Conference 20O4 Home |
Opening | Discovery
| Dream | Design
| Destiny
Session on Dream: Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Featuring Charlotte Dalsgaard, Judy Rodgers, and Tony Silbert
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a video clip from the Session on Dream (Real)
When we take all that we have discovered about extraordinary organizations and jointly construct clear images of our organizations expanded to their full potential, what do they look like? What value are they producing for their stakeholders and communities? What impact are they having on the world?
This session moves us from Discovery to Dream. Charlotte Dalsgaard, Judy Rodgers and Tony Silbert engage participants in looking at the critical role of the dream phase in linking the Discovery of an organization's positive core with its Designs for future action.
Jane Magruder Watkins begins the session by talking about the many conversations that are taking place online, a "virtual" and simultaneous conference.
Tony shares a personal dream he and his wife, Jennie Hetzel Silbert, created from an Appreciative Interview they held several years before, as they were dating. The positive image they collaboratively developed, based on their strengths, led to many positive actions that are bringing that image of their future to life. Tony notes that, moving from Discovery to Dream:
- What we ask determines what we Discover
- What we Discover determines how we talk
- How we talk determines how we Dream together
- How we Dream determines what we Design and create together.
Judy, referring back to the Opening Session when David Cooperrider shared his work with Global Compact, shows a short video in which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan shares his dream of the future: "a world held together by strong bonds of community…where globalization provides opportunities for all people."
Judy notes that we are being called to do "high purpose" work. The then invites the conference participants to bring Kofi Anna's lofty and inspiring dream to life: "Think about what Kofi Annan has said here and apply it to something local and immediate for you, your own organization, community, or client system."
People pair up, share dreams with each other, then three people (from Brazil, Vermont, and Sri Lanka) share their dreams, both personal and organizational, with the large group.
Judy then shared stories of three leaders she had worked with in the 1980s to demonstrate the power of image. She and Tom Peters were developing a TV program called "Leadership Alliance." One of the leaders they interviewed was Pat Corrigan who had been brought into the GM plant, essentially to help close it down. Instead of doing that, she took several actions: (1) She opened her door; (2) She converted the executive dining room into a training room; (3) She introduced herself to each person on the plant floor, shook their hand, and asked, "Do you think we can make a go of it here?" and (4) She told the Union director that she would never address the plant employees without him at her side. The plant didn't close because people began to project an image of the future for the plant.
The second leader Judy talked about was Dennis Litke, a principal of a middle/high school in Vermont. The school was having trouble with student success. The facility was dreary. Dennis met with a high school drop-out who was working at the local filling station and who also happened to be an artist. He invited the artist to paint a mural on the walls of the cafeteria. It was a beautiful image and, after that, all kinds of things started to happen.
The third story was about Green Mountain Coffee Roasters whose leadership held long conversations about whether or not they would grow their business for world benefit or whether they would benefit the world in such a way that it would grow their business. Ultimately, they decided to benefit the world in such a way that it would grow their business.
Judy also shares some stories about Jonathan Haidt's work at the University of Virginia on the positive emotion of elevation in response to witnessing acts of human moral beauty or virtue. One story was about two groups watching two different videos, one American's Funniest Home Videos and the other Mother Teresa. Those watching Mother Teresa were emotionally elevated, i.e., they were moved to affiliate with and help others. The others were not. Judy also references Martin Seligman's work on positive psychology and Barbara Fredrickson's work on positive emotions.
Charlotte talks about what we mean by dream: that it is both a process or verb, and an outcome or noun.
Dream as a verb is to imagine what is possible
Dream as a noun is a clear image of the future, which guides us in designing for action
The Dream phase, says Charlotte, is:
A time for challenging and changing our way of thinking about our future
A time for strengthening our sense of the possible
A time for developing "Ingenium" -- the productive fantasy -- to connect diverse and separate topics, to enable us to see new significant interrelationships (Vico, 1744)
A time for developing metaphors as part of the creative power of language
She continues, Dreaming is:
Practical - grounded in our positive past
Creative - seeks new possibilities
Important - allows us to push the creative edges of possibility around the organization's potential
Charlotte shares six principles for Dreaming:
- Remember the future is within us
- Be aware of the culture you "swim" in
- Remember the historical and cultural context of the images you choose
- Enhance positive emotions
- Be concrete
"The more compelling the image before us, the more committed we are to action."
Image leads to action leads to engagement.
Charlotte tells the story of Oticon, a corporation that makes hearing aids, in Denmark. Oticon was charged with developing a new product. They used Appreciative Inquiry to "make stones fly." Their developers inquired into the topic of their best development stories and came out with a new product.
Charlotte Dalsgaard, CEO of Harborhaus, has 20years of experience in helping not-for-profit, government, and corporate clients with collaborative, whole systems approaches to organization design, renewal and transformation, working environment, evaluation, and process innovation. In addition to writing and editing two books and numerous articles, she has developed several AI workshop and education programs based on AI. Charlotte has a master's in technological and socio-economic planning, a diploma in systemic OD, and a certificate in environmental technology.
Judy Rodgers is a media and communication strategist who works with Appreciative Inquiry and related conversational designs. Her work emphasizes the power of narrative as a catalyst for transformation. For the past 20 years, she has collaborated with thought leaders, such as Tom Peters and Peter Senge, in the fields of management and organizational science to translate their ideas into various media. She is project director for Images and Voice of Hope, an international conversation on the impact of the media on society.
Tony Sibert is a charter co-owner of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting and president of T3 Consulting, an organizational development practice that focuses on transformation, talent, and teaming. He has 15 years of experience in organizational development and change leadership consulting, and training design and delivery. Tony's primary areas f emphasis include AI for large-scale change/transformation, strategic planning, organization design, teaming and collaboration, and group process facilitation. He holds a master's in organization development from American University/NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science.
To view or order the DVD of this session click here.
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