DFW Organization Development Network

Annual Networking/Social Meeting
and “Gold Elephant Book Exchange”

Note: For the first time in 3 years we are meeting in person! 
(Apologies to our loyal remote followers – we will be back on Zoom in January.)

Meeting Goals:
  – Connect: get to know one another better – personally & professionally
  – Learn: share knowledge informally during the book exchange
  – Enjoy: fellowship + creative responses (and humor) of the game

Please bring a gift-wrapped book that is meaningful to you — perhaps a book from your own library to ‘pay it forward’ or one from a second hand bookstore. Don’t spend a lot of money – it’s the thought that counts!

The game will be similar to a traditional white elephant gift exchange — each person in turn will unwrap a book or ‘steal’ one that someone else has already opened. Unlike ‘white elephants’ (which are often useless), the books are ‘gold elephants’ that will contain some unique nuggets of wisdom when opened (or stolen) by the right recipient! Discovering those golden nuggets will be part of the game as people talk about the books they give (and the ones they get)!

Handout/Procedure for the ‘Gold Elephant Book Exchange’

Presenter / Facilitator: Jim Jameson

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

Schedule for Thursday Evening:
–  6:30  Intros / Networking / Food
–  7:00  Announcements / Program
–  8:45  Closing and evaluation

Meeting Location:  

University of Dallas – SB Hall, Serafy Special Events Room *

    SB Hall:   2925 Gorman Dr,  Irving, TX 75062   
    SB Hall is #34 on the UD Campus Map      [Lat/Long Nav]  

Cost:   Suggested donation $10 for food.

Facilitator BIO:   

Jim Jameson is currently “semi-retired” from his various consulting roles and is exploring new avenues.  His professional mission has been to improve the success rate of technology adoption projects, working mainly in the areas of Business Analysis, Change Management, Collaboration, and Knowledge Management.  He believes that focusing on the people side of technology change is the key to improving ROI on transformational ‘IT solutions’.

Jim earned an MS degree in Information Systems and post-grad certificate in Knowledge Management, both from George Washington University in DC.

Planning for 2023 ODNet Programs    

This year our November annual planning meeting will again be virtual, but we will do more than just planning.  As knowledge workers the emerging reality is we are working in a hybrid world, and to “work hybrid” we need new tools, skills, and habits!

Today, at minimum, we must be familiar with virtual meeting tools such as Zoom, as well as virtual collaboration tools (such as Google Docs, Mural, and similar tools). To facilitate this innovative planning activity we will be using multiple virtual collaboration tools and processes to ensure that this planning meeting will be a learning experience as well!

We will do the official program planning at the ‘main event’ on November 10. That evening we will see and hear each other on Zoom and we will document our work on Mural.  But some of the most important work happens before the meeting, where we will asynchronously gather your suggestions in a shared brainstorming document.

We need your help to gather as many ideas as possible BEFORE the meeting.  Here is a link to the initial Idea Gathering / Brainstorming Document for 2023 — please begin adding your ideas and suggestions to this doc immediately!   What topics and/or speakers would you like to see?  (In this document you can also see the suggestions of others, which may offer synergies!)

Then, at the November 10 meeting, we will be working synchronously using Zoom and Mural — addressing the same task at the same time from different locations.  This will include discussing, categorizing, and voting on the 2023 proposals.

Call to Action: 

1. Make a reservation to join us at the November 10 meeting (if you can)!
2. Join us asynchronously to engage in idea generation – please suggest potential 2023 program topics for us to consider at the 11/10 meeting (using above link).
3. Join us at the November 10 meeting to help categorize, vote, and select the finalists!

We look forward to working with you on this virtual co-creation collaboration!  We hope you can join us on November 10 and/or before!

Main Facilitator:  Pete Sorenson  –   {see Bio below}

      
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

  
Schedule for Thursday Evening November 10:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

Facilitator BIO:   
     
Pete Sorenson will be our primary facilitator / moderator / convener / provocateur – but others will help!

