Diversity: Epigenetic Factors

Epigenetic factors are the biases, prejudices, and fears passed from one generation to the next. (Villoldo 2010).


Along with hair color, shape of nose, length of legs, we inherit a great deal of our thinking from our families. Carolyn Myss compares communities that are ethnically and culturally similar to tribes. Being strongly identified with a tribe means that some percentage of the individual's thoughts and actions are dictated by the tribe.


Here's an example, many white teens raised in small Mid-Western, rural towns choose to become Republican and Christian as adults, which reflects the dominant paradigm of their community. As children, we cannot fully comprehend politics, religion, and philosophy so we default to expressing the same views as our parents and other nearby role models. Even adult tribe members don't often take time to consider religion, politics, and philosophy to any great length. It is more efficient to default to the tribe, or often to the leader of the tribe. Believing that the leader is responsible and accountable and leaving the details to him is a justification for reduced consciousness, reduced awareness.


The epigenetic factors passed from generation to generation are patterns because the complex of biases, prejudices, and fears take the form of neural networks (see pic) which have been reinforced by each generation and then validated throughout one's own life as we "see that which we expect to see" of others.

Socialization is the process of being introduced to the thought constructs of our parents. It's the replication of neural circuitry from generation to generation. We are introduced to our parents thought constructs in the simply course of daily living. For efficiency and survival we are programmed to largely trust and accept these ideas. And that helps us fit in with the tribe. Around the age in which the young leave the family home there is a window of opportunity in which rebellion and differentiation from the parents may include becoming aware of and rejecting inherited thought patterns. Other opportunities to notice and reject social programming arise throughout adulthood. Frequently in the form of negative feedback.

As we journey to the center of the Civil Rights system it is important we maintain awareness of the concept of epigenetic factors. I suspect that the replication of neural circuitry among tribe members who share thought constructs produces an electromagnetic resonnance which increases the gravity of that thought construct.

The beliefs we share with our family and our community of choice produce a sense of cohesion, safety, and trust. These beliefs are interwoven with sentiments such as care for and appreciation of our community. The sensitivity around epigenetic factors is this: When we invite someone to notice their own subconscious attitudes and actions they may discover incongruence. The individual may discover that her subconscious attitudes and actions are not at all in alignment with her values. This can be quite shocking and a big part of the threat is that it calls into question one's loyalty to the tribe.

It has only been five or six generations since Americans owned slaves. It has only been three generations since Germany sought to exterminate Jews. Some epigenetic factors are connected to actual trauma experienced by recent ancestors. Passing down fear of enemies is a survival instinct.

Delving into this lake of the collective subconscious with the intention of understanding why our workforce does not reflect the population demographics of the American public will require sensitivity, respect, trust, and honor. (gulp)

Diversity: Circling the Lake Together

Last week I flew to Portland to meet the project team for the Civil Rights & Diversity Systems Mapping project. The project team includes Laurie Thorpe, the Executive Officer for Independent Resources (a Forest Service Enterprise Team) and Heidi Bigler Cole, who holds PhD in Social Sciences. We held a three hour meeting and invited employees from the region to meet the project team and join us in framing the project. There were probably 25 people in total.

During the session we shared a definition of systems thinking and together explored why it might be valuable to take a systems approach to understanding the Civil Rights program in the Pacific Northwest Region of the US Forest Service.

In my last blog post I compared exploring the way that a system pervades our subconscious mind as going on a deep dive. To further the metaphor, last week's brief session was about becoming acquainted with my fellow divers. Our small project team will be as a stone dropped into the center of the lake with a design and intention to go deeper into the collective subconscious and perhaps even brush the unconscious expression of diversity, or lack thereof, in the region.

Laurie, Heidi, and I will meet weekly and form the core container - the stone which is to be dropped in the lake. The first ripple circle beyond the point where the stone splashes into the water will be our guidance. This circle includes the Civil Rights Director, a Dialogos consultant, and a Diversity consultant, Audrey Peterman. The work itself consists of convening a number of focus groups - circles of people who'll be invited to the lake and coaxed to go for a swim.

