- Architecture of Abundance (4)
- Spirituality (6)
- Uncategorized (3)
- 13 July 2010: Starting 'Dots' and Questions on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Disaster
- 10 November 2009: A Note on Your Divinity: The Natural Condition of Love
- 22 May 2009: A Note on Your Divinity: Divine Intelligence
- 22 April 2009: Earth Day Reminder to Claim Abundance
- 21 April 2009: Revelation on the Healing Powers of the Universe: Miracles
- 20 March 2009: Brain Therapy, Exercise 3: Defining Business Architecture
- 13 March 2009: Brain Injury Awareness
- 2 March 2009: A Note on Your Divinity
- 27 February 2009: Brain Therapy, Exercise 2: The Architecture of Abundance
- 26 February 2009: Brain Therapy, Exercise 1: Extension
Starting ‘Dots’ and Questions on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Disaster
13 July 2010 by blog.
This pause is to share a starting collection of ‘dots’ and questions regards the disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. Anyone care to play with me in connecting them? Let me know your thoughts!
In no particular order, even as the following list is numbered, let us pause, starting with a consideration of the following:
Dot 1: Information on the worst oil spill in US history is being censored. This is a disturbing pattern of recent notorious power interest censoring information around major disasters and crises.
Question 1: Who knows what is really going on?
Dot 2: Evidence is emerging, despite the information suppression tactics, and beyond the devastation of untold millions of gallons of oil spewed to pollution, that the BP Gulf disaster may have triggered a ‘world-killing’ event. This spill is about the oil, but we should be leery of the methane in the mix.
Question 2: Who knows what is really going on?
Dot 3: A critical study of methane levels in the Gulf of Mexico resulting from the drilling disaster has been commissioned and executed. Oceanographer John Kessler of Texas A&M set out on a mission to gather the facts. Dr. Kessler said (see the last link in Dot 2 above), as of June 22, 2010, “Give us about a week and we should have some preliminary numbers…” It has been a couple of weeks and as of this posting, Dr. Kessler’s work on those preliminary estimates is apparently still in process.
Question 3: Who knows what is really going on?
Dot 4: A massive fleet of US warships and troops has been authorized for deployment to Costa Rica, a theater “supervised” by the Miami/Gulf of Mexico based U.S. Southern Command (aka, SOUTHCOM). The official action is to assist Costa Rica in the war on drugs.
Question 4 (See the link in Dot 4 above from which we paraphrase their question, “Since U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is based in Miami, Florida, could these crucial warships and the 7,000 US Marines be fleeing from something infinitely more dangerous [than the ostensible cover of breaking down the ‘war’ in ‘war of drugs’ to make it real] that is about to happen in the Gulf of Mexico?” here as): Who knows what is going on?
Yep, it’s time for a pause and I am happy to be back. More dots and questions to come… stay tuned!
Ciao,
blog
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A Note on Your Divinity: The Natural Condition of Love
10 November 2009 by blog.
Greetings, gentle readers and Divine folks everywhere. We have taken some serious time off recently, pausing to ponder so many world changes at hand. Well, let us reconnect once again, this time to consider the innately loving and Divine nature of the Human species.
A universal behavior – from the high tech societies of the east and west to the villages of the last indigenous peoples everywhere and in all cultures across the globe – is the response that adult humans have when a baby smiles. Try as you may, it takes a severe effort to respond to a smiling baby with anything other than a smile. Why? We are programmed to do so; it is in our genes, a miraculous encoding of human DNA that makes a smiling baby virtually irresistible. We have an innate desire to protect and otherwise nurture the baby bearer of the smile. We cannot help this for Mother Nature compels us to care.
Babies, likewise, are universally born with an instinct to smile (and as recent evidence proves, babies can be seen smiling even before they are born). The myths and social developments of modern society seek to convince us that babies cry first, but the evidence suggest that in natural birthing environments, babies are born awed and wide eyed. And one of the first things they do is smile. Why? Because they already know – if they smile, we will smile back and be compelled to take care of them.
Let us form the proposition, therefore, that we are born loving and that we have an instinct to love back. It should be a strong assertion, following, that anything we do to each other besides acting on our instinct to love, care, and protect one another is learned behavior. We are not born with hate. We are born with love. We must, therefore, acquire hate by learning hatred from others. In our natural condition, however, it takes no learning to love, we just do.
This is, as noted, a cross-cultural, universal behavior – no matter your location, ethnicity, background, or condition, the babies will smile and the adults have an instinct to smile back. This innate reaction is a key component and natural marker of the social nature of humans which has allowed us to propagate and survive. Otherwise, we would have long ago hated each other out of existence. Indeed, the learned behavior of hatred – the fear of the “others,” the mistrust of peoples outside of our families, nations, and belief systems, may yet be the learned and unnatural undoing of the human species. We should know, however, that hatred is truly not our natural condition and we should see the madness and sadness of the continuing, pervasive, indoctrinated hatred that keeps us divided and in competition with each other.
I have heard, and we witness daily, the naysayers who would deny the universal truth that we are a social species naturally ingrained – literally programmed – to love each other. These people claim that the nature of humans is inherently evil. What a grim view and surely evidence that we have lost our way as we have moved from our natural condition of attunement and balance with nature. These people can only feel this way because they have been denied the pure loving that is the natural way of our species. That, gentle readers, is a pity.
It is time for a pause to consider that if we feel hate, we have learned it. Therefore, let us examine our belief systems and frankly assess the conditions that have allowed hatred to fester in our hearts, between individuals, and indeed between cultures and societies for so long.
