Free view of Longevity videos have been extended to July 7th

Free view of Longevity videos have been extended to July 7th

I have viewed all videos. They are agents of  change. 

Viewing them has indeed changed my life. I am making radical positive changes to my personal health culture.

Let me explain why I have included this link here. My career has shifted. It has transformed. That means that the old caterpillar has become a new butterfly. The key here is that DNA from my almost 50 year career is still the core of who I am and what I do and how I perform. 

My new mission is to help external and internal change agents transform themselves in the context of transforming and changing whole systems. No one that I know of has this same mission… especially when you understand how and why I have this as my transformed mission.

 This is where I believe change managment must go and I am starting to see the field move toward the view that I have held since the early 1970’s when I coined the phrase “Whole System Transformation.”

 Change must start with our selves. These videos will challenge dramatically any one who views them. The future is here. Soon the world will become educated on the new wholistic health scientific discoveries.

Each and every one of the world’s systems will be drastically challenged to adjust to the new transformations coming in Health, Nano-Technology and Globalization. Each and every one of us is concerned with our health. This is especially so when we are ill. These videos put us in control of our life and energy and happiness. Enjoy.

Oh the stories I have around working with David Wolf and the instigator of these conferences… Len Foley. I advised on the design of the early conferences. I am still advising Len. We need to get them to engage the people. In my world, the sages on the stage must be replaced with the guides on the side. At least, we need more dialoge with the audience from points of application table work. David suggests that participants take away a couple of action items. I want them to leave with a comprehensive family change plan. Oh well. In time the conferences will evolve. Who can argue with their phenomenal  success. 

Over 25,000 people crashed the web site from around the world for these videos the first day. Thus the offer has been extended with now a larger server. 

In any case, Len and David have really learned to transcend and work with the establishment. Dr. Hal, the number 1 change agents for dentistry in the world, here has learned with work with the establishment.  You listen to him closely and I will promise you that you will attend to your teeth in a better way. His research is just plane shocking. Yes. If some of you are like me, you have neglected your teeth or have previous tooth care that right this minute damaging your heath. 

Back to the establishment like these pioneer health care professionals have learned to master, I have learned to work with the establishment. I can authentically work with any different view. Why? Because being an effective change agent in the facilitative style I have requires me to be totally neutral. I am an Applied Behavioral Scientist.  I make no judgments non-related to process. I help all systems get in touch with their own values. I have no other motivation other than to help as long as what I do is legal and ethical. I accept all people where they are. Edie Seashore (the God mother of OD)  dramatically helped me with this (privately I will tell you the story).  I love all. Muslims, Hindus, nerds, criminals, especially the poor and even Conservative Catholics. And yes, I believe in the USA justice system and the soon coming world wide justice system.  I have learned to help anyone to become more of their ethical best.

I say all the above to prepare you for the videos. Because they will challenge each and every one of you. Most are not ready to learn and change. That is fine. You will just miss out on the new future that is here now. 

Thus…. I hope a few of you benefit from these videos.

 Some videos are better than others. I suggest you look at the presenters Bio’s first and then go to the ones that strike your highest interest first. 

Let me know if they changed your life.

CC: David Wolf and Len Foley 

A strong Appreciative Inquiry Interview for Research

A strong Appreciative Inquiry Interview for Research

As some of you may know, Professor Rothwell and I have been doing competency research around change since the mid-80s.

One of his doctoral candidates at Penn State interviews me on our current iteration of appreciative inquiry competency research.

I muster up courage to share strong opinions on appreciative inquiry (AI) and organization change.

One dramatic statement I make is that I believe it’s better to actually apply appreciative inquiry to change an organization than to have a workshop on appreciative inquiry. I believe experiencing it with a seasoned practitioner will allow one to learn far more real time than in a training session

Two Free Whole System Transformation Webinars for ISOD- One for Asia and One for USA

I will be sharing my key learnings from 50 years of experience in 12 universal and essential elements that I believe any change agent best attend to if they wish to be greater in helping our organizations become greater.

USA, Africa and Europe: Webinar #1: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
http://is.gd/uqNKmk

Asia-Pacfic: Webinar #2: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
http://is.gd/8u8rFB
You may need to copy and past the above link in your browser for your part of the world to register.

Be sure to click the “Show time in my time zone” link to verify the local time.

Both Webinars will follow the same structure yet the content and stories will be geared to West in February and to the East in March.

Those who prevail in either session will be given a private link to download over 40 free resources supporting Roland’s practice.

PUBLISHED WST Chapter

Recent research from CEOs indicate their intense and urgent interest and leading and sustaining an ongoing change agent organization.

Futurist, David Hule, says, “We have left the information age and are moving into the “Shift Age”. Everything is in a state of shift. Companies and leaders need to be able to transform their company if they’re going to succeed in the next 10 years.”

This session will share a researched and proven methodology to transform organizations.

