Pre and Post Conference Workshops

PRE01 — Facilitation Tools for Organizational Learning

Rebecca Niles, Systems Thinking Collaborative

Saturday/Sunday, November 10–11, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Fee - $1195

 

In this entry-level workshop, explore ways to take some of the ideas of systems thinking back to your organization. You will learn several user-friendly techniques for facilitating systems thinking interventions and leading groups in thinking systemically. Participants will gain hands-on experience with a variety of facilitation tools, including hexagon mapping, system archetypes, and causal loop diagrams. Options mapping and scenario testing will also be introduced. Using these tools, participants can improve decision-making and enhance their ability to think strategically and innovate.

 

Registration fee includes a facilitation kit.

 

In this workshop, you will:

  • Practice several user-friendly tools for facilitating systems thinking interventions
  • Participate in hands-on exercises in facilitation
  • Build skills for leading groups in systemic thinking

Rebecca Niles is a senior partner with the Systems Thinking Collaborative. Since 1995, Rebecca has been coaching teams in the use of systems thinking to understand complex issues ranging from teacher absenteeism to employee retention to new drug discovery to economic growth in Nigeria. Rebecca has a master’s degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

PRE02 — Six Conversations That Matter: Leadership Language in Action

Bill Brewer, Designed Learning

Sunday, November 11, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Fee - $795

 

Organizational transformation requires leaders to understand that every gathering is an opportunity to deepen people’s accountability and commitment. To build companies where real change is possible, leaders need to engage people in particular conversations that have the capacity to shape an alternative future. At the most concrete and practical level, this is about a shift from thinking about cause and effect and problem solving to thinking about ways to cocreate. We call this ability “leadership language in action.” Note: This workshop explores the ideas and tools in Peter Block’s best-selling books, The Answer to How Is Yes and Community: The Structure of Belonging.

 

In this workshop, you will:

 

  • Understand the conditions under which transformation occurs
  • Develop skills to change conversations from complaining and waiting for others to change to choosing accountability and creating new possibilities 
  • Focus on strengths and capabilities rather than on trying to problem-solve deficiencies
  • Learn to lead so that others commit to the success of the organization without playing “let’s make a deal”

Bill Brewer, Designed Learning's director of client relations, has worked with Peter Block for the past 20 years. He has held staff positions in marketing, public relations, sales, training, and instructional design and delivery for companies including Scripps Howard, Cincom Systems, and the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. Bill teaches consulting skills and strategic communication in the School of Business at Miami University. He has spoken at numerous conferences, including OD Net’s Annual Conference and SHRM’s Southeast Annual Conference.

PRE03 - Lost and Found: Finding Our Way as Leaders for This Time

Margaret Wheatley

Sunday, October 30, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Fee - $795

 

“Not being lost is not a matter of getting back to where you started from; it is a decision not to be lost wherever you happen to find yourself. It’s simply saying, ‘I’m not lost, I’m right here.’”  

       —Laurence Gonzales

                                               

In this brave new world, we plunge ahead, frantic to complete our mushrooming lists of tasks. We end up lost in the details, lost to ourselves, lost to each other, lost to wise actions and meaningful contributions. A Buddhist teacher taught that the one thing we can trust is that the world always gives us feedback. Every decision, every action creates responses full of vital information. As we open to this rich reservoir of messages, we are able to move from noise and confusion into clarity and intelligent action. Note: This workshop is based on Margaret's newest book, So Far from Home: Lost and Found in Our Brave New World (Berrett-Koehler September 2012).

 

This one-day session focuses on developing the skills necessary to answer these questions:

  • How do we recognize when we are lost?
  • How do we learn to trust in awareness and curiosity rather than rely on strategy and plans?
  • How do we transform intractable problems into workable ones ?
  • How do we learn to trust ourselves so that we can enter into any situation with confidence?

Margaret Wheatley is cofounder and president emerita of the Berkana Institute. She is the acclaimed author of six books: Walk Out Walk On (with Deborah Frieze); Perseverance; Leadership and the New Science; Turning to One Another; Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future; A Simpler Way (with Myron Rogers); and Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time. Meg received her doctorate in Organizational Behavior and Change from Harvard University.

POST01 - Coaching from a Systems Perspective

Rick Karash

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.;

Thursday and Friday, Nov. 15-16, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Fee - $1395

 

All leaders live and work in complex systems—their families, their organizations, and their larger worlds. By deepening and broadening your ability to coach from a systemic perspective, you will help your client leaders see themselves as human systems working and living in larger systems. When leaders understand those systems and how they operate, they are better able to achieve their goals. This program, created by eight members of the Society for Organizational Learning’s Coaching Community of Practice, will help skilled coaches develop their capability to coach from this broader and deeper systemic perspective. It will also support experienced systems thinkers in developing their coaching ability.

 

This program is accredited by the International Coach Federation for Coach Continuing Education Credits (CCEUs) for participants who complete the workshop, attend the follow-on teleclasses, and submit a written coaching case. Additional information... 

 

In this workshop, you will learn about:

  • The Butterfly Model of Complex Human Systems
  •  Coaching in the External System: systems thinking, system archetypes, a systems learning cycle, and emergent learning
  •  Coaching in the Internal System: intentions, internal narrative, mental models, underlying stories
  • The impact of external and internal systems on us as coaches and on our interactions with clients
  • The role our stance (intention, attention, state of mind, and state of body) plays in our ability to see and understand systems

Richard Karash has been teaching systems thinking and the disciplines of organizational learning since 1991. He was a senior staff member at Innovation Associates, a founding trustee of the Society for Organizational Learning, a founding member of the SoL Coaching Community of Practice, and co-creator of “Coaching from a Systems Perspective.” He teaches in leadership programs, trains professionals, and does executive coaching.