Seven Paradoxes of Organizational Development

The Seven Paradoxes of Organizational Development Geoff Stack LEED AP STACK Coordination stackcoordination.com

The big context… Planet Community Economy WE LIVE HERE.

The challenge is… … indefinable. - Amory Lovins, CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute ... improving the quality of life for all living beings within the capacity of nature to provide that life … ‐ Paul Hawken, Natural Capital Institute, Founder of Smith + Hawken

Our work requires… leadership + change

Exemplary Leadership
Model the way
Inspire a shared vision
Challenge the process
Enable others to act
Encourage the heart
- James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, The Leadership Challenge , Jossey-Bass, p. 26. Copyright © 2007

The business of change…

Practice of leadership + change… Change Process Who 2 Why What How 2 When (Helpful) Practices 7 P A R A D O X E S (Unhelpful) Derailers

#1 - Who
You have to do it yourself,
but you can’t do it alone
We must individually listen, learn + commit to others to maintain energy, courage, momentum of all. Comfort as ‘lone wolf,’ but power in numbers

#2 - Who
To get “hard results,”
work on the “soft stuff.”
Leadership styles account for 50-70% of how employees perceive an organization’s work environment.

#3 - Why
Invitations
motivate.
Four ingredients for commitment:
Clarity of the goal
Relevance to organizational and personal success
Allow others to ‘plan the battle’ so they don’t battle the plan.
Involvement in shaping plan
Intents resonate with personal values

#4 - What
One person’s dream
can be another’s nightmare
Racing up ‘the ladder of inference’ What happened External Filtered data Internal Actions taken External Assumptions made Internal Conclusions drawn Internal Beliefs reinforced Internal

#5 - How
Speed up
by slowing down
If ‘buy-in’ is the goal, slower collective decisions get there faster. Fast ‘decision,’ slow ‘buy-in’ Executive idea Executive decision Collective “Buy-in” Sell + Communicate Slow ‘decision,’ faster ‘buy-in’ “ Collective Buy-in” Collective dialogue, decision (No need to “sell”) Executive idea

#6 - How
Start small
to go big.
Identify the ‘low-hanging fruit’ Experiment and learn before taking big risks

#7 - When
Things sometimes need to get worse
before they can get better
Keep tabs on daily news AND focus on the long-term vision Change is pushed by discomfort with the status quo or unease about predicted changes.

Thoughts?

The Seven Paradoxes of Organizational Development Geoff Stack LEED AP STACK Coordination stackcoordination.com

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Seven Paradoxes of Organizational Development

by Geoff Stack on Oct 19, 2009

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Seven Paradoxes of Organizational Development — Presentation Transcript