This article describes work I have been doing during the past year plus in Charleston, SC, the site of the horrific nine murders in Mother Emanuel AME Church. The work has been done with Police Chief Greg Mullen and colleagues Margaret Seidler and Chandra Irvin and the entire Charleston community. The purpose? To further improve …
Polarity Thinking
Increased rates of change are driving the need to respond to ever-more complex problems. More and more situations are emerging where factions take different positions seemingly at odds with one another. Nowhere is this more present than in the work of Whole System Transformation. This chapter describes an approh that can enhance all transformation work. Regardless …
You’ve got a tough choice. The performance feedback is in and the message is clear: you’ve been micromanaging your people. They complain about feeling suffocated by the systems and processes you’ve put in place to ensure consistent, quality work. It’s the one blemish on your otherwise positive annual review. You’re told it’s the only thing standing between you …
Imagine your organization has a unique opportunity. If you move fast, you can enter a new market before your competitors even knows it exists. You’re in a meeting exploring this challenge when a question is raised: “Should we focus more on centralizing or decentralizing to gain a foothold in this new market?” The “Either / …
I was on my way this past Sunday morning to pick up my weekly batch of donuts. Later in the day I made sure I stopped at the store on my way home from an In ‘n Out burger to get my potato chips and pint of ice cream. Call it my Sunday ritual. It’s …
Several years ago I was working with an organization that was taking on a major transformation effort. They were restructuring the business, changing how people worked, and shifting the culture to one of “open communications.” Information had been power in this business so at face value, these goals made good sense. I was meeting with …
Wouldn’t it be great if you could eliminate forever those energy-draining, blood pressure-raising lose-lose debates in your organization? Sound like a tall order? Not if you follow the teachings of my long-time friends and colleagues, Barry Johnson and Chandra Irviv. They were in town the past two days teaching a Consultant Development Intensive on Polarity …