Episode 26: Bridging with Elizabeth Soltis

In continuing the series on climate consciousness, Marti and Todd welcome guest Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir, an Icelandic author, filmmaker and sustainability leader. Hrund discusses the Icelandic concept of "InnSæi" which means intuition or "inner sea." She describes how InnSæi represents seeing within oneself, understanding one's place in the world, and navigating life with an inner compass.

The conversation explores how modern life has disconnected people from their InnSæi and the natural world. However, by cultivating presence, imagination, and awe, we can shift our center of gravity back within. This helps us make better decisions, empathize, tap into creativity, and care for the planet. The conversation stresses the importance of understanding the complexity and interconnectedness of life. We must move from separation to participation, respecting planetary boundaries. Our consciousness and actions impact the world.

Marti and Todd welcome citizen scientists Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sorby for this inaugural episode on climate consciousness. They discuss their eyewitness experiences with climate change in the Arctic over 19 months living in a small cabin, as well as their work educating others. Key points include the disproportionate impact occurring in polar regions, the importance of individual action, and the need for people worldwide to reconnect with Nature.

Despite having no modern amenities in Svalbard , Hilde and Sunniva engaged people globally and inspired action. They continue to share the challenges climate change poses for humanity and biodiversity worldwide, emphasizing our interconnectedness. They share of how the isolation of their experience actually better connected them to themselves, each other, and the natural world. Their story underscores how belonging to the Earth and her cycles teaches us about belonging to Life itself.

 Marti and Todd welcome guest Elizabeth Soltis, author of Authentic Collaboration, to discuss the topic of bridging—the art of connecting ideas, groups, and perspectives. They explore how to shift mindsets from predetermining connections to living into the process of exchange and relationship building. The hosts and guest share insights on attuning groups, finding common ground, embracing vulnerability, getting comfortable with not knowing, and opening up to new possibilities. Key themes include moving from static structures to emergent processes, and from transmitting expertise to participatory meaning-making. Authentic collaboration requires suspending preconceived outcomes in order to bridge diverse views, tapping into the momentum and potential that arises through open disclosure. 

From the Edge: The Coordinates of You (Marti)
Conscious Rant: Questioning the Need for Speed (Todd)  

In their final episode in the series on leadership and power, Marti and Todd explore what makes each person's expression of power unique and valuable, and how these expressions create a sense of wholeness in teams, organizations, and communities.

From the Edge: Dam Dismantling  (Todd)
Conscious Rant: In Case You Didn't Notice (Marti)

In Episode 23, Marti and Todd spent most of the hour discussing what power is not—our misconceptions and fears around power. In this discussion, they explore the relationships and experiences of being people of power.

What does it mean to be in a state of collective power? What does it feel like? What are the needed conditions?

From the Edge: The Age of Meeting Ourselves Again (Marti)
Conscious Rant: Accountability (Todd)

What exactly is power? If we’re not playing “power games” or King of the Hill, then how do we perceive power? Work with power? Be people of power?

Marti and Todd explore power in the negative, and then move into a conversation about how we can shift our perception and experience of power to participate in something much larger than ourselves.

From the Edge: Tribute to Christopher Alexander (Todd)
Conscious Rant: Frothing (Marti)

We spend so much time analyzing and choosing governance models. What if there is a different approach? Marti and Todd get into the dynamics of organizations that move beyond rigid structures and become negotiable in the experience of working together. They also introduce a new segment at the end of today’s episode:Takeaways.

From the Edge: Being a Person of Power (Marti)
Conscious Rant: Stop Managing Your Time (Todd)

Marti and Todd welcome guest Ted Wallach, founder of the Quantum Warrior program, to explore the principle of masculinity in the context of new beginnings.  

They discuss the principles of the feminine and masculine as complementarities that are needed for creation—energies not attributes. The conversation moves from our obsession with defining, to how we can discuss, interact, and weave with these principles.

From the Edge: Appreciative Inquiry (Todd)
Conscious Rant: Why are We Still Ranting (Marti)

Are we in “late stage capitalism?” Can capitalism be reformed, restored, or redeemed? Marti and Todd cover why these are not the most important questions to consider. Rather, we need cycles of action at all scales that create the frameworks of the future. 

This is the first episode in the series "New Beginnings" -- Marti and Todd's exploration of what may be coming to completion, and what may be emerging simultaneously.

From the Edge: Cosmology (Marti)
Conscious Rant: Simplistic Platitudes (Todd) 

Marti and Todd welcome guest Melanie Goodchild, founder of the Turtle Island Institute, to discuss systems change that centers on relationships for mutual benefit. Melanie shares her experiences and wisdom on complexity, resilience, balance, and what we all need to move forward together, carrying centuries of indigenous wisdom and her Anishinaabe perspective alongside her Western academic education.

The conversation flows from identity to language to our ways of being and relating that can impact the systems we live and work within.

Special Segment: Excerpt from Relational Systems Thinking (Melanie), co-authored with Dan Longboat, Diane Longboat, Rick Hill, Kevin Deer, Peter Senge, and Otto Scharmer.