WorldMaker lays out a revolutionary path of self-development and capacity building for social change.

At the heart of the School is the WorldMaker program and curriculum.

Grounded in phenomenology (the study of reality through direct perception) and practice, you systematically learn to transform yourself and strengthen your abilities to think, to feel, and to act outside of habit and compulsion. Your learn the nuts and bolts of being and becoming creative, building strong relationships, teamwork, and social threefolding.

On that basis, you then immerse yourself in how to bring forth new realities, whether that's in your own life and relationships or in your career and calling. We help you become a creative force in your world.

Watch this 2 minute video to learn more:

FREE VIDEO TRAINING:

How will you make your most valuable contribution to a world in crisis?

Next, for a more in-depth look into why our approach is a big upgrade on current social change methods and approaches, sign up to watch our free training video below. You'll also learn:

why most change efforts fail
two crucial factors that can make the difference between good intentions and truly effective action
How to stop using force and control and start using source and co-creation to achieve your goals in service.
See inside the School for the Social Future.

WATCH OUR FREE VIDEO TRAINING NOW

The Curriculum

Built co-creatively with our students and their feedback, needs, and goals in mind, the WorldMaker course is thorough, beautiful, and constantly improving.

A well-organized structure makes learning enjoyable, systematic, reliable, and fun. WorldMaker is designed to begin with essentials and build on those foundations. Everything later builds on earlier layers so that you get the "full stack," from how to learn from reality to how to create new realities in your world.

Scroll down for a more detailed view.

Here's what WorldMaker looks like module by module. Click on the + and ↓ symbols to read more.

Module 1 - Foundations: The Road Ahead

1. The road ahead

A full overview of the program and how you'll become an inwardly resilient, creative, fulfilled, and effective social sculptor. This lesson is extremely important to understand the road ahead.

Here's what we cover:

The purpose and objective of this course
General housekeeping
Important things going into this
An overview of what this program is about and what we're going to cover
The only four things that matter

2. Fundamentals first

3. The new way of changing the world

In this lesson, we’re going to show you two ways of thinking about and doing "change." There’s the old model, which is essentially based on an outdated concept of reality and consciousness and the idea of “plan and implement,” and the new way, which is based on the inclusion of the whole human being at all scales, consciousness development, and creativity expertise.

Here’s what we’re going to cover

The “new way” of change
Differences between the old way and the new way
Precedents and other models
The "social sculpture" approach
Your creative power

4. Charting your path

In this lesson, we’re going to bring together everything we’ve explored so far and put together a roadmap for your specific path. This will set you up properly for the rest of this course.

Here’s what we’re going to cover:

First we’re going to do a real quick review of where we are.
Then we’re going to dive into your path — the unique and personal path you’ll take in this course and beyond.
Next, we’ll dive into the inner life and its development.
Fourth, we’ll ground all of this in your own biography so you get a clear sense of what it means for you to transform yourself and grow creative capacities.
And finally we’ll bring it all together to chart your path in a high level roadmap for your way forward.

Action items and Q&A calls

Module 2 - Transforming the Shadow

1. Taming the dragons of our time

In this module, we’re focusing on Transforming the Shadow. We’re exploring what it means to interrupt and transform dysfunctional dynamics and patterns.

Here's what we'll cover:

The Crossing Point: what it means to stand “at the crossroads” of transformation
What is the Shadow, and why do we call it that?
Seeing shadows: the shadow is invisible but real, so how do you see it? We’ll get into it.
Overall in this lesson, we’re mapping the terrain of self-transformation first. Once we see the big picture, we’ll explore it in detail.

2. Looking Upstream

In this lesson, we’ll cover exactly what it means to unlock and release a shadow so that we can find a way out of the dysfunctional or stuck pattern and into creative work.

Here's what we'll cover:

Why looking upstream is necessary to transform the shadow
How exactly we can unlock a shadow or closed loop and transform it into creative momentum
The anatomy of the shadow: what it’s made of, how to peel it apart and truly dissolve and heal the shadow at its core or roots.

3. Show Your Wound

In this video we’re going to continue our explorations into transforming shadows and explore more fully what all of this means for social sculpture and social health.

