Finding ways to develop and support collaborative action in your organization

Ten Thousand Villages: Working with Haitian artisans – past, present & future!

Ten Thousand Villages is the oldest and largest Fair Trade organization in North America.

Through a network of 50 stores in Canada and 150 stores in the United States, Ten Thousand Villages sells artisan-crafted personal accessories, home décor and gift items, from around the globe.

Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans, otherwise unemployed or underemployed, and provides them with sustainable income through Fair Trade. This income helps pay for food, education, health care and housing.  Thousands of volunteers work with Ten Thousand Villages, in their home communities.

Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit program of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the relief and development agency of Mennonite churches in North America.

Ten Thousand Villages and Haiti

Since 1972, Ten Thousand Villages has exported crafts from individual Haitian artisans, co-operatives, groups and family businesses.

I live close to a Ten Thousand Villages store, here in Victoria, and often make purchases (mostly Fair Trade coffee) at that store.  Recently, I chatted with Maria Lyons, store manager, about the situation in Haiti, and how people can help.  Maria told me the best way to help artisans right now is to sell their products.  Maria says “Ten Thousand Villages is also in the Philippines, and when the typhoon struck the Philippines (this fall), our artisans told us the best way to help them was to place more orders and to sell more product, which ensures future work.”

So, to advocate for Haitian artisans and North American consumerism, I put together this short 3 minute video. Supplementing Maria’s guided tour of Haitian products, sold in her/my local Ten Thousand Villages store, are a few photos of Haitian artisans, along with some music of the region. (photos & music courtesy Ten Thousand Villages) If you can’t see the video,  click here.

The importance of long-term relationships

When disaster struck Haiti three weeks ago, Ten Thousand Villages was quick to respond; working through the Mennonite Central Committee, $100k was raised, with a further $1million to be committed, over the next few years, for Haitian relief.

The quick response reflected the relationship between Ten Thousand Villages and Haitian artisans, a relationship dating back almost four decades.

Four times a year, Ten Thousand Villages purchases artisan goods from the Comite Artisanal Haitien, a non-profit marketing cooperative in Haiti, representing more than 800 Haitain artisans, in 170 different workshops.  In the past, the money earned by these artisans is not just supplemental income, it is often the sole source of support for the artisans, and their families.  And now? Well, you can imagine the need!

In this video clip, Maria talks about upporting Haiti after the media leaves, the value of long-term relationships and sustainable practices… (if you can’t see this video, click here)

Know and do more?

Want to know more about the link between sustainability and Fair Trade or just plain Fair Trade?  Check out my post about Level Ground Trading: Linking sustainability to long-term relationships.  It includes a summary of Fair Trade practice, along with the relevant links.

Want to support Haitian artisans?  Purchase some fairly traded Haitian artwork from Ten Thousand Villages store.  Your purchase ensures future orders of Haitian artisan product will be made (artisans are paid up-front, in full, for their goods), giving the artisans the incentive, and future income, they’ll need, going forward.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Thanks, Ben.

West Coast Wave Collaboration Project: An innovative cross-sector partnership

I live on an island (Vancouver Island) surrounded by ocean.  Oceans make up over 70% of the Earth’s surface.  Our proximity to this abundant resource is obvious.  The energy-giving capacity of that resource is less clear. To better understand what that capacity is, the West Coast Wave Collaboration Project (WCWCP) kicked-off in June 2009.  This project has been in the news recently and I wanted to learn more.  So, I visited with Brad Buckham, mechanical engineer, instructor in the University of Victoria – Institute for Integrated Energy Systems, and lead investigator on the project.

This two-year project, co-funded by the Government of Canada, will use wind, wave and tidal data collected from a single fixed buoy, located offshore near Ucluelet, on Vancouver Island’s west coast.

“The WCWCP will develop modeling expertise, advance the development of wave energy projects in BC, and provide critical information to wave energy device developers. Data-gathering and model development during the project will assist planning and project developers in the wave energy industry, channel wave energy research at universities, and help guide policy and program development by government and regulators.”

The partners and their contributions to the project

This project demonstrates how people and organizations can work together, to collaborate, to address big challenges – e.g., our collective needs for renewable energy.