It will be up to each individual whether they dive in or splash around in the shallow edges of the lake. Even if an individual chooses to simply watch from the shore she will discover that the surface of the water is changing and the reflections which are mirrored back will gently raise questions for the observer.

Today I'm feeling ready and would love to jump right in to the water. But I recognize that we need a few more weeks to plan several dives. We will let a number of people know where we plan to go. We will attempt to pre-sense just what might be lurking down there. We will design methods and schedule focus groups and discover more fellow swimmers.

Diversity: An Invitation to Dive Deep

I have recently been invited to apply my systems thinking and mapping skills to the area of Civil Rights and Diversity. The Pacific Northwest Region (Region 6) of the US Forest Service has a new civil rights director. She has been involved in the application of systems thinking to the exploration of the agency's safety culture. That work, lead by Dialogos, has touched many employees in a very significant way. As a result, systems thinking and mapping is gaining in noteriety in the agency.

My role, which is only just beginning, will be to sit in circle, hold deep conversations, quietly notice the patterns and dynamics, and then draw a map of the complexity.

In preparation for our very first meeting, which is next week, the director asked us to ponder what the project means to us. This was a very difficult question to answer. Perhaps because a core aspect of my role is to be present while groups of people co-create meaning and understanding, and I can't possibly anticipate what meaning I will participate in creating.

I feel as if I'm arriving at a beautiful and serene lake. In my approach I can see the brilliant blue surface reflecting the light of the sun. I have no idea how deep the water is or what lies beneath the surface. I only know that in order to be safe I must tread gently. As I prepare for this deep dive, of which I will dedicate one week per month for the next six months, I review what I have learned about myself and diversity thus far. I scan my herstory for clues as to what the exploration might reveal.

My scan reveals to me a tenderness, a vulnerable place within my core. There is only one thing of which I am certain: this exploration will expose me to aspects of my thinking which are subconscious or perhaps even unconscious. How do I know that? Because I too was socialized into a system of disparity and oppression. The simple act of growing up in a small town in Oklahoma has exposed me to generations of misinformation, fear, and even hatred. Within the boundaries of my awareness I have been thoughtful and even an activist. But in order to stretch the boundaries of awareness I must dive into this lake.

On more than one occassion I have observed the appearance of a thought in my mind which is ugly and shameful. I'm grateful to have even noticed. When this happens it gives me pause and I explore what lies beneath the thought. In most cases I realize that the thought is a judgement with which I am not actually in agreement in the present moment. So how is it that I have thoughts with which I don't agree?

The way I explain this to myself is that a great deal of my thinking was programmed in as I participated in society. I have seen a black man, for example, and had the thought "Be careful." Then paused and challenged the thought and saw it as ridiculous. Why be any more careful around a man simply because of his skin tone? It has nothing to do with the man before me. It has everything to do with the messages which saturate the world in which I live. It is the voice of my college roommate, a jewish girl from Philadelphia, who cautioned me against getting gas on Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale one night because every patron was African American. It is the voice of my great Aunt who hissed obscenities. It is the voice of some ancient ancestor who perhaps felt he had to compete with people of color in order to have enough food for his family.

As I circle the lake and climb over the boulders which represent that which I have already learned about diversity I can't help but wonder what lurks beneath the surface. What thoughts are yet so unconscious that I've never glimpsed them? I set the intention to be gentle with myself and my ancestors, I draw in a deep breath, and I slide my left food along the sun baked boulder and into the cool water.

Can Economic Needs Drive the Greening of Americans?

Recently I had the opportunity to speak to some individuals affiliated with the timber industry, representing both local government and private interests. Something very interesting occurred to me in response to the conversations.

Regardless of whether people believe that the climate is changing, and regardless of whether they feel that climate change is driven by humans, there are people and companies joining the green movement because of economic interests. This probably doesn't come as a huge suprise to everyone. I've long heard self proclaimed greenies complain when giant careless corporations go green just to maximize profits.

What I am writing about today is something else entirely. I'm talking about hard working, honest Americans who are in industries which are collapsing under current conditions. I'm talking about folks who perhaps even belong to political parties, clubs, and churches which take a strong anti-climate change, or anti-anthropogenic climate change stance; who are reconsidering green technologies so that they don't loose their homes, jobs, and the land which has been in their family for generations.