Here's what we'll cover:

First, we’re going to explore how the shadow, for all its negative aspects, is also a very wise teacher
Then, we’ll see that as we learn from it, we can also heal the wound at the root of the shadow — part of really unlocking the binding patterns at their roots and activating our connection to the source of creativity.
We’ll also share a simple and super helpful “consciousness map” that brings together the shadow, the higher self, and everyday experience in a way that’s unusual but very clear.
And we’ll be set up to understand and practice what’s known as the “moral imagination” — an essential capacity for the human future that we need right now to wisely create and co-create the social sculpture.

4. All the myriad beasts

While we can't transform our shadow overnight, working with it in the right way is freeing. The old saying, "The truth shall set you free" is a picture of this. In this lesson, we practice the power of releasing ourselves and others from invisible binds.

Here's what we'll cover:

What is trauma? What happens in healing it?
The wisdom of being broken: reintegration of separated parts
Addiction, recovery, the "second wholeness," and the power to help others

Action items and Q&A calls

Module 3 - Mapping the Higher Self

1. What is the ”higher” or “true” self & why it is important?

Humans aren't merely the sum of their habits; we're also connected with an inexhaustible source. For many people, this area of study is extremely vague and wishy-washy. In this lesson, we lay it all out from different points of view and help you experience its objective nature.

Here's what we cover:

Why most people prefer models to reality
Science that includes the observer
Nature as teacher: beholding the nature of reality
The role of imagination and the difference between imagination and fantasy
Thinking in exact pictures and sequences
"Living thinking" & thinking in exact pictures and sequences
Why this is crucial in order to create new realities

2. Healthy and diseased consciousness

Consciousness is objectively real and ubiquitous, but it can be unhealthy or "diseased." In this lesson is a boot camp and basic training for developing consciousness.

Here's what we cover:

What does it mean to "develop" consciousness?
Taxonomy of consciousness: mapping the interior
The nature of "structure" or "organs" in consciousness
What is freedom? What is creative consciousness? What does it mean to "connect to source?"
The cognitive function of "the witness"
How to perceive and shape invisible but real phenomena in self, groups, organizations, and societies

3. Many forms of practice

If something is objectively true, you can discover its truth from many angles and through different approaches. In this lesson, we explore what it means "to practice" in the context of consciousness development or training. We provide many entry points to the practical work and experience of consciousness development.

Here's what we cover:

What a practice is
Why practice is necessary
Benefits of practice: what happens to consciousness when we develop it
Building the "hut" — the reserve of "free potential" we build as we develop
Dos and don'ts on the path — general guidelines from our experience

4. Start now!

Many people say, "I know I should practice, but I can't seem to do it." We show you how to gently ease into practice — and before you know it, it's a hygiene standard.

Here's what we cover:

Beginning practice: how to get started
The importance of rhythm
Connecting to source in reality and practice
How to safely, systematically, and scientifically develop the three "core" functions of thinking, feeling, and will

5. Cultivating the inner life

Now that you have the basics, it's time to level-up. This lesson shows how to dramatically open and strengthen your capacities for free and creative thinking, feeling, and will.

Here's what we'll cover.

Working with nature
What to learn in your interactions with others
Lessons from everyday life
The many fruits of great art from all traditions and time periods
Study as strength training

Action items and Q&A calls

Module 4 - Creativity is Capital

1. The world created us; now we create the world

This module, we transition from work in the self to work in the world. We anchor this in a new concept of creativity: neither "problem solving" nor "out of the box ideas," but the ability to shape reality into something new and better.

Here's what we'll cover:

Common misconceptions about "creativity" — why creativity is innate to all humans
Creation or creativity?
What makes a human creative or uncreative?
What is creative process?
Conscious participation with the source of creation
How to skillfully check our own dysfunctions and place our free forces of attention and creative possibility into action and service

2. How creation works

Nature, art, and culture follow a similar pattern. When we get to know it, we learn how creation works: how new forms come into being. We can then learn to do the same — in any medium, at any scale, with any challenge — because we've incorporated nature's wise methods and archetypes into our work.