Here’s a list of the project partners and their key areas of contribution:

Natural Resources Canada (federal government)	Funds and Support
University of Victoria	Technical management, modelling expertise, instrumentation, insurance, storage, overhead
BC Hydro (utility)	Financial support
Fred Olsen Marine Renewables (private developer)	Contribution of permitted site for use during program and funds towards operations
AXYS Technologies (monitoring device provider)	Technical, operations, custom buoy, deployment services, materials
Natural Power (consultant)	Permitting, operational/deployment support, stakeholder engagement, modelling
Triton Consultants (consultant)	Funding, In-house software, technical and supervisory services
District of Ucluelet (local municipality)	Harbour Master and Public Works support; closest major land community
Ucluth Development Corporation & Ucluelet First Nation (First Nations)	Buoy monitoring by fisherman, logo, artwork,  website posting
Black Rock Resort (tourism)	IT, communications, onsite support

This type of collaborative doesn’t happen over night.  A number of the partners already had relationships with each other, through their involvement in the Ocean Renewable Energy Group (OREG) – an organization that “aligns industry, academia and government to ensure that Canada is a leader in providing ocean energy solutions to a world market.”

University of Victoria’s role

The University of Victoria plays a coordinating role in the WCWCP.  In addition to securing federal government funding, the University is also uniquely positioned in other ways.  In this short 2-minute video clip, Brad Buckham touches on some of those ways:  (click here if you can’t see the video)

In summary, involvement of the University is important because it:

• Is a relatively neutral partner, well positioned to mediate stakeholder interests
• Offers promise of future leverage; e.g., with any follow-on project/work opportunities
• Contributes young, energetic, inventive minds to the project, who also represent potential, post-project, intellectual capital that might be available (e.g., employment) to the community
• Is willing to do some of the “dirty, time consuming” work; this helps keep up the project momentum
• Delivers good documentation/research work = publicity opportunity for partners involved

What makes WCWCP an innovative collaboration?

Consistent with innovation best practices I surveyed (e.g., see my post 39 Insights into the makeup of innovative teams: From the 2009 IdeaConnection interviews), the WCWCP is innovative because of its’:

• Membership; diverse team, sectors, expertise, contributions
• Structure: partner autonomy within the boundaries of a University/ federal agreement; diverse membership within a relatively small, action-oriented core team
• Motivation; each partner bringing their gifts to the project; individual and collective learning
• Thinking;
  • address the big question (what are the waves actually doing?)
  • broad-bandwidth (fitting a little peg – WCWCP – into the bigger picture of national and international data banks)
  • integrate with, add to, existing building blocks (using freeware, where possible, to maximize accessibility)
  • long-term growth and sustainability
  • reduce the gap (between knowledge of seas and capacity to innovate…)
  • a sense of urgency (to move the file forward);
  • Involve local communities (municipal, business, First Nations)
  • Continuous public outreach and engagement (related to WCWCP)
• Funding; project funding (<200k, direct & InKind) is low compared with the degree of collaboration between the partners (high); less $ = more collaboration?!

Find out more

To learn more about the WCWCP, its’ genesis, objectives, cool maps and photos related to the project… click here to see a PDF of a presentation made about the WCWCP, at the OREG Victoria Symposium, October 19, 2009.

Question for the reader

What aspect of this project speaks most, to you, about collaboration and/or innovation?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Thanks, Ben.



Be a better mediator: 5 jazz learning techniques worth investing in

Jazz is America’s music.  It roots are in America.   Two things I always liked about jazz.  One; the swing rhythm, identifiable in the music of Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and many others, always gave me a high.  Two; jazz has long been associated with social justice. That sold it for me!

Earlier in my adult life, I worked hard trying to better myself through jazz.  I never got to be much of a player; too impatient, and never fully mastered the fundamentals.  Yet, I learned something from my jazz experience, and now I’m seeing opportunities to adapt those experiences, in my work as a mediator.

Jazz has its’ traditions. Here’s 5 ways people have traditionally learnt the craft of jazz playing, and how they can be adapted to the mediation world (or other facilitative roles):

1. Respect the family tree

Today’s jazz evolved from earlier traditions; from slaves singing work songs in the fields, to the New Orleans of Louis Armstrong, through the swing and bebop eras of big bands and Charlie Parker, and up to today’s many variants.  (see it all chronicled in Ken Burns’ amazing PBS documentary series/DVD, Jazz).  The legacy of jazz is acknowledged and appreciated, in conversation, and practice.

Mediator training: Appreciate and learn the roots of mediation as a craft.   Viewing and discussing the Mediate.com video library should be required of any mediation training program.  Make experiential learning of the different mediation styles a foundational training component.

2. Transcribe recordings

Listening and transcribing musical performances to memory and/or paper, and replicating on your own instrument, is a time honoured jazz tradition, demanding listening, patience, and perseverance.

