Alchemy requires risk because transformation comes when we move beyond the familiar and act in different ways. Just as the trapeze artist must let go into empty space in order to create, so tribes must risk into the empty space of ambiguity and uncertainty . Without this risk, alchemy cannot occur.
Once an alchemic idea reveals itself to a tribe, there is still no guarantee that it will lead to transformation. The transformational work of alchemy is still ahead. This is why ambiguity is part of the alchemy process. Your tribe can’t know before the work begins if and how the transformation will occur. Sometimes you don’t know until you are nearing the end of the creative action. This is why risk is an essential element of tribal transformations. Your tribe has to begin enacting ideas without guarantees.
From, Tribal Alchemy: Turning What You Have Into What You Need. Dave Fleming. c. 2016.
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