Here's what we'll cover:

The archetypal structure of creative work
The necessity and meaning of uncertainty in creative work
How to use this as a navigational tool in all metamorphosis, change, and creative work
The complementary roles of source and shadow in creative work

3. The directional arc

The "directional arc" is the first phase of every creation process. In this lesson, we'll explore what this means very thoroughly, in practice.

Here's what we'll cover:

The "three pillars" to establish at the beginning of all creative work
The three objectives to achieve in this phase of creation
Building on all of our previous learning, the key rules, principles, and practices to apply in this phase
How to know when you're ready for the next stage

4. The gap of uncertainty and discovery

The "Gap of Uncertainty" is the second phase of every creation process. In this Lesson, we'll explore what this means very thoroughly, in
practice.

Here's what we'll cover:

How to turn the gap of uncertainty into the source of discovery
The three objectives to achieve in this phase of creation
Building on all of our previous learning, the key rules, principles, and practices to apply in this phase
How to know when you're ready for the next stage

5. The emergent arc

The "emergent arc" is the third and final phase of every creation process. In this lesson, we'll explore what this means very thoroughly, in
practice.

Here's what we'll cover:

The paradox of emergence: the art and science of partnering with the Unknown
What is actually meant by the "emerging future"
The three objectives to achieve in this phase of creation
Building on all of our previous learning, the key rules, principles, and practices to apply in this phase
How to know when you're finished — and what to do if you're not yet there

Action items and Q&A calls

Module 5 - The Art of Communication

1. Communication as a healing force in social life

Communication is the lifeblood of any relationship, and relationships are the perfect place to begin cultivating healthy social realities. The art of communication is the practice of reweaving the social field at a truly human scale.

There are as many ways to communicate as there are people, but underneath it all are basic facts of being human. In this lesson, we lay out the terrain.

Here's what we'll cover:

What is a "social field?"
Communication as a force of growth or decay in relationships and other social realities
Why should you learn a communication "method" or "art?"
Navigating the invisible "space between" you and others
The language of feeling and needs
Tools for metamorphosis of self, other, and relationship

2. Nonviolent communication (NVC)

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a communication framework developed by Marshall Rosenberg. If you already know it, you'll learn how it fits into this path — and if not, welcome to a work of possibility. In this lesson, we'll describe NVC, lay out the basics, and teach you how to use it to unstick the stuckest of stuck places.

Here's what we'll cover:

Introducing NVC
Holding all needs equally
Empathy as a healing force
The role feelings play
The difference between strategies and needs
Adapting the method and practice in your life

3. Preventing and resolving conflict

Conflict occurs when what was hidden rises to the surface. In this lesson, we'll teach you how to expertly resolve tensions before they fester, long before the become conflict, and to expertly resolve conflict when it erupts.

Here's what we'll cover:

What is conflict?
Identifying the unmet and very human needs at play
The art of unlocking tension
Owning your feelings and needs; modeling responsibility
What is blame?
Dissolving the "enemy image" and other powerful tools

4. Dissolving walls

Even the highest walls have humans on both sides. In this lesson, we'll teach you how to tap the innate longing for connection and community to dissolve fear, build trust, and create a space for walls to come down.

Here's what we'll cover:

How to bring enemies together
Seeing the lens through which we see
Bias and enemy images in self, relationships, groups, and scale
Conflict in love relationships: parents and children, relationship tensions, and how to perceive and create what is needed

Action items and Q&A calls

Module 6 - Wiser Teamwork

1. The new paradigm of leadership and teamwork

Most leadership and teamwork is built on hollow foundations — and a result, it's very hit or miss. At its best, leadership and teamwork isn't about power, structure, or method — it's about creating shared meaning. In this lesson, we'll introduce "TeamWiser," a set of teamwork disciplines that enable any leader and team to become a creative force in their company or industry.

Here's what we'll cover:

The blind spot of leadership and teamwork
Pros and cons of the "well-oiled machine"
How to harness diversity of any type
Connecting your inner work to your leadership
How to perceive group dynamics
How to steward and lead authentically and (almost) effortlessly

2. Wiser Visioning

Visioning exercises are normally grounded in a small number of people's desires and hopes. Wiser visioning places the beneficiary or customer in the middle and forgets, for a moment, about the self. This enables a team or organization to continuously innovate around the core service, beneficiary, or product — and does away with the battle of personal interests at the heart of almost every dysfunctional group.

