Concurrent Sessions
Block A Sessions: Monday morning from 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM
A01: Introduction to
Systems Thinking Part I
Ginny Wiley; Michael Goodman, Innovation Associates Organizational Learning
Systems thinking—seeing the underlying structures that drive our behavior and the interconnections in our world—is a key management skill for the 21st century. In this two-part session with two of the field’s leading trainers, build a foundation of systems thinking knowledge and explore new ways to address the complex issues in your organization. Designed for those who are new to the concepts, this program presents an overview of systems thinking and its application to organizations in ways geared to all types of learners. Gain experience with tools you can take back to your organization and use right away.
Understanding the power of structure can help leaders unlock their organizations’ potential and avoid unintended consequences. In this Part I workshop you will:
- Learn why systems thinking is the keystone of organizational learning.
- Explore the language of systems and look for “clues” in everyday behavior.
- Practice simple systems thinking concepts with hands-on activities.
Ginny Wiley is former president of Pegasus Communications,
Inc. Prior to joining Pegasus in 1996, she worked at GKA, a systems thinking
consulting company, as a consultant and trainer. Before that, she spent
12 years building the Huenefeld Company, a consulting firm for book publishers.
Ginny served as vice president for Chapters of the International System
Dynamics Society and holds an MBA from Northeastern University.
Michael Goodman is a principal with Innovation Associates
Organizational Learning. He is an internationally recognized speaker,
author, and practitioner in the fields of systems thinking, organizational
learning, and leadership, and has helped create many of the innovations
in the field of systems thinking that has made it more accessible to business
leaders. Michael has degrees from MIT and Purdue.
A02: From Invention to Adoption: Change the Way You See Innovation
Eve M. Enslow, Telstar Consulting Services; Iris Lemmer, Michael
Foster
In the current business and social climate, old ways of operating and engaging with our communities are no longer working. Instead of relying on top-down solutions, we must innovate at all levels of our organizations and in all corners of our communities. New ideas alone aren’t enough; innovation occurs when invention is successfully implemented as new products and/or practices. The activities in this session are designed to illustrate how successful innovators purposefully tap into assets in themselves and others, and in the situations, cultures, and organizations they work within. The development of a unique presence, along with the ability to discover and put assets to work, is what makes a change leader effective.
In this workshop, you will:
- Master asset-based thinking as a framework for change leadership.
- Discover how to break through resistance to innovation by turning stakeholders into champions for your cause.
- Come to view innovation as a heroic adventure beginning with invention and ending in the successful adoption of new ideas.
Eve M. Enslow is a senior consultant at Telstar Consulting
Services. She led innovative efforts in the software and services
field for nearly 15 years. Eve held both business and technical roles during
her nine-year tenure at Microsoft, culminating in the position of
Diversity Manager for the Windows Business Group. Her current emphasis
is on consulting and executive coaching. Eve holds a degree in Broadcast
Journalism.
Iris Lemmer has more than 20 years in innovative human
resources and organizational development experience. She is a strategic,
results-oriented leader skilled at developing and implementing complex
change initiatives to improve organization performance. Iris has a
passion for creating breakthrough learning experiences utilizing
the spirit, knowledge, and transformative potential that resides within
various communities of practice.
Michael A. Foster is a senior program manager at Microsoft
in Seattle. He has worked on innovative internet and web properties
since 1994, when he helped launch Travelocity.com. After stints at
Yahoo, NBCi, and other dot-coms, Michael moved into Search at Microsoft
in 2005. He holds a bachelors degree in computer science from Cal
Poly and an MBA from UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business.
A03: Open Your System for Virtual
Collaboration
Lucy Garrick; Holger Nauheimer, Change Facilitation
One of the hottest topics in business today is how social media is changing organizational life and behavior. The “open collaboration” movement that began 10 years ago in organizations such as IBM, Proctor and Gamble, and Wikipedia has had a far-reaching impact, and the technologies that enabled such innovations are now changing how people do work in enterprises of all kinds. Social media, such as wikis, micro-blogging, and chat rooms, are powerful ways to connect, collaborate, and co-create well beyond virtual meetings and online marketing. Learn about open collaboration as an exciting frontier for practitioners from across the spectrum.
