Helping organizations face difficult choices has always been the stock-in-trade of OD practitioners. Entering a new century, we come up against crucial decisions about the relationship of organizations to the natural world. Surprisingly, the OD community has somehow largely missed the connection between work life and the environment. This is strange, because OD people are unusually well-equipped to help corporations and institutions cope with a set of fundamental turning points that grow nearer every day. Before we can help, however, we may need to learn more about the story of the universe and how we find ourselves where we are now. And we may need to think hard about values and career directions calling forth time-honored OD skills as well as stretching ourselves in new professional directions. - Click here for a short quiz - please take it and bring with you - For the June program, Ralph Copleman will talk about the personal transition he has made over the past two years, outline the nature of the profound environmental challenge before us, and spell out the turning point he sees for our field. Ralph Copleman spent 19 years consulting for pharmaceutical firms, health care systems, and international manufacturers. In 1998 he made a decision to market his services only to environmental nonprofits. He can be reached at http://www.earthdreams.net, ralphsc@earthdreams.net, or 609-895-1629. Outline of the Presentation I. Introduction, Agenda, Purposes
II. Results of the Online Quiz III. Brief history of the universe (yes indeed, the Universe)
IV. Current state of Corporate Behavior
V. Role of Organization Development
VI. Resources and Q&A
Resilience is one of the most vital characteristics for continued good performance in today’s work environments. It is a complex of beliefs, skills, patterns of thinking, and behavioral routines in response to change, and provides an excellent framework for examining how potentially disruptive change affects individual and organizational performance. In this session, we will examine what resilience is and how it operates, discuss the key factors contributing to the need for greater resilience, and exchange ideas for how resilience can be developed. This will be an exploratory, interactive session. Come prepared to share your experiences and ideas for helping meet the performance challenges of today’s competitive, ambiguous, uncertain, and dynamic environments. Click here for handouts Dr. Katheryn K. Woodley has extensive experience as a manager, adult educator, instructional technologist, and organizational consultant. She has academic training in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, previous experience as a manager, and is currently a member of Penn State’s Management Development faculty. In this capacity, she works with client organizations in virtually every industrial segment—manufacturing, telecommunications, biotech, health and human services, and various government agencies. Kate’s work includes analysis of training and performance needs; conducting a variety of assessments (for organizational and individual development); designing and delivering a wide range of employee, management and organization development programs; and facilitating planning and problem solving sessions for organizational leaders. Kate is a licensed psychologist and a member of the American Psychological Association and the American Society for Training and Development. Cheryl M. Kaplan recently celebrated her eleventh year at Penn State Abington where her work has focused on managing a contracted training and education outreach program serving organizations in SoutheasternPennsylvania. She holds an M.A. in Communication from Cornell University.
Presenters:
Our March program was a success with members, non-members, and AU/NTL graduates coming to see Al Cooke present his research on eclectic OD consultant. Some basic principles of eclectic consulting include
Keep your eyes open for Al’s new book (
in bookstores this summer) For other items Al has written/edited, check out:
For more information on American
University’s Masters program in Organizational Development, check out the www.auntl.org
website (look under AU/NTL Masters Program), contact auntl@american.edu.
or by snail mail at: Dr. Cooke is the Director of American University/NTL graduate program in Organizational Development. He has over 30 years of experience in academia and as a practitioner of OD. Dr. Cooke works effectively with participatory and collaborative manners with diverse groups and organizations to solve problems. As a nationally recognized consultant he is skilled in using open system leadership processes which encourage collaboration and mutual influence and shared vision. He is a researcher and writer who has written extensively in the field of facilitation and organizational development.