Mediator training: In the age of social media, there is many opportunities to record (e.g., video, podcast) mediation in ways that improve the learning experience, and lead to insight.  John Gottman became an international expert on human relationships through his longitudinal, nuanced, audio/video analysis of married couples.  Why can’t mediators leverage today’s tools to transcribe, analyze real-life mediations? (assuming any confidentiality concerns can be addressed)  What about becoming your own Chief Listening Officer.

3. Learn in all 12 keys

Jazz practitioners learn songs and musical structures in all 12 keys, as a way to gain familiarity with their chosen instrument, and to fully internalize the music.

Mediator training: Learn all the mediation styles; transformational, healing (e.g., victim and offender), problem solving (most common)…   Get exposed to spectrum of mediation; in-person, through online channels, attending workshops, master classes, conferences, reading books…  Then, adapt and internalize that which makes sense to you.

4. Learn patterns

A basic jazz improvisatory skill is learning musical patterns, and judiciously applying those patterns in your playing.  The Blues were the foundation.  Swing, behop, post-bop, contemporary… followed.  Musical patterns carry over.  Learning the patterns expands the contexts in which one can participate and perform.  In a similar vein, snippets of songs, musical “quotes”, are fodder for the improviser.

Mediator training: Knowledge banks, question banks, rules of thumb, and other best practices can serve as repositories of patterns, of what works in a mediation.  Identifying, recording, and applying patterns, to the appropriate mediation context, is a skill worth developing, individually and collectively.

5. Take a chance

Improvisation is a learned skill.  In traditional jazz, becoming a good improviser involves first getting the fundamentals (melodies, rhythms, scales, harmonies, structures…) internalized, and then “letting go”, risking, and creating something new, comforted in the knowledge that the aim of learning is to integrate thinking and doing, that it’s safe to fail, and structure + creativity = innovation.  Jazz is very much an experiential craft, learning by doing.

Mediator training: Mediation is more art than science (in my humble opinion). There has been a lot of good work done in teaching creativity and improvisatory skills to mediators (as I wrote in Yes, and…).  Yet, recent books I’ve read, authored by artists in business, such as Orchestrating Collaboration at Work or The Collaborative Habit, or after discovering the diverse ways teams and leaders can be innovative (documented in my posts  here and here), I know we’ve only scratched the surface potential of mediator creativity training and risk taking.

What’s your experience and insight?

Which of these jazz-type techniques were you exposed to in your mediation training?  If you’re a trainer now, which of these techniques do you use?  Other thoughts on all this?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Thanks, Ben.

photo credit: erinc salor

A framework for values-based Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

What would a values-based Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework look like, in an organization?

Recently I listened in on a conversation between 3 well-known mediators/bloggers, Amanda Bucklow, Tammy Lenski, and Diane Levin on the topic of values-based fees in the mediation and ADR world.  I’ve also being part of some recent conversations in my local Values-Based Business Network, an association developing and promoting a sustainable business culture.

All this got me thinking about the values I encourage in organizations, related to dispute resolution.

ADR vs. ADR

ADR stands for Appropriate Dispute Resolution.  It is also used as an acronym for Alternative Dispute Resolution.  The “alternative” part refers to alternatives to the court (e.g., litigation and adjudication by a government-appointed judge) as a way to resolve disputes.  In some ways I prefer the “alternative” definition – because it focuses on out-of-court options.  In other ways, I prefer the “appropriate” because alternatives are tomorrow’s status quo, and referring to them as “alternative” only delays the inevitable.

ADR Framework

Here’s the basic ADR framework I have in mind for an organization:

Basic ADR options would include:

• Self-assess; a party assesses and remediates their dispute, themselves
• Direct negotiations; parties communicate directly with each, towards resolving their dispute
• Facilitated negotiation; a neutral 3^rd party (e.g., mediator) assists conflicted parties to confer with the goal of resolving differences between them, in a manner that leaves the outcome in the hands of the parties.
• 3^rd Party rules; a neutral 3^rd party (e.g., arbitrator) listens to conflicted parties and makes a decision regarding issues of dispute between them
• Crowd wisdom; a jury (e.g., eBay Community Court), consisting of qualified members of the business community in which the dispute relates, listens to conflicted parties and make a decision regarding issues of dispute between them

Generally; self-assess, direct negotiations, and facilitated negotiations options offer more (for the parties) control over the process, are less formal, more interest-based, lower cost, more confidential, voluntary, and allow for decisions to be made by the parties themselves.

The framework would be established, and run, either face-to-face and/or online.

