- Home
- Programs
- 2024 Conference
- Past Conferences
- 2012 Conference
- 2012 Annual Conference Session Descriptions
Engage with one another, develop knowledge and skills, share expertise, and contribute to our community.
| Conference Home |
Register Now! Early Bird Ends 3/31 |
Sponsorship Opportunities |
Conference Schedule |
Session Descriptions |
Presenter Biographies |
Click the links below to view the sessions details:
Keynote Speaker | 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Break Out Session 1 | 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Luncheon Speaker | 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM
Break Out Session 2 | 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Break Out Session 3 | 2:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Break Out Session 4 | 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM
Reception | 5:30-6:30
Keynote Speaker
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
| The Secrets of the Octopus: Learning from Nature How to be Adaptable Dr. Rafe Sagarin Businesses face the same fundamental problem as all living organisms on Earth: they need to figure out how to survive and thrive in a world that is full of risk and almost completely unpredictable. Yet unlike the business world, nature has a 3.5 billion year record of dealing with this problem, with millions of success stories to show for it. Remarkably, all these organisms have survived and thrived over this immense span without planning, without trying to predict the future, and without striving for perfection. They’ve pulled off this feat simply by being adaptable. Being adaptable means having the capacity to solve problems wherever and whenever they arise. Learning from the Octopus is about diving into nature’s lessons on how to be adaptable in a hostile and unpredictable world. From the intricacies of our immune system to the tentacles of an octopus, biological evolution has created a massive and almost completely untapped database of proven strategies for becoming more adaptable in organization, learning, managing uncertainty, and creating effective partnerships... This talk on "Learning from the Octopus" is an eye and mind-opener that goes boldly into waters where no previous executive seminar or managerial book has dared to tread. With a real marine biologist as your guide, you will see how organisms with no ability to plan ahead and no goal of being perfect have learned to thrive under the most difficult conditions and why their lessons apply to the struggle your organization faces. Instead of just talking about “being more adaptable” you’ll actually learn how to do it. In addition to illuminating natural adaptability from viruses to octopuses to ecosystems, Sagarin will use stories of adaptable businesses, first responders and soldiers to demonstrate that almost any individual and any organization can vastly improve the effectiveness of their responses to a changing world. This seminar will give you the tools to be able to identify woefully unadaptable practices around you and the ability to seize new opportunities to become more adaptable. |
Break Out Session 1
10:15 AM - 11:30 AM
|
Put the "Bounce" Back Into your Life: Skills to Identify and Increase Your Personal Resilience Christi Fath and Angela Stevens In the rapidly changing work environment and with economic uncertainty, individuals are under increasing amounts of stress, which impact their ability to respond instead of react. Because of the busy pace, it is increasingly difficult for people to be aware of what is happening in their own physiology moment to moment. This session is targeted toward individuals who feel that the demand from their environment is interfering with their ability to be present in the moment and resilient. During this session, participants will practice skills to increase self-awareness and understand the impact of this awareness on their ability to stay coherent, clear, and resilient. They will identify how their personal stress patterns impact their ability to respond and will be guided through exercises to increase their personal energy level and coherence. With increased coherence, it is easier to respond proactively instead of react. Participants will leave with an increased awareness of how to come back into center and tap into their own deep potential. Their more coherent and resilient presence will be the pebble in the pond where their centered energy can ripple out from themselves, to their peers, and to their organization. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Global Mindset: The Essential Attributes to Build Resilience and Competence in Global Leaders Barrie Zucal, MS Leading a diverse global organization is a demanding, complex, and challenging endeavor. The challenges can be physically, emotionally and spiritually draining. Leaders who are not prepared with the attributes of a global mindset are likely to misunderstand people and cultures that are unfamiliar to them, to be highly reactive to the differences between diverse people, and unable to influence others in the organizational system to achieve organizational objectives. Thunderbird University has developed research, theory, and practices for leaders to develop a global mindset using The Global Mindset Inventory to assess their intellectual, psychological, and social capital. Their research shows that leaders who have a well-developed global mindset will experience less frustration, be more influential, have the potential to thrive doing business globally, and develop their leadership potential in the process. Using discussion, case study, role play and a mini lecturette, participants in this workshop will learn the predictable challenges of global leaders. They will learn how developing a global mindset can provide a foundation for resilience rather than reaction and build global leadership competence. Participants will leave with a plan to develop one aspect of global mindset in their work or personal life. One lucky participant will win an opportunity to take The Global Mindset Inventory, receive a feedback session, and create a development plan, a $1,150.00 value. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Revealing the System to Itself: a New Resource for Becoming More Resilient and “Response-able” Carole Napolitano In living systems -- organizational teams, departments, divisions -- properties of the whole provide powerful places to look for information about what is trying to happen in the system and to open up creativity about what will serve the system in becoming more resilient in the face of challenges, set-backs, and uncertainty. This session will introduce participants to a ground-breaking approach that holds the system as the focus of attention for coaching and that represents an integration of the work of numerous thought leaders including John Gottman, Arnold and Amy Mindell, Burt Hellinger, Margaret Wheatley, David Cooperrider, and Daniel Goleman. Through demonstrations of specific systems coaching tools, participants will learn ways to reveal the system to itself so that it can access the wisdom available in the "3rd entity" of the system itself. Consistent with strengths-based approaches and recent discoveries in positive psychology, instead of trying to isolate “Who’s doing what to whom?” systems coaching engages the team in bringing to awareness hidden factors present in the system that provide clues about how to move forward. In so doing the system gains the capability to self-regulate, to create its own solutions – to become more resilient and more “response-able.” Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Baldrige & OD: The Head and Heart of Organizational Excellence Dona Witten The Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence Award is the premier national quality standard for organizational excellence. It is a proven business model associated with resilient, long-term organizations working at their highest levels of effectiveness. Baldrige winners typically significantly outperform other organizations in their industry sectors. Achievement in each of the seven Baldrige categories – leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, workforce focus, measurement, organizational effectiveness, and results – all require actualizing the full potential of the organization and its workforce. This actualization can be accelerated and enhanced by the contributions of OD professionals. This presentation presents a model for integrating these two traditions into a powerful alliance centered on the achievement of the full potential of the organization and its members. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
Luncheon Speaker
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM
| Resistance and Resilience: How “The List” Can Help Your Clients Get to Where They Want to be….and Stay There. Rick Maurer Often, leaders (and their consultants) fail to appreciate the immense importance resistance to change can have on the success of big projects. They may understand support versus resistance intellectually, they miss seeing that deep and prolonged resistance saps resilience out of individuals and organizations. Many leaders do know what it takes to motivate and engage people. And yet, something gets in the way. I found that many of these same leaders act quite differently once they see – and feel – what change looks like through the eyes of the stakeholders. I developed a tool to help my clients quickly see what support and resistance they can expect – and where just lack of resilience may hinder progress. The tool couldn’t be simpler. Everything appears on a single sheet of paper, but its impact is often profound. I refer to the tool as “the list”. I have seen clients shift course dramatically based on what appeared on the list. This simple but robust tool is easy to apply and doesn’t cost anything. I’d like to teach it to you. Rick Maurer is author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance, Why Don’t You Want What I Want?, and advisor to leaders on ways to build support for change and avoid resistance. Clients include Lockheed Martin, UMass Medical School, Sandia Labs, and he serves on the faculty of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. His opinion has been sought by The Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly news, CNBC, Fortune, and the Economist. |
Break Out Session 2
1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
|
The Soul of Resilience: Building Capacity for Courage and Renewal Mary Elizabeth Lynch What are the deeper roots of resilience? How can we move from the traditional sense of resilience as “the ability to persist in the face of challenges and to bounce back from adversity” to a new kind of resilience – “transformative resilience” – that emphasizes the capacity to respond to adversity in such a way that one becomes more courageous, stronger, wiser, and more capable? Tapping these deeper roots – what might even be called the qualities of soul within each person – allows us to make resilience a matter of renewal, development, and expanded well-being. We become something more and better than we were before the adversity. We have not just bounced “back” but bounced to a “new place in ourselves.” In this workshop we will explore tools from transformational psychology that provide us with skills for this expanded kind of resilience:
|
|
Foresight and Resilience: Facing the Future, Prepared John Mahaffie and Katherine Green What a leader believes about the future decides the success, or failure, of their organization. So why don’t organizations pay explicit, specific attention to the future? One reason is because today’s crises keep leaders focused on the present. A second is because leaders rarely share their future assumptions. A third is because they don’t know how. This learning session will introduce attendees to the power of foresight with a look at case studies and showcasing tools they can use immediately in their organizations to get over those hurdles. What does foresight do?
