Points of Contexture

Latitudes of Acceptance (Rejection, or Non-Committment)

Have you ever used or done something based on intuition, experience or what you think is just common sense, and then found out that someone had given that something a name, studied it, tested it, researched it - and you never knew until you were lucky and happened on an article about it or heard someone talking about it?

Well, that recently happened to me too, as a result of my recent pursuit of readings in Social Psychology (Here is a really good starting textbook if you are interested).

When we facilitated negotiations, established and led cross-functional project teams, designed and led workshops on strategy, scenario planning, innovation and alliances, we always thought about the different current beliefs, values and attitudes of each individual in the room, in the teams, at the table and in the organization - and perhaps most importantly, as designers and facilitators we had to consider our own as well.

We knew we had to consider in our design and facilitation how those different beliefs, values and attitudes could be “suspended” or put aside  in ways that enabled the negotiation to be successful, the team to function effectively and efficiently, an alliance created and launched adding value for all parties, or workshop participants ending the day(s) with work they could all accept and implement.

We didn’t have a name for it, but we knew we had to deal with it or all bets were off, especially when dealing with negotiations, scenario planning and strategic alliances!

And as I talked with my friend and collaborator Steve Barth over the past year, I realized there has to be deep implications here for Organizational Design.

Well, I have an email subscription to TED’s Edge Conversations and on August 22, 2014 I received a link to an Edge Conversation with Mathew D. Lieberman entitled “Latitudes of Acceptance” - and I finally had an understanding of the basis and name for the problem.

Thriving in the Age of Complexity - With no answers, only choices

You are hearing more and more that the current recession has bottomed out, that the economic crisis is easing as job losses slow and we are beginning to see confidence return to the marketplace.  This is good news indeed as we turn from survival and begin to look forward.

 Nevertheless, the global business environment is becoming more and more interconnected and complex.

The future will see new uncertainties, ambiguities and even more surprises.  Our world is acting as a complex system, and what we are now experiencing is just a taste of what will undoubtedly come.

A Reality(?) TV Show I Would Really Like to See!

Through my friend Steve Barth, I have become aware of and interested in the dynamics, sociology and psychology of on-line game environments, especially those of Second Life and World of Warcraft. I have attended two conference sessions now where Steve has compared the environment and design of these games to mainstream business software and IT environment designs (especially knowledge management systems). He has explored reasons why people who really don't like to use the latter spend hours in the former (another post on this later). Thinking about how most folks don't know about these games (or perhaps only heard of them in passing), much less visited them or played them, I began to wonder what a reality TV show based on one of these games (or something close) would look like - the more I thought about it the more I think the TV media folks (not to mention Hollywood) are missing a big opportunity here!

Beginnings

A new way of conversation...musing on the totality, sensing the whole as well as the parts...