Pre-Conference Workshops

 

Sunday, November 12, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

PC01 Leading Systemic Change: Building the Future
from the Past and Present
$895 Register
David Peter Stroh, Bridgeway Partners; Michael Goodman, Innovation Associates Organizational Learning

We are most effective in leading systemic change when people have a shared understanding of the dynamics that have led them to where they are. The purpose of this workshop is to integrate the disciplines of systems thinking and change management, thereby enabling ourselves and others to achieve more sustainable results based on a clear appreciation of the past and present. Learn to help people think differently about the complexity that confronts them, take individual and collective responsibility for the changes they seek, and identify the few high-leverage changes that harness limited resources for maximum effectiveness.

David Peter Stroh is cofounder of Bridgeway Partners and was a founding partner of Innovation Associates. He is a pioneer in the field of organizational learning and a recognized leader in applying systems thinking to organizational change. David’s expertise lies in visionary planning, leadership development, systems thinking, organizational design, and change management. He is the author of numerous articles on the topics of systems thinking, conflict resolution, and sustainable development.

Michael Goodman is principal of Innovation Associates Organizational Learning. He is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and practitioner in the fields of systems thinking, organizational learning, and leadership. Michael’s work on consulting projects has included the design and delivery of training sessions, individual coaching, side-by-side work with internal resources, and the engagement of strategic leadership teams to understand complex problems and identify the leverage points critical to their resolution.

PC02 Conversational Leadership: An Essential Strategy for Innovative Action
$895 Register
David Isaacs, Clearing Communications and the World Café Community Foundation

Leaders around the globe are beginning to see conversation as an essential force for sharing knowledge, generating learning, and creating possibilities for innovative action. “Conversational leadership” stems from a leader’s conscious strategic choice to design, convene, and host conversations around his or her organization’s most important questions. In this highly interactive session, learn and practice World Café design principles for leading strategic conversations. In addition, use these techniques in our pre-conference learning community to explore how you will bring café principles, practices, and processes to the real-life challenges and initiatives in your professional setting.

David Isaacs is president of Clearing Communications, an organizational and communications strategy company working in the U.S. and abroad. He serves a thinking partner with senior business leaders, accompanying them in the process of applying World Café conversational principles to their strategic planning process. With partner Juanita Brown, David is co-author of The World Café: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter (Berrett-Koehler, 2005).

PC03 The U-Process: From Theory to Practice
$895 Register
LeAnne Grillo and Adam Kahane, Generon Consulting

Today’s most pressing challenges are characterized by high dynamic, generative, and social complexity. The U-Process helps organizations and multistakeholder groups address problems in a systemic, creative, and participative way by enabling them to deepen their understanding of the issue, innovate, develop the necessary leadership to move forward, and put new ideas into action. In this fast-paced, experiential session, practice the capacities needed to navigate the “U.” Build your toolkit as you move from sensing—developing an in-depth understanding of your system’s current reality; to presencing—allowing your innate wisdom to identify and bring a new reality into being; and finally to realizing—designing and testing alternative solutions that dramatically shift the system.

LeAnne Grillo wears multiple hats at Generon Consulting, from managing the gatherings involved in delivering a Change Lab to developing client relationships and coordinating consulting projects. She is actively involved in the Sustainable Food Lab project and other client engagements. Previously, she was vice president and conference director for Pegasus Communications. LeAnne has served as president of the New England Chapter of Meeting Professionals International and worked for the Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council.

Adam Kahane is a founding partner of Generon Consulting and of the Global Leadership Initiative. He is a designer and facilitator of processes through which business, government, and civil society leaders can solve their toughest problems. During the early 1990s, Adam was head of Social, Political, Economic, and Technological Scenarios for Royal Dutch/Shell in London. Adam is the author of Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities (Berrett-Koehler, 2004).