The Values

Here’s my starting line for values, and that would drive how the ADR framework is deployed:

• Resolve the dispute using the appropriate dispute resolution method
• Work to resolving disputes without the assistance of a 3^rd party
• Work to minimize 3^rd party intervention in the dispute (if 3^rd party is required)
• Look to assign “learning agents” for the parties in dispute; agents who assist disputants with self-assessment (thinking of my previous post)
• Seek to involve disputants in the ADR process as much as possible, including the process design
• Strive to include an educational component in all disputes; teach disputants how to fish; i.e., learn about ADR, and apply it to their world(s)
• Do no harm; disputants should be no worse off for having participated in the ADR process
• Undertake all ADR-related activities in a spirit of collaboration and innovation (structure + creativity).

And I hope that the Chief Mediation Officer will approve of all this!

Weigh in…

Your turn…  What do you think of this framework and values?  Where does your compass point on values-based ADR?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Thanks, Ben.

Rakunks, Hybrid Jobs, Learning Agents, and other speculations on the future

Just finished reading Margaret Atwood’s new book The Year of the Flood, what Atwood describes as “speculative fiction”.  She is one of my favourite writers, a Booker Prize winner, and still writing incredible stories at the age of 70!

Most of the Flood story takes place in the dystopic near future, in which there aren’t too many humans, or  flora and fauna for that matter, excepting some disturbing genetic animal splices like the rakunk (raccoon/skunk) and the liobamb (lion/lamb, drawing on biblical references). The corporations have taken over, and life is “total crap”.  A small religious group calling themselves God’s Gardeners grow their own food in secret gardens on rooftops, and warn that a Waterless Flood (pandemic) is coming. Guess what?   They’re right.

All a bit depressing, yet Atwood writes with such passion, insight, and yes, humour, that the reader feels drawn in, to ponder their own future.  Before getting into those ponderings, here’s an excellent short (7 minutes) PBS video interview, that nicely profiles Atwood, her wit, and the Flood.  The interviewer is Jeffrey Brown, and takes place in Atwood’s home in Toronto.

If you can’t see the video, or to read the interview transcript, click here.

Future roles in the organization?

Inspired by the rakunk and other genetically engineered marvels, I’ve dreamed up a few roles that I think would well serve the future organization; one that values systems thinking, collaborative communities, and a more positive future (than the Flood):

• Indigenator; An indigenous person; a senior executive whose responsibility is to embed ancient wisdom in the organization
• Bioteller; biological storyteller; someone whose role is tap into, and communicate, the organization’s health, from a systems (i.e., organization as a living system) perspective
• Arts Resource Manager; someone whose performance is measured by the extent that the arts (e.g., music, literature, theatre…) are resourced and embedded into organizational culture
• Social Netha; standing for Social Network Health Advisor; these people ensure employee’s are functioning to their social/emotional capacities
• SCA; a Sustainable Community Auditor (certified of course!); this position pays homage to Wendell Berry’s  17 Rules for a Sustainable Community; I envision each employee, as a condition of their employment, making regular, positive, contributions to the broader community

Learning Agents

And who will help us learn those future jobs?  The KnowledgeWorks Foundation, in Ohio, in partnership with the Institute of the Future in Palo Alto, speculate who in their 2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning.

In their Forecast, they see creation emerging as a powerful force. “Creators will transform many sectors of the world – the body, organizations, institutions, society, the economy and knowledge. The forecast envisions a world where bottom-up, collaborative, innovative capabilities give us the means to re-create nearly everything.”

And helping with our task to create are Learning Agents; examples of which are:

• Learning fitness instructors. They will help learners build and strengthen the basic cognitive, emotional, and social abilities essential to learning, using simulations, biofeedback, and hands-on activities to reduce stress, hone mental capabilities, and learn brain-friendly nutrition.
• Community intelligence cartographers. They will tap the collective intelligence of their local communities. They will leverage social networking strategies to develop swarms and smart mobs in order to identify emerging learning opportunities in the community, organize community members, and locate community resources.

I like the fitness instructor one because it sounds like it could get kind of interesting!  And, as for the community cartographer, a couple of years ago, I participated in a mapping of my own neighbourhood, found it rewarding on many fronts (not the least of which is getting to know your neighbours better), and highly recommend the exercise to others.

Other Agent roles envisioned are: personal education advisor, education sousveor, social capital platform developer, learning partner, learning journey mentor, and assessment designer.

I wonder if Learning Agents is what Seth Godin had in mind when he posted this?

More crosses, hybrids, splices…?

What hybrids do you see on the horizon; of cultures, of species, work-related…?  Have some fun.  I’d love to hear your speculations.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Thanks, Ben.

Heritage wheat movement “godmother” advocates for communities that connect people, plant, and place

Sharon Rempel advocates for a world that honors cultural traditions, diversity, and abundance, gained through collaboration and caring for each other.   She is systems thinker, and wonderful community builder, in ways that acknowledge the historic relationship between people, plant, and place.