Futurist John Mahaffie joins with leadership and organizational development expert Katherine Y. Green to show how foresight can build strength and resilience in your organization. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Higher Consciousness Organizations: A New Framework for Organizations in the New Millennium Linda Ferguson In the shifting global environment, old patterns and paradigms of organizing are crumbling. A new paradigm focused on interdependence, synergy, and collaboration is needed to build stronger organizations and social institutions. As Gen Y’s enter the workforce in large numbers, virtual teams work across continents and time zones, and leaders rely more on coaching than solo-heroic practices, new forms of organizing are needed. Higher Consciousness Organizations (HCOs) that embody 21st century values and vision provide an alternative to the Industrial Revolution era bureaucratic form of organizations. HCOs embody such values to engage, inspire and sustain employees through turbulence and changes. HCOs build resiliency and unleash human potential based on social contracts, team synergy, and interdependence among participants. In this workshop, participants will be able to review qualities of HCOs, discuss the pro’s and con’s of them, and share stories of their experience working in such places. Participants will evaluate their own or client organizations to determine which qualities of bureaucratic organizations vs. HCOs are prevalent. This interactive workshop will provide ideas for creating HCOs for high performance and sustained success. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Moving on Up: Building a Better and More Resilient Organization at the United States Mint Sande Lehrer and Martha Watson Want to develop a plan on how to recharge your organization? Need to discover innovative ways to increase employee commitment and engagement? This session provides a real-life case study describing how the United States Mint made a remarkable and significant one-year improvement in its Best Places to Work Ranking (2nd best ever in the history of the rankings). In this presentation, participants will be introduced to the novel strategies and processes used to improve practices, systems and culture at the United States Mint. Themes around resilient leadership, organizational culture, employee engagement, and communication will be shared. Attendees will learn new approaches for harnessing the passion and energy of their employees, and gain practical tips for how to implement these methods when returning to work. Participants will get an opportunity to discuss the culture of their own organization and identify key factors and tactics for building a corporate culture that maximizes human potential, leading to greater employee satisfaction and productivity. Session attendees will leave with real-world tools for helping their organization develop resiliency and become an employer of choice. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
Break Out Session 3
2:30 PM - 3:45 PM
|
Mindfulness & Improvisation: Ways to Develop Greater Resilience Linda Spink, Graeme Frelick and Laura Guyer-Miller Resilience - is not magic -- neither found only in certain people nor a gift from unknown sources. Rather, resilience is a combination of aptitudes, skills and social processes that help us recover readily from adversity and continue to thrive. All humans have the capacity to become more resilient. We assert that resilience can be developed through attending to five Resilience Responses: 1) optimistically accepting reality; 2) building confidence to solve problems; 3) establishing positive connections with others; 4) using a sense of humor - playful curiosity; 5) becoming agile in responding to "what is" - embracing ambiguity and improvising. In this session participants will engage in the experiential activities aimed at growing the resilience response. Specifically, we'll use intentional mindfulness techniques to cultivate the optimistic acceptance of reality while slowing the tendency to react negatively in challenging circumstances. To enhance the fifth Resilience Response, we'll generate creative solutions to new challenges through improvisational techniques; these exercises are geared to increase agility in responding to "what is", being both innovative in the moment and expansive in our ability to productively respond. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing - Building Team Resilience Through Conflict Katherine Coles and Katie McAllister As OD practitioners, do we intentionally use the storming phase as an opportunity to strengthen client teams? “Storming” is a normal and critical part of team development. Our leaders often try to squash it, ignore, or speed through it. These responses reduce team resilience, leaving a gaping hole in team development. Teams that are unprepared for conflict withhold information, form coalitions, stifle innovation, and engage in internal warfare. Even if mediated, wounds inflicted during the conflict can fester and infect the team. How can we help our clients leverage “storming” to enhance or increase team performance? Preparation is the cure. Helping team members prepare for conflict will increase their resilience, accelerate healing, and create a safe, collaborative, and committed working environment. Using the Becoming Conflict Competent model from the Center for Conflict Dynamics as a foundation, this workshop will give participants the tools to prepare for and engage in conflict that will build trust, increase safety, and improve results. Using small group discussion, individual experiences, and kinesthetic techniques, participants will explore their relationship with conflict and walk away with immediately applicable skillsets to build their own conflict competence and help teams take the same journey. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Finding Your Feet in Turbulent Times: Building Resilient Teams and Team Leaders Michael Ciszewski and Michael Randel Resilience is the ability to respond in a constructive way to unexpected disruptions, positive or negative, and the accompanying ambiguity. We can increase our resilience by acknowledging that change is a normal, regular part of existence, and by adopting principles and frameworks that increase our capabilities to flourish in the face of these disruptions. Much of the literature on teams and team development assumes a clean start right from the beginning of a project or process. More typically, circumstances conspire to put us in a place that is less than ideal. Priorities compete and shift. People enter and exit the team. Distractions abound and turbulence increases. Drawing on decades of experience with groups from around the world, we will share a framework and stories about what it takes to create the conditions for resilient work teams. And we will engage in conversation to explore what it takes to be successful in the ever-turbulent conditions of the real world. Participants will come away with proven and practical strategies for building and strengthening resilience in their teams. