Change the Organization? Try the Bum Rush at AoC

The Age of Conversation returns and looms large as we launch the AOC Bum Rush.

Last year, more than 100 conversationalists from around the globe joined to co-author the book (originally on Lulu.com). All of the proceeds went to Variety: The Children's Charity . The proceeds continue to come in and now the book is now available on Amazon.

Here is just one of the 100+ offerings available. But the others are really good:-)

Want to Change the Organization? Change the Conversation.

Do you know that what you talk about and how you talk about it are the frameworks people use to decide who you are?

Think about your organization as a group of those people.

In organizations, what people talk about collectively--and how they talk about it--create and reflect what we like to call “culture.” Organizational culture becomes the product of the word pictures we paint as seen by us and the rest of the world.

The potential problem comes when each of us wants to mount words and their personal meaning in our own mental picture frames, set them on the credenza, and consider them a memorable experience to be re-visited and remembered as they were originally. When a new word picture comes along, we either have to buy another frame or dig in and say, “Hey, I really like what I’ve got. I don’t want to spend the time, energy, and money changing what I already like.” 

Whether it’s bringing in a new accounting system or starting an exercise program, success will come from:

Critical Conversations Reaching Critical Mass Create Meaningful Change

Forty years ago we talked about tasks, got them done, and went home. Thirty years ago we added attention to “the process” and talked about “how” we approached the task—and we spent time learning more about who we were.  And now, it’s about task + process+ meaning.  “What is it about your organization—or the change you want to make—that enhances the meaning of my life’s work?”

Shutter-click. Image. Frame.

Successful “leaders” and change agents will know that the shutter-click now is about meaningful conversations. Task-oriented memos from on high followed by employee workshops and training are no longer the message. Only relational conversations whose viral aftermath says “Hey, we ought to do this!” will  create critical mass that leads to change.

The successful New Leader will realize that organizations are now inhabited by people who are either part of the conversation or disengaged.  Internal social media will become the friend of the New Leader or the enemy of change. 

The “pictures” of the Renaissance were created by the likes of da Vinci, El Greco, and Raphael. But they were framed, given meaning, and accepted when the conversations in the courts of sponsoring nobles reached critical mass.

Critical Conversations + Critical Mass= Change.  Are you feeling Noble?

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Buy copies for you and your associates--especially the ones who need to understand more about what's happening with conversations-- then start handing them out as gifts. All proceeds go to Variety, the Children's Charity.

Comments

[Jo]

Thanks for this Steve. This is a wonderfully rich post. My head is buzzing.

But I shouldn't just take. So what can I contribute? I answered someone's question on LinkedIn about preparing for a career in OD and L&D. I think I will send her this link.

For people connecting into university curricula, I would say our field has progressed through
a) looking at behavior, stimulus-response or do-this (shutter-click)and
b) looking at goals, cognition and mental models or achieve-this (image)
to
c) an emerging level of looking at meaning. I don't have the words for the psychological model that is being used or X-this. Steve has added (frame).

Incidently, any military out there will be laughing at us quietly. They have always used this with the acronym, or similar acronyms, SMEAC. Situation, Mission, Execution, Administration, Communication. Even when I have been in "telling" situation (to use the Hersey & Blanchard model), I've found that when things have gone wrong, it was because we didn't communicate the situation effectively and people had to do their jobs blind of one or two facts which turned out to be relevant! Of course, meaning goes a lot further. Even in "telling" situations, life and work is so much more fun when we are learning other people's point of view.

Thanks so much for the post. I love the critical conversation and critical mass = critical change.

[Steve Roesler]

Good morning (EDT) Jo!

Well, I appreciate the encouragement regarding the article. As you know so well, just before clicking the "Publish" button, one always wonders if something in the post will strike a chord with the reading population.

The OD/L&d field has, indeed, changed over many years. I'm not sure, though, that it has actually been focused on producing what I would call "genuine" OD practitioners as of late. I'm seeing more and more specialists in sub-sets of OD vs. folks who have a complete systemic approach to, and knowledge of, total OD.

As for the military quietly smiling: that's where I first became interested in leadership development and eventually taught at one of the Army leadership academies. That led to going back to graduate school after my service, and then going into the corporate world. In my mind, there is still no better or more effective leader development than in the military.

Cheers!