Sharon is the “visionary godmother” of today’s Red Fife heritage wheat movement in Canada, founder of Canada’s Seedy Saturday community seed movement, held Canada’s first Bread and Wheat Festival in Victoria in 2007, and currently, is President of The Garden Institute of B.C. Her interest and expertise in wheat has taken her around the world.

I’ve known Sharon for several years, first as a co-music maker at a local Celtic jam session we both attended, and then as someone committed to community building.

Introducing (again!) Red Fife wheat

The wheat was named after David Fife and family, and introduced into Canada, in 1842, from the Ukraine, via Scotland.  It was widely popular, and distributed among farmers, throughout the 19^th century.  Red Fife is considered a ‘landrace’, meaning there is genetic variability in the wheat, allowing it to adapt to a diversity of growing conditions, and an ideal companion to those settling new lands.

In the 20^th century, the strength of these landraces, their diversity and adaptability, took a back seat to modern wheat varieties (developed from the older landrace/heritage varieties). These modern varieties were usually patented, hybridized, and dependent on chemicals to produce high yields.  They were also registered on government-endorsed lists. In the context of export-focused markets, the older landraces, with their natural variability, were considered of lesser “value”, and often illegal to sell through the main regulatory channels.

From the early 1900s until 1988, Red Fife seed survived only in a few plant breeder collections, and the Canadian Gene Bank.  In 1988, Sharon obtained one pound of red fife from the Gene Bank, began growing and promoting Red Fife wheat, to where its’ re-introduction into the Canadian landscape has taken on the quality of a movement.

Phil Vernon, a Salt Spring Island based community activist, artist and musician, wrote and recorded a great song about Red Fife wheat on his new CD Kitale Road.

The connection to people and place

For Sharon, Red Fife signifies a lost tradition; a tradition exemplified on the  Canadian Prairies, of the natural tendency for people to work together and help each other. When people settled the prairies, each town included a grain elevator where people pooled their grain.  They built cooperatives, and welcomed cultural diversity, in potlucks, dances, and music.  They were tight-knit communities, who learned, survived, and prospered, by working and playing together. Through these practices, Canada developed a strong social fabric of education and medical care.  (Canadian public medicine got its’ start in the Canadian prairies, under Tommy Douglas).

Building communities

And so, Sharon builds on the ancient wisdoms, of an understanding of the relationship between people, plant and place, to develop new communities.  Her contributions include:

• Heritage Wheat Project – a building global (internet) community that shares stories, seeds and a vision of a new type of “agri-Culture” system (check out seedmap.org for a global mapping perspective on agri-biodiversity)
  
• Seedy Saturday / Sunday (started in 1989 in Vancouver) – where people can come together and share their seeds and stories about the seed varieties.  Now spread to communities across Canada and elsewhere, eg UK
• Bread and Wheat Festival – Canada’s first, 2007, Victoria – red fife, music, artisan breads, talks, food, community – very successful (I was there – it was fantastic – I hope there will be another, soon!)

Demeter’s Wheats

I recently read Sharon’s 2008 book, Demeter’s Wheats, a book about “growing local food and community with traditional wisdom and heritage wheat”.

I gained many insights on reading her book; including: “the hand that holds the seed controls the food supply” (local farmers or anonymous corporations?), buying local does not = buying organic, and imagining time as a spiral (opening up the possibility that answers to the future may be somewhere behind us!).

Her book communicates how Red Fife takes on new significance today; whether: as a social marketing phenomenon, as a cause for farmer identity, adding value to the work of chefs across the country, as a tipping point to connecting us with our past…

This book is a great resource for anyone interested in heritage wheat, why diversity is important, ancient wisdom, and the need to break bread together!

And in your community?

More and more, people want to be part of communities that think and act with systems in mind.  Heritage wheat, 100-mile diets, cultural celebrations, neighbourhood gatherings… are all expressions, in some way or another, of our desire to be connected.  What about your community?  How is your community celebrating the historic connection between people, plant and place?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Thanks, Ben.

Leading innovation – More insights from the 2009 IdeaConnection interviews

A couple of weeks back, I posted 39 Insights into the makeup of innovative teams: From the 2009 IdeaConnection interviews.  The insights I extracted after reading approximately 50 interviews, with leading innovation authors, on IdeaConnection, a company that connects business to creative and innovative people, from around the world.  The majority of the interviews were conducted by Vern Burkhardt, a most capable interviewer, and nicely accent the interviewee’s core beliefs, ideas and experiences; and the tight bond between collaboration and innovation.