Looking for opportunities to learn and grow? Come to February’s meeting featuring MentorNet, one of the many benefit’s of PRODN membership. MentorNet was started in response to requests from members who were looking for guidance and perspective from more seasoned practitioners. During this meeting you’ll learn:
The purpose of MentorNet is to further the professional development of PRODN members, encourage deeper interaction and dialogue of members, increase overall caliber of professional practice, and to support the continued exploration and clarification of OD values. What is MentorNet? MentorNet has been operating since April, 1998. It was started in response to requests from members who were looking for guidance and perspective from more seasoned practitioners. An ad hoc committee, consisting of Janet Castellini, Allan Foss, Diane Jerman, and Martha Lask developed the framework of MentorNet to reflect the goals of PRODN. The purpose of MentorNet is to further the professional development of PRODN members, encourage deeper interaction and dialogue of members, increase overall caliber of professional practice, and to support the continued exploration and clarification of OD values. This past year, MentorNet has paired 15 mentees with 9 mentors. One of the primary goals of a mentoring process is for both the mentor and mentee to look for opportunities to learn and grow. In that spirit, the current coordinators of MentorNet, Martha Lask and Janet Castellini, organized an assessment meeting in June 1999, in order to learn how the process is working and to elicit suggestions for improvements. Following is a summary of what we learned. What Works
Improvements MentorNet should have higher visibility:
MentorNet should hold an orientation session for mentors and mentees once or twice a year:
Watch for more information about MentorNet! It’s flexible: mentoring pairs develop their own process and their own timeframe! Sign up to be a Mentor or a Mentee - Complete a questionnaire on-line
at www.prodn.org or
Over the past decades, Ms. Cross and her firm have gained national prominence of their work with corporations, government agencies, universities and financial institutions. In recognition of her contribution to the amelioration of racism and sexism as they affect the productivity and profitability of organizations, Ms. Cross and her firm were featured in "Elsie Cross v. the Suites: One Black Woman is Teaching White Corporate America to do the Right Thing," the cover article of the August 9, 1992 issue of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. She has also been featured in a number of television shows, most recently the TODAY SHOW with Bryant Gumble in July 1995, radio shows and business and professional magazines. The firm publishes a quarterly journal, THE DIVERSITY FACTOR. She is an editor of The Promise of Diversity and with Margaret White has just published THE DIVERSITY FACTOR; CAPTURING THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF A CHANGING WORKFORCE. Ms. Cross is a member of the National training Laboratories of Applied Behavioral Science and a former chair of its Board of Directors. She is active in the Organization Development Network. Ms. Cross has a Bachelors degree in Business Administration and two Masters degrees from Temple University, one in Business and the other in Psycho-educational Processes. Come hear Ms. Cross perspective about the past, present and future of Organizational Development.
Cheryl Rice presented the results from her Master’s thesis research on "The Link Between Emotional Intelligence and Team Performance. Cheryl looked at a financial processing center in a small mid-western town comprised of 26 teams, 164 people, 11 team leaders and 2 team managers. Participants in the study included a population of 97% female and 93% white employees with ages ranging from 17-60 years old. Cheryl used an instrument, "The Multi-factor Emotional Intelligence Scale or MEIS (Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 1997), to measure Emotional Intelligence and examine the following research questions:
To learn more about the findings from this study, you may e-mail Cheryl at Cheryl.Rice@ace-ina.com or call her at 215-761-8863 )to request a copy of her Summary Report.
For those of you who were not ale to attend the November Program meeting, Rick Maurer Event on Managing Resistance, please talk to someone who was there, because my synopsis will not do it justice. "Dynamic," "Great," "Thought Provoking," "Powerful" Those were just some of the words used throughout the day to describe Rick Maurer’s presentation entitled "Beyond the Wall of Resistance." The workshop was divided into two sessions; the morning, which was devoted to understanding resistance and its impact on managing change, and the afternoon, which focused on exploring alternative methods for working with resistance. The morning session began with a discussion focused on defining what is resistance. Although the individual responses seemed like variations on a theme, the group settled on Mr. Maurer’s definition
Subsequently, the group participated in a series of exercises, the result of which supported the resistance definition and highlighted behavior that gave participants cause to reflect about possible implications and impacts on others. The afternoon session, titled, "Theater of Resistance" was centered on
Mr. Maurer directed the group through a series of vignettes where participants acted out and observed the behaviors of themselves and others as they worked through the Five Principles associated with being excited and staying engaged as we work through managing resistance. Group reactions to the exercises generated enthusiastic dialogue that could lead one to assume that people were excited about insights and possibilities, they were experiencing, but this reporter would not do that. Anyway, my objective opinion is that those who gave up a perfectly beautiful Saturday, shared a value added experience with others. This experience provided invaluable information about how we engage and manage resistance at the individual, group and systems level. And to Rick Maurer, Special Events, Membership and the Programs group, a hearty well done and thank you for an excellent workshop.
