonging to larger wholes
To cultivate the felt sense of belonging to larger systems. Periodically create space for reflection on the team's place in larger contexts: Our team within the organization: Wh…
Regular long-term reflection sessions
To step back from immediate work and consider longer time horizons. Dedicate 60-90 minutes to a session focused on longer-term perspective, addressing questions at multiple scal…
Seeds Collecting
A small companion practice to journaling: capture the resonant notations — a phrase, an image, a half-thought — that carry a charge of possible deep change; protect them, return…
Standing firm on principles under pressure
Teams regularly face pressure to compromise their principles—including pressure on environmental and social responsibility commitments. Clarify in advance what principles the te…
The Repeating Question
In pairs, walking: one person asks the same question again and again — "What do I find enjoyable and important in life?" — receiving each answer in silence and asking once more.…