Given the condition and state of the world today, it seems there is no time like the present to break through the indoctrination of division – to call out the haters and cast off the hatred – that leaves so many of us believing we are so different from each other. You, gentle reader, are born loving and that is truly divine. May the Healing Powers of the Universe guide us in realizing and celebrating the natural condition of love that marks our shared Divineness.
Peace to all and all the best,
blog
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A Note on Your Divinity: Divine Intelligence
22 May 2009 by blog.
Hello, gentle readers and Divine people everywhere! Revelations on our divine natures are ever-present. Today we pause to consider human intelligence as a universal marker of our divinity.
A simple definition of intelligence defines it as the “capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc.” (1) This is what we do. Humans are an intelligent species. We are born with intelligence, defined as our innate capacity to learn, reason, and understand the truths, relationships, facts, and meanings of things in the Universe.
Every person, therefore, is an intelligent being. This simple fact – that we are all intelligent beings – is a marker of the divine nature of our species. We have universal intelligence, a point with spiritual resonations in awareness and understanding of our divine intelligence.
You, gentle reader, are an intelligent, amazing, and Divine individual. Just thought it would be cool to pause and thank you for your inspiration.
Cheers,
blog
(1) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intelligence
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Earth Day Reminder to Claim Abundance
22 April 2009 by blog.
People everywhere are celebrating the Earth today. If you want to contemplate your divine nature — that is to find the goddess, or God, or convene with the Spirit as described in various ways across cultures and traditions — consider going outside to say hello to a tree or talk to some plants, while keeping in mind the following points:
- The Sun gets its energy because of its creation as a star in our Universe. We have observed and theorized about the origin of Stars and so far the evidence shows that Stars are wondrous.
- The energy from the Sun streams through space and especially in the form of light provides energy to the trees and plants. The plants take sunlight and convert it through photosynthesis into substances — oxygen, water, sugars, fiber — without which there would be no life as we know it on Earth. To find God here, know that after thousands of years of modern science, we still have not cracked photosynthesis and all we can say regards the conclusive big picture is that photosynthesis and what plants do is through mysterious, miraculous, and Divine processes. This is direct evidence. Is there any additional proof needed?
- Take time to pause for a deep breath. You will have just, explicitly in this focus, taken in oxygen from the plants, which is energy from the Universe, from the Sun, that has been converted from one form (sunlight) into another. This energy is a life force - without it, life as we know it would not exist.
- Remember that as each other breathes, we are taking in the same substance - the same life supporting energy - that drives the spark of Divine life we share, that same life force which started in us when our parents united to procreate. We are connecting to the Universe and since everyone is doing it, since everyone is connected to the Sun and through and beyond that to the Universe, by extension we are connected and connecting to each other. Take a breath and find God in that - it is miraculous to consider.
Divine energy is in us, of us, about us, and around us. We are all connected to each other, whether considering that we are human because of the DNA of our species or observing the patterns in Nature (such as the imagery of our connectedness through breathing or propagation of a life force that is the same through billions of people). This is the miracle of Mother Nature and Earth Day is a great time to pause and consider this.
Humans are of the Earth and of each other. We are inextricably linked to form a global family, seen in infinite patterns that prove we are all the same while we simultaneously exists as unique individuals expressing thousands of shared characteristics (such as eyes for seeing) that are expressed in spectrums (dark brown, hazel, gray, green, blue, golden, and other individual beautiful colors) as we adapt to our place on Earth and the people and environments around us.
On Earth Day, let us celebrate our connections to the Earth and each other!
Finally, let us pause to consider a serious and central point of Earth Day as well - that the Architecture of Fear, which has led to massive pollution and imbalance, is not sustainable and is not right for a magnificent planet. The Earth is abundant. Earth Day is a chance to remind ourselves that the Architecture of Abundance is all about people coming together to protect the Earth and creating a world of unity and prosperity befitting of the glory revealed within.
Happy Earth Day, everyone!
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Revelation on the Healing Powers of the Universe: Miracles
21 April 2009 by blog.
Hello, World! This greeting is sent to everyone, simply and with hope that no matter where you are or what is currently going on in the World, you will be uplifted as we pause to consider ancient knowledge in this Revelation:
The Healing Powers of the Universe are in and with us all.
I present myself in joining people everywhere, all of them radiantly spiritual and Divine, in sharing the story below. The comments that follow my testimony are representative of the emails, cards, calls, or visits that people have shared, delivering their support and love for me, while creating a process of mutual inspiration that is uplifting, healing, and miraculous.
I Believe in Miracles
One thing which many of my newer friends have noticed is that often my postings refer to “the accident” or “my recovery” or “a miracle.” This note is to provide some history as to where this comes from and is a compilation from messages that I have shared with my friends in the past.
In November 2007, while I was on business in NYC, I had a devastating fall. The circumstances are unclear as the accident was traumatic to the point of amnesia. The forensic evidence suggests that I had worked a long day (fourteen hours between the first and last emails for work), so perhaps I was exhausted and alcohol was involved. As a person used to a fast paced life - working hard and partying hard - those are just factors, in the end. Maybe I slipped; could have been hit by a car; or perhaps I was pushed. Whatever happened, I was in a weakened state that left me vulnerable to a negative attack (and I have reason to believe this was the case, even though it does not appear that I was robbed).
