In the past few weeks I’ve had the chance to work with a bunch of really great people. A lot of this work was focused on one of our assessments; the Team Management Profile (TMP). Some of the people I worked with had taken the assessment for a second time, after a number of years since their initial use. And some … Read More
More Interaction, More Change
Most current perspectives on the future of organizations will begin with comments on the accelerating pace of change. The consequential generation of ideas for dealing with these phenomena focuses on leadership, management, technology, character, relationship and just about any other topic of interest. I think it is very important to make sure we scratch hard at the surface of these ideas and … Read More
A Place of Wondrous Certainty
This week my colleague shared with the rest of our small team part of a transcript from a radio program she had heard over the weekend. The program talked about grade school Christmas concerts which at this time of year are in full force. Part of this transcript hit a chord: Childhood is another country. They do things differently there. … Read More
The Normalcy of Uniqueness
If you listen to pretty much any discussion on organizational challenges or read virtually any book on organizational change, leadership, management or whatever, somewhere it is bound to mention the ‘unprecedented’ pace of change, or the presence of challenges ‘never before encountered’ or some other term to describe how our specific time is unique in the experience of being in … Read More
Conversations in a Climate of Fear
What are the types of conversations that are the most valuable in organizations when a thread of fear seems to be wrapping itself around us and makes us feel like we don’t want to talk to anyone? It feels like many of us are in this position right now, a climate of fear permeates so many organizational settings, either hiding … Read More
Organizational Lessons – Midnight in Paris and the Tree of Life
Sometimes you don’t need to pay a brilliant OD person a bunch of money to get some really good insights into organizational life. Once in a while you can just go to the movies. For me, watching Midnight in Paris and The Tree of Life in the last month were great lessons in organizational development. As Gil (Owen Wilson) slips … Read More
Every Interaction Matters
Perhaps one of the most important things that the complexity sciences have taught us is that very small disturbances can, at times, create dramatic, significant and unforeseen changes. Perhaps an even more significant lesson that unfortunately doesn’t get nearly as much air time is that it is not predictable which small disturbances might create what kind of changes. The impact … Read More
The Complexity of Good Interactions
I had the opportunity and pleasure of spending last evening with a group of HR professionals in our city of London, Ontario. I had been asked to come and talk a little about our approach to understanding organizations and what we call our infinity interaction process. Other things were happening at this get together. There was celebration of the work … Read More
Endings and Beginnings – Being Present to Both
Back in August of 2010 I wrote the post Kids, Parents, Organizations, Models and Understanding It had to do with a conversation with my son, using our model of organizations, as he left for his last year as a hockey player in an elite amateur league here in Canada. While the message was mostly about ways of understanding organizations, let’s fast … Read More
Love Songs, Truth, Ideology, and Wonder
Hard to Concentrate by the Red Hot Chili Peppers – http://youtu.be/8jnRcM8Qf1A – is the best love song ever written. The lyrics are both beautiful and edgy, the music just makes you want to move and you just feel like you should just give this song to someone. WHAT! You have a different best love song ever written?!? Well, have you … Read More