Dear Harrison, Rich in-box indeed! A few thoughts come to mind. The CEO feels so strongly about what he wants and is afraid won't happen. What is he really worried about? He may be closing down the space for any participation or initiative from his 100. I assume that whatever the organization needs is within the organization but they may be shut out After meeting with the CEO I always meet with a good representation of people from across the organization - have them begin to get their perspective, hopes, stories, dreams, frustrations, worries out. What does it have to be for them to want to be there in the future? It's useful in deciding what the real focus needs to be and how open the space is at the moment or could be in a program. Assuming there is something(s) in the system that is/will block the organization from being what they all want it to be, then there is also something that keeps the system from changing. Folks down the line or on the periphery almost always know what that is. Ask them.
Looking forward to what happens next. Gail
My Inbox is a rich source of adventure. This little note from a CEO for example: "XXX Inc. has a highly skilled team of ~100 people doing great work and we are also attempting to manage a company that differentiates ourselves by maintaining a unique company culture. We want to define, defend, and enable these values to be who we are, what we do, and how we behave as a collective organization. Building trust and allowing diversity, debate, and protest to flourish in an organization of high achievers is a difficult thing. I'm searching for ways to provide openness, healthy dialog, and a supportive atmosphere for these stellar people to deliver all they are capable of (collectively) to improve the lives of thousands of people living with cancer. Basically I'm looking for techniques, methods, tools, and or simple ways to create an open environment of trust within a growing organization. My Dilemma: How to create a communication environment that's open, listens, hears, understands, and is responsive? I am looking for practical executable methods to model these value behaviors within a for profit business enterprise. I want to work for a cause and I want those that join the company to be equally as committed to a similar standard. As companies grow and become successful it can be easy to become complacent or to compromise on these values. I'm looking for ways to help prevent organizational entropy, human dysfunctional politics, divisiveness, unhealthy behaviors, and the like within the work environment at all levels of the company. This value system requires a lot from management team and the organization, as well as asking a lot from our employees. But I believe that building on such a foundation and supporting our human capital in such a way we will ensure our success as a transformational company." We are going to have lunch and chat. I have some thoughts - and will surely benefit from your reflections. Share? Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
-- Gail West, ICA 3F, No. 12, Lane 5, Tien Mou West Road Taipei 111 Taiwan Phone: (8862) 2871-3150, Fax: (8862) 2871-2870 * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
