Organization Development Network

Peter Block, author of the seminal book, Flawless Consulting, breaks new ground once again with Community: The Structure of Belonging

“Community: The Structure of Belonging”

Community, and a sense of belonging, is created by bringing a cross section of the community into a new conversation. If we maintain the old conversations about making the world predictable, measurable, individual-focused, and leader-driven, nothing will change. Our work is to overcome the culture of isolation, fear, and waiting for the leaders to get their act together. This occurs when we shift the conversation from problem solving to possibility, deficiencies and needs to gifts, and blame and barter to ownership and commitment. Peter's session will be a demonstration of its theory, so the tools of communal transformation will be in the experience.

Peter Block is an author, consultant and citizen of Cincinnati Ohio. His work is about empowerment, stewardship, accountability and reconciliation. His books include Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used; Stewardship, Choosing Service Over Self Interest, and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work. He also wrote The Answer to How is Yes, and his book, Community: The Structure of Belonging, was released last May. He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed to build the skills described in his books. He serves on the board of directors of Cincinnati Classical Public Radio, and is the first Distinguished Consultant-in-Residence at Xavier University. He is also active in community organizations, among them the Urban Opportunities Alliance, a cooperative group of six efforts to value the possibility of youth and families Cincinnati. He worked with other volunteers to begin A Small Group, an effort to connect groups through the powerful tools of social engagement. His office is in Mystic, CT, and his websites are www.peterblock.com, www.designedlearning.com, and www.asmallgroup.net.

Researcher, analyst, and author, Denise Caruso, founder of the Hybrid Vigor Institute, will describe strategies to encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations that will be needed to solve society's most difficult problems.

“Solving Your Organization's Real Problems with Interdisciplinary Methods”

Properly conducted, the methods used in successful interdisciplinary research can also increase the relevance of research and its potential to solve complex, real-world problems. These interdisciplinary methods can be of tremendous value within organizations as well, providing clarity about the definition and scope of problems, while maintaining a focus on practical outcomes. You'll hear inspirational stories of projects from the Macarthur Research Networks to the National Academies of Science, and walk away with a simple set of principles to be used at home.

Denise Caruso is a veteran journalist and analyst who has chronicled revolutionary advancements in technology, media, and biotechnology for more than 20 years. She founded the Hybrid Vigor Institute in 2000 to study and practice the methods of interdisciplinary research and collaboration, with a special focus on science and technology-related risk and innovations. In December, 2006, she published her first book, Intervention: Confronting the Real Risks of Genetic Engineering and Life on a Biotech Planet, which won a Silver Medal in the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards. For the five years prior to founding Hybrid Vigor, Caruso wrote the Digital Commerce column for the Monday New York Times. 2007, she also wrote the “Re:framing” column, on innovation and creativity, for the Sunday Times' Business section.

Leadership coach and founder of the South East Asian Leadership Network, Leng Lim integrates his spiritual and business training in his work with cross-generational, entrepreneurial development in South East Asia.

“The Threats and Promises of Culture”

Culture fascinates, seduces, inspires, divides, threatens, heals and kills. Culture, whether at the group or organizational level, but especially at the societal level, is the stuff we swim in, giving the people of that culture implicit meaning, identity, purpose, codes of conduct, values, modes of operation, and more. We can’t escape our own culture, and in a globalized world, we can’t escape what seems like forced contact, even a collision with another culture. What are the dangers of inter-cultural contact? What is the promise and hope of it?

Leng Leroy Lim, Managing Director at Pivotal (www.pivotal-leadership.com) has spent his life making himself at home in different worlds. Born in Asia and educated in North America, he bridges the world of inner spiritual reflection and the outer world of business achievement with Master degrees in Divinity and Business from Harvard. His insights and experience in leadership development have come from working in a diversity of organisations, but they have been most profoundly shaped by his time leading expeditions in the high-mountains of Alaska, where he learned to develop the potential hidden in the fears and foibles of individuals–the potential for immense courage, achievement and joy.

