When I first began to study organizations back in the 90’s the dominant view of larger groups was that they were dangerous. Expressions abounded about the futility of bringing large groups of people together; “an individual can be a genius but a group of geniuses becomes an idiot,” was the conventional wisdom. I was taught as a trainer that working alone with groups larger than 16 asking for trouble. The consensus was, and to a great extent still is, that large groups of people become like a mob, exhibiting no real intelligence, following blindly a leader or descending into chaos. Read More
Read moreHow Open Space Technology Invites Unity from Diversity →
Hans Peter Gauster from Unsplash
The Magic of Meeting with Other People as Human Beings →
Exploring how "Conduct" Provides Wisdom in an Ever Shifting World
In October I had the opportunity to give a talk at conference organized by the COS Collective on the subject of Wise Action and Uncertainty. During a stormy week in October we explored how people from different sectors of society both personally and professionally can address the question "What do you do when you doing know what to do?"
Read moreWatch Your Mindset: Sink or Swim →
Years ago I moved to the Netherlands to work in a Dutch professional University. I was surprised that many students had real difficulty with even the basics of writing academic papers. In talking to my colleagues, I found out that they were very frustrated about this. Their explanation for it was that it the students weren’t intellectually curious. Read More
Read moreHealth and Balance: The key to successful organizations in a fast changing world →
Have you ever noticed that when when you’re not feeling well nothing goes right? Maybe it’s physical, a flu or dealing with the flair up of a chronic condition. Maybe it’s emotional, you had a disagreement with a friend and it is wearing on you. In these moments almost everything is just one thing too much? Even needing to make an extra phone call or taking an extra trip to the store can be complicated. Read More
Read moreHow Much Structure do you need to Feel Free →
In 2009 I was at a Summer Leadership Intensive from the Genuine Contact™ Program. The facilitator, Birgitt Williams, invited the group to reflect on this question: “How much structure do you (personally) need in order to feel free?” I have carried this question with me ever since. It informs my work facilitating emergent, participative and co-creative organisational development. Read More
Read moreEnough →
All around there is a powerful message that we need to change — change our consumer habits, change the way we work, change how we eat, how we organize, CHANGE. Combined with this CHANGE is that we need to do so NOW. There is a powerful credo that change and innovation is key to our organisations, our lives, our planet. Read More
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