The green curve you see above is a change curve that is so popular that I could not determine who originated it. It basically shows a bell curve distribution of people in response to any particular change. Under it is an amplifying loop, or growth engine entitled "Reinforced Survival of Individuals and Families. It can be read like this: employment leads to water, food, and shelter, which leads to individual and family survival, which (according to Maslow) affords one the capacity for higher learning, in this case the capacity to learn a trade. Over time this leads to being employable and over time that leads to having employment, which provides food and shelther.

In my most recent post, Honoring Multiple Perspectives, I spoke about how there are many mixed opinions around the possibility of global climate change. Today I suggest to you that the greening of America does not depend upon agreement around the science of climate change. Regardless of our science, politics, or theology, we all share the same fundamental human needs for food and shelter. In the end, only that which makes economic sense to real people will be implemented.

Honoring Multiple Perspectives

It seems to me that there are a number of wicked problems facing the world today. There are challenges in the area of environment, economy, and society that are so exceedingly complex that no one person, or no one perspective, could possibly provide a useful solution.

Take, for example, the possibility of land managers collaborating on how to respond to climate change accross a particular landscape. Climate change is definitely a complex and controversial issue. There are myriad perspectives including

• The climate is not changing in any significant way, it has always been variable
• The climate is changing and it is part of a larger natural cycle
• The climate is changing and it is caused or exagerated by human activities
• The climate is getting warmer
• The climate is getting colder

How much agreement is necessary in order for people to collaborate on designing livable solutions to today's challenges?

In any particular region, land is managed by a number of different stakeholders including tribes, federal, state, and local government agencies, corporations, non-profit organizations, families, and individuals. Each of these groups has its own unique set of priorities and objectives for how and why the land should be managed. Even if all the land owners in a region agreed that it was strategically important and mutually beneficial to collaborate on a project, and even if they agreed upon what the challenges were, and even if they agreed upon what the solutions were, it would still be complex to balance the multiple missions, multiple objectives, and multiple organizational policies, in order to collaborate effectively.

But when collaboration is really the only solution to a problem, we can't simply ignore it due to the complexity and the challenges.

Lately I've been attempting to map the complexity of the multiple perspectives on climate change. The effort has been deeply transformative for me, and I wonder if sharing some of my own learning would be of service to anyone else. I'm hoping to have the time to blog a little more frequently than I have of late. My intention is to try and find ways to share something large and complex in small and easily digestible chunks. Even if it doesn't prove to be of value to anyone else, it will certainly be a useful excercise to me.

Transforming the National Recreation Program

I'm in Salt Lake City attending a meeting on Sustainable Recreation in the US Forest Service. A small group of members of the Recreation program at the national, regional, and forest levels of the organization have crafted a National Recreation Strategy to replace an outdated strategy (I think the last strategy was crafted in 1988). The small group has worked for 2 years and is very excited to share the work with a larger group.

There's much passion and energy for this strategy because it's centered on principles of Sustainability and Community Engagement through Recreation and Tourism (CERT). There are a number of specific goals and objectives, but to say it in a nutshell... It's all about the Forest Service engaging with communities to have meaningful dialogue around how together to create balanced and long term health for people, profits, and the planet.

I've been providing some consultation and facilitation to the smaller group and today was the first day of a very complex meeting in which we shared the National Recreation Strategy, Sustainable Recreation, and CERT with a wide group of employees from around the country. We had about 20 people in the room, about 10 people on the telephone, and another 20 people on a video conference. It was trying and complex to mix the media, but absolutely necessary for a sustainability conversation to include low carbon methods for connecting.

I feel the day was a resounding success. We wrapped up the phone and video portion about 1.5 hours before the end of the day so that those of us who were present in the room (here in Salt Lake City) could process everything and begin to wrap our heads around things like...

1. What does sustainable recreation look like?
2. How might our lives be different when we've fully embraced the new National Recreation Strategy?
3. How are we going to share this experience with our leaders and our employees when we get home?
4. How can we foster transformation rather than paying lip service to a plan which is quickly shelved?