Here’s some of the many insights (culled from interviews) that give a snapshot of innovative leadership.  Most of the points (below) are in addition to those mentioned in the earlier post about innovative teams.  I’ve added the actual author’s name (in brackets), in case you want to read the related interview on the IdeaConnection website.

Background

• Experience; leadership depends more on life experiences than personality types or specific skills (Frohman)

Thinking that enhances innovation

• E-intelligence; of course, the “e” stands for emotional (many)
• T-shaped; vertical + horizontal = more attachment points (Kelley)
• The hard way; facing up to problems instead of sugar coating them (Frohman)
• Stir the pot; “leaders must produce uncertainty” (Ridderstrale)
• Paradoxes; value both freedom & structure, divergence & convergence… (many)
• Broad-bandwith; see both forest & trees (Deschamps)
• Community & fashion; differentiate when all (community) is becoming the same (Brabandere)
• Long-term; the only perspective for judging innovation (Deschamps)
• Journaling; along with mind mapping – a genius skill (Gelb)
• Human being as a system; body, emotions, mind, spirit – it all matters (Gelb)
• Accidental inductive process; creating a coherent narrative from your sources (Bhide)

Structuring for innovation

• Chief Innovation Officer (Siegel)
• Cybernetics; science of feedback (Brabandere)
• Magnetwork; magnet + network, attracting new members, partners … (Dundon)
• Enthusiasts; bloggers & other cost-effective  brand ambassadors (Gillin)
• Selling innovation; stories, peeks behind the scenes, customer self-service (Seybold et al)
• Recognition; begin every staff meeting with recognition, make an agenda item (Gostick)

Mottos to lead innovation by

• Yes first!; say “yes” to the potential that exists within an idea (Sweeney)
• Take time to think; be a reflective practitioner (Frohman)
• Sell collaboration; sales & marketing just as important as product development (Bhide)
• Rock-n-roll; structure (score) + creativity (improvisation) = innovation (music) (Cook)
• Lead the change; innovation starts at the top (Deschamps)
• Reduce the gap; between people’s potential & actual use of their potential (Kotter)
• Read books ; believe in the power of knowledge (Miller Caldicott)
• Continuation; have sense of urgency, non-complacency, compete (Kotter)
• First do no harm; when addressing crisis (Bhide)
• Core & context; strategy that differentiates (core) & all other processes/ investments (context) (Moore)
• Stay true; to passion (Frohman)
• Invisible mentors; learn from others, far away (Frohman)
• Bamboo metaphor; nurture; bamboo takes 2 years before it breaks ground, then whoaah! (Colan)
• 10,000; pattern recognition comes with practice (Leonard)
• Morph the business; adapt, change business model frequently (Seybold)
• Informal elements; culture, values, work norms … critical in turnaround challenge (Katzenbach)
• Leap of faith oratory; appeals at the gut level – think Churchill in WW2 (Katzenbach)
• Relationships; show curiosity, astonishment, love, humor, imagination… (many)
• Appreciation; the most significant human psychological need (Colan)

And you?

Perhaps some (most?) of these insights you’re already applying.  Which do you rely on the most?   What would you like to add to this list?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Always appreciated, Ben.

Photo credit: Foot Slogger

What hat will you wear, in your negotiations, in 2010?

Our calendar says a new year is about to start.  How do we want the coming year to play out for ourselves?  What will we resolve to do?

As a mediator, when the parties are at loggerheads, unable to leave their position, e.g., “I’m right, he’s wrong”, I often remind the folks that we all feel that way from time to time.  When something isn’t going our way, it seems to be a human trait to explain our circumstance as a result of other’s actions.  At the same time, somewhere in our being, most of us also intuit that there is another way we could frame the situation before us – e.g., as a shared opportunity to move forward in constructive ways.  Simplified, I say to the conflicting parties, “we all have two hats, one that looks at a situation in a positive way and the other with a negative slant… let’s put on our positive hat today.” I think it matters which hat we choose to put on.

So much of who we are, and can be, seems to be a paradox.  We hold the capacity to be both: caring and uncaring, self-interested and appreciative of others, resistant to change and open to learning new things …

In February of this year, I wrote a blog post profiling insights from of America’s best known relationship experts, John Gottman.  His decades of research into why marriages succeed or fail show a “magic relationship ratio” of 5:1, the number of positive “bids” for connection versus negative bids required to sustain a marriage relationship.   This Christmas, I was gifted with Trust Agents, a book recently published by respected social media veterans, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.  Finished it yesterday, and was reminded on reading it of Brogan’s edict that we should promote others 12 times as often as often as we promote ourselves.  Whether in marriage or social media, relationships work when we truly think and care about the other.

