brian johnson
December 2008 
Shift in Action Interview
Brian
You can listen to it for free by clicking HERE.
Here's what they said about the interview on their site:
Brian Johnson on the Essential Shifts
Brian Johnson | 09.05.06 |From discussions of Greek arete and the necessity for "both/and" thinking to practical advice on creating organizations that unleash our full potential, Brian ranges freely across myriad domains in his reflections on the keys to creating an outstanding life that makes a difference. In this interview, you’ll get a feeling for the future that can be unleashed by a new generation of collaborative Internet tools, such as Brian’s conscious social networking company Zaadz.com, paired with an integral approach to personal growth and a desire to create templates that really work. How many companies encourage employees to put their personal spiritual practice first? Zaadz is pioneering new ground and Brian’s deeply reflective nature and boddhisattvic commitments serve as inspiring examples for how we can put collective shifts into high gear – and have a great time doing it.
And, here's more info on all the other peeps they interviewed. Check it out! | |||||
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 |  Entangled Minds, by Dean Radin |  | |||
 Entangled Minds and Beyond | |||||
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This special offer also includes: 
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“From the Einstein of consciousness research comes a work that could change forever how we view the nature of human consciousness and our origins and destiny.”
“Dean Radin brings parapsych-ology into mainstream science. The revolution has begun.”
“A brilliant, probing, sensitive look at the intercon- nectedness of all things. Dean Radin is a fearless scientist and man of heart who's willing to take a stand about the enormity of human consciousness.
“The Shift in Action teleseminars may be the most inspiring hour I spend each week.”
Access: Public
~ sexy voices over there… cool….
and i have 2c to add to conscious capitalism and its very simple:
i don't do anything in my life unless making sure i get the equal value in return
(whether in $$$, goods or services)…
in other words i don't do anything for FREE…
Why?
simply cuz i m not Jesus Christ and there r 2 proofs for that:
(1) i don't walk on water (trust me i tried ;)
(2) and i don't manifest anything out of nothing (YET) like fish, bread, house, fresh papaya, butter lettuce, avocado, nuts, water, airline tickets, newspaper ads, hotel rooms, hot saunas, event spaces, fresh strawberries, car rentals, covered tennis courts in NYC, etc, etc…
so until i do, i simply need to make sure that my energy account gets replenished with every step of my way
so if u ask me to offer u something for free, my answer is sure, just point out to me where I can receive all the things i mentioned above for free and as soon as i receive all or a portion of it i will offer u something of an equal value for free also
btw: when is zaadz going to take conscious capitalism to the next level… from talking to walking…
PS… just saw it already does ;)
~ fun love ~
Brian,
Aside from the promotional and marketing issues implied, I am really glad I listened to your interview.Thank you for living the 'arete' principle and for bringing back the clarity of intention and reason of being that I saw and felt when I joined half a year ago.
“Being connected to the source, bringing that to life through love and showing that love through service” - well said and applied as well. And how awesome it is when we realize and live from the understanding that is not a matter of either/or but AND. Bringing our whole inspired and empowered selves and discovering and applying the new knowledge and insights has been invaluable for me/us and I think it is what makes all the difference on a personal AND collective level…
Way to go! And we can definitely be the change for we are it. In and out. Here and now.
Thank you for what you and this awesome team does and for who you are,
Darina :)
Hey Brian,
I love the whole Essential Shifts series over at Shift In Action, and I'm amazed at the wealth of material that they are able to put out. I've been to a few IONS conferences and did some interviews with some of the presenters talking about media and consciousness.
I enjoyed hearing about the Zaadz work environment and culture. Seems like you're moving beyond the triple bottomline of People, Profit & Planet and focusing a lot on personal and spiritual development as well.
I'm just starting to dive in here at Zaadz, and just posted a Spiral Dynamics Cheat Sheet that you should check out.
I've heard you say that you're a big fan of “Yes / And” a lot, and I wonder how you resolve this with software development and feature creep and the concept of “Transcend and Include.”
Specifically, I'd love to be able to embed videoblogs into the blog posts and do it without dealing with a WYSIWYG editor – but yet if you're avoiding allowing the submission of unfiltered HTML for security reasons or for a streamlined user interface, then you may decide to exclude my request by saying “No / But” it's not on our priority list.
So it just seems like there are some practical tradeoffs and limits to the Yes / AND approach when filtering through various development and business decisions.
Hey ebbandflow: love the Cheat Sheet! :)
I've heard you say that you're a big fan of “Yes / And” a lot, and I wonder how you resolve this with software development and feature creep and the concept of “Transcend and Include.”
although I don't actually use these words (I might start :), I like to think, “Yes, we can do that AND we're not going to b/c we need to focus.”
I'm a really big fan of simplifying things (in life and in software development).
In terms of the embedded video stuff. We figured that one out and will be releasing it this week. :)
Rock on.
-bri
Glad you liked the cheat sheet.
Re: Embedding Videoblogs = very cool. Look forward to it.
I'm a really big fan of simplifying things
Sure – I just see an oversimplification and it rubs the wrong way because the concept of “Transcend and Include” suggests that there be limits to “Yes / And.” Transcending means that you're leaving something behind and not including. And although rhetorically you can dance around this fact, it remains evident that the behavioral response is “No.”
In Spiral Dynamics terms:
GREEN: Accept Any Input because everyone is equal (i.e. no hierarchy) Striving towards the idealistic state of “Yes / And” for everyone.
YELLOW: Highly principled with natural hierarchies (i.e. prioritization of values) Realizing the priority of identifying the needs of the entire group vs. the desire of an individual, and being able to say “No, But” when a suggestion needs to be completely transcended.
My observation in working in group situations with a center of gravity of Green is that you can't honor every feeling or desire of the group that comes up – otherwise you can end up down a rabbit hole and you've blown your time constraints.
Structure enables the Flow – and part of the structure is being able to say “No” in order to best serve the flow of the group. Moderated discussions help keep the collective intention on task and maximizing the potential of the flow. So if something isn't relevant to the whole group, then the moderator should interrupt and keep the group on task.
Anyway, just wanted to throw out this food for thought.
fair enough.
Very quick thoughts: i don't think it's that complicated…Of course you're saying “no” but you can do so with respect to the ideas. to babble a bit and then I'm back to work:
There's an integral way to say yes and no…Including the pluralistic appreciation of green without getting stuck there as you transcend to say “no.”
For example, “Yes, that's a great idea. We might do it later. For now, no, we're not going to do it. Now get to work on that other stuff!”
Other babble: I/we avoid the green nightmare by a) hiring people who have initiative, b) rarely, if ever, meet in large groups and, c) when those large meetings occur, they are done with clear intention and direction.
Thanks – ”integral way to say yes and no” – this makes sense to me.
“I/we avoid the green nightmare” [by doing a, b & c]
So “Yes/And” or “Both/And' are effective with small-scale, closed systems with uniform values.
I guess what I'm really exploring is an intuitive hunch that “Yes / And” breaks down with large-scale, open systems that have a spectrum of value systems – or with a change in one or more of these conditions. So I still see scalability limits that vary from context to context.
best,
Kent.
~ i m finally getting this
~B said: b) rarely, if ever, meet in large groups and, c) when those large meetings occur, they are done with clear intention and direction.
thanx for sharing ^.^