Uffe shares some very personal stories with us. In this way he makes very personal contact with the public.
One of the stories tells about the frontrunners. This story goes back to 1988. 10 Young Danish people wanted to test the how solid the new climate created in Russia by Gorbatsjov. They wanted to organise a journey to Moscou in order to give a rock concert before the Kremlin.THey went with 2000 people and succeeded to give the rock concert.Uffe called this the most complex project in his life.
The philosophy of Kaos is that every team of students have an outpost period in a place in the world where things are happening they can learn from and contribute to a solution. Uffe argues that we need to listen to the early weak signals. He makes the comparison between surfing and doing business. What sort of surfboard is your organisation? Do you have a big board so that you balance easy, a middle board so you feel more the waves or a small design board in order to pick up the sensitivity of the small waves.
In 1996 Kaos went to San Francisco at the beginning of the Internet hype, they observed a combination of old hippies with new technocrats and were present when Silicon valley started th flourish.
Another learning experience is the project of Kaos Pilots in Durban(2001).Durban in South-Africa has enormous integration problems, there live a lot of Indian people, black people and whites. Every project has to contribute to the society(Real World).Interesting detail, Durban is the place for surfing. Kaos students spent a lot of time studing the Durban community and found out what social innovation is about and contributed during there project to the local problems.
It must be clear by now that this school surfs on the edge of innovation, creativity, learning, social responsibility and personal challenges. There is an equal focus on personal training and professional training. They will never work on paper projects!.
Everything is focused and organised around the student, 24 hours a day.The first things your receive by entry is a personal businesscard and a key to all facilities. At this particular moment sudtents are working on his computer in his office.
Uffe throws some nice oneliners in ; If you take a decision in your board; “what voice should be heard that is not present at this particular moment” . Another one, a nice execercise for transformational leadership; ” Go out on the street and create a trusting relationship with a gang in the streets”.
At Kaos Pilots students step into the field of possibilities. Coaches and teachers have a personal relationship with the students. A lot of teachers are free lance and incorporated in the Kaos Pilots network.
So there is optimal flexibility. Central question for the students is what motivates them to do something, what is your personal mission in life. Some key principles; Every person is unique, Learning is a life long process, Life is a condition for change, Organisations are living systems, Respect differences, Life in the present, Strive for quality in everything you do. The Kaos school takes three years and is focussed on Project design, process design, and business design. After finishing the school 30% of the students start there own business, 30% become very excellent change agents.
More about Kaos Pilots in June