Pre-Conference Workshops

PRE01 – Applied Systems Thinking to Facilitate Change
Sunday, November 16, 9:00–5:00; $895
Michael Goodman, Innovation Associates Organizational Learning; David Stroh, Bridgeway Partners

The purpose of this workshop is to make explicit and explore the connections between systems thinking and change. Participants will be introduced to a proven framework for applying systems thinking and have hands-on opportunity to apply the framework. In addition, you will learn a multi-stage process for engaging diverse stakeholders in developing a shared understanding of their interdependencies and for increasing people’s willingness to act from a system-wide perspective. Actual case examples will come from David and Michael’s recent work in the public and social sectors (e.g., ending homelessness and facilitating reentry of released prisoners into society) as well as the private sector (e.g., dealing with time-to-market pressure and building an organization’s internal systems thinking capacity).

In this workshop, you will:

• Learn to help people think differently about the complexity that confronts them
• Practice systems thinking skills specifically designed to strengthen people’s motivations and abilities to collaborate across organizational boundaries
• Apply some of the specific tools and approaches the presenters have used in change processes that have led to real and lasting results

Michael Goodman is a principal with Innovation Associates Organizational Learning. He is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and practitioner in the fields of systems thinking, organizational learning, and leadership, and has helped create many of the innovations in the field of systems thinking that has made it more accessible to business leaders. Michael has degrees from M.I.T. and Purdue.

David Peter Stroh is a principal with Bridgeway Partners and co-founder of Innovation Associates, the pioneering consulting firm in the area of organization learning. He has 30 years of experience consulting to companies, public sector organizations, and non-profits on six continents and is a leading thinker and practitioner in applying systems thinking to change management. David holds degrees from M.I.T. and the University of Michigan.

 

 

PRE02– Embodied Presence: What it Takes to Make a True Move
Sunday, November 16, 9:00–5:00; $895
Arawana Hayashi, Presencing Institute

“True moves” are genuine, creative, beneficial, and powerful actions that come from being in the present moment and sensing the emerging future. They involve an intelligence that goes beyond simply downloading from past experience. Based on artistic practice and meditation, Embodied Presence is a user-friendly method for individuals and groups to access embodied knowing as the source of innovative action. By being fully present in our own bodies, we can confidently engage and communicate with the collective body of our organizations, communities, and global context.

In this workshop, you are invited to:

• Change the place from which you perceive in order to develop fresh ways of perceiving
• Bring a sense of spaciousness into everyday work situations
• Trust “not knowing” as a space of innovation and creativity
• Cultivate a powerful and confident presence
• Deeply and accurately sense the energy, direction, and wisdom of groups
• Recognize limiting mental models and then build the capacity to move toward sensing the present and presencing an emerging future
• Gain trust in the simplicity and power of the present moment

Arawana Hayashi’s work as a choreographer, performer, and educator is deeply sourced in improvisation, collaboration, and the ancient Japanese court dance, bugaku. She directed the Jo Ha Kyu Performance Group in Cambridge, MA until 2000. Arawana currently teaches meditation and movement in programs with Otto Scharmer and the Presencing Institute in Cambridge, MA; at the Shambhala Institute for Authentic Leadership in Nova Scotia; and the Naropa University Authentic Leadership program in Boulder, CO.

 

 

PRE03– The Change Lab: Putting the U-Process Into Practice
Sunday, November 16, 9:00–5:00; $895
LeAnne Grillo and Adam Kahane, Generon Reos LLC

Today’s most pressing challenges are characterized by high dynamic, generative, and social complexity. The “Change Lab,” an advanced problem-solving approach based on the U-Process, helps organizations and multistakeholder groups address complex issues in a systemic, creative, and participatory way. In this fast-paced, experiential session, you will take part in a “mini-lab,” in which you will practice the capacities needed to navigate the “U,” individually and collectively. Build your toolkit as you move from sensing—developing an in-depth understanding of a system’s current reality; to presencing— connecting to your innate capacity for innovation; and finally to realizing—designing and testing alternative solutions that can dramatically shift the system.

LeAnne Grillo wears multiple hats at Generon Reos, 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 partner in Generon Reos and is a leading designer and facilitator of processes through which business, government, and civil society leaders can work together to solve their most complex challenges. He is the author of Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities. During the early 1990s, Adam was head of Social, Political, Economic, and Technological Scenarios for Royal Dutch/Shell. He also facilitated the Mont Fleur Scenario Project, in which a diverse group of South Africans worked together to effect the transition to democracy.