Preface

If our Dedication ends with a commitment to tell a story that speaks to you, then this story should speak to something essential. What is the essential language of a good story? The Hero's Journey.

When you hear of a HERO, what do you think of? Is it some spandex-covered, bulging muscle individual? A perfect being who breezes through to success? Nope.

We all know that moment when a real hero speaks to us by demonstrating a journey as close as possible to our own experience of being a full-spectrum human who takes the journey and comes back with the elixir of wisdom and skilfulness.

Reflecting on this, it's possible to see that the scale-able, viral patterns that touch people all have something of the hero's journey in them and this is just some of the DNA we need to pattern into the new generation of organisations.

We think that you joining us, and the daily heroic acts that lead to a world that thrives are the real Hero's in this story. The regenerative patterns, the viral ideas and the coherence are the real gold here. The beauty that emerges in each person as they step over the threshold and play a heroic role for a while are the characters to look out for, fall in love with and talk about afterwards. 

So what is different here at the leading edge?

A new generation of Trans-Personal hero-ship: D-HERO's! 

In many hollywood blockbusters, the hero's go through all the stages, but breeze through without ever taking a full-spectrum journey. This is a bit like our traditional way of organising.

D-HERO's are the anti-hero. They are 'D-HERO-De-world-needs' to tackle complex and wicked problems glocally! Oh dear.. the abbreviations, acronyms and terms have started. A terrible habit in any group that builds specialist insight. Why don't we make both the necessary and less necessary terms a bit more fun?

No organisational document would be complete without a glossary of terms, and this feels like just the right moment for one. Think of it as your Avatar's first tool pack:

Glossary of terms:

D-HERO - Decentralized, Human, Endlessly Regenerative Organization. There are DHO's and there are D-HERO's. DHO's become D-HERO's by becoming Equipped and Emboldened to actually do and be what it takes to Save the World and brew magic potions of Regeneration.

Unlike old-world heroes, a D-HERO is not about being the one and only, the star. This holds true when we are talking about the people or the group/s that make a D-HERO. It's about becoming a being-who-belongs-in-complexity. A being who's body stays connected and co-creative. D-HERO's must stick with it, learn from worthy Mentors and elders, and then boldly go where the SHE-ROW's do(*See below): Over the threshold, through the cave, through the death of change and out again. Again and again.

HERO - Holonic Echo of a truly Regenerative Organization that succeeds.

sHE-ROw - Our very own Roz Savage in her rowing journey, which was a quintessential hero's journey driven by a Massive Transformative Purpose.  See her personal story chapter in this book to hear how she links the journey in Samara with the lessons of that monumental and heroic effort. What if we could all contribute fuelled by a massive transformative purpose moment-to-moment, day-to-day? How do we transfer that DNA to the new D-HERO's attracted to this movement in droves?

Organization - The patterning of a group into a coherent or 'organized' entity. This implies synchronization and co-ordination between the inner orientation of a group and the dynamic outer cycle stages which travel the hero's journey around a central organising principle. Traditionally this inner commitment happened mostly by meeting the living cost needs of individuals and then by applying top-down 'organizing' through control. 

Seen from Above:

Seen from the side:

Samara is an incipient DHerO and we see that modelling and equipping the DHerO's Journey is a large part of our mission, whether these DHerO's journey to the sky palaces of new realms of thought and synchronicity, the engineer's caves of new systems and technology or the far flung regions of local villages, open fields and bustling market places.

We are here to birth a new Generation of DHerO's who can anticipate and map the journey, pick up the right clothes and tools for the terrain and accept the hard knocks inherent in any worthwhile journey before emerging stronger and wiser in the end.  Along with the tools that set them off on the adventure, we must also, perhaps most importantly face new DHerO's with the kind of radical honesty, wisdom and context which will call to the Commitment, the Heart and the Perspective they need to never give up, adapt and overcome. Every DHO is a DHerO if they learn to do these things and commit to the journey while recognizing each stage is part of the cycle. 

A DHerO's journey is a journey into complexity, which is fundamentally different from an old-world engineering project based in predict and control. Hear our Afro-Indian-Caucasian philosopher Bongi speak to this fundamental shift in approach:

So how did Samara's DHerO's journey begin and what can we learn which can up-level new HERO's, SHE-ROW's and baby or embryo DHerO's in the Regenerative Renaissance World?

This book itself is a template for this Journey. In fact, the very idea for this book started with a gentle stroll through a forest, a virtual forest that is.. 

(click on the image to enter the forest and contact a Samarian if you want some company!)

Just like the forest, this book started as a twinkle in someone's eye, which sparked an idea and flowed into a newly planted field.

The light from that spark permeated this field-which-became-a-forest when I became WE. This began the co-creative process.

As stewards of this forest we are seeking, (just like you are seeking in your stewardship in many areas) to nurture and learn in a way which supports a diverse and dynamic environment. May this environment serve multiple needs on multiple levels, but particularly the regenerative needs for growth and contribution, so that we can manifest the purpose that holds us together. 

Like any good book (story, journey, cycle, creation), this is one that speaks of the heroes journey in each of us. It's about a beginning which calls us to act, the finding of a tribe, the meeting with a mentor, the inspiration to climb and the willingness to commit to going through the cave together to emerge into something new. 

This journey is very new for Samara (ns), but already this universal pattern is clear and the journey has fundamentally changed each individual who has stepped into it. The something new is emerging and we want you to walk through and out of the cave beside us into another dawn, familiar, but alive and new. 

Inevitably diversity implies a greater variety of different points of view and this is a fundamental dynamic in any group, let alone those that seek to decentralise control, decisions and power and distribute authority. No story would be complete without seeing all the stages in a cycle and no D-HerO can realise their gifts and identity without every feature of a complete journey. 

We hope that like all good stories, this one captures you enough that the words fall away, the characters disappear and you find it speaking to your own hero, your own mentor, your own cave and the threads that have meaning to YOU when you look out towards the phenomena of organizations, DHO's, Movements and the Regenerative Renaissance. May this story live on in you and birth the quiet dreaming of the soil of the Regenerative Renaissance into something Real.