POSITIVE DEVIANTS

The Podcast.

A positive deviant is an outlier – a person or group that succeeds despite the odds.

Hosted by Dr. Julian Norris, the Positive Deviants Podcast features rich conversations with extraordinary characters who are dedicated to the emergence of a flourishing future while navigating chaos, systems collapse and uncertainty. They bring a richly practical complexity lens to critical collective challenges as well as a focus on the deep inner work required to make generative impact.

These conversations are an inquiry into what's possible, of what’s necessary, and of how to best contribute in times of accelerating change.

Episode One.

Julian Norris & Melanie Goodchild

In this 2-part episode, the first of the Positive Deviants Podcast series, Julian Norris, founding director of Wolf Willow sits down with Melanie Goodchild, an Anishinaabe complexity thinking scholar. She is Moose Clan from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg and Ketegaunseebee First Nations, and she is a visionary practitioner who is bridging Indigenous ways of knowing with systems thinking in ever evolving and creative ways. 

In part 1, Melanie shares stories of how she came to inhabit the space between Indigenous and western ways of knowing, and why this is a pathway that is vital for all of us to to bring about a more sustainable and viable future. She also shares the story of how Julian became her adopted brother. Part 2 explores the anthropocentric bias, the wisdom embedded in Indigenous languages and the deepening practice of relational systems thinking. We hope you enjoy the stories, the insights and the beauty contained in this conversation.