Peter Jay Sorenson, CMC®  is an independent strategic organization design and change management consultant, coach, social entrepreneur, university instructor, and ethicist.  His professional focus is to collaborate on and discover and create the next generation of organization design technology that can match the speed of change and disruption in this volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, (VUCA) digitally fueled world. (And on developing the next generation of organization designers that will make this world work from a values, effectiveness, and efficiency points of view.)

Personally his focus has been on using innovation to create economic and social self-reliance for individuals, families, and organizations in both the developing and developed world.

OD Sound Bites (TEDx-style Talks!)      

At DFW OD Network we look for a variety of ways to share our knowledge and experience. Our October 13^th monthly meeting will feature one of our most popular annual sessions!

This year our meeting theme is Organizational Healing.  Our seven selected speakers will each deliver an engaging 10-minute TEDx-style talk on this theme based on their experiences and insights from the past few challenging years.

Our speakers and topics will include:

Alex Yaroslavsky, NCM, PCC — ConflictYES
    “Into the Fire: Mediation Stories of Conflict and Resolution”  

Audrey Wyatt, MBA — Leaders and Lifters, LLC
    “Prioritizing the Value of Care”  

Dustin Staiger, PMP — The People Brand
    “Moving Beyond Blame Culture” 

Ilona Posner, MS — UX Consultantcy
    “Keyhole Impact on Organizational Healing”  

Nancy Dixon, PhD — Common Knowledge.org
    “Speaking Up!”  

Nila Sinha, PhD — Sinha Solutions Inc.
    “Leading The Healing Effort”  

Robert Schaefer, PhD — Mindful Leadership, Inc.
    “Getting to Know about Flow: A Healing force for the Post-Pandemic Workplace”  

OD Network is a great place for internal and external practitioners to share ideas and get feedback.  Please join us on 10/13 to hear these multifaceted presentations and get to know our presenters! 

Moderator:  Nila Sinha, PhD – Founder & Principal, Sinha Solutions, Inc.     {see Bios below}

       
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

Schedule for Thursday Evening October 13:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

Speaker BIOs:      

Alex Yaroslavsky  is an executive coach, mediator, and trainer, working at the intersection of emotional intelligence and conflict resolution.  His supportive, empathic, and direct coaching style empowers clients to have important and powerful conversations – at work and in their personal lives. Alex has worked with clients in financial services, legal, technology, sports & media, higher education, and nonprofit fields. His clients include entrepreneurs, corporate and nonprofit leaders. In addition to his private practice, Alex teaches Conflict Resolution at Baruch College and trains new mediators and coaches.

Audrey Wyatt – As the founder of Leaders and Lifters, LLC, Audrey partners with leaders to build cultures of psychological safety, breakthrough performance, and innovation. The goal is to help teams navigate unprecedented problems with collective joy. Audrey has worked as both an Entrepreneur and an Intrapreneur including Corporate Controller at BizNet Software and Marketing Communications Manager at DB&A, a Management Consulting firm located in Dallas, Texas.  Liberating her heart and mind to dream and execute on all cylinders, Audrey is harnessing and leveraging her diverse experiences to help organizations build unstoppable cultures using the Inspired TeamsTM framework.

Dustin Staiger uncovers companies’ identities and equips them to leverage it for more of their best customers and employees. Branding and culture are two sides of the same coin. Most businesses are challenged to manage or even understand either of these enigmas. The People Brand reduces this confusion and complexity by focusing on the people who compose a brand and culture… the employees and customers. Dustin and The People Brand have consulted companies like BP, ConocoPhillips, and Align Technology (Invisalign). He has been a thought leader on workplace culture and its impact on creativity since 2004.