In this session, you will:
- Experience synchronous collaboration with our colleagues in different countries connected live.
- Examine the differences between open and virtual collaboration and the possibilities of cross-boundary collaboration.
- Discover how open collaboration in the virtual world can change us personally as systems thinkers and practitioners.
Lucy
Garrick is an organizational consultant and leadership coach
with more than 15 years of experience in computer
industry management. Her
work combines her love of strategy and scenario planning with
individual leadership. She is also a certified scrum master and
received an MA in Whole System Design from the OSR program at Antioch
University Seattle. Lucy is a partner in Radical Inclusion, an
international virtual consulting firm with expertise in facilitation,
organizational development, and social technology.
Holger
Nauheimer is CEO
of Change Facilitation s.r.o., a global partner who makes change
happen in complex environments. As author of the Change Management
Toolbook—an online resource on change—he is known as one of the
main connectors and network builders in the field of virtual
and face-to-face collaboration. Holger is a partner in Radical
Inclusion, an international virtual consulting firm that works
to create strategies and implementation of social media technology
to collaborate across traditional boundaries.
Our virtual co-facilitators include:
Hans Gärtner in
Bremen, Germany; Stephan Dohrn in Belo Horizonte, Brazil;
Sofia
Bustamante in London, UK; Juliane Neumann in Berlin, Germany.
A04: Using Head, Heart, and Hands to Address Complex Social Issues
LeAnne Grillo, Reos Partners
In these times of unparalleled complexity, our “old ways” of doing things no longer work. We need to use approaches that are creative, participative, and systemic. Otherwise, we will not be able to address issues at their root; we will be forced into quick fixes that make the situation worse rather than better. New thinking—using only our heads—is not enough; we must also develop and increase our own capacity to change. This includes making deep “heart connections” with stakeholders from across the system and then acting together—essentially using our hands. Learn some basic practices to put these concepts into action.
In this session, you will:
- Explore the power of systemic, creative, and participative processes like the Change Lab and Theory U.
- Use some essential tools that are fundamental to this approach.
- Begin to apply these concepts to your own complex issues.
LeAnne
Grillo supports committed groups of people from across a system
to release the potential of that system. She has worked with Reos Partners
(and its predecessor company, Generon Consulting) for eight years, contributing
to a range of projects using the Change Lab and U-Process methodologies,
including a community healthcare initiative in Columbus, Ohio, a Fortune
50 corporate transformation process in Europe, and the global Sustainable
Food Lab.
A05: Lessons for Working with Limits to Growth
Rich Oda, Change Agent Inc.; Mikako Yusa, Mars Japan, Ltd.
All enterprises face limits—time, money, natural resources, customers, and so on. Learning how to skillfully work with those limits is key for the sustainability of our organizations and the larger community. In this workshop, play the Fishbanks® game and try to maximize your assets in a world with renewable natural resources and economic competition. This simulation allows you to experience how individual thoughts and actions create systems, and how in turn the structure of systems affects individual behavior. At the end of session, participants will reflect on what happened and why, surfacing their own mental models about managing the limits to growth.
In this session, you will:
- Learn how mental models are often responsible for what happens at workplaces, communities, and even our civilization at large.
- Experience the “tragedy of the commons” and how, by looking at the short term, we run the risk of destroying resources critical for long-term survival.
- Take away ideas for managing the “limits to growth” in your own organization.
Rich Oda is the president and CEO of Change Agent Inc.
He also manages an NGO, Japan for Sustainability, and co-founded SoL Japan.
Rich was trained by Dennis Meadows after receiving an MBA from the University
of Oregon and working for a healthcare company for 10 years. He wrote a
systems thinking book in Japanese and is translating John Sterman’s Business
Dynamics.
Mikako Yusa is a learning and development and communication
manager at Mars Japan, Ltd. She co-founded SoL Japan and its organizational
development community. Mikako received a master’s degree in positive organizational
development from Case Western University and also led an initiative to
transform Recruit Co, Ltd., into a learning organization during 2002–2005.
She is currently translating Theory U, to be published in the
summer of 2009.