Here's what we'll cover:

What makes a wise vision?
Using creative process to build a wise and shared vision
Connecting deeply and precisely to those you serve
Shared understanding as the "living substance" of healthy group work
Vision for service as the north star

3. Wiser Meetings

Meetings can be more than a necessary evil. Done right, they're a space to advance core business processes and build team cohesion and potency. In this lesson, we show you how to run awesome meetings that do both well.

Here's what we'll cover:

The art of meeting
Structure and flow
How to harness not knowing and uncertainty for inclusion and outstanding outcomes
The Awesome Meeting Protocol (AMP)

4. Wiser Innovation

Most teamwork and leadership problems are human failures, but some are due to poor design. In this lesson, we show you how to use iterative design to continuously improve any core business system. If it's repeatable, it's a system — and if it's a system, it can be improved. This is the heart and soul of true innovation.

Here's what we'll cover:

What is innovation, and how is it distinct from creativity?
The two poles of creativity and efficiency — and how to have the best of both
How to use iterative design to innovate your core business processes
How to make every business process a "practice space" that encourages continuous improvement without compromising core functionality

Action items and Q&A calls

Module 7 - Building Community

1. What is a community?

A true community is a "social organism." Individuals know themselves and support each other in healthy and distinct ways. It's not just a group of people or a network; it's a future-oriented and emerging way of being human.

Here's what we'll cover:

Real community and "counterfeit wholes"
Why there is no blueprint, template, or one-size-fits-all solution for building real community
Why healthy community is continuously co-created and rebalanced
How to elegantly resolve recurring conflicts, problems, or tensions in your team, company, or organization
The three vectors or spheres of social health

2. Accurate diagnosis

Most groups and companies revisit the same set of tensions again and again, tweaking systems but never really evolving beyond the pattern set in the beginning. In this lesson, we'll show you how to diagnose these patterns and get to their roots.

Here's what we'll cover:

Taking a systemic view of a group or organization
Identifying the true sources of persistent problems in groups and organizations
Owning and taking 100% responsibility for their metamorphosis
The role and limitations of inner work in groups

3. Co-creating solutions

Complex and stuck challenges aren't really "solved" until people create new ways of thinking, being, and doing together. Bringing these solutions to life is a matter of co-creation. In this lesson, we'll sketch out how this works, and get you doing the same in your life and work.

Here's what we'll cover:

Key transitions: from being stuck to moving together, from moving together to co-creating new realities
Avoiding the "plan and implement" dead-end
Getting a living sense / first-person experience of "co-creating"
How to endure, navigate, and make uncertainty productive together

4. A new paradigm of social health

For hundreds of years, pioneering thinkers have attempted to clarify what is needed for healthy social wholes. Their ideas have been systematically suppressed, but the time has come. More functional society is possible — but it's also a completely different paradigm. In this lesson, we explore this paradigm and how to bring it to life in a team or organization.

Here's what we'll cover:

The history and origins of "social threefodling"
Why "three?" The core exercise and experience of social health
Perceiving through three lenses simultaneously
The three spheres of social life — at all scales
Healthy and dysfunction in each sphere
Co-creating real solutions to persistent problems and patterns in your team, company, or organization

Action items and Q&A calls

Module 8 - Healthy Organizations

1. Creating with others

In this lesson, we'll briefly revisit the key lessons from our early work with creativity and creation with a view toward culture change in organizations. The "inner" aspect of creating is now shared among two or more individuals, which opens it up for new possibilities.

Here's what we'll cover:

Why culture matters — and is at the point of highest leverage
The limits of structural and behavior shifts in organizational change
Why "teal" is insufficient: capacities don't come easy!
Building on your facilitation chops: how to invite people into tough conversations

2. What is organizational health?

The larger the group, the more social health is hard to define. In this lesson, we'll explore what social health means in terms of culture, governance, and everyone's favorite subject, money.

Here's what we'll cover:

Looking at "social threefolding" in an organizational context
How to map the "current reality" in each domain and get a crystal clear of your organization's health and dysfunction
How to design for co-creation, not strategic planning and implementation, so that your efforts actually bear fruit

3. Doing org dev right

Once you move away from the "deign and implement" mindset and design instead for co-creation, new paths and possibilities open up. In this lesson, we'll share our practice for organizational change.