Leng chairs the non-profit SEALNET (www.sealnetonline.org) which develops multi-generational service-leadership capabilities in Southeast Asia. An Episcopal priest and a vipassana meditator, Leng is also an alumnus of Princeton and the United World College, and with his life partner are based in San Francisco and Singapore.

Carolyn Lukensmeyer, who launched America>Speaks to strengthen citizens' voices in decision-making, reflects on lessons learned from the application of organization development principles to the goals of deliberative democracy and community-building.

“We the People: Moving from the Outside In”

For 14 years America>Speaks has created safe democratic spaces for citizens to discover their (1) shared priorities on community budgets; (2) local, state, and national policy issues; and (3) complex planning and recovery challenges. In every case, decision makers have been influenced, and citizens have made a difference in their own lives, their own communities, and in some cases, the nation. We've learned some lessons about how to engage citizens in governance, and if we respond collectively to President Obama's commitment to this process, citizens can be at the table collaborating on the tough decisions and creating the future that we want for our communities and our nation. We'll think together about how we could make it real that we are all responsible for the whole.

Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, founder and President of AmericaSpeaks, has spent her career as an innovator in deliberative democracy, public administration, and organizational development. When she launched AmericaSpeaks in 1995, her goal was to develop new democratic practices that would strengthen citizen voices in public decision-making. She and AmericaSpeaks have won a number of awards, including two from the International Association for Public Participation (2001 and 2003), the Organizational Development Network's Sharing the Wealth Award (2006), from the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for best practices, a Distinguished Service Award from the Federal Managers Association for Outstanding Leadership (1994,) and a Best Practice Award from the National Training Laboratories Institute in 1993. Carolyn earned a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University and completed postgraduate training at the internationally-known Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

Juliette Powell, a young visionary, author, and community catalyst, explores how to focus and unleash the potential power of social networking effectively in business—and communities.

“The Technology of Relationships: Social Networking Strategies and the Future of Human Communities”

Social networking and the technologies of relationship building have become an enormous phenomenon. How can connection and collaboration be used to create social and economic value? Juliette Powell takes us on a tour of this new digital ecosystem, identifying best practices for community-building while providing a commentary on the increasing importance of authenticity in modern culture and illustrations of successful social and economic experiments. Powell's wide-ranging research and powerful narratives illuminate principles for self-organization and new approaches to influence using these emerging technologies. The ability to empower communities to invent the present and future through the immediacy of digital media is exemplified by the Obama campaign and by citizen-reported news broadcasts across the globe. As Juliette says: “I'm particularly excited to see people applying the power of connective technology to awaken their creativity and to begin to communicate, peer-produce, and distribute their own messages, ideas, and creations to the masses, as well as sharing vital information in real time.”

Juliette Powell is a New York City visionary, one of the world's übernetworkers and an entrepreneurial community catalyst. She founded both The Gathering Think Tank Inc., an innovation forum that connects the technology, media, entertainment, and business communities, (www.thegatheringwebsite.com), and IF: Inspiration Festival, an annual forum that explores the creative intersection between technology, art, science, and business. With her deep knowledge of the people and technologies at the forefront of social media, Powell had gained a solid reputation for discovering the latest media trends and distilling their social and business implications. Powell's background includes 16 years in broadcast television, 10 years in interactive/new media content and formats, and a lifelong interest in people and how they connect with one another. She has been a guest speaker at MIT's Innovation Forum, NYU's Interactive Technology Program, and the Producer's Guild of America's New Media Council. She has also assisted in the production of the world-renowned Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) Conference. As a consultant, her clients have included Red Bull, Mozilla, Microsoft, Compaq, Trump International, Nokia, the United Nations, the Department of Justice, Paltalk and Rocketboom. Her new book, 33 Million people in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking is a practical guide that discusses how to wield the immense power of social networking effectively in business.