I was found by the NYPD at the bottom of a stairwell a few blocks from my apartment. It appears that I went down face first, sustaining severe facial injuries that took a lot of skin and left me bloodied on top of three far more serious internal injuries — a collapsed lung, a traumatic brain injury, and most critically, a spinal cord injury between discs C3-C4 in my neck. Whatever happened, I was essentially left for dead. But by the grace of Divine intervention was I found in time before deathly rigor set in.
The spinal cord injury left me paralyzed, essentially from the neck down, in a state of quadriplegia. This was caused by a spinal cord contusion (bruising or ‘pinging’) and edema (swelling) that resulted when my head snapped back. Further, the edema was exacerbated because I have congenital spinal stenosis, a condition that occurs at birth in about 10% of people where there is a marked narrowing of the spinal canal at certain points. I snapped my neck in potentially the worst of all sections for me, the narrow part, and there was nowhere for the swollen cord to go, complicating the injury.
The brain injury left me in an abyss. In addition to amnesia, common in these types of neurological injuries, there was serious seepage of fluids deep into the tissues and brain matter was damaged. The facial lacerations were consistent with being dragged over concrete or, as a lot of people who saw me afterward would say, it looked like I went through the windshield of a car face first. As one friend said when she saw me first in the hospital, “it was rough.”
The prognosis was bleak: 98% of people with similar injuries end up with some severe paralysis or physical deficit. The doctors prepared us to expect the worst (quadriplegic) or less worst (paraplegic). My family and friends were devastated. When I arrived to the hospital for rehab a week after the accident, they had a wheelchair and slider board with my name, literally, on it.
Sine then, I have had a miraculous recovery. Starting near two weeks after the accident, I regained some movement in my legs (it was the left big toe that moved first) and shortly thereafter I regained movement in my arms (I could not lift them more than a few inches, but they moved). When I left the hospital in December, I was, incredibly, able to do it without primary (i.e., no walker) assistance (but I did have my nephew’s arm). I was too weak to travel home until February, 2008 but I made it back to Chicago and started a program at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago that has been critical in helping me regain my faculties.
The essential components of my recovery, the ingredients in the recipe for this miracle, are as follows:
- A deeply spiritual belief and determination that I would recover along with a determined, positive attitude. This started when, days after the accident, some of my friends were in the hospital and I noticed how distraught they were. The only thing I could think to say was, “Don’t worry, I am going to have a miraculous recovery.” If I had said anything else, I believe that the outcome would not be as it is today as I received a great blessing.
- Adoption of macrobiotic principles (see the book “The Macrobiotic Way” by Kushi, Blauer, Esko) in eating, exercise, and attitude. We believe “you are what you eat,” so I ate healing foods. Likewise, we believe that, “one attracts energy based on what one exudes,” so I radiated positivity. I was so optimistic that a close friend gently said one night, “You know, it’s okay to grieve.” True on that, but when you can only move your eyelids, there is something that clicks about being alive and I was happy for that so that is what I stuck to.
- Aggressive physical, occupational, and speech/language pathology therapies. I had PT and OT 3X week, each, for months, went to the gym as much as I could, and moved at every opportunity. SLP was for my brain recovery as I lost significant higher level cognitive stamina (although, fortunately, not too much cognitive faculty).
- Incorporation of western (i.e., medical therapeutic massage) with eastern (i.e., acupuncture) medical practices with a view towards holistic health (i.e., also including spiritual development which is a part of all points listed here).
- Opening myself to the energy of the Healing Powers of the Universe, being particularly receptive to the thoughts, prayers, vibes, energy, etc., of so many people who reached out and provided support. This cannot be overstated - without the love of people everywhere I would not have had a fighting chance.
- Recognition that my return from the abyss was driven by an internal healing power that is a gift from God (or the goddess as I like to remind myself that the Divine feminine is the source of life for us all and that the concept of God is larger than most of us and our religions frame it).
My official goal is to be 118% - I am not there yet and I have some work to do but I have reached a point where this is realistic in a shorter-time frame now than at any point since the accident. The advantage I have is that everything moves (and I like to quote Data from the show Star Trek: The Next Generation, “I am fully functional and programmed in multiple techniques.”).
I have a great chance to overcome the weakness from residual muscle atrophy. I moved from Physical Therapy to Physical Training at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, commencing their Functional Fitness Program in March 2009. For relative comparison, in March 2008, I could barely curl a 2lb dumbbell. In March 2009, I could curl a 10lb dumbbell. Now, I am happy to report, I was able to complete a set to failure with a 25lb dumbbell this April. Not all of my gains are 100%-ing, but from five times to ten times stronger from that 2008 baseline in a month is exciting. Dramatic gains, this far out, are atypical. Then again, so is the miracle, and as the recovery continues I still refuse to accept the “medical expectation.”
It may take me longer than an average 40+ year old male to finally re-develop normal strength, but I am blessed to be on the way!
The Universe gives us challenges that we are capable of handling, we just have to find our way. This is not always easy, and as many have experienced, often difficult and painful. We must stay strong and know that we are not alone.
We all have a miracle inside of us. I look forward to sharing with as many people as possible the lessons I have learned and the mission called by this experience as life presents a second chance to make a difference. Extra thanks and love to all who rallied and still stand in support. May the Healing Powers of the Universe be with you as they are with me!
God bless,
blog
Devastating spinal cord injury sustained in November 2007. 98% of people with this type of injury suffer debilitating physical loss.
Comments @ Facebook.com
Truly inspirational. You are a miracle, my friend.