Here's what we'll cover:

How to understand "co-creation" in your organization and context
Working from top-down AND bottom-up: getting the crucial buy-in not for the plan, but for the essential shifts
How to set up and run systems innovation cycles that actually transform your organization and build strong foundations for co-creation in a short time

Action items and Q&A calls

Module 9 - Social Sculpture: The Society We All Create Together

1. What is "Social Sculpture?"

In this last module of the course, we'll focus on the largest possible scales of co-creation: creating new society.

Here's what we'll cover:

Why today's social problems cannot be "solved" by any one sector, government, answer, or voice — or by experts working together — or by technology / AI
What does solving complex social problems look like in practice? Instructive examples from the field
The vital importance of moral development and the difference between social sculpture and social engineering or propaganda
Health at scale in each of the three spheres of healthy society
Preconditions for leading and guiding the co-creation of healthy society

2. Lessons from reality

In this lesson, we're going to look at luminary, illustrative examples of social sculpture at scale. Here's what we'll cover:

Valuable lessons from pioneers and trailblazers as well as Magenta's experience
Locating social sculpture in a historical context stretching back many hundreds of years
Why it's true that when you practice social sculpture, you're aligning with powerful developments in human evolution
Social sculpture as an inevitable and necessary "art form" for the present and future

3. The benefits and limits of collaboration

In this lesson, we'll explore the benefits and limits of collaboration among leaders.

Here's what we'll cover:

Multi-stakeholder collaboration: what it is and what it can and cannot accomplish
Illustrative stories from the field
Why all expertise on this subject eventually comes around to self-transformation and consciousness development
Basic building blocks for designing and running multi-stakeholder collaboration: taking a look under the hood and understanding exactly where innate limitations come into play

4. Anatomy of a social sculpture project

In this lesson, we'll explore what has worked, what is working, and the common principles that point to an emerging art form of creating new social health at large scales.

Here's what we'll cover:

Social threefolding: how healthy society comes to life at all scales from within
Setting up for success and impact: the basic building blocks of a meaningful endeavor to save the world, change society, create new realities
The precise "health vectors" that become design parameters in designing a social sculpture project or effort: what are we trying to co-create, and how are we co-creating it?
Fighting the dragons vs. cultivating the new world

5. Course conclusion

Action items and Q&A calls

What is it?

The School's online course is called WorldMaker. It's 9 modules of videos, downloads, and exercises that show you how to grow your creativity and leadership in revolutionary ways. You can do the course in as little as 9 weeks — but you can also take it 9 months or longer. Membership to the School is yours for life.

Who is it for?

The School is for leaders and visionaries who have experienced their personal limits. They find conventional wisdom and guidance insufficient and need a way to systematically transform their limitations and become highly skilled, highly creative, and highly impactful.

How do I participate?

You receive your own account and can log in to the course platform any time. From there, you can access all course materials, videos, downloads, get help, register for the Q&A calls, participate in the online community, and request one-on-one coaching and project consultation.

How does it work?

You watch the videos, read the materials, and do all the step by step exercises. Questions? Ask in the community platform, attend the live Q&A calls, or contact us directly. Follow the steps, do the exercises, and get results.

When does it start?

You get access to the online course as soon as you enroll. You can complete the course in your own time, or take the accelerated path by running one module per week. You are a member for life, and get membership benefits such as access to workshops, events, and participation in projects.

Why does it exist?

We realized that many leaders need and want a rigorous approach to creating new realities and solutions to humanity's toughest challenges — an approach built on reality, not ideologies. So we spent many years cracking the code, developing and testing our methods, and ultimately, distilling them into the School.

SEE INSIDE THE SCHOOL

Built on the Shoulders of Giants

Steeped in 200 years of thinkers, artists, and leaders with crucial insight into this moment of history and evolution, the School for the Social Future is built on the shoulders of giants.