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Resiliency Through Leveraging Polarity Cliff Kayser and Brian Emerson Thriving in today’s world requires us to see and engage with issues in new and unique ways. This session examines how our ability to be resilientundefinedas individuals, leaders, and organizationsundefinedrelies heavily on how we make meaning of our reality, and introduces participants to a robust model for understanding and taking action from a place of strength and resilience. The world is filled with “issues.” There are solvable problems, and there are ongoing and unsolvable situations rooted in interdependent value pairs, or “polarities” such as Continuity AND Change, Decentralization AND Centralization, Business Focus AND Environment Focus. When leaders, organizations, and individuals are able to make sense of, and work effectively with the energy in polarities, they create resilience by leveraging the generative and sustainable high-performance that’s inherent to all interdependent pairs. Distinguishing solvable “either/or” problems from unsolvable, but leverage-able “both/and” polarities is critical to establishing resilience and thriving in today’s complex and changing environment. Cliff Kayser and Brian Emerson take you through an experiential process using Polarity Thinking and the Polarity Mapping process to “See, Map, and Tap” polarities in real time. See why leaders, teams, and organizations that leverage polarities outperform those that don’t! Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
Break Out Session 4
4:00 PM - 5:15 PM
|
Endurance: What it Takes to Keep the Change Lawrence Polsky Our 2011 research indicates that 82% of people in organizations are involved in 3 or more changes at a time! It also shows that there is no end in sight – economically, politically and otherwise. How can employees and organizations succeed in such an environment? We have found that it comes down to Endurance: a set of attitudes and skills that enables people to thrive in a never ending pressured environment. This highly interactive session will enable you to learn the secrets to endurance and how to foster them in yourself and others in your organization. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Working in the Moment Working in the Moment teaches team members and organizational leaders how to apply the best practices of improv comedy to day-to-day business life. Participants arm themselves with a style of thinking, listening, and working that is spontaneous, results-oriented, and inspired. Transform reactivity into adaptability, resistance into resilience, anxiety to energy, and crisis into creativity - all while having a ball. You’ll be laughing while advancing your business goals. What could be better?
|
|
Coaching Excellence in Organizations: A Generative Approach to Thriving Amidst Uncertainty Bob Dunham In our lightning-paced business climate, constant change and uncertainty define the norm. On the road to success, leaders and organizations can either drive innovation or become road-kill. Drawing from core distinctions of Generative Leadership and Coaching Excellence in Organizations, explore how you can help leaders and their teams facing “the unknown” avoid contraction; manage overwhelm; remain open, engaged, and connected to possibilities; learn from their experiences; and explore, design and innovate; allowing them to thrive amidst uncertainty. Learn to identify the observable, executable, and learnable skills and behaviors required for proactively responding to crisis and challenges, including adaptation, exploration, and learning in the face of chaos. Help your clients correlate fundamental leadership capabilities of managing overwhelm, adaptation, exploration, design, and innovation to business impact. Robert Dunham developed these skills and practices in world-class leaders and their organizations over the past three decades. First as a Vice President at Motorola Computer Systems and later as executive coach and presenter for the Institute for Generative Leadership (www.generativeleadership.co) and Newfield Network (www.newfieldnetwork.com), Robert’s proven methods for dealing with uncertain and shifting situations – “the messes” – have helped leaders and coaches navigate through chaos to produce unprecedented adaptations, innovations, and positive outcomes in organizations. Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
|
Fast and Flexible: The US Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives Paradigm for Resilience Scott Loomis and Eleanor Bedford The international development community has increasingly looked for effective ways to address complex transitional environments overseas that can be characterized by sudden and disruptive political, economic, and social turbulence. The Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) was created within the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop and implement fast and flexible interventions to help countries stabilize and move through a transitional phase to a more stable environment where long-term development can take effect. This session offers OTI as a primary case of a resilient organization that operates in complex and often dangerous situations where its primary mission is to help stabilize the situation by finding and building on community resiliencies,. The presenters will offer a framework for a resilient organization, describe how OTI reflects the framework’s elements, and illustrate how OTI manages to balance between the requirements of performance from the larger organization (USAID) while maintaining its adaptability. Participants will then be invited to apply the resilience framework to their own organization or one with which they have worked Learning Objectives – as a result of this session participants will be able to:
|
Reception
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM