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 A free e-newsletter spotlighting systemic thinking and innovations in leadership, management, and organizational development. Please forward to your colleagues. 
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FACE
TO FACE "Never let anyone call you slow." An Interview with Sandra Seagal and David Horne |
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PEGASUS
CONFERENCE UPDATE |
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LEARNING
LINKS Operationalizing Systems Thinking on One Page |
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FACE
TO FACE
In the following interview with Leverage Points editor Vicky Schubert, they reflect on over two decades of learning about Human Dynamics in people and share their thoughts on where they go from here.
SS: It began with what I’ve characterized as an “inspired experience.” In 1979, I was working as a psychotherapist with a nine-year-old girl who was having difficulty in school. In the middle of the interview I suddenly discerned three distinct frequencies in the child’s voice—which I didn't understand at the time, but later learned to associate with the three principles: mental, emotional, and physical. That was what launched my inquiry into this whole body of knowledge we now call Human Dynamics. We started working with two or three different schools in Los Angeles, and they loved the work. This attracted some publicity. The Los Angeles Times did an article in 1981. Then a business magazine interviewed me in 1983, after which I got a call from a vice president at Ford Motor Company. He said, “Why don’t you come out and do my management team?” And I remember distinctly saying, “Your what? Oh, no, I can’t do that, because I’m not from the business world; I’m a psychologist and educator.” And he said, “Well, I’m the business person, and these people are driving me crazy. If you can do anything with the people, I’ll take care of the business.” So, I went out, scared to death, with my own prejudices about business. These broke after five minutes with this man and his team. I stayed there three years. The experience opened up the business world to us and helped us to manage ourselves financially. LP: So, over time, the work moved into the business realm, which happened to be a handy way to fund your research and provide a large practice field with a large number of people. SS: Exactly. And it’s allowed us to bring the work into other cultures as well. We first went to Sweden at the invitation of a school principal. Teachers had to handle non-Swedish children who had come from war-torn countries, who had lost parents, who were speaking other languages—and they were climbing the walls. We gave the principal and teachers some tools to work with. It was about helping the children, with interpreters, to speak about their feelings, to help them adjust emotionally from the experience, to relax. The whole class changed. We’ve done Human Dynamics work in education in Singapore, Israel, the Netherlands, the United States, and Sweden. Right now, Sweden is where you’ll find best practices in education with Human Dynamics. The Singapore community of educators has sent six or seven learning groups to Sweden to look at schools there. So, we’ve established some precedents, and now our job is to bring it more broadly into the United States. LP: Talk a little bit about how Human Dynamics can make a difference in kids’ lives. DH: It’s invaluable information for parents to have about their children. We know that these different human systems are hardwired from the beginning of life and can be identified in infancy. And certainly as the child gets older and as more of their external behavior and processes of learning become apparent, it becomes increasingly easy to identify the dynamic and understand the child. It’s also invaluable information for teachers to have, because these different ways of being, with their different ways of learning and developing, are present in every classroom. Armed with this knowledge, parents and teachers can help children understand their own processes and how to take care of themselves. Read
the complete interview |
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PEGASUS
CONFERENCE CORNER Dawna
Markova:
Leveraging Our Strengths
The
2006 Pegasus Conference—Early Registration Rates |
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LEARNING
LINKS Imagine a team that is exhilarated from having “gone deep” into an issue by drawing causal loop diagrams, using computer simulations, or applying other systems thinking tools. They derive an important insight, exclaiming, “We’re finally going to get unstuck!” But as their satisfaction settles in, they begin to face the prospect of doing something with their new knowledge. This is the point where a strategic action map is particularly useful. A strategic action map is a tool that helps teams think through, articulate, and implement high-leverage action strategies. It not only specifies project tasks and tracks progress, but makes explicit the rationale underlying each activity. The process of creating the map together engenders high levels of synergy and alignment in a group. As a result, teams often find that they no longer need a deadline-driven tracking system; the work just gets done because all stakeholders have participated in the planning process. To create a map, a team answers questions related to each of 10 project elements:
Groups generally develop the diagram over the course of several meetings, refining it as thoughts percolate. They then share it with others to track progress, communicate action strategies, and induce further learning. Neither “too hard” nor “too soft,” this hybrid tool encourages insight for action—a way to operationalize systems thinking all on one page. Read the complete article with an example of a strategic action map, or see The Systems Thinker, V14N8 (October, 2003) Subscribe to The Systems Thinker |
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| Copyright 2006 Pegasus Communications. Leverage Points® can be freely forwarded by e-mail in its entirety. To obtain rights to distribute paper copies of, reproduce, or excerpt any part of Leverage Points, please contact permissions@pegasuscom.com. | |||||||||||||
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A
New Vision for an Interdependent Planet
Intergenerational
Alchemy: Turning Obligation into Mutual
Aspiration
Living
in Relationship:
Declaration
of Interdependence: Forging
a Sustainable Future Together
Sandra
Seagal, Ph.D.,
and David Horne, M.A., are
president and partner respectively of Human Dynamics International
and co-directors of the Human Dynamics Institute, a nonprofit organization
for scientific and educational research. They have been engaged
in the research and development of the field of Human Dynamics since
Sandra’s breakthrough investigation into personality dynamics
in 1979. With extensive backgrounds in education and psychotherapy,
they have brought a new understanding of human systems to thousands
of people through their book — Human Dynamics: A New
Framework for Understanding People and Realizing the Potential in
Our Organizations (published by Pegasus Communications) —
and through transformational training programs in hundreds of organizations
in over 25 cultures worldwide.
We are pleased to announce that Dawna Markova will be a featured
speaker at this year's conference. Dawna
is a renowned educator, researcher, organizational consultant, and
writer whose new book, The SMART Parenting Revolution,
spells out how parents and teachers can identify and build on children’s
strengths. Her focus on our most precious resource will be of value
to all of us who are interested in the classroom and workforce of
the future. Dawna will join Peter Senge and other keynote speakers
soon to be announced.
The
16th Annual Pegasus Conference will be held November 13–15,
2006, in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA (just outside of Boston).
We have selected the Westin Hotel in Waltham
for its intimacy and community-friendly atmosphere. This also means
that space will be limited. So, we encourage you to register as
soon as possible. Sign up by March 19 for only $1050. Also,
take advantage of a special subscription price for The Systems
Thinker® Newsletter—only $89 for a one-year subscription when
you register (regularly $109).