Member Profile - Sam Watson-Alvan - October 2006
 

Sam Watson-Alvan

The Facts:
Born in Lima, Peru. Currently a Manager for the State of Washington Department of Health. Also the Principal for Telos Consulting focusing on systems change, leadership, facilitation of dialogue, and sustainability issues. I live in Olympia, Washington with my wife and two sons. I try to spend as much time as possible freediving in the Ocean, in the woods, or writing poetry and short stories both in English and Spanish.

Forum Attendance and What Inspired You to Attend:
I attended my first In2:IN Forum last year (2006). I had a wonderful time. What inspired me to attend were repeated conversations I had with Steve Byers over time and attending a talk by Bill Bellows that we helped host here in Olympia.

Tell us about a recent "a ha" moment.
I was sitting in the woods, in a grove of giant sequoia with my son waiting for deer to walk by during archery season a few days ago when I realized that there are more meaningful ways to spend one's lifetime than trying to learn things we don't really need to know in order to live meaningful lives. Instead, there is so much that we already know and that lays tucked away forgotten; yet these are the essential things, not found in the good books but in some meaningful way of taking ourselves "out into the wilderness" in some true or metaphorical way. At the end of the day my son said "I was in the zone, my head was clear and everything fell away, it was awsome, I was so focused, I was there, totally ready." There in the woods had laid bare the mysteries of leadership, responsibility, and all the other essential qualities of character for embellishment and doing the good, and my 14 year old son "got it" without my saying a word.

What book are you reading now?
"Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future" by Peter Senge, Otto C. Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers.

What recent book have you read that you consider both beneficial and readable?
"The Little Prince". Timeless and eternal.

What advice do you have for people new to the In2:InThinking Network?
Enjoy the ride and the wonderful company.