November: Stems

Organization Design Forum seeks proposals at April conference

Organization Design Forum is an international association dedicated to advancing the theory and practice of organization design. Their call for presenters for their April 2008 conference in Philadelphia closes November 15th. Download the pdf

Large group methods from  Marvin Weisbord

Marv Weisbord sends OSR a chapter he wrote for ASTD Handbook for Workplace Learning, edited by Elaine Biech. Weisbord's “Large Groups Methods: A three-part shopper’s guide” will be published in 2008. You can read it today. Download the pdf >>

Weisbord and Sandra Janoff also have a new book out — Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!

Apply for spring's Community Consulting Partnership teams

The mission of the Community Consulting Partnership is to build on the spirit of learning and service, the CCP inspires people to join in learning about the organizational development process while working as a volunteer consultant with local not-for-profit organizations. We seek to enhance our community's vital and diverse human bounty. By participating in CCP, individuals develop their own knowledge and skills and magnify their power to positively influence the communities in which they live.

If you would like to be on a team of volunteer consultants led by a senior consultant serving the needs of a non-profit client, then now is the time to get your name on the waiting list. Sign up to be a volunteer consultant now. Learn more about ccp >>

Free video rental library

OSR is building a library of videos  available for students and alumni to borrow for personal or professional use.

• Celebrate What's Right with the World by Dewitt Jones (a great warm up for Appreciative Inquiry).
  
• Presence In Action: An Introduction to Theory U with Otto Scharmer.
  
• Deep Presence a series of digital video tone poems over images of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
  
• All of the 18 keynotes from the 2006 Bioneers Conference ( Paul Hawken, Michael Pollen, Amy Goodman, James Hillman, etc.).
  
• For the Love of It by Dewitt Jones; he discusses how we all have the ability to love what we do through honoring our passion, making a contribution to those around us, and expressing gratitude.
  
• The Star Thrower Story by Joel Barker, a brief 6 min depiction of the Loren Eiseley story about finding purpose.
  
• 1 Giant Leap a collaboration of many of the world's most culturally significant musicians, thinkers, artists authors, actors and scientists from 20 countries to explore the unity in diversity.

Please send an e-mail to make recommendations for videos that you would like to see available for loan to OSR students and alumni. More

Certificate program to launch February 2008

OSR is developing a prototype certificate program for graduates and other interested learners that will ideally become a model for a rich set of future offerings. Preliminary specifications for the prototype currently include the following:

• The course is still to be named and will deal with "sensing and shaping the future" of both organizations and individuals;
• The "guides" for the course will be Craig Fleck, Roger Harrison, and Mitch Saunders;
• The course will convene 4 times for 2-3 day weekend sessions over 7 months beginning Friday–Saturday, February 29–March 1, 2008;
• The course will provide a certificate from OSR (future offerings may provide certificates from Seattle University);
• The total cost for the will be in the $2,000-3,000 range depending on type of employment and organizational support.

A design team of interested graduates — Steve Byers (OSR-13), Yolanda Christianson (OSR-13), Nick Folwer (OSR-18), Barbara Lewy (OSR-13),  and Clarice Sieden (OSR-10) — have been working with the "guides" to define the particulars of the program.

Alumns are getting your attention

Angie Dairou (OSR 12). Her article, Bringing Systemic Therapy to Corporate Executives (download pdf), was published in September in a Journal for Clinical Counselors in Canada. The September edition focused on therapy and the workplace. The article will also appear in a business journal in China, where Angie is doing an increasing amount of her work.

Emily Koft (OSR 13) shares her pictures from her summer fellowship in Ghana. more

Sandra Sault-Poulson (OSR 8). Co-founder of Sustainable Cascadia designed and executed a very successful Cascadia Convergence 2007 Conference October 26-27 featuring David Suzuki. Sandra is also presenting a workshop on this topic for the Pegasus Conference on the morning of November 5th.

Katharine Wismer (OSR 13). Her course Theory Paper for OSR 13 was one of two student papers selected for award and presentation at the OD Network Conference in Baltimore. Matt Minahan, Ed.D., wrote the following in his blog covering the conference:

“We're in the 7th year of the SPP, and had 27 papers submitted this year, from 19 different graduate programs, across three continents. And, boy, did we have some GREAT submissions! In the end, the two best papers were "An Exploration of Social Constructionism Theory," by Katharine Wismer of Seattle University's OD and Renewal Program, and "Don't Ask What Complexity Can Do for You, Ask What You Can Do for Complexity," by Barbara Christian of the Milano New School. And, as one of the readers, I want to tell you that these two papers were the best among a whole batch that were fabulous. It was great to see these two scholar/practitioners present their ideas and themselves, and engage with some of the best thinkers in the field, including Therese Yeager, and Jason Wolfe, and Marilyn Blair, and Bill Gellermann, and Mark Berns, and others. It's hard not to be wildly optimistic about the future of our field, given the talent of these scholar/practitioners!”

Kellee Franklin (OSR-14 faculty) and Suzanne Williams (OSR 13) presented "Embedding Governance and Control in a Decentralized Environment: Overcoming Potential Challenges through Understanding the Importance of the Human Element in Organizational Performance" at the 6th Annual International Society for Performance Improvement European Conference in Heidelberg, Germany held November 1-3, 2007. For additional information, download the conference brochure.

14th OSR Masters cohort starts with October session at Pilgrim Firs

The 33 students of OSR-14 Masters program began their 21 month journey with a 5-day residential session at Pilgrim Firs with their faculty advisors Kellee Franklin, Colleen Ponto (OSR-7), JoAnn Schindler and guest faculty Don Swartz (Founder), Simone LaDrumma, Bill Grace, Bill Koenig(OSR-8), Brian Mason (OSR-8), Matt Smith, and Valerie White (OSR-6).