Thank you for sharing this, Dennis. Thank you.
Wow! Thanks for sharing your amazing story. You are an inspiration to all!
Thanks for sharing your Traumatic story and giving the positive message. We touched base on your severe accident a while back but I didn’t realize the traumatic nature. I was thinking that you fell down the steps. You are an inspiration to me and I’m glad your sharing your story to help others.
Thanks for sharing, Dennie. You made my day.
Your truths can raise the consciousness of a nation. Please continue to go forward valiantly… the world is waiting. I love you till the end of time.
Chris, Krishan - thanks for being there first and compelling me to want to come back; Marla, our paths have crossed presciently; Steve, without our re-connect exactly as it was, where would I be?; Joan, much appreciation - your attention to the children reminds me constantly of what is most important in life; and Toni Tee, thanks for being my best friend since day one.
You are a walking miracle Dennie and I am so glad that you are doing so well. Can’t wait to see you in June.
Wow!! You are truly blessed by the hand of God! Thank you for bringing this positive word. It is something I need to hear from time to time especially when life’s hiccups come around. To go through such a trama and to have such a good outlook, I am proud to call you my friend! Keep on going Denny!! You can do anything through Christ!!
U better bet it, Dennie T is additional proof that God is able when spirit and body is willing to take that risk
I am truly moved and thankful you are able to share this with us. I also know that you know The Secret….
Dennie - I had only heard bits and pieces of what happened and had no idea how serious your injuries were. It sounds like such a scary experience and it is so great to hear that you have come this far in beating the odds. Thanks for sharing the story and I look forward to hearing the next update on your continued successes.
Dennie,
What a moving story. I had no idea that you had gone through this. Wow. You are a survivor. May God continue to bless you and may your testimony be a blessing to others, on multiple levels. Peace and blessings - Valerie
I am truly touched by your story. Literally but for the grace go I…. God Is Good…ALL THE TIME..and ALL THE TIME…God IS GOOD!!
Thanks for sharing. You’d shared your story about the accident and paralysis with me in previous posts, but I wasn’t sure if you were were still a quadriplegic or not and was a bit hesitant to come out and ask directly. This is an amazing story Dennis. God is good. I pray that you continue on your successful road beyond full recovery. Best, Andre
Dennis - thank you for sharing your story. It is pretty amazing, and I wish you the best on your road to 118%!
Buddy, you are the embodiment of courage and determination. Thanks for sharing.
We’ll have you tailing a winch in no time.
Thank you for sharing your courageous and inspiring story.
To God be the Glory!! Dennis, keep on keepin on, your testimony is truly inspirational and I am going out to find the book by Blauer. Thanks so much for sharing all of this.
Hey Dennis, Long time brother. I just read your note ‘I believe in Miracles;’ thank you for sharing it, and I am enriched from reading it and will remember you in my thoughts and prayers in an effort to add further momentum to the positive forces that have ushered you down the road to recovery. Yours in friendship and in kinship of spirit. Herman
Inspiring!! You are an amazing person who lives up to what you believe!! I am so blessed to have met you. When you are at 118% Hank would love to go for a walk with Uncle Dennie. 
Thank you for sharing not only your story, but your guide to healing. It’s truly amzing as God is amazing! May you continue to grow stronger each day in mind, body and spirit.
Thank you Dennis, your story comes to me at a time that I myself need some inspiration…. You have inspired me to stay strong as I face a very small difficulty (in comparison to what you have faced). I pry for you and may God’s grace and blessings keep you strong and headed towards 118%.
Thanks for sharing your story. I pray for your continued recovery.
Dennie, thanks for sharing your story with me once again. I know that Keith is on his way to recovery and even though insurance has said that he is ‘CUSTODIAL’, he is proving them wrong by the new movements and way he tries to communicate lately. God is the ultimate and only one who has the power to bring Keith back to us. A brain injury is such… Read More a traumatic and complicated situation… but with God, we will overcome!! I was told that Keith has the mindset of a 2-3 year old, but I didn’t receive that because I know that my husband is still in there somewhere and I need the energy and belief from folks that he is healed and he is on his way back.
You are an inspirational testimony to us all and i can only hope that we can do the same with Keith’s situation… for God is all and we know He can do it for us if we believe.
Take care and God bless!!
Incredibly inspiring. “We all have a miracle inside of us.” Thank you for sharing the miracle that is Dennie T. I’m glad you have a second chance to make a difference. You certainly are making one. :-> More blessings to you.
Dennis- You should make a documentary out of this. I know someone who makes movies like this for a living. Your would be an amazing story to share with other!
Namaste. Thank you for sharing.
This is a most inspiring note Dennis. I re-read it several times today and now have a better understanding of your undeterred positive energy and lust for life. You will have no trouble reaching 118%; we will be rooting for you. Thanks for sharing.
Dennis, I had not know the particulars of your fall before, though I was aware that a miracle had occurred. After reading the details, the miraculous looks even more amazing. But, then, I do believe that my God takes care of his own. Your resilience is itself amazing, and you are an inspiration to us all. How can I let myself be brought down by “… Read Morethe little things” in my own life, when I read all that you have gone through and are going through? There is no real hierarchy of pain; however, and I know that what each of us has inside differs. Still … Onward and upward. And, consider, as someone else on this site has suggested, doing a book or a documentary. I love you.
Dennis, you continue to inspire me. I will continue to pray for your official goal of 118%.