Ilona Posner is a UX Consultant, Coach, and Educator. Specializing in UX Research and Strategy, her experience ranges across many industries, from startups to large corporations. Ilona teaches UX Design at the University of Toronto in the departments of Computer Science, Engineering, Information Science, and Medicine. She develops custom UX courses for client organizations to facilitate communication across teams. Passionate about nurturing UX talent and communities, she has been volunteering with Toronto’s CHI chapter for over 15 years and organizing International Student Design Competitions at conferences. Ilona holds a Masters degree in Human-Computer Interaction.

Nancy Dixon is a long-time academic and consultant whose research and consulting is about helping organizations learn to conduct more authentic, insightful, and respectful conversations.  Before starting her own company in 2000, Common Knowledge Associates, she was a tenured professor and Department Chair of Administrative Sciences at the George Washington University, and before that a professor at the University of Texas. She is a thought leader in the field of Knowledge Management.  She has been a consultant to the most celebrated knowledge management companies with a rich experience in the corporate, government and international development sectors.

Nila Sinha is founder and principal of Sinha Solutions. Her focus is on high touch consulting from a scientist-practitioner perspective – Identifying core issues and maintaining a “solutions focus” with an emphasis on measuring outcomes that positively affect organizational results. Nila leverages 20 years of experience in talent selection and leadership development. Her areas of specialization include the construction of competency-based hiring and development programs, psychological assessment, test validation, and employee development. Over the course of her career, she worked with clients such as BNSF, Travelers Insurance, 7-Eleven, Comcast, and American Airlines. Nila completed her doctorate at Florida International University in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

Robert Schaefer is a renowned expert in the assessment and diagnostic debrief of ability-based Emotional Intelligence, individual and team conflict styles, Mindfulness and Flow experiences at work, and the impact of mood and emotions in the workplace. His 25 years of experience has helped many companies across multiple industries achieve their desired business results.  Robert’s experience in both the design and implementation facets of training management adds significant benefits to clients in the areas of needs analysis, job analysis, efficiency modeling, assessment-based selection systems, learning retention, statistical analysis, and capturing the return on investment (ROI) of the learning function.
       

Creating a Coaching Culture: 
A Case Study to Build Strong Leaders  

Objectives / Outcomes: 

• Gain access to a behind the scenes look at what an International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited program looks like inside of an organization
• Learn how to build a coaching culture, launch a coaching initiative, and measure success so you can offer coaching for impact
• Discover six must-have elements needed for a coaching culture based on ICF data

Are you curious what it really looks like to build, launch and measure a successful, impactful coaching culture? The International Coaching Federation of North Texas (ICF-NT) presents a case study that includes how their accredited coaching members worked with the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) to implement a coaching culture.

Susan Daniel, former ICF-NT Director of Alliances, and Staci Witten, the current ICF-NT President-Elect, will show you how ICF-NT and NTFB partnered to build a coaching culture, launch a coaching initiative, and measure success during the pandemic. In addition, they will present the roadmap and the six elements that lead to a successful coaching culture.

Please join us on September 8 as we explore this valuable insider view of a great alliance!

Speakers:    Susan Daniel and Staci Witten    {see Bios below} 

     
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

Schedule for Thursday Evening September 8:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

Speaker BIOs:  
     
Susan Daniel, MA, ACC, is an ICF credentialed Associate Certified Coach and talent development professional specializing in leadership and organizational development, experiential learning, and performance coaching. Susan’s professional experience includes various leadership and coaching roles with companies such as: Exeter Finance, Lennox International, GM Financial, and Walt Disney World Resort.

Susan is an internal coach who enables strategic communications and intentional collaboration among business leaders. She is responsible for identifying, developing, and implementing various leadership development strategies that impact organizational effectiveness while building rapport and credibility with diverse groups across the organization. She has served on the International Coach Federation North Texas Chapter Board in 2019-2021. She also served as the Chair of the North Texas Food Bank Steering Committee partnership.