A06: The Physiology of Learning and Leading
Manoj Pawar, Memorial Health System
Leaders in all organizations strive for strong results, but without understanding human physiology, they may unwittingly contribute to processes that lead to suboptimal outcomes. In this session, through didactics, dialogue, and activities, you will develop an understanding of basic elements of human physiology and neuroscience that have a significant impact for those seeking to build learning organizations. You’ll explore the physiological differences found in contexts of fear versus those of trust, presence versus distraction, and curiosity versus self-protection. In addition, you will better understand the mechanisms necessary for creativity and learning.
In this workshop, you will:
- Gain a basic understanding of human physiology and how it fosters or hinders key leadership capabilities.
- Learn specific tools and exercises for enhancing memory, creativity, and innovation, and for fostering trust, collaboration, and curiosity.
- Leave with the ability to explain these concepts to others and to begin creating organizational environments that work with human physiology, rather than against it.
Manoj Pawar, MD, MMM, is Chief Medical Officer for Memorial
Health System in Colorado Springs, CO. He is responsible for developing
structures and capacities that cultivate high levels of physician leadership
in a learning organization that is seeking to transform the delivery of
healthcare in its region. Manoj is also president of BanyanTree Leadership,
a consulting and coaching firm specializing in leadership, strategy, innovation,
organizational performance, and healthcare consulting.
A07: The Learning Construction Site: Unlearning and Rebuilding New
Knowledge
Adriano Pianesi, ParticipAction Consulting, Inc.
In today’s companies, workers must “rebuild” their knowledge more quickly than ever before, but current practices are inadequate for the task. Rather than transferring information from an expert to a trainee, the real challenge is unlearning, removing the debris of previous construction to rebuild the foundation for new understanding and new knowledge. In this lively, interactive session, learn a step-by-step methodology for designing and delivering effective workplace training in which expertise is built through experience. This approach shifts the power of creating knowledge from the instructor to the participants, is hands-on rather than intellectual, and is social rather than individual.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn the four cornerstone principles of experientialism, emergence, conviviality, and chaos.
- Experience the impact of a pleasurable learning environment
- Explore good practices for making content relevant to your learners.
- Draw from lessons learned from current teaching practices and explore how they can be improved by promoting the rebuilding of new knowledge.
Adriano Pianesi is the principal of ParticipAction Consulting,
Inc., and has more than 10 years of experience in facilitating organizational
change. A certified Action Learning coach and Harvard Discussion Method
expert, he teaches workshops in the areas of facilitation, train-the-trainer
(training design, development, and delivery), teamwork, customer service,
and supervisory skills. Adriano received his master’s degree in Business
Communication from the University of Milan, Italy, and is multilingual.
Block B Sessions: Monday afternoon 1:45 PM to 3:15 PM
B01: Introduction to Systems
Thinking Part II
Ginny Wiley; Michael Goodman, Innovation Associates Organizational Learning
Systems thinking—seeing the underlying structures that drive our behavior and the interconnections in our world—is a key management skill for the 21st century. In this two-part session with two of the field’s leading trainers, build a foundation of systems thinking knowledge and explore new ways to address the complex issues in your organization. Designed for those who are new to the concepts, this program presents an overview of systems thinking and its application to organizations in ways geared to all types of learners. Gain experience with tools you can take back to your organization and use right away.
Working with causal loop diagrams and the systems archetypes provides leverage for intervening in systemic problems. In this Part II workshop, you will:
- Learn about the systems archetypes.
- Practice basic causal looping skills and experience the dynamics of structural traps.
- Identify interventions using the systems thinking tools.
Ginny Wiley is former president of Pegasus Communications,
Inc. Prior to joining Pegasus in 1996, she worked at GKA, a systems thinking
consulting company, as a consultant and trainer. Before that, she spent
12 years building the Huenefeld Company, a consulting firm for book publishers.
Ginny served as vice president for Chapters of the International System
Dynamics Society and holds an MBA from Northeastern University.
Michael Goodman is a principal with Innovation Associates
Organizational Learning. He is an internationally recognized speaker,
author, and practitioner in the fields of systems thinking, organizational
learning, and leadership, and has helped create many of the innovations
in the field of systems thinking that has made it more accessible to business
leaders. Michael has degrees from MIT and Purdue.
B02: Strategic Planning: Dancing with the System That Brought You
Susan Berardi; Scott D. Spurgeon, Rockwood School District
Even as the U.S. is in crisis, public schools are handcuffed to outdated teaching methods and government requirements that squelch the very learning necessary to compete in the 21st century. Conscious of this challenge, the Rockwood School District used simple systems thinking tools to create a five-year strategic plan to “beat” an entrenched norm of teaching to the test. In this session, learn a step-by-step process for facilitating your own strategic planning meetings. Practical exercises will help you gain confidence in using the tools and, more importantly, realize that without critical systems analysis, strategic planning efforts will be unsustainable in the long run.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn how to apply four systems thinking tools and a user-friendly strategic planning process.
- Practice the tools and customize them based on your individual workplace situations.
- Take away strategies for beginning to shift an entrenched system.
Susan Berardi has more than 15 years of experience in
strategic planning and management development. Before becoming an independent
consultant, Susan worked at Motorola and GE Healthcare (formerly IDX) in
Boston as manager of organizational development. She has designed numerous
leadership programs and trained thousands of managers and employees using
system dynamics tools. Susan has a master’s degree in Labor/Industrial
Relations from the University of Illinois.
Scott Spurgeon, Ph.D, is the associate superintendent for
Rockwood School District, the fourth-largest district (22,700 students) in
Missouri. Scott has nearly 20 years of experience in education with a record
of demonstrated student success in urban, rural, and suburban settings. He
has also led multiple strategic initiatives that progressively bring real-world
learning into the classroom. Scott has his Ed.D. from Saint Louis University.
B03: A Learning Laboratory for Leadership Literacy
Jen Hunter, The Learning Catalyst; Derek Baigent, Alcatel-Lucent; Hilary Samuel, Catalyst
Mind
Now more than ever, leaders and organizations must understand that the real leverage point for change is how we think about our choices and what options we see as available to us moving forward. We can either react or create. A conscious awareness of this distinction is critical to leadership literacy in the 21st century. In this session, learn how, by committing to ongoing personal learning, leaders can shift the dynamics in a community or organization from blame and fear to creativity, courage, and strength. You’ll experience three learning tools in an environment uniquely designed to stimulate exploration, learning, and discovery.
In this workshop, you will:
- Understand how personal mastery serves as a leverage point for individual, organizational, and community change.
- Hear how one corporate leader navigated his way through a learning journey that continues to inform his leadership capabilities.
- Learn how to create an intentional learning community.
Jen
Hunter founded The Learning Catalyst, an organization
deeply committed to developing, sharing, applying, and refining tools,
methods, and processes for leveraging our collective wisdom. Jen
works with a rich variety of clients in Canada and around the world who
share her commitment and passion for connecting great people to great
work. She is an avid life-long learner and is proud of her 11-year involvement
in the Pegasus Communications community.
Derek Baigent is a director of Technical Systems Engineering at Alcatel-Lucent, where he leads a team that is responsible for projects throughout North and South America. He heads up a strong, resilient group of technologists and has been with his organization for over 10 years. Derek is a graduate of Sir Sandford Flemming College, a proud father, and active leader in the 2009 Leadership Ottawa cohort.
Hilary
Samuel is an organizational effectiveness practitioner,
facilitator and coach. She has worked with a wide variety of industries
including high tech, manufacturing, service, tourism, municipal and
federal government, financial, and health/pharmaceutical. Hilary
has led globally dispersed multicultural teams, managing projects
in Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S. as director of global
learning for Digital Opportunity Trust. She holds masters degrees
in Adult Education and in Human Systems Intervention.
B04: An Open Source Approach to Cross-Institutional Collaboration
Christopher Johnson and Tirza Hollenhorst, ifPeople
Many of the hottest innovations in computer-based technologies have come as a result of Open Source code—code is often developed by a distributed network of collaborators and freely distributed. The ways in which Open Source projects organize and sustain collaboration offer lessons for organizations seeking to cross institutional boundaries for genuine collaboration toward shared goals. In this session, we review tools, techniques, and cultural norms for creating shared ownership and fostering continuous listening within a diverse collaboration. Learn how to lead your organization to break free from traditional ideas about ownership and to achieve more through sustainable partnerships.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn the Open Source principles that have fueled successful software projects as distributed, self-sustaining collaborations.
- Apply the Open Source model to design processes that engage participants and create shared ownership for project outcomes.
- Take home tools and techniques for ensuring that the needs of members are heard and met.
Christopher Johnson is a physicist turned entrepreneur.
He combines a passion for problem solving, a systems perspective, and a
decade of international experience in turning today’s challenges into opportunities
for progress toward a more just, sustainable world. Chris co-founded ifPeople
and serves as CEO. He has spoken internationally on the topics of social
enterprise, systems thinking, sustainability, and open source technology.
Tirza Hollenhorst is Online Community Architect and co-founder
of ifPeople. Her work uniquely combines the fields of organizational
learning, systems thinking, social media, and web development. As a community
architect, Tirza designs communications strategy and technical infrastructure
for the success of collaborations and networks. She received her degrees
in Biology and Environmental Engineering from Rice University.
B05: Applied Aikido: The Power of Purpose
Judy Ringer, Power & Presence Training
The martial art Aikido provides an elegant metaphor and useful principles for directing our energy so that we can use it to build relationships, create trust, and become more self aware as individuals, leaders, and organizations. Because energy follows attention, focusing on problems diverts us from a broad, systemic orientation. When we move our attention to our underlying purpose, our energy follows, our actions become intentional, and problems get solved in the process. In this dynamic, experiential workshop, explore new answers to the question: “What happens when I don’t resist?” You’ll learn that courage happens in the mind and the body, and you’ll leave energized to explore applications in the real world.
In this workshop, you will:
- Utilize techniques from Aikido to physically ground theoretical concepts such as courage and purpose.
- Experience presence as a mind-body state you can learn, practice, and choose.
- Discover that, when faced with difficulty, true power derives from clarity of purpose.
Judy Ringer is the author of Unlikely Teachers: Finding
the Hidden Gifts in Daily Conflict. She provides conflict and communication
training throughout North America with unique workshops based on
mind-body principles from the martial art Aikido, in which she holds
a black belt. Judy brings to life concepts such as self-management under
pressure and appreciation of other viewpoints. Her programs are interactive,
experiential, and energetic.
B06: “Deep Democracy”: Transforming Critics into Allies
Tish Robinson, Hitotsubashi University; Kanae Kuwahara and Toshiko
Yokoyama, Japan Process Work Center
What if our greatest opportunities for transformation, growth, and creativity came from the margins rather than the mainstream of our organizations and communities? Deep Democracy, first articulated by physicist and psychotherapist Arnold Mindell, is the idea that sustainable group functioning depends on all the voices, positions, and roles in a given group being heard and valued. In this session, learn how to use simple tools such as role playing to transform critical voices into useful advisors and to address conflict from a systems perspective. You’ll take away ideas for hearing and engaging dissenters, as well as for incorporating the information and perspective they provide into new strategies and initiatives.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn about the importance of hearing dissenting or marginalized voices in our organizations and communities.
- Take part in an experiential exercise for incorporating “disturbers’” views into the larger perspective.
- Apply an approach that allows you to see the systemic structure of conflicts in your organization.
Tish Robinson is professor of organizational behavior
and change at Hitotsubashi University, having also served on the faculties
of NYU and Harvard University. Her research has received three Fulbright
fellowships as well as best dissertation prize in international business
from the Academy of Management and the Academy of International Business.
Tish received her MS and Ph.D. from the MIT Sloan School of Management,
and her MA from the Process Work Institute. She is a founding member
of SoL Japan.
Toshiko Yokoyama is an executive director for the Japan
Process Work Center. She is also a consultant at Dial Service Co. Ltd.,
where she works as a facilitator and a trainer, and a chairman of TY Practice,
where she gives psychological counseling to individuals, couples, families,
and comatose people and their families. Toshiko also teaches Process Work
as a core faculty in the Japan Process Work Center and is certified by
the Process Work Institute in Portland, OR.
Kanae Kuwahara is director of training and program development
for the Japan Process Work Center, having served on the faculty of
the Process Work Institute in Portland, OR. She has worked for Fukuroda
Hospital as a psychotherapist and organizational development coach, and
has taught psychotherapy and communication for the general public, schools,
and universities. Kanae received her master’s degree in literature from
Waseda University and also in Process Work from the Process Work Institute,
along with certification of clinical competency.
B07: Overcoming Overwork: Confronting Unrealistic Expectations
David Stroh, Bridgeway Partners
We all have essential tasks to deal with—some more pressing than others. Setting clear and realistic expectations with yourself and others, innovating, making strategic decisions, confronting poor performance, and holding difficult conversations can take courage. But the costs of avoiding these tasks are often unacceptably high, including time spent resolving the same problem over and over, hours wasted in redoing work, and a loss of credibility over unmet commitments. In this session, learn guidelines, tools, and practices for meeting some of these challenges in ways that are healthy, productive, and sustainable for you and your organization.
In this workshop, you will:
- Understand five common challenges that managers must face—but often avoid.
- Clarify the consequences of procrastination in the form of unnecessary work.
- Review effective responses to each of these challenges.
- Practice five ways of addressing ambiguous or unrealistic expectations set by others.
David Peter Stroh is a principal with Bridgeway Partners
and co-founder of Innovation Associates, the pioneering consulting
firm in the area of organizational learning. He has 30 years of experience
consulting to companies, public sector organizations, and non-profits on
six continents, and is a leading thinker and practitioner in applying systems
thinking to change management. David holds degrees from MIT and the University
of Michigan.
Block C Sessions: Tuesday morning from 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM
C01: From Conflict to Collaboration in a Multinational Supply Chain
Kambiz Maani, University of Queensland
It’s a common scenario: Tensions flare as a cross-functional group of managers tries—yet again—to sort through a set of long-standing problems. But this time at FoodCom (a pseudonym), one of the managers proposes a new approach: applying basic systems thinking tools to get to the root of the issue. In this session, hear how, by using causal loop diagrams, behavior over time graphs, and the four-level thinking model, managers in a multinational supply chain were able to look beyond their individual silos, take a “big picture” view of the system in which they all played a part, and significantly change their mental models and behavior.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn how to make significant behavior change in a complex organization with basic systems thinking tools.
- Understand how conflict in organizations often arises due to myopic functional views, narrow KPIs, and individualized incentives.
- Hear how the “big picture” view can be a powerful motivating force for positive change.
Kambiz Maani is professor and holder of the chair in
Systems Thinking and Practice at the University of Queensland. He
is an internationally acknowledged expert in systems thinking, organizational
learning, and leadership. Kambiz is the co-author of Systems thinking,
Systems Dynamics: Managing Change and Complexity (2nd edition, Pearson
Education, 2007).
C02: Facing Organizational Dysfunction: Systems Strategies for Courageous Interventions
Tracy Benson, Waters Foundation
Organizations frequently experience dysfunctional behavior during times of challenge and change. Too often, people respond to stress by blaming others or discounting the value of their coworkers—to the detriment of the enterprise as a whole. In this session, participants will experience three hands-on strategies for intervening in negative organizational dynamics: hand-held response devises that give immediate, anonymous group feedback; role-playing based on the work of Virginia Satir; and an experiential large-group challenge. By surfacing key systems insights and helping people see the influence that individuals have on the larger whole, these approaches can positively affect the quality of relationships, organizational culture, climate, and productivity.
You will leave this workshop with:
- Several replicable, low-risk strategies for intervening in dysfunctional organizational behaviors.
- The courage and know-how to address common organizational problems in times of challenge and change.
- A sense of optimism that even the most dysfunctional group can learn to overcome workplace problems.
Tracy Benson, Ed.D, is coordinator of the Waters Foundation’s
Systems Thinking in Schools project. She conducts training and coaching,
consults with schools and school districts, and facilitates system
thinking professional learning experiences for educators. Tracy holds a
doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Arizona. She
has experience as an elementary- and middle-school teacher, middle-school
principal, consultant, author, and mom. Tracy has a hands-on approach to
teaching and believes in the benefits of experiential learning.
