Upcoming Courses: Hue Conversation Method, ToP Facilitation Methods
Pro Tip: Polarity Management and the Paradox of Chaos
Partner Spotlight: Greg Stopka
Featured Course: HUE™ Implementation Strategies
Announcements: New Team Member Shayna Keppeler, CoP November Fishbowl Session
Mission Update: YouLEAD 2025 - Reflections from Ksyusha Lohvinenko
Message From Our CEO, Dr. Irina Fursman
Navigating Chaos: When Too Much Becomes the Enemy of Balance
Chaos isn’t always a sign of breakdown — sometimes it’s a symptom of imbalance.
In our work with teams and organizations, we often see chaos emerge from two extremes:
➡️ Too much structure, where control turns into rigidity and innovation suffocates. ➡️ Too much freedom, where flexibility becomes fragmentation and energy is lost in constant adaptation.
Both paths eventually lead to confusion, frustration, and disconnection.
The key isn’t to control chaos — it’s to navigate the polarity between structure and freedom.
When we hold both intentionally, we find the flow that allows creativity and accountability to coexist.
This month at HueLife, we’re exploring “Chaos” as our theme — not as a failure, but as an opportunity to recalibrate.
Join us as we reflect on how to stay grounded when systems bend, how to create boundaries that liberate rather than constrain, and how to use polarity thinking to find the rhythm between order and emergence.
Barry Johnson’s framework of Polarity Management helps leaders recognize that many of the tensions they face are not problems to fix but polarities to balance. Problems have clear endpoints: once solved, they disappear. Polarities, however, are ongoing and interdependent—like breathing in and breathing out. You can’t choose one over the other; life depends on the rhythm between both.
Change and Stability are one such polarity. Both are essential. Both, when overused, create the very chaos leaders hope to avoid. The art lies not in choosing one over the other, but in learning to dance between them.
Upcoming Program Spotlight
Previously offered exclusively to select clients, HUE™ Implementation Strategies is now available for open enrollment beginning December 2025.
HUE™ Implementation Strategies
Ready to lead strategic planning with confidence and skill? HUE™ Implementation Strategies is a two-day intensive designed to equip you with the tools, frameworks, and facilitation expertise needed to guide organizations through meaningful strategic change.
In this course you will:
Strengthen your confidence in leading the team through implementation
Enhance understanding of team dynamics and change
Deepen engagement skills and effectively apply ToP Methods during implementation
Engage in co-facilitation, practice, and peer mentoring
We’re thrilled to join forces with Greg Stopka as our partner in action and contributor to HUE Programs!
Greg is a true champion for innovation, using the methods and tools he learned through HueLife , including the D.E.V.C.A. framework, to design creative solutions, improve systems, and engage teams in transformative change at the Food Bank.
As a subcontractor and faculty member, Greg will support our clients with innovation strategies, change management, project management and strategy implementation workshops.
Greg brings a wealth of experience from his work in local government, his time with the Alliance for Innovation, and his current role as Innovation Team Lead at the Northern Illinois Food Bank. His passion for innovation and continuous improvement shines through in everything he does. We’re excited to have Greg’s energy, insight, and creativity helping us bring more innovation and impact to the communities we serve!
HueLife Updates & Announcements
New Team Member - Shayna Keppeler
We're excited to welcome Shayna Keppeler as HueLife's new External Communications and Community Engagement Coordinator!
Shayna's involvement with HueLife began in 2014 when she documented the P.E.A.C.E. Summit led by Irina and Richard in Kiev, Ukraine. Shayna earned her Master's in Global History in Berlin, Germany and has conducted documentary research across three continents. Her passion for storytelling and human connection perfectly aligns with our mission to inspire action for the greater good.
Community of Practice - Facilitating with Cultural Awareness
November 25 and the fourth Tuesday of each month from 2:00-3:00 p.m. CT.
Expand your toolkit and cultural understanding at our November Community of Practice.
This month, we're diving into Indigenous culture in facilitation with four special guest presenters. They'll share their expertise and demonstrate appropriate, inclusive customs during a highly engaging fishbowl demonstration.
Reflections from Ksyusha Lohvinenko: What Happens to a Leader during Wartime?
In times when so little can be controlled and so much pressure falls on the shoulders of the younger generation, Ukrainian youth has an answer.
YouLEAD, an annual program for Ukrainian Youth Leadership Engagement and Development, brought 16 participants to the USA in 2025 — not only to foster an environment for professional growth, but also to give them a fresh breath of peace and normalcy away from the realities of war at home.
“The YouLEAD program showed me that despite any difficulties, you can remain active and influence the world around you. Even during daily shelling and blackouts, our community does not give up: we discuss plans, apply for projects, and inspire each other with new ideas every week.” — Valeria Makarenko, 16, Kharkiv
Have questions or suggestions for our HUE News? Either respond to this email or contact Shayna Keppeler, Director of Community Engagement atshayna.keppeler@hue.life
HueLife, 5775 Wayzata Blvd, Suite 700, St. Louis Park, Minnesota 55416
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