I'm ever so grateful to have not been the facilitator of the meeting. Lyn Wiltzes (sp?) from Seattle was the facilitator and did a remarkable job.

I'm feeling very jazzed. I feel like I'm in the right place at the right time and part of something BIG. Something with Purpose and Meaning. I feel this frequently at Forest Service meetings, which is probably why I fall in love with the Forest Service all over again every time I meet new employees or see a new and magnificent landscape. I'm so grateful to be a part of this organization and I'm grateful to have had all the amazing experiences I've had the past 9 years.

Hopefully I'll have time and energy to capture my reactions to day 2 of the meeting. I have the feeling that of all the things in which I've participated, this one is worth capturing for posterity.

Hope Over Fear

I am both proud and awestruck by President Obama's words yesterday. I am very hopeful as I read and re-read the words of his Inaugural Address. And even though, according to The Economist, Obama has an 80% global approval rating, he only recieved 53% of our votes.

While I feel inspired to write about many aspects of my experience of the Inauguration and the state of the world, what I'm drawn to explore today are the dynamics of duality. There are examples of extreme polarity and duality every where we look. Night and day, black and white, republican and democrat, Christians and Muslims, and hope versus fear.

It is easy to be caught up in an "us versus them" mentality. As soon as we draw a line in the sand to discriminate self from other, we begin building a wall which impedes connection, understanding, and collaboration. We inherit these walls from our families and communities, often without question. The gap of fear and distrust between Christians and Muslims, for example, is said to go all the way back to the falling out of two brothers, Cain and Abel. With the descendants of Cain becoming today's Muslims and the descendants of Abel becoming today's Christians.

Overcoming the walls of our own judements and discriminations requires an expansion of consciousness. To put it another way, in order to see beyond the walls of my own self I must become aware of that which is not-self. I must not only become aware that which feels alien to me, but I must also begin to find some basis for connecting with or understanding something or someone that is on the other side of the fortress that is my paradigm.

How exactly, then, do we choose Hope Over Fear? President Obama spoke at length over this, and I believe that the responsibility for meaningful transformation belongs to each individual.

We are witnessing the decay and demise of all the major systems on the planet, including the global economy, education, human health and wellbeing, society, and every ecosystem on earth. To a systems thinker, the failures of these interdependent systems provide valuable feedback that a course correction is needed. In Chaos Theory, turbulence precedes a jump to a new level of order. The turbulence itself is caused by a rapid and chaotic oscillation between two poles in the trajectory of a system.

I think it's worth taking a minute to break this concept down for you. A trajectory is simply the direction in which the energy of the system is moving. If you're walking north on a hiking trail then the path you've walked is your trajectory. When you come to a fork in the trail you're faced with choosing east or west. Until you lock-in on one choice, your energy waffles back and forth between east and west. Those moments of indecision don't cause too much discomfort when you are just hiking... but when an entire nation is waffling back and forth between republicans and democrats every 4-8 years, there is considerable turbulence. Each time the pendulum shifts "we" feel hopeful and optimistic while "they" feel fearful and afraid.

Case in point: last October I received a widely forwarded email which claimed that Obama was the anti-christ. There are good and honest people out there in the world who are truly afraid that this election heralds the end of days and that we will soon experience a full blown apocalypse. Interestingly enough, I recall that a number of Gore supporters had the same judgements and fears when Bush was elected.

While I am clearly a democrat and am most certainly feeling much more hopeful about the world today than I have in the past several years, it's useless for half of the country to feel hopeful if the other half is fearful. It only causes more turbulence.

Therefore, any one of us who truly wants to make a difference in the world, and who truly want to achieve world peace, must begin to tear down the walls of our judgements. We must cease to define others by how they differ from us. We must seek always to connect with and understand anything and anyone which feels alien, foreign, or threatening.

If you are a democrat, please reach out to your republican neighbors. Begin by sharing a meal together, not by lecturing or brow-beating. Spend time appreciating the things you have in common - loving your children, working hard, doing the right thing, and faith in something higher than the self. This is one thing you can do to work for peace. This is how we choose hope over fear. We cannot afford otherwise.