Teetering toward the big day

Today I read a brilliant harvest of a workshop in which a diverse group of people tackled the question of how they could move towards a 'Person Centred Culture'. As I scanned through the material, I found myself deeply inspired and connected with what came out. I will not try to paraphrase it but you can read the whole article here.

Over here in Seva Mandir we are engaged in the preparation of our 6th Comprehensive Plan. One important part of this is exploring our oragnisational culture. The discovery and dream phases of our Appreciative Inquiry have now pretty much reached completion. A small group of us will sit together next week and try to craft the 'provocative propositions' (statements about what the ideal organisation would be like based on what people have been surfacing). The plan is that when we get to the annual retreat (coming up in about 9 days - horribly close by!) we will present the major findings of our appreciative inquiry along with the provocative propositions.

These provocative propositions will then provide the basis for group discussions. The group discussions will have a set of guiding questions that aim to take the group from understanding what it (the provocative proposition) actually means (from diverse perspectives) to figuring out what concrete steps can be made at individual and organisational levels to make it real. After the group work, people will be able to take a break and reflect, go for a walk or chat with their colleagues... Then dinner and some relaxation.

The following morning the groups will present what they have come up with on each of the identified themes. And then we will see what we have got on our plate :) I am still not completely sure about how this is going to work and I have half a dozen naggling concerns to deal with. Is this all too pre-planned and do we need to build in more space for open topics (a la open space)? How will the little groups be facilitated and what preparation will be required for this? Will there be overall support for the process and what is coming out of it?

I realise that we can't do everything with the limited time we have... So more than anything, this is going to be about securing the optimal usage of our time - having contributions that lead us further in the right direction. And like I've mentioned before, this is my first time... ;)

Really taking it in...

As I think back to the block level gathering of the 23rd and 24th, I increasingly feel that, for all the imperfections that might have bothered me, the event was rather good. My withdrawal from the centre of the scene gave me a wonderful chance to reflect on the entire process - the dynamics that were at work, who was speaking and who wasn't - a microcosm of the organisation in its 'natural state'!

It made clearer than ever who thinks what, which people share similar perspecitives, what are the latent tensions, and what roles different people have taken on within the organisation - challengers, representatives, mediators, etc. Rather fascinating.

All this brings home the following point: self-organisation was at work during the meeting as people impromptu - i.e. without planning - adopted various roles which both surfaced, heightened, reduced and and resolved tensions as part of a process of creating meaning and order.

This allowed me to focus on the task of harvesting - which will be invaluable as I continue along with the process of supporting the organisation in creating an integral future for itself...

I also have to keep reminding myself that this process - the run up to the annual camp, the annual camp itself and the preparation of the 6th Comprehensive Plan document - is merely a fraction of the journey that Seva Mandir has embarked on. The energy and effort that is required now must not be mistaken for the whole journey... It's just the beginning!

It can be thought of as Journey 2 -(as per this white paper from the folk at Anecdote): the phase where the organisation collectively chalks out the plan of how it is going to get to wherever it wants to go. The first journey is that of planning the process of getting ready. The third journey is the 'actual' journey.

Key lessons that emerge from this paper on Journey 2 that I really want to focus on are the following:

"It is dangerous to take an old paradigm into a new land"

"In our work with clients on the second journey, we help clients work with the narrative material in terms of making sense and meaning of it as the basis for interpretation, envisioning and planning. These stories will help them clarify: (1) What is the whole story? What are we missing? (2) What will we need to be successful in our search? (3) What is likely to challenge us? What will be our response? (4) What is the story that we are telling ourselves about this venture?"

In order to do this, it is necessary to: "(1) gather stories of past successes [that can be drawn on] to aid them in this new journey; (2) create an iterative design for reaching the vision; (3) establish the necessary roles; (4) develop the key skills and resources that will be useful for this journey."

I would add one other point to this list (though I am by no means an expert): (5) enacting the new relationships that will be required to sustain the team over the course of the next (actual) journey. Which leads me to wonder about the extent to which the process going on here has focused enough on creating a coalition of change-makers within the organisation - that is to say, people from across levels who are committed to change... Is this process too decentralised? Is it not decentralised enough? How do we balance a vision where everyone is a champion of change with a reality where only a few people are? As I think about it now, it strikes me as a good topic for a stealth outcome mapping operation... so my next side task will be putting together an OM application for an orgainsational change model!

This blog, as you may have gathered, is for my internal journey.