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Brain Therapy, Exercise 3: Defining Business Architecture
20 March 2009 by blog.
Brain Therapy Exercises 1 and 2 introduce the concept of a Business Architecture paradigm in an attempt to explain some aspects of my life as a semi-retired consultant and to address the question, “What can we do to make the make the world a better place?” These exercises show by example that Business Architecture is about describing how things operate. Exercise 1 is a draft Operational Business Architecture artifact, the Architecture of Fear, that was reverse engineered from reality to explain how the world operates and why we see the outcomes we do today. Exercise 2 also provides an Operational Business Architecture product, the Architecture of Abundance, to show how the world might operate in a future-state with people working together to achieve outcomes that would make the world a better place.
Our next exercise for the brain is the development of a definition of “Business Architecture.” This will allow me to tackle some structured thinking that will, with hope, require intense concentration, thereby inducing the physiological phenomenon of the creation of neuropathic synapses that increase the brain plasticity that is integral to the miraculous abilities of the human being. This should greatly advance my recovery and improve my odds in the long run. So let us dive right in.
Business Architecture may be formal, as defined by various methodologies and techniques, but given the current state of my brain (e.g., recovering) and presumption of fiat from nearly two decades working in strategy, operations, and technology, we shall structure our initial definition informally:
Business Architecture is anything that helps people from different parts of the business (especially the non-technical and technical people) to develop a common understanding of exactly what needs to be done.
The development of Business Architecture as a management tool stems from the thorny issues businesses face trying to figure out technology. In the business world, there always seems to be some issue of getting technology to do the things that people want it to do. Owners, managers, workers, customers, nearly anyone who has ever done or dealt with business can probably relate to the challenges people face integrating and using technology. In larger organizations, this is often characterized as getting the “business people” to understand the “technical people” and vice versa.
Business Architecture is a tool of management communication intended to convey, in non-technical terms, concepts of operations that get people on the same page, regardless of which part of the business they primarily deal with. It is about helping people articulate and understand strategy, define the appropriate organization and resources, and work together towards desired outcomes.
In practice, Business Architecture becomes the basis for Technical Architecture that further decomposes the business into increasingly detailed specifications for technological systems. The general, widely used term for a comprehensive and formalized approach to Business and Technical Architecture is Enterprise Architecture (EA). EA is a practice of developing business and technical architecture tools that support an organization’s strategy by aligning non-technical, functional operations with the technical infrastructure. This is done to crystallize the strategy and increase the efficiency, returns, and capabilities from investments in organizational systems and technology. Organizations and people – businesses – that understand how to do this typically significantly increase their competitiveness through innovation and productivity improvements.
The usage of Business Architecture, however, is necessarily not limited to solely addressing issues of aligning business and technical resources. While technology is critical to every business, at the end of the day a business is only as good as its people. Business architecture, therefore, must address all business processes, people, and resources, specifically as they are organized and deployed. Business Architecture is an idea that by codifying and clearly articulating strategy, using common terminology and the visual presentation of information, people from all domains in the business will understand what needs to be done. This is called alignment of business resources and is critical in efficient, innovative, and successful organizations.
Business Architecture draws on three disciplines in the development of its methodologies and practices:
1) Management Science, which provides ideas of process analysis, analytics, strategy, management, and communication. The “business” in Business Architecture is about getting things done. Business Architecture concerns itself primarily with Strategy and Planning (i.e., defining the mission, vision, goals, objectives, and tasks) and Organizational Systems (i.e., defining and managing the structures, resources, and operating models for the organization).
2) Civil Architecture, which provides ideas on design, the visual presentation of information, and communicating across technical and non-technical domains. Business Architecture is less concerned than civil architecture on a formalized methodology of design. Rather, from civil architecture, the idea that a single “blueprint” can be used to communicate across domains is the central adaptation. Business Architecture produces unified blueprints that everyone follows in building and operating the business.
3) Computer Science, which provides ideas of structured systems analysis, abstraction, and computer architecture and engineering. Business Architecture codifies system design and uses abstraction to communicate and produce increasingly detailed specifications as appropriate to the needs of the business stakeholders. The concepts are valid whether applied across an organization (i.e., Enterprise Architecture) or down to individuals and processes (e.g., work plans and packages).
The practice of Business Architecture, even as it draws on ideas from science, is really an art. The art is the production of unified communications that articulate what the business is about and move people to action. There are numerous ways to do this, several common frameworks and methodologies that specify useful artifacts, and increasing use of the concepts. Business Architecture, however, is less concerned with how the architecture is produced, for example, compared to Civil Architecture, than it is concerned with producing visionary artifacts, using whatever process and tools are relevant and most appropriate to the business. The objective is to present a conceptual model that enables people to think about the challenges, understand the critical questions, and take actions towards desired outcomes.
There is a great body of work in Enterprise Architecture. Various methodologies and techniques have been developed and the formalization of EA continues. My take is that while a formalized approach may be useful, the most important idea is the concept – that by clearly articulating the strategy and helping people develop a common understanding of the mission, vision, goals, and objectives of an organization many of the problems that often seem intractable can be solved.
My journey through a couple of decades in strategy, operations, technology, has led me to discover many tools and techniques, out of the academic and commercial realms, for accomplishing non-technical and technical tasks in organizations. The love in Business Architecture stems from its positioning at the nexus of strategy, operations, and technology – you have to do it all to understand and get it right. Done right, Business Architecture is a powerful, invaluable tool that can help organizations – and people – realize new capabilities and increase competitiveness.