Staci Witten, PCC empowers leaders by helping them discover and leverage their zone of genius so they can take that next step in their career or business.  She does this by applying her 20+ years in human resources and business ownership.  Staci has an authentic approach as she partners with clients on their journeys to become stronger leaders, make job transitions, take their careers  to the next level, and live more intentional lives.

Staci has worked in various industries including transportation, financial, hospitality, energy and others. Throughout her career, she has partnered with leaders in organizations such as BNSF Railway, North Dallas Bank & Trust, Dave & Buster’s and LHH. She is an International Coach Federation Professional Certified Coach and currently serves on the ICF North Texas Board as the President-Elect.

Navigating Our New World of Hybrid Work 
 Best practices for Organizations, Leaders, Employees   

Come join us for this highly interactive panel discussion with representatives from a variety of industries to understand:

1. The process their organizations have gone through over the past two years in exploring flex work/hybrid work options
2. The approaches they used to identify the best options to meet the needs of the organization and their employees
3. Their iterative solutioning and current approaches to hybrid work

The panel discussion will be moderated by Pallavi Ridout.  Our esteemed panelists are listed below.  Please come and gain some new insights, and/or contribute your own experiences to this important discussion!

Panel Moderator:    Pallavi Ridout   {see Bio below}

Panelists:
– Annika Hoy – https://www.linkedin.com/in/annika-hoy/ 
– Denise Mannix –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-mannix/ 
– Heather Tyrie – https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathertyrie/          
     
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

Schedule for Thursday Evening August 11:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

Moderator BIO:  
    
Pallavi Ridout is an Executive Coach, facilitator, Keynote speaker, and OD consultant.

Before the great resignation or the great reevaluation became a thing, Pallavi underwent her own great career and life re-evaluation.  Four years ago, she exited her highly successful career in Global Talent Management and committed to leading a life of no regrets. This led her to launch her own consulting practice called The ELM Advisory.

Now in addition to doing what she loves, which is helping others achieving personal excellence, she enjoys spending quality time with her family, going on adventures around the world, pursuing her passion for motivational speaking, and inspiring others.      

Conversational Leadership  
Emerging from OD, KM, & DEI  

OD has added complexity to its own practice over the decades. From diagnostic OD to dialogic OD to dynamic OD and beyond. Have you also noticed the similar fields of Knowledge Management (not Information Management) and Diversity Equity Inclusion have matured and added complexity to their own fields as well?

Enter Conversational Leadership!  The goal of Conversational Leadership is to integrate across OD, KM, DEI, and even Project Management. The 3 core questions of CL are:

• What is the conversation we need to have right now?
• In what way do we need to have the conversation?
• How is this conversation forming community?

Please join us on 7/14 as Donita and John introduce the CL framework and lead us through an interactive session.  We will experience Conversational Leadership and help guide its direction!

Speakers:    John Hovell and Donita Volkwijn
         
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

 
Schedule for Thursday Evening July 14:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

  
Speaker BIOs:  
  
Donita Volkwijn,  Sr. Director – Membership Engagement, Philanthropy New York

Donita is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion expert leveraging knowledge management tools and methodologies to ensure that access and information (and, as a result, power) are distributed fairly and equitably across organizations to drive engagement and performance.

Her tagline:  Standing on the shoulders of giants and unsung champions, helping to guide organizations, often kicking and screaming along the continuum of diversity, equity, and inclusion; with the end goal of achieving justice!

John Hovell,  Managing Director / co-founder, STRATactical International

John is a leader in the convergence of Knowledge Management (KM) and Organization Development (OD).  He is a practitioner, speaker, and author in OD/KM strategies and their application to current challenges and is on the team creating a new international discipline known as Conversational Leadership.

John serves on several advisory boards including the International Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Psychotherapy, International Knowledge Management Institute, Training Industry Quarterly, and Synergy Development and Training. John may be best known for his Conversational Leadership framework and the practice of “C-Groups”.

