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Worcester Local Area Group
Next Worcester In-person Meeting What:
Systemic Project Leadership Ken Kerber and Carol Sharicz Zulauf will lead this program on why and how OD is necessary for successful project management. They will reprise learning from Ken and Joe's October 2007 program on this topic and cover new developments and thinking on project management leadership and systems thinking. The Systemic Project Leadership model was developed by these three presenters in the course of joint consulting. The highly interactive session will deal with the questions of which projects are essential for organizational success, what are the implications for those projects on organizational change, and how we can assure that these critical projects are completed successfully. Those attending will discover
how organizations can apply this model so that they compete in our
complex, fast-changing technological, political, economic, and
cultural environment. The will find out to how to achieve
competitive advantage in this environment via a blend of
sophisticated skills at multiple organizational levels. They will
learn the tools necessary for leaders to ensure that the best
business decisions are fully and effectively implemented by
integrating systems thinking and organizational change with project
management. Participants will improve
their ability to deliver critical projects on time, within cost and
scope, and with high quality. They will develop their skills in
ensuring that affected processes and systems are managed when
implementing project results and in planning and guiding the
requisite organizational changes that are associated with the
implementation of key projects and initiatives. They will become
more proficient at identifying interdependencies within the
organization, seeing the consequences of important business
decisions, integrating critical projects with corporate strategy,
and bringing organizational change, and project management to bear
when making important business decisions. Whatever your
organizational role, you will gain practical applications and new
insights. Ken Kerber is Founder and Principal of Kerber and Associates, a consulting firm focused on organizational change, team development, management development, and executive coaching. He presented at our October 2007 "Systemic Project Leadership" program and has donated to our Library. Carol
Sharicz
Zulauf is Associate Professor of Education
and Human Services
at Suffolk
University, where she co-designed the Master’s Degree Program
in Adult and Organizational Learning. She led our December 2001
“System Thinking,” July
2002 “Systems Thinking II,” and January
2003 “The Power of One Person” programs, co-facilitated the section on
“OD and Project Management” at our June 2008 “Broadening the Scope of OD
Practice” program, was
interviewed in our March
2005 newsletter, and received our April 2003 Member
Recognition Award. - - - Meeting notes for December 4, 2008 Our second Worcester meeting in Second Life considered the topic of "Reflection in Second Life". We noted some aspects of Second Life that make for a more reflective conversation, as well as some that are disadvantages in that respect. In the latter category, the absence of true nonverbal communication makes it harder to related to others in the conversation. Indeed, many of the special effects possible in SL, especially when one has not been accustomed to them, can be diversionary from reflective conversation. For the most part, though, we saw this environment as inherently more reflective. The ability to make one's avatar like or unlike one's self makes for a more intentionally grounded interaction. The shared space makes for a more connected conversation, one that (unlike phone and video conferencing) is "embodied". The use of the chat function can actually promote reflection. A slower mode of conversation tends to be more reflective. The fact that past comments can be read enhances the ability to think. And being able to have effective side conversations can promote better mutual understanding. Being able to create an environment means that one can have a setting that is more conductive to reflection. Indeed, some islands in Second Life have been built explicitly for the purpose of reflection. "Reflection Island" is an obvious example. A richer conversation is also possible on account of Second Life's easy ability to important media. And tools such as Babbler (a translation utility) can also enhance discussion. This was the first Learning Group discussion meeting in Second Life. Those attending felt it to be an enjoyable and rewarding experience and to be fruitful thought about one of the most important OD skills. Indeed, the ability to have conversation that is both fun and meaningful was cited as another advantage of Second Life as an aid to reflective thinking and organizational development. Meeting notes for September 10, 2008 This meeting. "Three Levels of Learning," again was in the three small group format. Each section explored a different aspect of learning as its related to OD. Independent consultant by Polly Silva facilitated the section on "Mentoring". For the outline for this discussion, click here. Hugh McGill of AstraZenica facilitated the section on "Organizational Learning". For the outline for this discussion, click here. Debora Bercume, Principal of Bercume Associates, facilitated the section on "Team Learning". For the outline for this discussion, click here. Meeting notes for August 7, 2008 The August 7 meeting was on "Careers and Work in OD". This was in our small group format, with three groups followed by reports back to and discussion by the whole group. Dan Nicholes, then Director of the Center for Business and Industry at Worcester State College, facilitated the section on "Finding a Job in OD". For the outline for this discussion, click here. Sharon Brownfield, Partner at Brownfield and Lent, facilitated the section on "OD Consulting". For the outline for this discussion, click here. Mike Halperin, Director of Customer Service at Fallon Clinic, facilitated the section on "Working as an Internal". For the outline for this discussion, click here. Meeting notes for June 3, 2008 The June 3 Worcester meeting features Paul Kampas of Kampas Research on "A Visual Language and Framework for Organization