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Nothing illustrates change as dramatically as
October in New England. Brilliant leaves and dropping
temperatures definitively announce the end of one
seasonal cycle and the beginning of the next. In
organizations, of course, change isn't always so
apparent. More often it is a gradual accumulation of
small shifts and individual steps that lead to bigger
transformations. It seems to us that the systemic
disruptions of the past year have created an
environment ideal for courageous individual actions to
find traction. We are glad to support your personal
efforts to get something started.
| Choosing Both Power and Love to Address Complex Challenges |
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Editor's Choice: An excerpt from
Adam Kahane
Adam Kahane is the
author of the forthcoming book, Power and Love: A
Theory and Practice of Social Change. In it, he
offers a framework for effectively balancing the dual
forces of power and love in large-scale change efforts.
To celebrate the book's publication, we will host a live webinar with Adam Kahane on Deember
1, from 2:00 to 3:30 EST. We are pleased to share the
following introduction from the new book.
Beyond War and Peace
Our two most common ways of trying to address our
toughest social challenges are the extreme ones:
aggressive war and submissive peace. Neither of
these ways works. We can try, using our guns or
money or votes, to push through what we want,
regardless of what others want--but inevitably the
others push back. Or we can try not to push anything
on anyone--but that leaves our situation just as it
is.
These extreme ways are extremely common, on
all scales. One on one, we can be pushy or conflict
averse. At work, we can be bossy or "go along to get
along." In our communities, we can set things up so
that they are the way we want them to be, or we can
abdicate. In national affairs, we can make deals to get
our way, or we can let others have their way. In
international relations--whether the challenge is
climate change or trade rules or peace in the Middle
East--we can try to impose our solutions on everyone
else, or we can negotiate endlessly. These extreme,
common ways of trying to address our toughest social
challenges usually fail, leaving us stuck and in pain.
There are many exceptions to these generalizations
about the prevalence of these extreme ways, but the
fact that these are exceptions proves the general rule.
We need--and many people are working on
developing--different, uncommon ways of addressing
social challenges: ways beyond these degenerative
forms of war and peace.
A character in Rent, Jonathan Larson's
Broadway musical about struggling artists and
musicians in New York City, says, "The opposite of
war isn't peace, it's creation!" To address our
toughest social challenges, we need a way that is
neither war nor peace, but collective creation. How can
we co-create new social realities?
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| It's Not Too Late! Your Peers Are Waiting for You. |
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The 19th
Annual Pegasus
Conference
Now More Than Ever:
Critical Skills for Courageous
Organizations
November 2 - 4, 2009 ·
Seattle, Washington · Westin, Seattle
You are not alone in your desire to drive new ways
of doing business that are grounded in a systems
perspective. Whether you have met them or not, you
are part of a powerful network of others who share
your belief that the managerial tools and methods of
the Industrial Age are inadequate to meet the
challenges of the 21st century. To create businesses
and communities capable of thriving in conditions of
dynamic complexity, we need new tools and ideas for
connecting with each other, redefining success, and
measuring our progress.
Are you ready to
take your personal change campaign to the next level
by joining the conversation at the Pegasus
Conference next week? It's not too late. In fact, there is
no time like the present.
There are also
still seats available in these pre- and post-conference
skill-building workshops.
 Leading
Change Through Applied Systems
Thinking
Michael Goodman, Innovation
Associates Organizational
Learning; David Stroh, Bridgeway
Partners
Sat/Sun, Oct. 31 - Nov. 1; 9 AM to 5
PM
In this engaging
two-day workshop, learn how to achieve sustainable
high performance by incorporating systems thinking
principles and tools to mobilize and focus
organizational initiatives. more...
 Life at the
Frontier: Leadership through Courageous
Conversation
David Whyte, Many Rivers
Company
Sun, November 1; 9 AM to 5
PM
Join "corporate poet"
David Whyte to improve your leadership effectiveness
in a changing, multicultural world by understanding
and applying the essential elements of real
conversation. more...
 Bringing the
Conference Home: An Open Space Conversation
Peggy Holman; Bob Stilger,
Berkana Institute
Wed, November 4; 2 to 6
PM
In this half-day meaning-making
session, connect with others to internalize your own
learnings and clarify what you wish to share with
others back home. Also open to members of the
general public who wish to have a taste of the
conference.more...
Review your registration options...
Register for the full conference.
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| How Too Much Help Actually Hurts |
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 by Jeffrey Cufaude, from the
Leverage Points blog
I recently attended a
local volunteer meeting. Led by a very dedicated and
capable volunteer, the 60-minute meeting consisted
almost exclusively of him giving updates on various
agenda items. Others attending then commented or
responded to his questions. If someone would have
been watching, but not listening, it might have
appeared to be a graduate seminar in a professor's
home. It was decidedly a one-sided conversation, and
not one I would feel the need to participate in
again.
Here's the problem, a common one in a lot of
organizations, particularly at the local volunteer level.
While everyone attending this meeting cares deeply
and is willing to get involved, one individual drives the
momentum and effort. It's not sustainable. At some
point, he will burn out, and a leadership vacuum might
emerge. And by holding too much of the responsibility
for what gets done, this individual limits the group's
productivity and impedes others' initiative. He's not
being dictatorial, but his over-responsibility creates
others' under-responsibility, a dynamic that Roger
Martin explores in his excellent book, The
Responsibility Virus.
Maintaining the right balance of responsibility
between leaders and followers or contributors
requires great attention and vigilance. If the leadership
takes too little responsibility, others can flounder, use
resources unproductively, or fail to follow through
appropriately. If the leadership takes on too much
responsibility, others might think their ideas and
assistance are not needed or allow leaders to do all
the work.
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Picture This: Causal Loop Diagramming Webinar |
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A 90-Minute
recorded webinar with Greg
Hennessy
Worth a Thousand
Words:
Seeing Problems Through
Causal Loop Diagrams
Causal loop
diagrams (CLDs) are powerful tools for diagnosing
organizational problems and identifying potential
corrective actions. When you capture a challenging
situation in causal loops, you expose the underlying
structure and the places where your change efforts
are likely to be most fruitful.
Learn more and buy recorded session...
When the Going Gets Tough: Turning
Conflict into Strength
 In this
recorded webinar, author and consultant Diana
McLain Smith offers a navigational system with
which to traverse the unpre-dictable terrain called
relationships. This system shows you how to use
mistakes, conflicts, and differences to get things done
while strengthening key alliances.
Order
#WEB0903
$109.00
Get Heard Above
the
Noise
 In this recorded
webinar, author and coach Robert Dickman
identifies five elements of successful stories that
anyone can master to increase their impact. Whether
delivering a high-stakes presentation, giving and
receiving feedback, or managing the tension in a
complex, multilateral negotiation, your use of story to
communicate effectively may be key to productive
collaboration and forward movement.
Order
#WEB0902
$109.00
Find Us, Fan Us, Follow
Us
And don't forget to subscribe to our Leverage
Points blog so you'll be notified by email each time
a new post is added!
"There are things I can't force. I
must adjust. There are times when the greatest
change needed is a change of my viewpoint."
--Denis Dedirot
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