Post-Conference Workshops

POST01 – Sustaining Excellence: The Hidden Challenges of Perfectionism
Thursday, November 20, 9:00–5:00; $795 through May 31 (a $100 savings)
Deb Ramsey and Phil Ramsey, Incite Learning

What can be bad about wanting to do our best? Unfortunately, in our organizations, the pursuit of excellence is often hijacked by perfectionism. Masquerading as a positive force, perfectionism makes high performance unsustainable and robs people of joy. It makes it difficult for people to share control and to be open to new learning experiences. Perfectionism is not only costly and time consuming, but it can divert resources and energy away from important matters. This workshop enables leaders to understand the dynamics of perfectionism and to recognize it at work in teams. Through a series of engaging, interactive activities, you will develop strategies for challenging the underlying assumptions that fuel perfectionism and learn how to encourage the healthy and sustainable pursuit of excellence.

In this workshop, you will:

• Use the tools of systems thinking to understand perfectionism as a dynamic process
• Learn to distinguish between perfectionism (a distorted set of assumptions about success and failure) and the healthy pursuit of excellence
• Practice structuring conversations so that they engage perfectionists and challenge them to work toward balancing performance, learning, and experience

Deb Ramsey is a director of Incite Learning, Ltd, in New Zealand. Her work brings together a deep interest in education, communication, and drama, which she uses in helping executives develop leadership presence. This workshop builds on Deb’s research into perfectionism. She has a master’s degree in education.

Phil Ramsey is a director of Incite Learning, Ltd., and teaches organizational learning at Massey University in New Zealand. His doctoral research examined the impact of organizational culture on learning. Phil trains school leaders in organizational learning concepts. He is author of several books including the Billibonk series, published by Pegasus, designed to teach systems thinking concepts to young readers and adults.

 

 

POST02– Facilitation Tools for Organizational Learning
Thursday/Friday, November 20–21, 9:00–5:00; $1195 through May 31 (a $200 savings)
Kristina Wile and Rebecca Niles Peretz, Systems Thinking Collaborative

In this entry-level workshop, explore ways to take some of the ideas from the conference back to your organization. You will learn several user-friendly techniques for facilitating systems thinking interventions and leading groups in thinking systemically. Participants will gain hands-on experience with a variety of facilitation tools, including hexagon mapping, system archetypes, and causal loop diagrams. Skillful conversation, options mapping, and scenario testing will also be introduced. Using these tools, participants can improve decision-making and enhance their ability to think strategically and innovate. Registration fee includes a facilitation kit.

In this workshop, you will:

• Practice several user-friendly tools for facilitating systems thinking interventions
• Participate in hands-on exercises in facilitation
• Build skills for leading groups in systemic thinking

Kristina Wile is a managing partner of the Systems Thinking Collaborative. She has been using systems thinking and related learning practices to help organizations understand highly complex issues for more than 10 years. Kris has a master’s degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and prior to that, worked as an electronics engineer.

Rebecca Niles Peretz is a senior consultant with the Systems Thinking Collaborative. Since 1995, Rebecca has been coaching teams in the use of systems thinking to understand complex issues ranging from teacher absenteeism to employee retention to new drug discovery to economic growth in Nigeria. Rebecca has a master’s degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.