- Frederick Bryant and Emil Sadloch
As a result of numerous mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, reshuffling and reorganizations in the corporate world, employee trust in many institutions has been ravaged and may be at an all-time low. The effects of these organizational shake-ups have resulted much hurt and pain within the workplace, lost loyalty among employees and lost credibility among leaders. Trust & Betrayal in the Workplace, the subject of PRODN’s October meeting and title book by presenters Dennis S. Reina, Ph.D., and Michelle L. Reina, Ph.D., began with a lively and engaging discussion. Program attendees were asked to break up into small groups to define the terms "trust" and "betrayal" while providing examples of it within the workplace. Some of the common definitions for trust included consistency in thoughts and actions along with keeping promises and agreements. Common themes for the word betrayal included a violation of trust or a break in a contract. Not fully disclosing pertinent information and taking credit for someone else’s work illustrate just a few examples of betrayal on the job. Participants and presenters also discussed the role of "intent" and its impact on trust and betrayal. Employees and leaders may still experience hurt, ill feelings and disappointment, even if the betrayal committed by another person, group or entity is unintentional. In the event of unintentional betrayal, those individuals who have committed acts leading to it need to take responsibility. Those persons, who feel betrayed by those unintended acts, will feel frustrated if the responsibility for it is dismissed, ignored or remains unacknowledged. To build a common definition, the Reinas outlined 4 components of trust, known as: The Four C’s of Trust:
According to the Reinas, our capacity for trust begins with our readiness to trust ourselves and to trust other people. The impact of our experiences, positive and negative, often determines whether our capacity to trust expands or contracts. Our willingness to trust also influences our beliefs and perceptions. One’s capacity for trust can be delineated along a continuum based upon four criteria, collectively known as the "Capacity for Trust Scales." These attributes, listed below, allow an individual to evaluate whether or not s/he can trust a person, group or situation as well as being an indicator of a person’s developmental ability for trust. Capacity for Trust Scales:
Leaders can apply these tools within their own organizations by implementing the "Reina Trust Scales." These statistically valid and reliable tools will assist organizations in capturing the level of trust that exists at 3 levels of the organization: individual, team and organizational. This information will help organizations gauge their strengths along with their own developmental areas for improvement. One instrument used to measure trust is the "Reina Organizational Trust Scale Feedback Report." This questionnaire shows organizations how employees rate trust levels based upon behaviors that contribute to three types of trust: contractual, communication and competence trust. These 3 types of trust comprise transactional trust – trust that is reciprocal in nature and built incrementally over time – compared to transformative trust, which occurs spontaneously when trust increases significantly and becomes self-generating and synergistic within an organizational entity. One member of the audience posed a question with respect to the pervasiveness of mistrust that appears to exist within workplace. Participants believe that a fear of the unknown, stemming from such overwhelming changes as a more global and diverse economy along with new technology, unfavorably impact the organization and contribute to creating a climate of mistrust. In her work with a wide variety of organizations, presenter Michelle Reina also noted another factor that impacts trust – the disconnection that many executives experience from themselves as individuals. Before concluding with a formal question-and-answer session, the Reinas led us through a process for healing from betrayal, which is summarized below: Seven Steps to Healing from Betrayal:
The presenters were unequivocally clear about the amount of work around trust and betrayal that needs to be done in organizations today (plenty of it!). Our presenters were also certain that vast opportunities exist in rebuilding trust back into our organizations. If you have questions or would like more information about the Reinas’ research and work in building trust in the workplace, of if you would like to learn more about their trust building resources including their trust model, trust measuring instruments, trust building learning guides, trust video or certification program, contact:
This month's program will feature Miles K. Davis noted speaker, professor, and OD Consultant with EDS' E.SOLUTIONS. The program will consist of a presentation and participant discussion focusing on the theoretical, philosophical, and most notably practical differences between Change Management and Organizational Development approaches in our work. You might say what differences? Well, that was the question asked at last years' ODN'S National Conference when Miles Davis very aptly answered with his article Change Management: Not Your Fathers OD. Click here to
access this paper on PRODN Info Central Miles will give a historical and contemporary perspective on Organizational Development and Change Management as possibly two different and separately evolving disciplines. He demonstrates the differences between the two approaches and identifies the value-based assumptions that drive them and shows how they manifest in our practice. His perspective is helpful for the OD Professional to know and may provide some answers to those of us that feel conflict in ourselves when the expectations of our client system is not congruent with the intent of our interventions. Our client's may not understand, because according to Miles K. Davis we may be practicing Change Management as if it is Organizational Development and vice versa. As Change Agents clarity in our selves is the first priority in order to facilitate effective helping relationships with others. This program seems most appropriate to start this new PRODN season of activities. This is a unique opportunity for us as an organization and as individuals to explore our congruency with what we believe and what we practice in our professional life. - Frederick Bryant |
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The
January program will feature Elsie Y. Cross the founder and president of Elsie
Y. Cross Associates, Inc., an Organization development consulting firm headquartered
in Philadelphia, Pa. Ms. Cross has consulted to organizations in Europe, the
Caribbean and Africa. Her work in Managing Diversity started in 1972 with U.S.
Corporations, government agencies and universities. The firm now consults to
a range of Fortune 500 companies on issues of racism, sexism, heterosexism and
other forms of discrimination – Managing diversity – using organization development
strategies and methodologies. © 2008
PRODN