As discussed in Keeping Team Members Engaged in a Distributed Workplace: Initial Thoughts for Discussion, it is hard to stay current with everything, let alone be fully active in all of the networks in which we are members. It is a challenge to accomplish work demands while fulfilling personal responsibilities, not to mention trying to… Read more »
Tag: Collaboration
Transforming a City Once Divided- Reflections on the Fall of the Berlin Wall
This year on November 9, the people of Berlin celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A business trip to explore partnerships with German universities took me to Berlin one month before that anniversary to see what has been, and continues to be, an amazing transformation. What I saw taking place… Read more »
Effective Teams Begin with Trust
Dysfunctional teams can produce results, but not consistently and not over the long term. An effective team that produces results consistently requires many attributes, but they all must begin with trust. More than anything else, trust enables people to work together effectively. Stephen M. R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust, says this workplace… Read more »
Learning Across Boundaries – The ISSS-2014 Conference in Washington, D.C.
The 58th meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences was held George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Gerald Midgley president for this year, and his conference team, are to be commended for creating a great week of learning. The theme of the conference was “Learning Across Boundaries: Exploring the variety of systemic theory and practice.” That theme was reflected… Read more »
Strengthening Our Social Fabric
Recently I travelled to Finland for a conference which created an opportunity to travel around the Scandinavian countries. The country that left the strongest impression was Sweden. We took the ferry from Vassa Finland to Umea Sweden and as soon as we got on the ferry, I noticed something different in the way Swedish people… Read more »
Individuals and Human Systems: Searching for Knowledge Between the Disciplines
I walk in two worlds though neither is home. My work and education are based in and on human systems and psychology. I’m drawn to both for a sense and deeper understanding about when, how, and if people connect. The energy from groups has been a positive reinforcement for me that people co-create and deliver… Read more »
Teaching Family Business in Dubai
I have just finished teaching a course in family business in Dubai, a business oasis of 3 million people, a city-state with daringly designed high rises and bustling commerce on the Arabian Gulf. For four days, this open and eager group of 75 mostly middle-eastern young men and women engaged in vigorous exchange. Each of… Read more »
Cross-cultural Encounters: A Gateway to Transformative Learning
This month I travelled to Finland for a conference on Culture, Values, and Justice. An interesting group of scholars attended who were exploring the many aspects, interrelationships, and applications of ideas that comprise these three areas. To me, these three subjects and their interrelationships suggest three questions that define the nature of being human. Who… Read more »
Organizational Health Key to Innovation
Is risk encouraged or discouraged in your organization? What happens when someone makes a mistake? When I talk with a potential client with regard to his or her organization, these are questions I like to ask because they provide me with an indication of just how much of a learning organization it may or may… Read more »
Destructive Cycle/Generative Cycle
After going through a long destructive cycle in my life, where everything I counted on fell away, I have emerged into a generative period in which life energy has returned, and I am moving toward the world again. This period of disintegration changed everything for me. Keeping my seat as life’s fabric unraveled was hard,… Read more »