C03: “Teach Them Courage”: U.S. Army’s Jedi Warrior Training Program
Joel Levey and Michelle Levey, InnerWork Technologies, Inc.
The U.S. Army’s acclaimed Ultimate Warrior Training Program (aka “Jedi Warrior”) was described by West Point leaders as “the most exquisite orchestration of human technology we have ever seen.” The methods distilled in this organizational learning laboratory have great relevance for leaders in complex, high-stakes systems who seek wisdom, resilience, mindful presence, collective creative intelligence, fierce compassion, and courage. In this session, learn core principles and skills from this intensive training that you can apply in your work. With practice, these core disciplines allow insight and intuition to deepen, courage and confidence to grow, health and performance to improve, and innovation to be guided by a wisdom congruent with the pressing needs of the times.
In this workshop, you will:
- Discover how to better understand and optimize your mental and emotional responses to challenging situations.
- Learn skills for gaining greater mindfulness, clear presence, calm intensity, and mastery of attention.
- Take away an understanding that your own example, decisions, and actions may have profound impact on the lives of countless other stakeholders.
Michelle
Levey, M.A., and Joel Levey, Ph.D., are founders
of WisdomAtWork.com and faculty at the University of Minnesota
Medical School, Mahidol University (Thailand), and IIM (Ahmedabad).
They served as co-directors of the Center for Corporate Culture and Organizational
Health at the Institute for Health and Productivity Management,
clinical directors at Group Health and Children’s Medical Centers,
and directed advanced biocybernautic training for the U.S. Army’s Special
Forces Ultimate Warrior Program. The enduring benefits of their
pioneering work have inspired leaders in hundreds of organizations around
the globe, including NASA, World Bank, Intel, Shell, MIT, Boeing, HP,
and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Joel and Michelle are co-authors
of Corporate
Culture and Organizational Health; Wisdom at Work; Living in Balance;
Luminous Mind; Focused Mindstate; Learning Organizations; and The
New Bottom Line.
C04: Digital Stories and Live Case Studies: New Practices for Today’s
Schools
MAK Mitchell and Andrew Gallagher, New York City Public Schools
Given the choice, school principals reject participating in training opportunities in favor of engaging with networks of key friends around similar instructional work. What strategies make this kind of collaboration most contagious? How can we create a ripple effect of learning from some of the best instructional methods within and between schools? Over the past three years, digital storytelling and live case studies have emerged as powerful ways to communicate best practices from an “anchor school” to many other schools interested in adapting those practices in their own contexts. This presentation will model how to use these tools to support instructional excellence and strengthen student learning.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn the rationale for a network structure of schools as the “container” for creating and sharing promising practices.
- Construct a “live case study” so that it becomes explicit and accessible to other schools interested in adapting the innovation.
- Learn how to construct a “digital story” that includes artifacts, voices, and media with enough coherence that other schools add their own questions and parallel stories.
MAK Mitchell is the director of policy and planning for
the Empowerment Schools, a network of 500 public schools in New York
City. She leads the systemic change work with network leaders. Previously,
MAK served as an organizational change professor, superintendent, change
consultant for the Gates Learning Foundation, and founder of numerous small
schools in Alaska. MAK earned both master’s and doctoral degrees from the
Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is a founding member of SoL.
Andrew Gallagher is the Instructional Technology Specialist
for the Empowerment Schools. He co-manages the Goldie Anna Awards for Excellence
in Education to promote the sharing of instructional models of best practice.
Andrew is the current honoree of his graduate school, New York Institute
of Technology, where he earned his masters in Instructional Technology.
He is the recipient of several awards for his after-school programs and
is one of an elite number of educators to be certified by Google.