From a revolutionary theory of knowledge to the evolution of consciousness, from inner work to nonviolent communication to social sculpture and social threefolding, our work draws from the minds and precedents of some of the most important cultural leaders in recent history. We are continuing the lineages of Black Mountain College, the Bauhaus, Joseph Beuys' Free International University (FIU), Marina Abramovic, MC Richards, & luminary civic leaders such as Martin Luther King, Antanus Mockus, & Edi Rama.

Joseph Beuys

Martin Luther King

The First Goetheanum

Black Mountain College

MC Richards

Rudolf Steiner

Marina Abramovic

Bucky Fuller

Edi Rama

7000 Oaks

Anatanus Mockus

Marshall Rosenberg

Learn the way that best suits you

Learn at your own pace, in your own way, focusing on your most important issues and goals. Get the support you need, build community, and grow into your full potential and greatest work. This is designed for you.

The WorldMaker Program

WorldMaker is the online foundational curriculum that includes videos, transcripts, exercises, practices, and templates. This program comprises the underpinning, the map, and the step-by-step training ground of the School.

Community of practice

We’re building a community of international students who are on a mission to serve people and planet. Our community is the practice ground for co-creation. We learn how to participate, practice, and grow a fellowship of support, creative action, partnership, teamwork, and collaboration.

grid of students and partners larger square

In-person events

We hold regular events in the United States and Europe, starting up again in the summer of 2022 with a "social sculpture" project in the Balkan region and a workshop at a French chalet. Meeting in person deepens friendships, and provides critical learning and assimilation, so we're equally committed to offline and in-person engagement.

Coaching and consultation

Even the best curriculum can’t anticipate all your specific needs or questions — we are committed to helping you integrate what you learn into your unique situation and project goals. We run weekly community calls where you can connect with others' questions and stories, learn from their experiences, and meet new students and their initiatives. We're always available to support you.

Jeff Louisa Portrait Venice background 4

A School To Meet Your Needs

The WorldMaker Program

Community of practice

In-Person Events

We hold regular events in the United States and Europe, beginning summer of 2020 with a social sculpture project of a caravan through the Balkan region to highlight the cultural contributions of that area, plus a workshop in France. Meeting in person deepens friendships, and provides critical learning and assimilation. We are committed to the offline engagement of the school.

One-on-one coaching and consultation

Jeff Louisa Portrait Venice background 3 - small

Even the best curriculum can’t anticipate all your specific needs or questions — we are committed to helping you integrate what you learn into your unique situation and project goals. We run weekly group coaching calls where you hear others' questions and stories, learn from their experiences, and meet new students and their initiatives. We're always available to support you.

"Practical and profound, in just six months I can already feel a deep, positive impact in my life's work. Jeff, Louisa and the whole School community make this journey every bit as enjoyable as it is challenging."

— B.Lorraine Smith, Montreal, Quebec.

"From day one, Jeff and Louisa’s coaching and mentorship have had a transformative effect on my life. They are generous teachers with an unparalleled understanding of the inner life, human creativity and the nuts and bolts of true productivity and entrepreneurship. I would literally be a different person if it weren’t for Jeff and Louisa’s influence."

— Nathan Heintz, Portland, USA

"The School has provided me with a space to learn, share, be challenged, and grow, that I was longing for. All questions can be asked, and the community has been very generous with answers and support. It's perfectly imperfect, always evolving, and very much alive."

— Laureline Simon, Bonn, Germany

"Through my work with Magenta I was able to explore my own aspiration and abilities, and how that did or did not line up with my work. I also learned several practices with which I am beginning to come out of the cerebral and into the lived experience of my challenge. I return often to the work we did together to help re-situate myself, and always find new layers of insight. "

— Erin Harrington, ED of The Salmon Project, Alaska, USA

“We partnered with Magenta to co-lead our development program for senior executives in one of Australia’s largest companies. The Magenta team played a highly significant role in curriculum development and overall leadership of the program. We were enormously pleased with the quality of Magenta’s contribution to the project. Magenta understands both the big picture as well as the nuts and bolts for successful inner leadership development. Highly recommended."

— Robbie Macpherson, Director, Adaptive Leadership and Partner, Reos Partners, Australia

How will you make your most powerful contribution to a world in crisis?

Watch our free training video that walks you through how to stop using force and control and start using source and co-creation to achieve your goals in service.

WATCH NOW!