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October 28, 2004 Issue 55



"It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised; the mosquito is swatted."
—Marie O'Conner

"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."
—Charles DuBois



The Shape of Change
by Rob Quaden and Alan Ticotsky, with Debra Lyneis, illustrated by Nathan Walker (Creative Learning Exchange, 2004)

This is a wonderful book for anyone who works with children. The 11 interdisciplinary lesson plans in The Shape of Change are designed to help students observe and understand how and why things change over time. Students participate in a game, experiment, or other hands-on activity. They draw simple lines graphs of the changing behavior over time or they draw a connection circle. As they refine and share their work, students also consider causes and broader implications, honing a keener awareness of the changes all around them.

The activities are written for grades 3–8, but all been used in a range of classrooms from kindergarten to college. Each chapter begins with a short summary and a list of materials so that teachers can see at a glance what is covered and what materials are necessary. Background information is succinct, and procedures are laid out step-by-step. Student worksheets are at the end of each lesson, ready to photocopy.
Order #OL025, 141 pages, softcover, $12.95

Additional resources for introducing systems thinking to children:
When a Butterfly Sneezes
Billibonk & the Thorn Patch

Additional Resources by Robert Putnam
Reflective Conversation: Art and Possibility featuring Robert Putnam
In order to create intentional learning from inter-group conflicts, clashing priorities, errors, and missed commitments, organizations must be able to talk productively about difficult issues. In this compelling video, Bob Putnam discusses the ways in which people unconsciously create "undiscussable" topics that hinder team and organizational learning. He also offers possibilities for creating reflective conversation for surfacing and addressing such issues.
Order #V9623, videotape, approx. 54 min, $99.00

Cultivating Self-Reflecting Teams featuring Philip McArthur, Robert Putnam, and Diana McLain Smith
To achieve personal mastery, we must act on new insights and reflect on our experience over a significant period of time. And because we have limits and blind spots, we need others to help us reflect and learn. None of this is controversial. Yet it is rare to find groups that sustain the necessary level of reflecting on practice. In this engaging video, Phil, Bob, and Diana reflect on their experience as a learning team and offer lessons for those wishing to cultivate their own teams.
Order #V9735, videotape, approx. 60 min., $99.00

Reflecting in Action: Overcoming the Assumptions That Divide Us featuring Robert Putnam
Organizational complexity is embedded in the diverse and often clashing assumptions held by people in an organization. Harnessing this complexity depends on our ability to talk productively across our different mental models. To do so, we must hone our skills in reflecting and gaining perspective on our own tacit theories about how the world works. In this audiotape, gain experience in reflecting in action: the in-the-moment ability to "turn thought back on action and on the knowing implicit in action" (Donald Schon).
Order #T0106, audiotape, approx. 60 min., $19.95


The Systems Thinker Renaming Contest Results This spring, we held a contest to solicit possible names for The Systems Thinker" Newsletter. Learn the results of the contest and the winner of our prize of a free registration to this year's Pegasus Conference, "Building Collaborations to Change Our Organizations and the World: Systems Thinking in Action."

Virtual Conference on Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
Participate online in the 2nd International Conference on Appreciative Inquiry, "Creating Extraordinary Organizations for Business and Society." The face-to-face conference was held September 19-22 in Miami, Florida, and the Virtual Conference is open for viewing and participation through November 30.

Registration includes access to:
• more than seven hours of core content from the plenary sessions in streaming video format
• 10 round-table presentations of AI applications
• a directory of participants and presenters so you can connect with each other around areas of mutual interest
• a growing resource library of AI reference materials, upcoming workshops, Industry Track information, and conference sponsor information
• opportunities to chat live with 300 other participants and presenters around the world
• automatic daily e-mail digests of new material so you know when to visit the site
Register


• Contact us at Pegasus Communications, One Moody Street, Waltham, MA 02453-5339. Send an e-mail to info@pegasuscom.com, or call 781-398-9700. Web site: http://www.pegasuscom.com.
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Pegasus Communications provides resources that help people explore, understand, articulate, and address the challenges they face in the complexities of a changing world. Since 1989, Pegasus has worked to build a community of practitioners through The Systems Thinker® Newsletter, books, audio and videotapes, and its annual Systems Thinking in Action® Conference and other events.
 


 

15th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL OFFER!

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Pegasus Communications' founding, get a subscription to The Systems Thinker® Newsletter for $55.00—a 50% discount—when you purchase the Systems Thinking Learning Package (Order #LP0401, $100). This learning package includes many useful resources, such as our new e-book Getting Started with Systems Thinking: Tools for Organizational Change.

When you place your order, simply use Priority Code STLP04. Offer good through December 31, 2004. (This discount will not appear in your web shopping cart total, but will be reflected in the charge to your credit card.)
 



FROM THE FIELD
 Let's Talk America to Revitalize Democracy

PEGASUS CONFERENCE CORNER
Special Pre-Conference Sessions Add Value to Your Conference Participation

LEARNING LINKS
Unlocking Organizational Routines That Prevent Learning
 



FROM THE FIELD
Let's Talk America to Revitalize Democracy

This election year in the United States, much of the discussion in the media has centered on how polarized Americans seem to be. On political candidates, the war in Iraq, and social issues, the country is sharply divided, and in certain forums, the rhetoric between the two sides has reached a fevered pitch. In many quarters, intelligent and respectful dialogue has given way to the airing of opinions that never change.

