Consulting Services
Open Space Technology
“Open space technology is, at the very least, a new way to hold better meetings. The normative experience is that groups, large and small (from five to one thousand members), self-organize to effectively deal with hugely complex issues in a very short period of time. Overt facilitation is minimal to nonexistent, and preplanning, so far as the agenda is concerned, never happens.” (Owen, 1997a, p. 1)
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Questing for a Vision
"Vision is generally used to describe a form of organizational vision that wins the commitment and compliance of those people who are needed to implement it.” (Johnson, 1999, p. 336). Research indicates, that to be effective, the vision should incorporate the following features:
- The “...vision includes a visual image of a future state that would not exist without the creative activity of the people concerned.
- The concept of sharing in the creation and development of the vision.
- The vision will involve beneficial effects for people affected by it and also incorporate personal values of the participants.”
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The Four Laws of Change
In the native American oral tradition, the Shawnee nation enhance the effectiveness of the big decisions by understanding and using the four laws of change.
The Personal Change Assessment and Organizational Change Assessments are available upon request for a small fee. Please direct inquires to Herb Stevenson.
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Critical Incidents
The process of critical reflection includes three phases: (1) identifying the assumptions that underlie our thoughts and actions; (2) scrutinizing the accuracy and validity of these in terms of how they connect to, or are discrepant with, our experience of reality; and (3) reconstructing these assumptions to make them more inclusive and integrative.
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Focused Conversation
Focused conversation assumes that we find the reality of life in the palpable, observable, sensory world (descriptive). We discover it is empirical experience. It assumes that authentic feelings and emotions derive from the direct experiences we encounter...
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Theories in Action
Argyris and Schon (1974) suggest that individuals and organizations maintain theories of action that they have developed about and for themselves. Theories of action typically include an espoused theory of action and a theory-in-use. The “espoused theory of action...is the theory of action to which he [or she] gives allegiance, and which upon request, he [or she] communicates to others. However, the theory that actually governs his [or her] action is his [or her] theory-in-use, which may or may not be compatible with his [or her] espoused [publicly stated] theory; furthermore, the individual may or may not be aware of the incompatibility of the two theories.” (p.7).
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Appreciative Inquiry
The basic premise of Appreciative Inquiry could be applied to how an organization views a glass of water. If it is viewed as half empty, the organization would probably be oriented towards problem solving and deficit thinking---how do we fill the glass to the brim or how do we catch the culprit drinking our water. If the glass is viewed as half full, the organization would probably be positively oriented towards "what works" and on enjoying the small and/or individual successes of each day.