Each new situation we face presents an opportunity to choose, to respond.  Sure, our emotions will kick in.  Then what?  What way of responding do we want to nurture?  What hat will we put on to negotiate?

This is my last post for 2009, my first year of blogging!  It has been a rewarding journey for me.  I am so appreciative of all of you who took time to connect with me, through shared online communities, in 2009.  I learned much from you.   I look forward to re-connecting and engaging with you down the road.  And, maybe we will also to chance to meet in-person.  That would be nice.

Louis Armstrong joyously sang of our better halves in “What a Wonderful World” (as in this off-viewed 1968 BBC video recording (on YouTube).

All the best in 2010, and I hope you each in your own ways, find many opportunities to say, What a Wonderful World.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Thanks, Ben.

The Cridge Centre for the Family: Why is it the longest serving non-profit society in B.C.?

The Cridge Centre for the Family, in Victoria, was founded in 1873, and is the longest serving non-profit society in British Columbia. It provides social services and care to people of all ages, in the Greater Victoria community and beyond. How is it that The Cridge has continued to innovate, and remain a vital part of the community, for so long?

Curious, I got together with Greg Hatton, Cridge’s Manager of Communication and Fund Development.  I first met Greg at a recent local business networking event, and during our conversation it quickly dawned on my how little I knew about the Cridge.  Last week we re-connected over lunch in the Cridge’s Seniors Assisted Living dining area (on the most popular of lunch days, Fish ‘n’ Chips – thanks for arranging that one Greg!).  We followed that with Greg leading me in a walking/talking tour of the main Cridge facilities, located on a 12 acre parcel of land in central Victoria.

A bit more Cridge context

Edward Cridge came to Victoria as Chaplain of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1855.  He is sometimes described as Victoria’s first social worker.  He was anti-racist, and a champion of education.  Along with his wife Mary, he pioneered many social and cultural causes; including the Royal Jubilee Hospital, and the BC Protestant Orphan’s Home (1873).  He became a bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1875.  Mary Cridge died in 1905; Edward Cridge died in 1913 at the age of 96.

In the 1960’s the BC Protestant Orphan’s Home was renamed to The Cridge Centre for the Family, and a whole new set of programs implemented.  Today, in addition to the seniors’ residence & services, the Cridge provides transitional housing & related ‘dovetail’ services, a transition house for women, respite & respitality services, a brain injury residence & services, and child care facility & services. All of this is supported by 90 full-time, 50 part-time, and 100+ volunteers. Whew!

Staying innovative

Here’s a few observations I have, related to The Cridge, their longevity, and success.  (In truth, some of these observations germinated out of my previous post on innovative teams).

Culture.  Culture trumps just about everything else when it comes to being a key to innovation. When people feel cared for, and confident, it frees them to generate great ideas and innovate.  Certainly ‘caring’ is no small part of The Cridge culture.

Sustainability. Sustainability is linked to long-term relationships.  Community partnerships, management stability, and long-time supporters are all part of The Cridge experience.

Structure. Having autonomy and accountability, within some set boundaries/structure, supports collaboration and innovation. The Cridge model of multiple, autonomous, programs, operating within the confines of an organization plan/budget, is successful.

Balance. The Cridge balances creating a warm, sensitive, and caring environment with a strong business orientation; e.g., fundraising, and building community partnerships.

Diversity. Life evolves.  Situations change.  Having diverse paths and options at your disposal ups the odds of survival!  Diversity abounds at The Cridge; e.g., in the range of programs and services, community networks, and supporters.

Physical environment. A physical environment that is welcoming, and where you feel like you belong, makes it easier to work together, create, and innovate!   From what I saw in The Cridge Seniors and Child Care buildings, they fit the bill; comfy lounges, a range of gathering spaces, for work and/or play, a family feel,…  Buildings are renovated with historical preservation in mind.

Attitude. Positive attitudes (for moving things forward) such as a “mentality of abundance”, recognizing the gifts we each have, and laughter, are present at The Cridge.

Trust.  If sustainability as an organization is based on long-term relationships, then those relationships are built on trust.  Cridge trust is recognized formally (The Cridge is accredited by both Imagine Canada and  Canadian Council of Christian Charities) and gained through less formal channels (e.g., through collaborative problem-solving involving a tenant, and their family/supporters).

Wrapping up

In part, I think I answered the question about Cridge longevity.  And, yet I humbly suspect there is a whole lot more to the story.  Your thoughts?