Diagnosis and Design". We learned a new methodology for understanding organizations and change management, as well as for examining the place of OD inside organizations. For the presentation piece, click here. Meeting Notes for April 3, 2008 Our April 3 meeting was "Shared Learning in Three Areas of OD". Participants has their choice of one of three small group discussions, which were followed by reports back and discussion by the whole group. "Culture Change" was facilitated by Anne Perschel of Germane Consulting). For the outline for this discussion, click here. "Leadership Development" was facilitated by Dan Nicholes, then of the Center for Business and Industry at Worcester State College. For the outline for this discussion, click here. "Team Building" was facilitated by Leslie Zobler of Fallon Clinic. For the outline for this discussion, click here. Meeting Notes for January 10, 2008 Our January 10 meeting was on "Dialogue". It was facilitated by Jim Murphy, a member of our Coordinating Committee and the Chief Learning Officer of Management 2008. Jim
told of how his interest in Dialogue led him to attend our June
1999 "Dialogue" meeting and then become a Learning
Group member. In that year, Dialogue, which had earlier in that
decade been introduced
to the world by physicist turned philosopher David
Bohm, had received a boost from two important books: David
Yankelovich's The
Magic of Dialogue and William Isaac's Dialogue
and the Art of Thinking Together. It could be that Dialogue, which emphasizes depth of thought and breadth of viewpoints, is up against an average organizational culture in which quick decision making and "strong leadership" do not permit deep and diverse thinking. Even the Learning Group's Dialogue Group is presenting languishing, though we are working on bring back as a Second Life-based SIG. But our Deeper Inquiry Group often uses Dialogue for its meetings. The basic idea of Dialogue is a conversation in which the participants agree follow "guides," a set of principles or rules, in the interest of a deeper and richer discussion. A dialogue group (best practice recommendations for learning Dialogue suggest six to twelve people who agree to at least six sessions no less than monthly) frequent works out their own guidelines. But because certain of these are almost universal and in the interest of time, Jim asked the group to endorse the following set: FOCUS
ON SHARED MEANING AND LEARNING BALANCE
INQUIRY AND ADVOCACY RESPECT
DIFFERENCES SUSPEND
JUDGMENT TALK
TO THE WHOLE GROUP SPEAK
WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES YOU LISTEN WITHOUT RESISTANCE Dialogue groups often use tools such as a talking stick, a centering devise or candlelight to aid reflection. At first these may seem unnatural and some individuals may never become comfortable with some of them, but they can add to the experience of dialogue. However, again considering that this was a new experience for almost all of those attending, none were used on this occasion. Another issue for Dialogue groups is whether to have a topic question or not. Many practitioners feel that "pure" dialogue, without a topic, is better. One method is "jump start" after introductions by asking if anyone a burning issue that they would like to bring up. We used "pure" dialogue at this meeting but some of the small groups did ultimately find themselves pursuing a specific theme. This is common and often the flow of conversation meanders, sometimes coming back to end to where it started. In the concluding debrief session, participants felt that they had seen the value of this different way of conversing, in some cases finding a rich experience. In considering how Dialogue might be used in the workplace, however, there was less unanimity, some thinking of applications (focus groups and even training) and other feeling "they would never give us the time do it". Meeting Notes for November 27, 2007 Virginia Swain led the November 27 meeting on "Why Mission Statements Matter". Co-founder of the Worcester Local Area Group, Virginia is CEO and Director of the Institute for Global Leadership. Participants received an overview of and experiential learning on the mission statement process and how it helps us dig below the surface of our lives and refocus on our core values and principles. Virginia began by asking why those attending had come. Some of the answers were as follows:
Virginia then cited two of her influences in her work on mission issues:
Virginia's chief interest has been the question "Why am I here?" She notes that there are three categories of people, based on they feel about that: traditionalists, modernists, and cultural creatives. It is with the third of these that her work is most focused on. Cultural creatives are people who are in service to others. Mission statements, which provide goals, objectives and action steps are a great aid to them. Virginia then gave us an exercise: to write down one word that best describes you. A way to see what our mission should be! We
then considered the first handout, "The Seven Stages of
Transition". Based on Life
Changes, by Sabrina Spencer and John Adams, this model can
be applied to individuals or organizations. The seven steps, which
lead to a new vision, are as follows:
The different stage of this transition cycle requires different styles of leadership, as shown in the second handout, "Personal/Institutional/National/Global Life Cycle Model". Adapted by Virginia from the life cycle model of Arlin Rothauge, this identifies the following needs:
Virginia described the role of celebrations at the different steps, an idea she developed from work she did at the United Nations. A ceremony she arranged was so moving that it "converted" an opponent of the change effort. Techniques for gaining insight and self-awareness help us to determine our mission. But we also need to plan how to create our vision into action. The underlying questions are "What am I? and "Why I am I here?" We then did an exercise in pairs, each person choosing a defining life moment (possibly not recognized as such at the time) and telling the other about it. The listener then told their reaction and understanding - and we all found that this "feedback" made us realize things that we had not understood before. In analyzing what it was like to listen to the other person's story, we found that the experience felt meaningful and challenging. The feedback added to our mental model and was a "gift". Knowing who you are enable you to help others find out who they are. Virginia asked us to consider our idea of ourselves: how it relates to what we were in the past, are in the present and will be in the future. Our mission statement tells us what has to happen for that future to be realized. In conclusion, she asked to reflect on our feedback impacted our understanding of our life purpose. In reviewing the meeting, those participating found it to be give valuable insight and learning. For more in Virginia's work on personal and organizational mission, see the 2008 IGL event listing and her article "Mission "Possible". The Worcester October 17 meeting featured Leslie Zobler, Leadership and Organizational Development Specialist, Fallon Clinic, on "A Day in the Life of a Shadow Coach". Leslie described innovation in customer feedback at Fallon and how it is an example of a large-scale organizational change. A particular highlight of the Fallon system is the "shadowing" of health care workers (doctors, nurses, and other staff) for one whole day. Two persons watch and record all interactions of the care provider with each patient. Data is also collected from patients via a survey. The shadow data template emphasizes the Fallon organizational standards for customer service. These in turn are based on best practice recommendations derived from research emphasizing that success in health care delivery is very dependent on how the patient perceives the doctor and other providers. The shadowers thus act as the "eyes of the patient". It was noted that the patient is otherwise always with only one other person (e.g., doctor or nurse) so that this is only way that accurate information on these interactions can obtained. Feedback is given from the compiled reports to staff. At first, it was feared that those receiving these might be defensive or unreceptive, and efforts is made to make sure that the positive aims of this process are emphasized. But in fact even those getting those most negative feedback have proved to be aware of the value of being able to see themselves as others see them. The process has thus led to change by providers and their supervisor, in clinic procedures, in the organizational culture, and in the data collection process itself. In addition, those attending were able to provide comments and suggestions that Leslie felt would be valuable for Fallon to consider. The program thus illustrated the Learning Group as a community for shared learning. Leslie also asked us to consider some other organizational settings in which such shadowing would be valuate. The following list was thus obtained:
For
Leslie's presentation piece, click
here! Meeting Notes for August 1 Our August 1 presenter was Gary Segal, featured Gary Segal, Senior Director, Staffing and Development, Fallon Clinic on “Personal Transformation”. Gary explained that his presentation was a shortened version of a two and half day residential program based on the classic workshops of NTL. Considerable psychological research indicates that our basic personalities, belief systems, and values are former between the ages of eight and twelve. However, significant emotional events can alter these traits. Gary explained this process by describing some of events that influence his life . He then led us through exercise in which we considered and discussed our life histories in small groups, paying attention to the time period in which we were eight to twelve. In particular we examined the following and how they affected our personality:
We also discussed significant events since that period and how they affected us. Overall, these are what determines how we see the world. Gary also walked us through some of the other parts of these transformation workshops, including the following:
Gary noted that these exercises are "not for the faint of heart". Going though them requires honesty and courage and may raise privacy or boundary issues. For Gary's masterly PowerPoint presentation piece, click here. Warning: You may wish to download before viewing, as the file is so large as to take a long time to access. Meeting notes for June 19 The
theme of this meeting at Worcester
State College, facilitated by Mike Halperin and Virginia Swain,
was "Our Passions and OD". The pre-meeting recommended
reading for the session was Michael
Doyle's highly prescient 1986
article "Now is the Time for All Good OD Practitioners to Come
to the Aid of Breaking into small groups, those attending discussed the following questions:
We then reported on our discussions to the whole group. On passions, some of the answers that were given were as follows:
In relating passions to OD, the following some connections that were were noted were these:
On connecting our passions to the levels noted in the Doyle article, some observations were as follows:
As to the skills needed to operationalize our passions, suggestions included these:
In reviewing the meeting, there was agreement that it was a good learning experience. The hope was expressed that members can help the group to continue and to grow. Meeting notes for May 9 The May 9 meeting, hosted by Fallon Clinic in Worcester, featured a World Cafe format, conducted by Mike and Virginia, for discussion on the issue of change. The first question was, "What drew you here and what would you like to get out of this meeting?" Answers were as follows:
In the second round the question was "What are the conditions that will increase your personal receptivity to change?" Response were as follows:
The next question was, "Given the conditions that influence your personal receptivity to change, how can you maximize the success for organizational change?" These responses were given:
The fourth question was, "How can you plan what you know about change and organizational development to work with communities and societies?"
Question number five was, "If you would like to continue this learning process, how can we sustain and enhance it?" These observations were made:
In the general debrief, this meeting was considered very successful, the large number, the enthusiasm of the participants, the hard work of the conveners and planners, and the desirability of forming the local area group all being cited. In addition, there was strong recognition of the World Cafe format. |