To bridge this growing divide and bring people from across the political spectrum together for lively, open conversation about revitalizing democracy, groups including the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, the World Café, and the Utne Institute have launched an initiative called "Let's Talk America." Through its web site, www.letstalkamerica.org, the organization provides tools and resources for people to host, facilitate, and participate in meaningful conversations in cafes, bookstores, churches, and living rooms across the country. "Let's Talk America" also sends out periodic e-mails with updates on upcoming events and telephone trainings and what they call "Hip Pocket Questions"—questions that give you a way to let go of your opinions and explore a given topic with people holding differing views rather than engaging in heated debate.

To help keep the conversation going even after the elections are over, Pegasus is sponsoring a "Let's Talk America" event, "Collaborative Conversations to Reignite the Spirit of Democracy," on Wednesday, December 1, 8:00–9:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Corky Becker of the Public Conversations Project will facilitate the session, which is open to the public at no charge.

Learn more about "Let's Talk America" and contribute your voice and ears to an inclusive, nonpartisan, and respectful discussion about the future of democracy.

 



PEGASUS CONFERENCE CORNER
Special Pre-Conference Sessions Add Value to Your Conference Participation

 If you're attending this year's Pegasus Conference, you have a wonderful opportunity to customize and deepen your learning by including one-day pre-conference workshops in your conference schedule. For those who cannot attend the full conference, you can still participate in these intensive offerings, which are guaranteed to stimulate your thinking and give you new, practical skills. All sessions will be held on Tuesday, November 30 from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

"I have attended your systems thinking conferences in the past—in San Francisco and San Diego. The [post-]conference workshops I attended sit at the top of my 'richest learning experiences' list."
—Heather Irons, Head of Learning and Development, Digicel

Creating a Learning Culture
Ginny Wiley, Pegasus Communications, Inc.
 This hands-on session offers a provocative way to explore the language, concepts, and tools of systems thinking, mental models, team learning, personal mastery, and shared vision—as a framework for building a learning culture and catalyzing transformative change. Trainers: This is a great introduction on how to make this material come alive!

A Systemic Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility—Business Success and Social Benefit: One System, One Virtuous Cycle
Daniel Aronson and Paul Breaux, Four Profit, Inc.
 Find out how paying attention to your company's "environmental" and "social" bottom line can benefit its "financial" bottom line. Learn and use a framework and tools to help your organization go beyond "business as usual" to become a more socially responsible business.

Leading Strategic Conversations: A Key Business Imperative
David Isaacs, Clearing Communications
In this highly interactive session, learn and practice principles for leading strategic conversations, including the World Café process. Design approaches to bring these principles, practices, and processes to your "real-life" questions, challenges, and business initiatives.

Understanding the Dynamics of Strategy
Richard Karash, Karash Associates, Inc.
Considering strategy through the lens of system dynamics offers a powerful way to address performance over time of any organization. In this rigorous introduction to system dynamics, analyze the dynamics of the critical resources that determine performance.

Innovation and Teamwork Made Simple: Twice the Results in Half the Time
Greg Zlevor, Westwood International
In this experiential session, examine some of the latest leadership tools and methods in the areas of communication, authority, accountability, and success. Explore the importance of team diversity, and discover how to facilitate a group from a strengths-based model.

Register for any of these sessions now! Teams of 4 or more that register for any combination of sessions can take $125 off the price per person per session. Just call Carrie at 1-781-398-9700 to register your team.

And register by November 8 for the 2004 Pegasus Conference for $1295—a savings of $300 off the standard rate! "Building Collaborations to Change Our Organizations and the World: Systems Thinking in Action" will be held on December 1–3 at the Hyatt Regency, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Register on our web site, or call 1-800-272-0945.

Download the Final Conference Brochure

SPECIAL OFFER! Receive 10% off Pegasus products purchased on our web site, from the day you register until the conference starts on December 1, 2004. (This offer is not applicable to other conferences or newsletters and cannot be combined with other discounts.) The sooner you register, the sooner you'll start saving on your Pegasus purchases, so sign up today!
 



LEARNING LINKS
Unlocking Organizational Routines That Prevent Learning
by Robert Putnam

Why would a supervisor rearrange her staff's office space to "improve communication" without informing them first? Why would a plant manager support his company's downsizing plan instead of advising management of the plan's fundamental flaws? Organizational life is filled with such incongruities. In these situations, although their actions may seem illogical, the players are usually acting rationally from within their own perspectives. Unfortunately, because people's reasoning is not clear to others, observers make judgments that influence how they act. Over time, individuals become locked into patterns of behavior that are not in the best interest of the organization.

These patterns of behavior are known as "defensive routines." Defensive routines are habitual ways of interacting that protect us or others from threat or embarrassment, but also prevent us from learning. One reason these routines persist is that each player experiences them as an external force, imposed by the situation and by others. But these patterns can actually be changed only by the actors themselves, once they develop shared understanding of the interlocking dilemmas that lead them to act as they do.

Surfacing defensive routines is increasing important for several reasons:
• The pace of change in business today has put a premium on an organization's ability to learn.
• Organizations must be able to integrate an increasing diversity of perspectives.
• Organizations are being designed to rely more on lateral and less on hierarchical links.

To reduce defensive routines, members must recognize how they develop and are maintained. Once we understand how taken-for-granted patterns of behavior undermine organizational objectives, members may be able to act in new, more productive ways.

This article, adapted from The Systems Thinker Newsletter, appears in the Pegasus anthology, Reflections on Creating Learning Organizations. Take advantage of our special offer to get 60% OFF our print anthologies when you purchase all five.

Read the complete article, or see The Systems Thinker, V4N6 (August 1993)

Subscribe to The Systems Thinker

Explore additional resources by Bob Putnam

 



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