Leadership Value Proposition – 
Building Trust & Driving Engagement   
within Organizations   

What is the value that leaders bring to their organizations to drive employee trust and engagement?

As a leader it can be difficult to know what levers to pull to drive employee engagement. That’s where our conversation will start. Measuring the employee experience, culture, and engagement will provide evidenced based insight on what your workforce wants and needs.

Benchmarking your mission/vision/values/strategy can be also critical, and is often missed when implementing employee listening and feedback surveys. Analytics and segmentation analysis can really boost a leader’s ability to know exactly what to do and where to act.

But feedback is just half the battle. The real work comes on the backend in figuring out how to implement solutions based on the feedback from your employees.

Please join us on June 9 as Brandon and his esteemed panel talk about their experiences in measuring employee sentiment, culture, and engagement across different types of organizations. The panelists will share their experiences and best practices in leading HR and OD related initiatives that build a culture of trust and drive engagement.

Chair/Moderator:  
   Brandon Jordan – Founder/Principal, Workforce Lifecycle Analytics

Panelists:
    Christin Borden – HR Director, Crescent Energy
    Carole Chapple – VP of Global Talent Effectiveness, Ryan, LLC
    Heather Cobb – Senior HR Manager, MODE Global
    Leila Peeples – CHRO, Medstar Mobile Healthcare
         
     
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

 Schedule for Thursday Evening June 9:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

 Chair/Moderator BIO:  

Brandon Jordan – Founder/Principal, Workforce Lifecycle Analytics
BJordan@WorkforceLifecycle.com    https://workforcelifecycle.com/ 

Brandon is an expert regarding employee assessments and employee engagement measurement. He has worked for numerous fortune 1000 companies implementing enterprise-wide talent and organization development solutions.

Panelist BIOs:   

Christin Borden – HR Director of Human Resources, Crescent Energy

Christin is responsible for developing overall HR strategy and processes partnering with senior leaders at the parent and subcompany level to ensure HR strategic alignment.

Carole Chapple – VP of Global Talent Effectiveness, Ryan, LLC

Carol manages the global learning function and is responsible for defining the critical people strategies related to engagement, performance management, and succession planning.

Heather Cobb – Senior HR Manager, MODE Global

Heather partners with leaders to coach and develop them around various HR topics and employee relations issues.  She also leads the efforts in rolling out various programs that build engagement and talent management across MODE.

Leila Peeples – CHRO, Medstar Mobile Healthcare

Leila is an accomplished human resources executive with an extensive background in talent acquisition, employee benefits, policy creation, documentation, employee relations, organizational development and more.

The Power of OD —
Pioneers & Luminaries    

The Pepperdine University MSOD Alumni network has created a platform called “The Power of OD“, whose goal is to bring together like-minded agents of change who are passionate about transforming people, leaders, organizations, and communities. By offering compelling and freely shared content, they seek to mobilize dialogue and authentic connections that enable us to make an impactful difference in the world.

Our May 12 DFW OD Network session offers both a powerful introduction to the field of OD and a great overview of the diverse leadership that has helped OD thrive for the past 20 years. Whether you are new to the field or just need a fun refresher, the work of the Pepperdine Pioneers and Luminaries initiative will enhance your understanding of significant OD thought leadership, and also look to the future of OD.
         
Presenters:  Charlotte Law and Jeb Bates (Pepperdine MSOD Alumni)   
{See full BIOs below}      
     
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

Schedule for Thursday Evening May 12:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

PRESENTER BIOs:   
 
Charlotte Law is an experienced organization development consultant, international seminar leader, and professional coach.  She is the founder of High Impact Training & Coaching Systems, a Phoenix-based firm working with individuals and companies to achieve outstanding results. Her unique approach combines strategic planning, executive consulting, group learning focused on skill development and concept integration, and one-on-one support and accountability coaching of individual employees.

