|
We are pleased to invite your proposals for the
2009 Pegasus Conference: Now More Than Ever:
Critical Skills for Courageous Organizations. If you are
interested in presenting a concurrent session during
the conference November 2-4, at the Westin Seattle in
Seattle, Washington, please review the Call for Proposals, and
submit
your preliminary proposal by January 31.
| Sustaining Ideas for Uncertain Times |
 |
Useful guidelines from Ginny Wiley
When the going gets tough, the
tough think systems. Pegsus's outgoing president
Ginny Wiley has been helping people think
systemically, in good times and in bad, for over 25
years. As she embarks on the next phase of her
learning journey, she offers some HUMBLE
guidelines for responding with confidence to
conditions of dynamic uncertainty. Print them and post
them in your workspace as a sustaining daily
reference.
H ~ How did WE get into this predicament?
How do we learn from what has happened
so that we don't make the same mistakes again? How
do we summon the courage to step up to the plate and
take personal and organizational responsibility for the
consequences of our actions?
It's easy to think of us vs. them, Main Street vs. Wall
Street, the haves vs. the have nots. As systems
thinkers, however, we know that we are all part of the
system. We need to move from blame to
accountability, to recognize the role many of us played
in this debacle by not asking questions earlier. We
knew that housing prices couldn't rise forever; we
knew that unsecured lending was risky; we knew that if
it seemed too good to be true it probably was!
U ~ Unintended consequences
As
we move forward we will challenge decisions by
looking for unintended consequences before we act
(Fixes that Fail).
What are the unintended consequences of bailing out
(or not bailing out) a financial institution or an auto
maker or providing relief for untenable mortgages?
What are the unintended consequences to
organizations of layoffs, or delays in capital investment,
or the elimination of all training? On a personal level,
what are the unintended consequences of liquidating
assets, cashing in a 401K, or putting off medical
care?
M ~ Mental models
Let's challenge
all of our mental models!
Give some thought to a specific situation from the
vantage point of three or four different stakeholders.
When we think we have it tough, can we imagine the
impact of this situation on those who had far fewer
resources to begin with.
|
| Keynotes Announced for 19th Annual Pegasus Conference |
|
|
Now More Than Ever: Critical
Skills for Courageous Organizations
November 2-
4, 2009
Westin Seattle ˇ Seattle,
Washington
We are excited to announce the keynote
presenters who will lead the conversation at our next
Systems Thinking in Action conference.
 Juana Bordas, author of
Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a
Multicultural Age, expert on leadership and
diversity, and president of Mestiza Leadership
International
 John
Seely Brown, visiting scholar at USC,
independent co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for
Edge Innovation, and former director of Xerox's Palo
Alto Research
Center
 Peter Senge, author
of The Fifth Discipline, co-author of The
Necessary Revolution, and founding chair of SoL,
the Society for Organizational Learning
 Linda Booth Sweeney,
systems educator and author of Connected
Wisdom: Living Stories about Living Systems and
The Systems Thinking Playbook
 David Whyte,
poet, business consultant, and author of the new book
The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self &
Relationship
Register for
the conference
by February 28 to SAVE $700!
Teams of 4 or more pay as
little as $895
per person.
Call for details at 1-800-272-0945.
|
| Prototyping and Cultural Change |
|
|
 by Marilyn Herasymowych and
Henry Senko
It's no secret that teams learn
most effectively when they work on solving real
problems within a supportive environment. The
interplay among individuals--and the expression of
their ideas--often leads to innovations and new ways
of working. Such action learning not only tends to
produce better outcomes for the task at hand, but can
result in lasting organizational culture change.
One form of action learning called
prototyping involves engaging in small
experiments with the intent to uncover creative
solutions. Because the experiments are small, the risk
is low, thus providing more control over possible
negative ripple effects. The approach also saves time
because teams don't overplan and then find they need
to revise plans because conditions have changed or
something has been learned that alters how they think
about the project. Prototyping, when implemented in a
structured, sequential process, creates a shared
space--a collaborative medium that two or more
people share--that supports the process of shared
discovery or creation.
But when implementing a prototyping initiative, it's
advisable to pay attention to certain factors that
increase the likelihood of success:
- Psychological Safety is important
because it allows people to work in ambiguity and
uncertainty and to be uncomfortable--to not know--and
to express concerns with the initiative itself.
- Engagement and Alignment
should be considered so that people are encouraged
to contribute ideas and expertise at a local level while
staying aligned with a broader organizational
perspective.
- Meaning and Cultural Change
are maximized when experiments focus on things that
really make a difference.
|
|
Amazing Savings on Some of Our Most Popular Resources |
|
|
|
Deadline
Extended on Super Pocket Guide Sale
Do you ever wish you had some of the great tools
and concepts of organizational learning at your
fingertips? Now you can have this comprehensive
collection of on-the-spot resources for 50% off
their already discounted price! These 5-1/2 x 8-
1/2-inch laminated guides are always among our
bestsellers because of their convenient size,
portability, and digest format. The set is perfect for
just-in-time interventions, as a ready reference tucked
into your daily planner or desk drawer, or as
a bountiful gift to a friend or colleague.
Through January 31,
get the whole set of 27 guides for just $50.00!
Titles include:
ˇ A Guide to Designing a Systems Thinking
Intervention
ˇ The Do's and Don'ts of Systems Thinking
on the Job
ˇ Guidelines for Drawing Causal Loop
Diagrams
ˇ Systems Archetypes at a Glance
ˇ A Pocket Guide to Using the
Archetypes
ˇ Guidelines for Daily Systems Thinking
Practice
ˇ Palette of Systems Thinking Tools
ˇ Human Dynamics: An Overview of the
Five Personality Dynamics
ˇ The Five Personality Dynamics:
Communication Preferences
ˇ Private Conversation: The Left-Hand
Column
ˇ The Ladder of Inference
ˇ Productive Conversations: Using
Advocacy and Inquiry Effectively
ˇ Partnership Coaching
ˇ Moving from Blame to
Accountability
ˇ Conflict Resolution: A Systemic
Approach
ˇ The "Thinking" in Systems Thinking:
Honing Your Skills
ˇ Vision Deployment Matrix I: Shifting from a
Reactive to a Generative Orientation
ˇ Vision Deployment Matrix II: Crossing the
Chasm from Reality to Vision
ˇ A Guide to Servant-Leadership
ˇ A Guide to Practicing Dialogue
ˇ Managing the Archetypes: Accidental
Adversaries
ˇ A Guide to Appreciative Inquiry
ˇ The World Café: An Innovative Approach
to Dialogue
ˇ Getting Organized to Make a
Difference
ˇ A Guide to Accountability
Leadership
ˇ Eye of the Needle: A Communication
Tool
ˇ Systems Clues in Everyday Language
Order #PGST27: Just $50.00 through
1/31/09!
"Each person has inside a basic
decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it,
he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs
most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes
courage for a person to listen to his own goodness
and act on it."
--Pablo Casals
|
|