Business architecture cuts across organizational boundaries to take an enterprise view so that people understand not only their roles and functions but also what individual actions are required to accomplish strategic objectives. The Brain Exercises will continue to explore using this technique to ask people, “What can we do to make the world a better place?” By cutting across human organizational boundaries (i.e., we address people in every family), Business Architecture allows us to take a global view (i.e., with the Earth as our enterprise) so that we may not only understand our roles in creating the outcomes we see in the world today, but also what individual and organizational actions are required to overcome fear so that we may accomplish the strategic objective of creating a world of abundance.
We shall pause here and seek discussion on our emerging definition of Business Architecture. I look forward to your input. In the meantime, the physiological developments occurring simultaneously to this writing are signaling that the author’s brain is ready for another element of healing – sleep.
Cheers,
blog
Posted in Architecture of Abundance | No Comments »
Brain Injury Awareness
13 March 2009 by blog.
Millions of people suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI) every year. I had one in 2007 that left me in an abyss of amnesia, seeping brain fluids, and paralysis. My brain therapy continues, following a miraculous recovery from the deep.
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. Here are some links for those pausing for additional awareness:
The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
Yahoo! (search)
Google (search)
Thanks,
blog
Posted in Spirituality, Uncategorized | No Comments »
A Note on Your Divinity
2 March 2009 by blog.
Following a recent discussion on Facebook with some friends, regards, as we were calling her, the Octo-Mom, I would like to share a thought about your divinity with the rest of the world. The thought is: You, gentle reader, are a Divine individual.
We use a capital ‘D’ to emphasize a nearly universal human belief, namely that all people are Divine. This is expressed in many cultures around the globe, particularly in the major religious doctrines and traditions. Most people have some local translation for the statement, “God is in us.” Let us, therefore, abstract up a level, ever seeking to relate an understanding that the greater commonality is what binds us, even as we get caught up in the indoctrination of division that permeates a world operating over an Architecture of Fear.
No matter where you are, what your circumstances, plight, outlook, or station in the face of what we have created in the world so far, I hope you do not mind if I take this time to pause and share with you how wondrous I find that just like me, you, gentle reader, are Divine!
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The Octo-Mom is Nadya Suleman, a woman who gave birth to octuplets in 2009. The circumstances of the conception, the situation of Ms. Suleman, and the current state of the world, created a sensation. Many people took time for a pause. My two cents, in considering many issues and often opposing, critical viewpoints, follows below.
It is hard to judge God. On the one hand, if God put all creatures on the Earth and if God does not make mistakes, then who are we to judge God’s creations? On the other hand, as God is in us, blessing us with an innate sense of the Divine, it feels, and sometimes we know, that all is not perfect in us nor in the world.
The mother should know that no matter her inner urges or feelings of deflated self that leave her painfully reaching out in a manner, which by our norms and after 10,000 years of recent evolution, strikes many of us as sad, [the mother should know] that she is a Divine being. She is beautiful and beyond adequate, but her choices do speak of an inner pain that runs deep.
If we were doing right by and for the children already in the world today, surely adding 8 more would increase the universal joy. But we are not there and we have a monumental task with the children already here - 35 million children who live in poverty in the United States; an education crisis, particularly with boys; childhood obesity epidemic; and other things happening with kids that reflect how poorly, really, as a society we are with raising our children. Eight beautiful sparks of life have arrived in this world, it seems, where the deck is stacked against them.
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Brain Therapy, Exercise 2: The Architecture of Abundance
27 February 2009 by blog.
The data in my super-secret database that catalogs the beliefs of every person I ever asked if they agreed that a) The Earth is abundant; b) The world is what people make of it; and c) The world should be a better place is at odds with the reality of what we see in the world today. Therefore, in Brain Therapy, Exercise 1, we reverse engineered the current state of the world to posit a few drivers that cause the world’s operating systems to work as they do. The acceptance of hatred, greed, and moral corruption in our day-to-day lives are shown to ultimately underlie the Architecture of Fear. A concrete example of how this works is presented in Brain Therapy, Exercise 1: Extension.
Moving right along, Brain Therapy, Exercise 2 is presented. This positive exercise builds on its predecessors towards a solution in answering the question of “What can we do to make the world a better place.” Once again we use a business architecture view to show at an abstract level key elements required in universal value and operating systems if we are to move from a world of fear and scarcity to one of peace and abundance.
Ordinarily, in a professional situation with paying clients, we would work collaboratively with the people of the world to address the issues of the Architecture of Fear and earn our premium. Given the scope of the problem – fear is experienced daily, down to the family and individual levels in many communities – the scope of the effort to make the world a better place is necessarily unprecedented. It would be a major feat to involve nearly every person in the world in a sincere and robust discussion of what we can all do, together, to make the world a better place. Interestingly, we have demonstrated with our recent technological achievements that, for the first time in current history, the possibility of humanity achieving such a feat, of having the global family discussion, is technically doable and realistic in consideration.
In this exercise, we assume a starting point for a discussion on changes that all people can make to help the world move from an Architecture of Fear to an Architecture of Abundance.
The Architecture of Abundance frames the discussion and raises serious questions for the people of the world, including the following:
· Is this something we, every individual, can do in our own lives, starting with a look in the mirror? Within our immediate families? Extended families? Clans? Tribes? States? Nations? Regional cooperatives and blocs? World?
· Can we, the people of the world, unite around positive, universal core values; disavow the old, negative systems; and implement innovative solutions that improve the lives of people everywhere?