Jonathan ‘Jeb’ Bates is the founder of ThoughtAction LLC, a global talent optimization, executive development and team alignment firm based in Massachusetts. A graduate of the Pepperdine University MSOD program and ICF certified coach, Jeb consults with senior leaders in organizations to implement intentional people strategies that drive their business strategies. You can reach Jeb at jbates@thoughtaction.com.

For more information about the Pepperdine initiative see:    https://www.ThePowerofOD.org/about

The Path to Mastery Using the  
Foursquare Coaching Framework 

What distinguishes a master-level practitioner from those less competent? This subject has not been well researched in coaching; however, it has been a research topic in other helping disciplines such as counseling and psychology. From the results of that research Dr. Hicks will describe a developmental model that depicts reference points on the novice to mastery continuum.

While many experts talk about how to “do” coaching, they do not spell out the cognitive process that underlies the doing – something that master-level coaches have developed through either experience or education. Integrating his background as a clinical psychologist, an experienced executive coach with that of a research professor,

Dr. Hicks will present an overview of the Four-Square Coaching Framework as described in his book, The Process of Highly Effective Coaching. This framework was developed to provide a clear pathway for navigating the landscape of a coaching conversation with mastery. Please join us on April 14 for this very relevant discussion!
         
Facilitators:  Dr. Robert F. Hicks  {See full BIO below}      
   
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

 Schedule for Thursday Evening April 14:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

 FACILITATOR BIO:   Robert F. Hicks, Ph.D.
 
Dr. Hicks is a Clinical Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is the founding Executive Director of the Organizational Behavior, Coaching, and Consulting program at the Naveen Jindal School of Management.

Robert is a Licensed Psychologist with a background in both clinical and organizational psychology. He has over four decades of experience coaching executives of fortune 500 companies, executives and department chairs of various medical institutions, and teaching coaching methodology to leaders and practitioners. Dr. Hicks holds an appointment as a Faculty Associate in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Hicks has taken the lead in educating practitioners in coaching methodology to improve their professional effectiveness. He has written two books on the subject: Coaching as a Leadership Style: The art and science of coaching conversations for healthcare professionals (2014) and The Process of Highly Effective Coaching (2017) – both published by Routledge/Taylor Francis. He is currently writing a second edition of The Process of Highly Effective Coaching, to be published in 2023.

Organizational Storytelling:    
Reimagining the Why, How, & What    

Did you realize that everything you speak and do is part of your story? Are you aware of the impact that stories are having on you? Is it possible that entire cultures are a complex weaving of stories?

What stories are we telling right now? What stories are being heard and not heard right now? These are the kinds of questions that Dr. Johel Brown-Grant and John Hovell work with every day. They have designed an interactive session with us to discover our stories and work with them.

Dr. Brown-Grant will share the findings from his published book regarding the basic structures of a story. And of course, come prepared to share your stories – especially a story about the most impactful OD experience that you’ve had.

We invite you to join us on 3/10 to enjoy some stories about stories, and maybe share some of your own!
         
Facilitators:  John Hovell and Johel Brown-Grant  {See full BIOs below}      
   
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

 
Schedule for Thursday Evening March 10:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

 FACILITATOR BIOs:  
  
As a leader in the convergence of Knowledge Management (KM) and Organization Development (OD), John Hovell is the Managing Director and co-founder of STRATactical International. He is a practitioner, speaker, and author in OD/KM strategies and their application to current challenges. He is on the team creating a new international discipline known as Conversational Leadership.

John volunteers as the corporate lead for the award-winning annual ‘STEMmerday’ event where thousands of participants engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math related learning activities. John serves on several advisory boards including the International Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Psychotherapy, International Knowledge Management Institute, Training Industry Quarterly, and Synergy Development and Training. John may be best known for his Conversational Leadership framework and the practice of “C-Groups”.

