Street Smart Awareness and Inquiry-in-Action Paperback – January 9, 2018

I haven’t even finished reading this book and already see the value of it both in my busy professional life and for my personal life. Some of the practices in the book are familiar to me and some have opened my eyes and curiosity for trying to implement more of them in my workday. The Evening Appreciation Circle is a practice I have experienced a few times with my nieces and it was eye-opening to witness how my energetic nieces were able to be calm and appreciative of so many things they had experienced during the day – a great reminder for myself as well! It also got me into a timeless space, something I don’t allow myself often enough.This is not a book to read once and put away, but one that I see myself coming back to a couple times a year.Highly recommending this book for anyone interested in self-development and becoming more effective and conscious at work! It has a lot to offer.

What is it about?Street Smart Awareness is a truly remarkable book as it is the collective wisdom of 21 authors/contributors (and one great editor) covering almost 50 (best, good, emerging and novel) practices related to transformational work.These practices cover transformative tips and tricks so to speak and awareness in self, self in relationship with others, and self with (and within) the wider (business) system.What makes the book unique?It is highly unusual to have such a large collective of authors and contributors together who all have transformed/developed themselves to a later stage in their adult / ego development. All contributors passed the Achiever stage so to speak and moved on to later stages – and are therefore able to give an unique view on transformational capabilities in self, with others and with/within systems. The practices cover the view of what is possible in very different, surprising and unique ways.Why is it important?The Achiever-stage is sought after by most companies, as reflected by their promoting and hiring strategies. By doing so these organizations tend to completely overlook the transformational capabilities needed in their own organisation. Keeping the speedy VUCA environments of business in mind, therefore these organizations risk setting themselves up for failure in the long term. For more details, it is best to check into Bill Torbert’s leadership article "Seven Transformations of Leadership" (selected as the "10 best ever" by Harvard Business Review).By being exposed to the thinking, sensing, feeling and imagination practices of these 21 contributors allows the reader to go beyond what is possible and trigger some transformations in self, others and systems. All practices are very straightforward to implement, so very handy when coaching, facilitating, managing or leading.Highly recommended !!!Disclosure:Myself I was one of the contributors of 2 practices, still I had no idea of all the other contributions. Some of the contributors I have met personally, so I had some idea of the potential but nothing more. When reading all practices I was pleasantly amazed of what is possible when you bring such a group together. Jane Allen and Heidi Gutekunst both were the drivers in herding us all towards the creating and co-creating of this book, and both wrote excellent pieces to give more context covering this work at the start, middle and end of the book. Thank you both!

In general, it is very hard to disagree with the fact that our current/traditional models of leadership are failing us. Just turn on the news these days and look at the various leaders (from Washington to Hollywood) that have been recently charged with different abuses of power.But as our modern world has evolved, the dominant leadership paradigm of Right/Wrong hasn’t. The simple dualism that is approach forces us into is no longer sufficient in the ever increasingly complex ways of modern life.Street Smart Awareness presents a new collection of practical leadership models that attempt to drive home more principled and human-centric modes of operating. It’s a simple yet effective approach to help you act, reflect, and be more aware of your actions in the moment.In Street Smart Awareness, you are introduced to three types of practices (myself, myself with others, myself in the system), and the profiles of real leaders in today’s world. The effectiveness of this book lies in the profiling of real tangible people. This approach gives Street Smart Awareness a real tangible feel that most leadership books fail to generate.In closing, this is the kind of book you keep coming back to at different points in your professional and personal life. If you are interested in learning how to become a bit more human and have a bit more humility in your leadership style, this is the book for you.My favorite models: “3-2-1” on page 76; “Bum Deal” on page 90; “Evening Gratitude Circle” on page 143.

This is a wonderful collection of practical, accessible, fun practises for anyone looking to grow as a person, individually and when engaging on small and large scale. There are plenty of theories of adult development out there and a few practical 'what' and 'how' to actually develop. It is good to do it yourself, for managers or others working with people, or for practitioners looking for inspiration when working with clients, individually or in organisations. All of the practices are meant to be both a simple how to as well as an inspiration to play with them and adapt them to best suit your individual needs with examples of how they have been applied by others.And to add the authors generously shared their own inspirational stories and their own path on the developmental journey.

I wish I would have had this for my management staff while I was in the corporate world. However, now as a stay at home mom I needed this. The practices I'm starting to incorporate with my young children and my home life are priceless. Expanding my patience and understanding while creating more quality time. Must read!

A very useful book to improve your skills about life, leadership and goals. Simple and easy to be understuded. Absolutely recommended if you want to improve your skills and achieve your goals!

There are books you immediately know that they are going to stay with you for the rest of your life. This book is clearly one of those books. When reading it I felt like I was in the room with fellow colleagues listening to their wisdom in dealing with everyday leadership situations. Very down-to-earth and yet integrating many layers, perspectives and experiences in the most natural casual way.Street Smart Awareness is a very practical approach enabling the reader to try out those practices which he/she feels most suitable for his/her own life. It is useful in professional as well as private contexts, although leaning slightly more on business topics (e.g. how to deal with meetings in a resourceful, meaningful, efficient and light way). "Awareness" seems to be everywhere these days, however, the authors and contributors to this book make it practical and useful on a daily basis.The first part "Setting the Scene" explains the background from which these practices draw their power. It takes Bill Torbert's work on "Action Inquiry" to the next level and makes it available to a broader audience. In a nutshell "Aciton Inquiry" is the idea to interweave reflection and action at the same time. "Inquiry in Action" provides tools and practices to really do that.The second part "Street Smart Practices" is divided in three perspectives "By Myself" (1st person), "By Myself and Others" (2nd person) and "By Myself in the System" (3rd person) and is a wonderful collection of how to put into practice all those things we all know about but often struggle to bring to life. My personal favorite practices (for now) are "Clearing the Space" and "Mindful Minute". Each practice is presented in the same structure, so it's easy to find your way into each practice and decide for yourself whether you want to try it out.The third part "Inquiries-In-Action" is a very personal statement of each of the authors providing beautiful insights into their thinking and feeling as well as their motivation to write this book.

I have contributed some practices for this book so you might expect me to say I love it, but of course I did not see any of the other contributions until the Kindle version became available. So as much as I Ioved the idea for the book I really didn't know if I would like it or not. I have not absorbed every single word yet, there is way too much here to do that in one sitting, but I can genuinely say I love this book!It's stuffed full of great practical ideas and practices, and I love the way it builds from the closely personal, reflection and meditation through impacting in organisations, to the unashamedly whole world perspective of the authors. There is a great mix of frameworks and personal stories that bring the practices to life.There is plenty here that I will be dipping back into and new practices to explore. If nothing else buy it to read Tricia King's "Bum Deal". Who knew that you could stop your hands shaking by....... (opps, nearly let out a spoiler!)

This is a wonderful collection of practical, accessible, fun practises for anyone looking to grow as a person, individually and when engaging on small and large scale. There are plenty of theories of adult development out there and a few practical 'what' and 'how' to actually develop. It is good to do it yourself, for managers or others working with people, or for practitioners looking for inspiration when working with clients, individually or in organisations. All of the practices are meant to be both a simple how to as well as an inspiration to play with them and adapt them to best suit your individual needs with examples of how they have been applied by others.And to add the authors generously shared their own inspirational stories and their own path on the developmental journey.

This is a delightful book, full of innovative and inspiring ideas for working with groups, organisations and even global collaboration to address the challenges of our times. In a changing and sometimes isolating world it is good to know that we can reach across boundaries and work towards a more compassionate alliance. The Amara Collaboration seeks to do just that. Highly recommended.