cultureQs® is a Change Accelerator that uses powerful questions to inspire players to reflect on the foundations of their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. They engage in deep meaningful conversations, and connect ... quickly. The invisible borders that hinder collaboration fall away; entropy with its wasteful conflict is reduced; people (re-)focus on the professional questions that matter; innovative potential is released and performance is enhanced. Designed primarily, but not exclusively, to accelerate the integration process of management and project teams, people answer provocative questions on basic drivers and beliefs, behavior patterns, case studies of challenging situations, personal preferences, alternative perspectives on life. The simple yet profound rules encourage an environment in which players listen to each other and engage. Questions challenge concepts of "the norm", including ... leadership style, communication patterns, decision-making processes, the role of the individual, responsibility, hierarchies, authority, power, time, space, regulations, individual motivators, and more. Players very quickly discover that value judgements of differences being "right"/"wrong", "good"/"bad", "better"/"worse", etc, which are so common in societies everywhere, simply fall away as irrelevant. Their biggest challenge is to build an integrated team in a very short time. Changes in attitude occur automatically. We play cultureQs in sub-groups of 4-6 people per table. There is no limit to group size.

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
The Change Accelerator
Building your Borderless World …
… Together
ISAGA
Dornbirn, Austria 8th July 2014
cultureQs

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
Origin & Consequences of Borders

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
Origin & Consequences of Borders

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
Failure …
It's expensive: economically and socially!
It's avoidable!
• Success rate of projects - 30%!
• People-related problems … the primary obstacle
to success in organisations.
Task-related conflicts in teams may be healthy,
people-centred conflicts result in business loss.
Consequences of Borders in
our Minds for Organisations

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
If we see the workplace as an eco-system ...
… A plaza comprising the physical mental and
spiritual architecture enabling generative
innovation for purposeful living.
"How can we cultivate a culture with
involvement, responsibility, engagement and
joy at their core that create meaning?"
The Need … Reframing

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
cultureQs is a proactive response to the
perennial challenge that organisations face …
“How can we get everyone to adopt a
common focus on the common purpose and
objectives of our business?”
We confront the human questions together to
find answers that work.
The Need for a Value-Focused
Approach to Change Initiatives

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
Questions …
… that challenge our perspective of the world
basic drivers and beliefs
behaviour patterns
traps that cross-cultural interactions invariably bring
personal preferences
thought-provoking quotes from traditional and
modern sources
impulses from everyday life

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
Questions …
… that challenge our perspective of the world

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
The continuously evolving
dynamic interaction of
mindsets and gutsets of
actors in the system(s).
Culture

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Seven Core Layers of Culture
A
Human Being
national
culture
ethnic
culture
organisation
culture
age /
generation
gender
belief
professional
culture
Accelerating Change
Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
We do not encounter
and engage with each
other as
representatives of a
specific cultural group.
We engage as
individual human
beings with our
personal intrinsic
motivators.

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
Foundations of …
AppreciativeInquiry
Dialogue
(DavidBohm:OnDialogue)
Story-Telling
Deep Meaningful Conversations that Connect … Quickly

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
Selected Applications …
European Corporate Legal
Experts, in Austria
Social Work Leaders,
in Netherlands
International Conference for
Change Experts, in Germany
International Management
Students, in Belgium
Personal Development for
Entrepreneurs, in Germany

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
1. Introduce in Context including the client's overriding Question.
Example: "How are we going to create a generative collaborative
culture that enables our project to succeed?"
2. Group plays cultureQs
Intensive Debriefing to draw out insights and learnings
… = clarifying new perspectives …
3. Transfer: Group starts work, focused on their overriding question
Time Frame: ½ Day to 1 Day
The cultureQs Process …

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
 We went very deep very quickly.
 We went deeper into topics you wouldn’t normally talk about.
 It's about learning to listen to others.
 Everybody was included in the conversations.
 It's about the values we are supposed to share.
 It's about other people's needs and drivers.
 It generates common ground.
 It generates a shared language.
 Tough questions!
 It gives interesting mirroring back to me.
 It permitted us to put aside our masks, be ourselves, building
trust.
 This is much more than a game!
Client Feedback …

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
1. Powerful highly relevant Questions
… that can be selected according to group needs.
2. Simple rules that reflect life's unpredictable processes … and …
create space for the human complexity that pervades our
interactions.
3. Skilled Facilitated Debrief that highlights insights for everyone.
4. It's real. It's personal. It's authentic.
5. It's inclusive and moves beyond simplistic concepts of
right/wrong; positive/negative, etc.
6. It's fun!
Impact … Why cultureQs Works…

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
From a senior Organisation Development Consultant …
“cultureQs is an initiative that matters
and that can make a difference. In my
opinion any change project should be
able to call upon the community for
an intervention and follow-up.”
Client Feedback …

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
- We are experienced facilitators and change agents
- We work across the multiple layers of culture
- We understand the intrinsic nature of change and are
passionate in the belief that quality cooperation
directly influences productivity.
An Emerging Collaborative
Experimental Journey for a format
that meets our personal, professional
and economic needs, and … is aligned
with unnegotiable ethical principles.
cultureQs Community

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change

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Eric Lynn ● www.cultureQs.com
Accelerating Change
Eric Lynn
eric@cultureQs.com
Tel: +49 176 67889006
Twitter: @cultureQs
Facebook: facebook.com/CultureQs
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