For more information about The Cridge, I suggest you check out their website, including the recent newsletter.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Always appreciated, Ben.

39 Insights into the makeup of innovative teams: From the 2009 IdeaConnection interviews

“To give businesses access to the world’s most creative and innovative people, who work collaboratively to solve problems and develop innovations.”  That is the mission statement of IdeaConnection, a company headquartered in Victoria, BC.  In the spirit of access, IdeaConnection interviews leading innovation authors, and makes the interview notes available on their website.  The majority of the interviews are conducted by Vern Burkhardt.  He is an excellent interviewer, in almost all interviews drawing out the interviewees’ core beliefs, ideas and experiences.  As such, each interview provides a “residue of accumulated experience”, i.e., knowledge resource (thinking of my post on knowledge & communities of practice).  Wow – what a resource this is!

So far, I’ve read all the 2009 interviews (around 50).  With such a strong connection between collaboration and innovation, I’ve pulled together, from the interviews, what I think are some of the more interesting ways people build successful, innovative teams.  On most of the points below, I’ve added the actual author’s name (in brackets), in case you want to read the related interview on the IdeaConnection website.

People/Membership

1.  Diversity; e.g.,  in experience, expertise, age; correlates with adaptation/survival
2.  Multiple Personas; e.g. experimenter, architect, storyteller (Kelley)
3.  Lead users/customers; outsiders involved in co-design (Seybold)

Structure

4.  Structure + creativity = innovation
5.  Teams no bigger than a jazz band; able to improvise, collaborate, and innovate (Estrin)
6.  “Passionate physical environment”; inviting, vibrating with energy (Dundon)
7. Social presence; finding right level of technology to facilitate warmth, sensitivity, personal connection (Nemiro)
8.  Team Center; aka war room, planning center; think Walt Disney (Deacon)
9.  Color-coded projects; another way to leverage power of visual thinking (Deacon)
10.  Kitchen for the Mind; putting all tech and creativity tools in one room to help feed your mind (Deacon)
11.  Magnetworks; attracting others to your innovation network (Dundon)
12.  Think inside the box; setting boundaries on creative work (Dahlen)
13.  Motivation description; replacing job description (Ridderstrale)
14.  Culture trumps policy & systems; “a group of wonderfully cared for, confident individuals will generate great ideas” (Sweeney)

Attitude

15.  Abundance mentality; it drives innovation (Kelley)
16.  Gut feelings; welcome them as they are a product of the brain too! (Dahlen)
17.  Flow experience; imaginative or divergent thinking (Fraley)
18.  Follow the follower; everyone is a follower, or is it a leader? (Sweeney)
19.  Puzzles; all the pieces are there, you just need to find them (Dahlen)
20.  Laughter; is moving-forward behaviour (Sweeney et al)
21.  Gifts; material/ideas from others is a gift; think street performer (Sweeney, Lundin et al)
22.  Mutations; life evolves, mutations improve likelihood of success (Dahlen)
23.  Paradox; value both the beginners mind & experts mind, divergent & convergent,…  (Leonard et al)

Process

24.  Customer safari; to understand what innovations you need to make (Mahajan)
25.  Scenarios; thinking about different possible futures, as uncertainty is a given (Brabandere)
26.  Divergent and convergent thinking (many)
27.  2-stroke engine; power of 2 person partnership, 2 brains, judgement & imagination (Brabandere),
28.  Pictures; intersection between linear and spatial thinking (Roam)
29.  Linear techniques; e.g., mind mapping, brainstorming (Nemiro)
30.  Intuitive techniques; e.g., drawing, meditation (Nemiro)
31.  God’s advocate; God & Devil advocates; appointed instead of self-appointed (Kelley)
32.  Aliens; added to disrupt unhealthy patterns in your discussion group (Leonard)
33.  Force fit; imposing attributes of unrelated situation/object, unblocking a pattern (Fraley)
34.  Wormhole connection; in virtual context, when co-location of team members not possible (Kelley)
35.  e-brainstorming; offers benefits of individual & collective thinking (Leonard)
36.  Prototyping; of both physical and processes (Leonard)
37.  Fail fast-forward; fail early and often, tackle riskiest areas first (Estrin)
38.  Sensanation; thinking about a product/service in terms of the 5 senses (Deacon)
39.  Non finito; a metaphor for continuous (product) innovation (Brabandere)

Now what?

Perhaps some of these insights you’ll incorporate in your organization?  Which ones appeal to you most?

And me, I’m thinking another related post – e.g., innovative leadership.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or  subscribing to my blog. Always appreciated, Ben.

Photo credit: drummp2

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