C05: Co-Creating 21st-Century Leaders Through 21st-Century Tools
Debbie Plager and Christy Mihina, Allstate Insurance Company
Recent leadership research indicates that 60 percent of managers won’t be able to make the necessary shifts to lead in the new business environment. How do you prepare and engage people to think, act, and lead differently? Allstate Technology & Operations (ATO) recognized that the answer was inside the community. Using Web 2.0 technologies, ATO leaders shared their vision of what thriving leadership would look like in the organization and brought their knowledge, passion, and commitment to ensure that this framework was truly purposeful and useable. Today, the leaders are producing immediate benefits by using this collaborative experience to affect changes in their business units.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn how to co-create a leadership framework with members of your organization that leads to realistic content, true personal transformation, and rapid adoption.
- Learn how to leverage collaborative technologies (wikis, blogs, and web conferencing tools) to support a shared process of leadership development in your organization.
- Recognize the importance of starting any type of transformation process by helping participants gain awareness of how their mindsets influence behaviors and competencies.
Debbie Plager is an Organizational Effectiveness Manager
at Allstate Insurance Company and specializes in strategic culture change
and engagement efforts. Debbie has spent her career developing sustainable
change efforts and building organizational capability in corporate and
non-profit organizations. She graduated from Northwestern University with
a master’s degree in Learning and Organizational Change.
Christy Mihina is an Organizational Effectiveness Consultant
at Allstate Insurance Company, supporting the Technology and Operations
organization. In addition to her most recent work guiding leaders through
the co-creation of a 21st-century leadership framework, she is currently
working with senior leaders to transform the Technology and Operations
organization. Christy holds a master’s degree in Organizational and Leadership
Development from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
C06: The Wind from the East: Systems Lessons for Lasting Organizations
Takeshi Shimamura, CTI Japan; Nao Konishi
In Japan, more than 3,000 companies have existed for more than 200 years each, while in the U.S., only 14 have reached that milestone. These Japanese organizations operate based on certain “ways of being” related to integrity, a systems perspective, and other concepts steeped in wisdom from the East. In this session, hear how this wisdom can give you and your organization more options for how you think and act in response to both challenges and opportunities. You will come away with ideas for implementing your insights when you return to your workplace.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn insights for creating a sustainable organization based in ancient Japanese wisdom.
- Participate in experiential activities to give you more options for how you respond to challenges and opportunities.
- Take away ideas for implementing your learnings in your organization.
Takeshi Shimamura, CPCC (Certified Professional Co-Active
Coach) and ORSCC (Organization Relationship and Systems Certified Coach),
is president of Wake Up Co., Ltd., which is an international partner of the
Coaches’ Training Institute and the Center for Right Relationship. His
mission is to develop a structure for people to play active roles in society.
Nao Konishi, CPCC, is an independent personal coach.
She worked for Unilever for 15 years as a consumer and marketing
insight manager and a brand manager. Through her work with this multinational
company, she contributed to domestic, regional, and global projects.
C07: Whatever the Challenge, Community Is the Answer
Bob Stilger, The Berkana Institute; Teresa Posakony, The
Berkana Institute and Art of Hosting
How can the members of any learning community build their coherence and expand their capacity for transformational change? What creates a community capacity to respond resiliently to any challenge? In this session, you’ll engage in conversation around these questions and the answers being uncovered by the Berkana Exchange, a trans-local learning community of people and places around the world. The learning centers in this network operate based on values such as we have what we need, we make the path by walking it, and we are learning to live the future now. Through the Art of Hosting conversational methodology, learn how values-based engagement leads to wise action in community and organizational settings.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn the values, principles, and processes that guide transformational change.
- Explore the practices, rhythms, questions, and processes that create a framework for building resilient community.
- Envision how values-based engagement leads to wise action in community and organizational settings.
Bob Stilger been engaged in community change work since
the mid-1970s. In recent years, much of his work has been in places
like South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, and Brazil, where new forms of engagement
are being created. He has a PhD in Learning and Change in Human Systems
from CIIS and was the co-president of The Berkana Institute from 2005–2009.
Teresa Posakony’s work has led her beyond a career in
corporate change consulting into the arena of community engagement
and collective leadership. She has worked in partnership with the Berkana
community since 2000, and been a steward and leader in the Art of Hosting
Community since 2003. Teresa works with courageous and inspiring leaders
across sectors from grassroots communities to high tech to create cultures
of conversation and resilience.
