For managers* who:

* C-level officers, business owners, general managers, directors, project managers, and board chairs

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- Lead high-level teams requiring communication, trust, and teamwork 

- Are committed to more open, participative, and democratic organizations

- Value diversity, inclusion, employee involvement, and engagement

- Understand the need for organizations to constantly reinvent themselves

- Are willing to change their own behavior to influence the culture differently

 

“I have been impressed with the apparent intractability of organizational problems. Why do our attempted solutions so often produce no effect, or else exacerbate the problems they are designed to solve? In our efforts to improve organizations, perhaps we have made some basic error which dooms us to repeat both our mistakes and successes, but not move beyond them.”

Roger Harrison – Strategies for a New Age

 

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A Different Way will:

 

- Challenge your fundamental beliefs about leading organizational change

- Engage you in an interactive process of collective learning and coaching

- Complement and reinforce your current leadership development programs

- Provide leaders a way to see “the forest for the trees” in a complex world

 

“To live in a quantum world, to weave here and there with ease and grace, we will need to change what we do. We will need to stop describing tasks and instead facilitate process. We will need to become savvy about how to build relationships and how to nurture growing, evolving things. All of us will need better skills in listening, communicating, and facilitating groups, because these are the talents that build strong relationships.”  Margaret Wheatley

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A Different Way is rooted in science:

 

• Chaos Theory, Non-Linear Dynamics, and Self-Organizing Systems

  • What’s the difference between control and the search for order?

  • Why is there no straight path in the change management journey?

  • How can we gain a broader understanding of social systems?

• Group Dynamics, Leadership, and Social Interaction Field Theory

  • How can we view leadership in the context of the team and situation?

  • How does the current culture reflect the senior team’s behavior?

  • Can the management team model and reinforce desired future values?

• Organization Development and Leadership Principles

  • What is “organizational culture” and how can we change it?

  • How can we encourage, coach, and reward effective teamwork?

  • How can we focus our change initiatives and leadership programs?

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A Different Way is based on:

 

Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley

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Each participant will receive Wheatley’s book prior to the workshop. She provides insights into leading complex organizations in a simple, yet powerful, way.

 

Meg Wheatley earned her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Harvard and Masters in Media Ecology from NYU. She served in the Peace Corps, taught and consulted all over the world, and has been a graduate professor at BYU and Cambridge College (MA). Meg is Co-Founder and President Emerita of The Berkana Institute.

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“If you are committed to humane, democratic, and highly productive organizations, you have to pay attention to Leadership and the New Science. Wheatley’s integration of the new science and its implications for leading are at the cutting edge of a whole new theory and practice of organizations badly needing to be born.”  Marvin Weisbord

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- AND -

 

SYMLOG (SYstematic, Multiple-Level Observation of Groups) by Bales & Cohen

 

Each participant will receive graphic and written feedback based on self-perceptions and back-home team view providing insights into group dynamics and individual leadership.

 

Robert F. (“Freed”) Bales (1916-2004) was affiliated with Harvard since receiving his Ph.D. in 1945 until his retirement in 1986 as Emeritus Professor. His research centered on interpersonal interaction in small groups and documenting recurring patterns when forming and facilitating problem-solving and managerial groups.

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“Bales was a pioneer in the development of systematic methods of group observation and measurement of interaction processes. His goal was the development of a theory of personality and group dynamics integrated with a set of practical methods for measuring and changing behavior and values in a democratic way.” The Harvard Gazette - April 20, 2006

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A Different Way of thinking about…   

 

• Large-scale organizational change, leadership development & teambuilding

 

• The role of the senior management team in shaping the future culture

 

• Organizations as complex socio-technical systems

 

• Change management and its impact on the culture and bottom line

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FROM:

 

Control and power

Micro-management

Blame and fear

Seeking answers outside

Training and interventions

Issues and committees

Off-the-shelf programs

Coaching skills training

Reactionary solutions

Implementing programs

Describing behavior

Quick fix "flavor of the month"

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TO:

 

Seeking order and empowering

Macro-management

Solutions and accountability

Organization-led solutions

Walking the talk” in real time

Holistic system approach

Tailored frameworks & methods

Coaching coaches daily

Prevention-based approaches

Integrating concepts

Measuring values

"Committing to the long term

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A Different Way  Overview

The two-day agenda is a structured yet flexible course of exploration and synthesis of the collective leadership experience and wisdom of participants. It resembles more of a forum or conference on leadership and organizational excellence where everyone is a student, teacher, and expert panel member. A primary objective is to practice process consultation and facilitation skills needed in leading effective, sustained change and continuous improvement.

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“Consultants and managers have a common problem: how to influence situations toward desired goals in the human systems in which they intervene.” Edgar Schein – Process Consultation Volume II: Lessons for Managers and Consultants

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• No 3-ring binders

• No papering the walls

• No role plays or solving puzzles

• No rope climbing or trust falls

• No widgets or scavenger hunts

• No skits or case studies

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A Different Way  Workshop Outline

 

Learning Objectives – Participants will be able to:

 

• Practice process consultation and facilitation skills

• Assess group dynamics and intervene to resolve conflict and unify a team

• Facilitate change management processes and coach others in doing same

• Evaluate and manage OD interventions, methods, and processes

• Assess the effectiveness of change management initiatives

• Develop a customized template for leading change

• Measure impact of change management efforts on the culture and the bottom line

• Integrate their past personal assessment data and feedback

• Examine own behavior and values for teamwork

• Develop an integrated plan for changing and improving

 

DAY 1       Introduction and Overview

                 Intro to SYMLOG

                        - 3D Social Interactive Space

                        - 26 Values Descriptions

                 Organization Development                         

                        - Basic OD Principles

                        - Organizational Culture

                 “The Strange New Science of Chaos” Video                  

                        - Implications for Organizations

                 Change and Improvement      

                        - Continuous Improvement Processes

                        - Starting at “Phase Zero”

                 SYMLOG Feedback

                        - Field Diagram, Bargraph, and Bales Report

 

DAY 2       Review & Preview

                 SYMLOG Feedback Insights

                 Change Management Approaches

                 Developing an Integrated Change Plan

                 Consulting Team Review

                 Summary and Next Steps

 

                 Post-Work (Individual Follow Up)

 

 

Just as we cannot predict the weather with complete accuracy, we also can never know enough about the initial conditions of our organizational “culture” to predict it very far into the future – it’s too complex. However, we can zoom out to see patterns, gain insights about order in the chaos, and consider long-term and sustainable strategies for meaningful change.

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“The atmosphere, the oceans, much of outer space – it’s basically turbulent fluid. So, one could take the point of view that you don’t understand anything about the world unless you understand turbulence.”  Jerry Gollub - Haverford College

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