What Bob Does ...

• Leading Learning Organization Seminar
• Forum Moderation
• Practitioners Seminar - A Day in the Toolshed

Leading Learning Organization Seminar

This is a learning seminar designed for senior managers, executives or executive board members. The seminar introduces or reinforces the theoretical elements needed to lead learning organizations and to give a hands on, tool based practical approach to implementation.

The five basic elements of learning organizations include shared vision, personal mastery, mental models, systems thinking and team learning. These are reviewed and put into your organizational context. The application of learning organization theory to current issues such as horizontal management, recruitment and retention, organizational effectiveness and knowledge management are explored.

In the second half of the seminar, we focus on the practical. We will look at tools such as Open Space for large group intelligence gathering, the Workout for problem solving, the Standup for effective internal communication and the Team Charter for building team commitment. Time permitting, other tools are introduced.

The seminar is informal with an emphasis on dialogue and participation. Seminars range in length from 90 minutes to a full day. They work well in either a retreat or a workplace setting and are held in a "presentation-free zone".

Forum Moderation

One of the major complaints of participants at retreats and conferences is the over use of talking heads and the lack of participation. Everything seems to fall into the standard presentation format with just a token effort at audience participation with questions and answers.

The Panel Discussion is a classic example of a good idea gone bad. These days, most panel formats look something like this: members are half hidden behind a long table, they get up to present their view (often with the ubiquitous audio visuals) and then there is a limited opportunity to ask a few questions at the end. Often there is difficulty with time, focus and energy.

Contrast this with a different style session where a skilled moderator and guests sit in comfortable chairs, engage in thoughtful conversation with the moderator and each other. This is spiced up all along by continual input from the audience.

Another opportunity for skilled moderation is with a large group in an Open Space session with 40-3000 people in a circle. This is an excellent opportunity for dialogue between the audience and the leaders or field experts. Using a roving reporter approach that ensures continued dialogue rather than talking heads, allows for a truly dynamic dimension to the "Town Hall" approach.

Moderation services must be flexible and suited to the occasion, logistics and desired outcomes. A good moderator is flexible, while at the same time promoting more conversation and less preaching.

Practitioners Seminar - A Day in the Toolshed

This is a seminar designed primarily for the person who wants to learn how to use the learning organization tools. It is of interest to facilitators, trainers, internal consultants and facilitative managers. The primary tool source guide is the "Tools for the Leadership Training" by Bob Chartier. The session is in four parts. It starts off in a practical mode with an Open Space demonstration mixed with questions and participation from the group. This is followed by a session on Learning Organization theory and the fundamental reason why we use these tools.

The next segment goes back to the hands-on work with a mock Work-Out using the Interview Matrix. Finally the last segment wraps up with a general description of many of the other tools and some dialogue on how to bring these tools into your workplace or increase their present use.

A Toolshed session can handle up to 200 people and is generally a day in length. They can be compressed into a shorter workshop format for conferences and retreats but the quantity of material and the participation level will not be as high as in the day sessions.