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FACE TO FACE
Learning Is Key to Bridging the Intergenerational Gap: An Interview with Mary Catherine Bateson

PEGASUS CONFERENCE CORNER
Special Team Offer to Maximize Your Conference Value

FACE TO FACE
Learning Is Key to Bridging the Intergenerational Gap: An Interview with Mary Catherine Bateson

Mary Catherine Bateson is a writer and cultural anthropologist who is currently focused on finding effective patterns of communication between the generations during this time of rapid social change. She has written and coauthored numerous articles and nine books, including Willing to Learn: Passages of Personal Discovery, Composing a Life, and With a Daughter's Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson.

We are thrilled that Mary Catherine will be sharing her research and work in a keynote presentation at the 2005 Pegasus Conference (learn more). In the following interview with Leverage Points editor Kali Saposnick, Mary Catherine discusses the promise of new thinking and new kinds of activism that can come out of intergenerational dialogue.

Leverage Points: How is your work on effective communication across the generational gap connected to the idea of "embracing interdependence"?

Mary Catherine Bateson: The relationship between generations is a relationship of interdependence. Children depend on their parents and other caring adults, and parents, as they age, depend on the love and support of their children, while seniors in general depend on those still in the workforce. We know the interdependence is there but we have not yet learned to use it fruitfully. What I tend to emphasize is a more essential part of that interdependence—that learning moves in two directions: children learn from their parents, and parents learn from their children, and we can act on that learning.

Recognizing this interdependent relationship is particularly critical in a society where there is rapid change and adults have to continue to learn throughout the life cycle. As you get older, you learn from people who are younger than you. For example, if you want to learn about online computer gaming, you probably want to ask a 13-year-old. But it isn't just that. Adults today learn ethical ideas from children. They may have grown up with some kind of bigotry, sexism, or prejudice against minority groups. Often it is children who ask their parents not to make jokes at the expense of these groups. Even more conspicuously, over the last 20 years, children have been learning about the environment at school and talking to their parents about it.

Read the complete interview

Learn more about the 2005 Pegasus Conference

PEGASUS CONFERENCE CORNER
15th Annual Pegasus Conference
Embracing Interdependence: Effective and Responsible Action in Our Organizations and the World
San Francisco, California, November 14–16, 2005

Special Team Offer to Maximize Your Conference Value

We are pleased to offer once again a special program (at no additional charge) to intact teams attending the conference. This unique learning opportunity builds on the conference content and experience, enabling your team to start applying new ideas even before you get back to the office.

• Beginning with an orientation session, teams are paired with coaches, who are senior business leaders and consultants, to establish your team's conference learning plan and post-conference goals.
• Then, throughout the event, you will reconvene as a group to check your progress, re-evaluate your learning plan, and share your learnings.
• Finally, at the end of the conference, you meet together and design a practical take-home plan for implementing your new skills and identifying next steps.

Teams who have participated in the past have raved about the opportunity to take the conceptual underpinnings of the conference and put them into practice immediately. Significant team discounts are available for groups of 4 or more. Call Vicky at 1-781-398-9700, or email info@pegasuscom.com for details!

Download a copy of the brochure for the 2005 Pegasus Conference. Find out about the exciting sessions and dynamic presenters, along with the many learning opportunities designed to build your skills and give you the inspiration to face the challenges that lie ahead.

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LEARNING LINKS
Operational Strategy Mapping: Learning and Executing at the Boeing Company
by Chris Soderquist and Mark Shimada

Although we usually refer to ourselves as "human beings," if we closely analyzed our behavior, we'd likely describe ourselves as "human doings." Often we leap into action without a lot of thought to what we'll do. But hastily implementing a strategy can make things worse, and "improving" a process may waste precious resources without bringing significant organizational benefit.

At Boeing, an R&D group recently faced the challenge of creating a leadership infrastructure to bridge the learning that happens in the workplace with more structured classroom learning. To do so in a strategic way, they created an Operational Strategy Map (OSM). The OSM framework synthesizes elements from three disciplines—system dynamics, skilled facilitation, and balanced scorecard—to create a process and product that can enhance organizational change efforts.

The team reaped several benefits from developing an OSM. They quickly learned about potential Advocates and Resisters for the new infrastructure and were able to redirect the energy behind criticism to enhance the product. They also developed a shared language that improved the quality of conversations and increased camaraderie.

The OSM methodology generates strategic insight and commitment to implementation. If your organization has been struggling to develop or execute its strategy, you will find building an OSM useful. It's a perfect tool to get everyone heading in the same direction so that when you come to a fork in the road, you'll be more likely to take the better path.

Read the complete article on which this summary is based, or see The Systems Thinker, Vol. 16, No. 1 (February 2005)

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