· Can we live in harmony with nature, allow nature to flourish, and all share in the riches of the Earth?
By example and since we must break this discussion down from the top of the world while simultaneously building it up family by family, I will call my closest people, my people and family in North America, to pause and remember our own history. There was a time in our land, for example, in what is now the United States of America before anyone ever conceived of our present situation, where there were 200 million people, millions of buffalo and deer, rivers and oceans teeming with fish, and great fields of maize everywhere. Plenty of land, plenty of food, plenty of water, and freedom. These shores are surely described in the annals of history, particularly those of Eurocentric history, as the land of plenty.
Contrary to popular historical accountings, the evidence is clear that native American systems were far more effective in providing for all than anything seen at the time in Europe – including advanced sanitation, agriculture, governance, and spirituality. For example, the concept of individual property was foreign to America as the natives had a much more advanced way of thinking about wealth, starting with a core belief that there was plenty for everybody. Understanding this fact and taking a spiritual view of the gifts from the land led them to live in harmony with nature. They believed that God, the Divine Spirit, put everything on Earth for all of us.
Likewise, the concepts of individual freedom and women’s rights are direct adoptions from the flourishing cultures that invading strangers encountered when they arrived to this land of plenty. The people coming on boats, for heaven’s sake and throughout our ages, were indentured servants, political and economic refugees, slaves, explorers, from male dominated societies, fleeing famine, etc., and most of them had no idea what real freedom was until they witnessed it here. The ancestors of these lands, in counterpoint, had no concept of poverty because they lived a life of freedom in a land of abundance.
When foreigners, cum immigrants, first arrived on these shores, they were met with a model of abundance that contrasted greatly with their own experience. These foreigners came from a land ruled by fear in a model of scarcity commanded by kings and popes who took the booty and shamefully claimed their material conquests in the name of God. It was not, but both sides, we should understand, at some point really believed that it was. We are at peace with all of our ancestors for many of them were like so many of us today – trying to get by, exploring and seeking, in search of the Divine, but not really understanding that our separation from the Spirit leaves us operating, driven by, and thus manipulated at our own hands over an Architecture of Fear.
Coming from warring lands of scarcity, chained to commercial interests, some of my ancestors landed in a world of abundance. They did not have cash registers, but it feels like they must have heard the sounds of them (and the historical record certainly agrees). My other ancestors had a land of plenty and in fact offered to share the wealth. We weep for the price of lessons learned during our integration was far too often paid with ancestral blood. From this initial clash, nonetheless, our sensibility has arisen and the truths of our principles prevail. America’s greatest gifts to world, ultimately, may be not only our corn, but also the knowledge and example that diversity, freedom, and a unified spirit are key ingredients to incredible innovation and wealth – and that we are loving, spiritual, and philanthropic people who are willing to share our experience, knowledge, and abundance with the world.
We have learned from the past about our roots of abundance and we understand our history and the roots of the fear, greed, and moral corruption that we overcome. The principles of America, one nation, surely rise as the dust of the red earth that we have sometimes scorched. Both compel us, as do the forces of the Universe reflected through this rich land, to be as we were, and as we are, one people, with freedom and liberty afforded by the richest life for all in this splendidly diverse and abundant corner of the Earth.
My question for my fellow citizens is, “Do you think these lands are any less sacred, rich, and capable of providing for everyone than they were when they were created?”
History is what it is. In a land of abundance there is no need to dwell on the past, but the sensibility to learn from our mistakes is crucial. In a world of abundance, the most important fact is that we have arrived where we are today, remembering and reaffirming what everyone believes – that the Earth is abundant, is what we make of it, and will be a better place.
One framework for consideration in approaching the questions posed above is The Architecture of Abundance.
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Brain Therapy, Exercise 1: Extension
26 February 2009 by blog.
In Brain Therapy Exercise 1, the acceptance of fear, greed, and corruption in our day-to-day lives are shown to underlie the Architecture of Fear upon which it is posited that the world operates. The Brain Therapy exercises are structured tasks that are a part of my “home therapy” program. If we had the luxury of taking a bottoms up approach, we would take the findings from Exercise 1 to the people of the world for vetting, seeking to refine the view until a consensus is agreed on and people understood what is really going on.
For the purposes of this case, we shall clarify the post Brain Therapy, Exercise 1 with a discussion using concrete examples to show that the real problem in the world is the tacit acceptance or inability to control values of fear, greed, and moral corruption in societies and people. Fear leads to an adversarial mindset that traps people in a competition for resources – we have to protect ours from them and if they have what we want and we cannot trade, then we will defeat them in battle and take what we want. The battle for resources, including intangible resources such as the support (or, far too prevalent in reality, the forced support) of populations to adopt ideologies (for example, “Capitalism” vs. “Communism”) has lead to significant investments in a global military-industrial complex to fight the battles and control the distribution of resources.
The world thus operates in a mode of survival of the fittest, where the winners take most of the spoils and there are shortages for everyone else. Since most people in the world do not have (or exercise) any real say in how their governments operate, this leads to an opening for a small number of people to take essentially autocratic control of militaries and governments, thus gaining autocratic control of public resources.
For example, the United States would position itself as the leading democracy in the world. Recent history, however, shows how a small group of people can muscle power from the masses to implement their own agenda, effectively ignoring a majority of people. Specifically, in the Presidential election of 2000, Democratic Party candidate Al Gore won a majority of the popular vote. The election however, was decided by the arcane system of the Electoral College. By coordinating forces of evil to disenfranchise voters in minority districts in Florida, effectively throwing out thousands of votes that would have changed the outcome of the results in Florida, and thus the Electoral College, George Bush was able to steal the election.