Johel Brown-Grant, PhD, is a storytelling strategist and knowledge management practitioner with extensive experience in the practical application of storytelling to transfer critical knowledge in organizations. His practice-driven workshops, seminars and presentations focus on finding storytelling solutions for complex enterprise problems requiring a communication strategy.

In his most recent book, Knowledge Management and the Practice of Storytelling, he offers practical advice and guidance on the skills and competencies practitioners need to implement successful and sustainable storytelling initiatives.

Using Dialogue for Complex
Organizational Challenges   

This month we will focus on the multiple ways we talk with each other in organizations, e.g. conversation, monologue, dialogue, skilled discussion, etc.  We will try out these various ways to see how each serves our needs.

Dialogue is of greatest need when we are facing complexity (Snowden) or adaptive challenges (Heifetz). When we are in dialogue, members do not try to solve a problem, rather they work to understand the problem they are jointly facing. Dialogue is a necessary precursor to holding a skilled discussion where members decide on the action to take to solve the problem.

We invite you to join us on 2/10 to explore these methods and to share your perspectives!
         
Facilitator:  Nancy Dixon  {See full BIOs below}      
   
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

 Schedule for Thursday Evening February 10:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

 FACILITATOR BIO:  
 
Nancy M Dixon  is the CEO and Senior researcher at Common Knowledge Associates, a consulting and research company that uses dialogue as the agent of change for cultural transformation and conflict resolution.  She is the President  of the US Academy of Professional Dialogue where she conducts monthly interviews with leading theorist and practitioners of dialogue. She is also a faculty member of the Information and Knowledge Strategy (IKNS) program at Columbia University.

At Common Knowledge Associates we think of ourselves as a conveners. We don’t come with ready-made answers for what an organization needs. What we bring is the knowledge and processes for convening people, within an organization, in a way that lets them develop an understanding of what is needed and then building on that understanding to find a path forward. By drawing on the collective intelligence of an organization we are able to help them solve complex problems and achieve shifts that create sustained change.

Orchestrating Collisions:
Stimulating Dialog Across Hybrid Teams  

Hybrid work is our emerging reality as organizations vacillate between virtual, face-to-face, and new variations.  In this era how do we design & orchestrate ‘dialogic collisions’ – i.e. human interactions that facilitate meaningful discussions across groups?

A few things we know about people & organizations today: 

• COVID-19 continues to change the nature of work and the workplace
• Organizations are driven by the flow of information, in and across teams
• People use dialogue to engage in deliberations to get work done

Our Dialogic Deliberation on Thursday January 13 2022:

• We are living in a world of virtual, hybrid, & face-to-face interactions. What are the policy & practice implications of this new and evolving reality?
• How do we influence and nudge leaders & organizations towards defining and achieving their purposes & goals in this different work ecosystem?
• How do we facilitate dialogue across fragmented and rapidly changing organizations, and how can we stimulate serendipitous connections across these new silos?

We invite you to join us on 1/13 with your own questions, ideas, and perspectives!
         
Facilitator:  Pete Sorenson  {See full BIOs below}           [Coordinator:  Ben Dilla]
   
(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

 
Schedule for Thursday Evening January 13:  (CT)    
   –  6:45  Virtual setup and Networking
   –  7:00  Announcements / Intros  
   –  7:15  Program Begins Promptly    
   –  8:45  Closing and Wrap Up
   –  9:00  Program Ends

Zoom Link to Join Virtual Meeting will be sent to all who register.

 
FACILITATOR BIO:  
 
Peter Jay Sorenson, CMC®  is an independent strategic organization design and change management consultant, coach, social entrepreneur, university instructor, and ethicist.  His professional focus is to collaborate on and discover and create the next generation of organization design technology that can match the speed of change and disruption in this volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, (VUCA) digitally fueled world. (And on developing the next generation of organization designers that will make this world work from a values, effectiveness, and efficiency points of view.)

Personally his focus has been on using innovation to create economic and social self-reliance for individuals, families, and organizations in both the developing and developed world.