OLA - Feb. 28th - Leading in Community: Wayfinding

Leimomi Bong

31 Mar 2025 — 1 min read

Theme
ʻO nā hōkū nō nā kiu o ka lani—The stars are the spies of heaven!
This immersive experience, blending land and water, allows leaders to learn both practical and metaphorical lessons from kānaka who sailed on Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia, honing evaluative, analytical, and observational skills to assess progress, evaluate changing circumstances, and pivot through feedback using the ancient wayfinding practice of kilo.

Location: Kanehunamoku Voyaging Academy in Kahaluu, Hawaii

Learnings
Incredible curriculum developed by The Daughters of Mau. We got to sit with their adult cohort, and learn about waʻa basics, kilo, navigation, and mookuauhau of their kula. It felt timely as the 50th anniversary of Hokuleia was happening the following week.

We did rotations in four areas: kukuluokalani (hawaiian star compass), kaula (rope) and knots, parts of the waʻa, and kilo in the bay. Each supporting aspects of leadership, self-reflection, and character.

Take-aways

At the end of the day, we were asked "what's becoming clearer to you?" A few thoughts came to mind.

Rigor in kilo is fun-damental. Kilo is study and observation with intention to act. You must be a navigator-scientist about it.
Ike kupuna informs innovation. How they thought is the mechanism for sparking truly fresh ideas—7 generations back, 7 generations forward.
We navigate (make decisions) with our mind, body, and soul. There are known elements (stars, birds, swells, wind) and the unseen according to Mau. We are 5 dimensional compasses.
Leadership must go lateral at some point. The knowledge must be disseminated, and sometimes it goes against kapu in order to live on!
Technology comes in cycles like waves.

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(Post-WIP) Comparing LLM inference engines (multi-user and multi-model)

(Post-WIP) LangGraph Agentic spreadsheet matching/cleanup

OLA - Mar. 28th - Leading Self: Huakaʻi Of The Ecological Self

OLA - Jan. 31st - Unearthing Layers of Identity Through Kinolau