In a society that valued the integrity of the democratic process, given the controversies and closeness of the election in Florida, we would expect a creative solution such as re-voting. It was too close to call and the obvious solution was to do it over – with no nonsense and towards a view that everyone gets to vote. However, there were no leaders who stepped up to call for this bold and right action. Instead we relied on the politically appointed and Republican dominated Supreme Court, which handed the election to George Bush using a highly controversial and widely disagreed logic. The same thing happened in the 2004 elections, this time with intentional minority voter disenfranchisement in Ohio.
George Bush never should have been President of the United States. Once he ascended, autocratic control was exerted, the government underwent a massive expansion with substantially all of the growth in military spending, and the largest transfer of wealth from the masses to the richest class in history was witnessed.
The results of the ascendancy of George Bush and the so called neo-cons to power can be described using the Architecture of Fear. Republicans had developed by 2000 a brilliant political strategy based on fear that exploited a) right-wing conservatives and b) racists constituents. Fearful people are the most easily exploited because their fear of “others,” even in their own society, leads to irrational behavior such as consistently voting against their economic interests, which is by far the biggest determinant of how most people in the mainstream vote. Republicans mounted a campaign of fear that worked brilliantly to capture the marginal votes of conservatives and racists needed to put them into a position to steal the election.
The Republican and the Democratic parties have been historically dominated by a moneyed class. It costs millions to win a national office so rich fund raisers are crucial constituents. It can be argued, however, that the Republican party is the party that unashamedly caters to the rich – it is known as the party of business, not labor; as the party of Wall Street, not Main Street. By crafting a misleading message on tax cuts – namely by claiming that tax cuts would benefit everyone while implementing policies that resulted in the largest transfer of wealth to the richest Americans in the history of the nation – the Republicans brilliantly exploited people’s greed. The Republican policy of deregulation or lax regulation of the financial system, furthermore, lead to the non-productive creation of capital as the moneyed Wall Street denizens invented “products” such as derivatives and complex mortgage-backed securities in an environment of weak oversight.
We use the term “non-productive” because these vehicles of capital creation were not based on tangible or physical factors of production. Rather they were based on the idea that money-begets-money and were implemented as a vehicle that greatly enriched a small number of people at the upper echelon of the Nation’s moneyed elite. The results of this non-productive creation of capital are seen today as markets crash and money seems to dry up. The public has agreed that greed got us into this mess.
Finally, the exploitation of fear and greed, and wide, tacit acceptance of these values throughout society, opens the door for and sustains moral corruption, particularly in the elite classes and among the fearful ignorant. For example, Bush’s Vice President, Dick Cheney, was previously the CEO of defense contractor Haliburton. Haliburton has profited substantially following Cheney’s ascendancy to office and ability to push his agenda for war on the American people. This example of bald-faced moral corruption is emblematic of trouble with the current control and operation of the Military-Industrial complex.
Corrupt control leads to imbalanced investment and development. In the US, while public education is faltering, particularly in large Urban districts, even as the knowledge base offers solutions to these ills, trillions of dollars are spent on militaries and wars while schools crumble and a substantial percentage of the next generation is left uneducated and ignorant. These ignorant people are susceptible to future exploitation through asymmetric knowledge dissemination – even if they gain access to the canon of knowledge they would be hard pressed to read it, yet alone think it through and act upon it.
The tacit acceptance and subsequent exploitation of fear, greed, and moral corruption as operating principles introduce peculiarities into the world’s operating systems that lead to the outcomes we see around the globe today. The competition for resources shapes the development of business and trade around the world through the lens of a Military-Industrial complex. Militaries and multi-national corporations exercise limited control over public resources. The result is that we have a world of Developed (1st World), semi-industrialized (2nd World), and underdeveloped (3rd World) nations.
We live in a world of conflict where some people win but most people lose. Resources are diverted to militarization instead of development and to the winners instead of the losers. There are wars. Terrorism arises out of the frustration of the world’s impoverished, hopeless, and disenfranchised peoples and in States that use the tools of terror to advance their ideologies or tolerate hate. People everywhere are fighting, some building nuclear weapons, while a substantial majority of the world’s population lives in poverty. We have a global high-tech pharmaceutical industry that produces life saving medicines, but because of the competition for resources, poor people do not have access to these medicines and suffer disease and death. We have the technology in the US alone to feed the world two times over, but hunger is even a problem here as nearly 35 million children in the US live in poverty.
Negative values and divisive control systems work in concert with the Military-Industrial complex to produce systems that lead to conflict, wealth imbalance, and wasted human potential around the world. Most people do not view themselves as part of an integrated whole of humanity. Rather, our worldviews are shaped at the most local level, being members of cultural and ethnic groups first, states second, nations after that. While there has been some progress with regional trade and political pacts opening the door for some semblance of unity and cooperation, at the end of the day the world is nation against nation, peoples against peoples.
Moral bankruptcy leads to collusion, exploitation, pollution, and inhumane treatment of individuals everywhere. As a result, it appears that most people are ignorant of how the world really works (or perhaps, apathetic about it), leaving the majority of the world’s population struggling to get-by if not living in destitution. This is particularly disturbing considering the relative wealth of nations and the advanced capabilities of human technology in the 21st century. Alas, the world is what we make it and this is explained by the Architecture of Fear.
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