Whole System Transformation best starts by having each executive and the team as a whole transform themselves before they initiate full engagement for enterprise-wide systemic and systematic change.

Come and hear how we have taken whole system change and large group work of Kathy Dannemiller, Dick Beckhard and Bob Tannenbam to new levels. The aforementioned, God rest their souls, were key in the start up of Whole System or Comprehensive Organization Development Service.

In sum, the purpose of this presentation is to share the theory and proven best practice around guaranteed transformation of the leadership team as a prelude to their leading a dynamic shift for their entire enterprise.

Expected learning for you:

• Bringing alive the Whole System TransformationTM Model
• Understanding the driving principles of this engaging, powerful and
innovative approach to realizing human talent and economic
performance
• Utilization of a magical methodology that has been built off the innovative large
group work of Kathy Dannemiller, Dick Beckhard and Bob Tannenbam.
• Being exposed to a step-by-step process to transform the
leadership team.
• Sharing summaries of several application cases
• How to access additional resources following up on topics that
are not available to the public.

Who should attend:
Directors, VP’s, and SVP’s of HR, Organization Development, Organizational Learning, Leadership Development, Human Resources Development, Change Management and most of all, those who wish to be professional Change Agents!

Note the rise in the stock market from a recent client. We worked starting in October and our last meeting was in March. The stock price is even higher today.

The company was awarded one of the ten most important companies in the country by the President. The CEO texted and said the recognition would not have happened without our WST intervention. This country has the chance of leading the world in all aspects by the end of the century.

NO! The magic is not because of who Roland Sullivan is. It is because of the foolproof processes that has been re-engineered from founders of the Organization Development profession. And the beauty is… we can teach it to YOU!

We believe that 80% of current OD practices are missing opportunities. We strongly believe and have research to support my belief that the “WHOLE SYSTEM” best be involved in any transformation effort.

We know of no better way to “Teach the Elephant to Dance” that is, empower the enterprise to change in a positive manner.

We will also share using our process with one of the largest European corporations.

Here is the executive team having a dialogue with all. The greatest joy for me was to be emailed a year after I was finished helping them. The internal change agent said that “ALL” agreed that they had just had their greatest summit ever. I was not even present. I did hear that the presence of my spirit was there. My aim is to break the dependence on external help and leave them with the competence to sustain the journey.

Roland with Sushama Khanna the daughter of the late Dr. Pareek who brought OD, HR, HRD, T & D, OB and the concept of Feedback first to Asia from Columbia University and NTL in the 50’s.

Roland is one of the original 100 change agents. He is a second-generation organization development (OD) consultant. He started his organization change learning with a Charlie Seashore NTL T-Group in 1962. He has led change efforts in over 1000 organizations in 35 countries. He has taught OD at 15 universities,
Editing 20+ change management books, including the popular Third Edition of Practicing Organization Development, has kept him in touch with best practices. He is known for “actually” transforming whole systems in large group interactive events. His focus is on transforming a leadership team and the critical mass that they lead. Special emphasis is on transferring change agent competency to an internal change agent. Sustainable and extraordinary positive change is the norm.
He founded the award wining Minnesota OD Network in 1974 and Asian OD Network in 2004, whose membership has grown quickly. The next conferences will be in the Philippians, Japan and Indonesia.
He led the Organization Development Institute’s competency committee starting in the 70’s. The 21st revision soon through ISOD will be authored and set to video.
He has a masters’ degree in OD from Loyola in Chicago and Pepperdine in Los Angeles.
Roland considers his identity and citizenship, global.

The Essence of OD via Harvard

One of the newly rising authors that I have come to respect extensively is: Gervase R. Bushe Ph.D.

He writes with great articulation in our 3nd edition of practicing OD.
He has submitted a new chapter to Lou Carter and myself as we revise Change Champions. He ends his chapter with the following quote from Dr. Beer, also in my 3nd addition and a very influential professor on my thinking.

“Summing up 20 years of studying organizational change and development, Harvard professor Michael Beer recently concluded, “The development of an effective organization requires honest (the unvarnished truth about the system is revealed), collective (a critical mass of key stakeholders inside and outside the organization), and public (what is learned and actions taken is known to everyone) conversations about the alignment of the organization with the senior team’s espoused strategy and values.”

I share this with you because I really believe this is the essence of what organization development offers distinctively different than the other consults. And I believe that whole systems transformation (WST)  and especially the large group conversations clearly is one answer to the challenge that he is proposing.

Dr. Beer and I have had several conversations around how WST support his theory.
Few can align a top leadership like he can. Of course, he is also expensive and it is quite laborious because he sells in his process numerous experts pontificating the Harvard theories and research. I find executives say they do not care very much about the theory. They just want to be led through an experience of effective transformation. Still, effective consultation requires stellar research behind interventions. As the famed Lewin said, that “There is nothing so practical as a sound theory.”

Tannenbaum – self change

Roland Sullivan • I am spending the Memorial Holiday fasting, in silence and in meditation.
That is how I change my self.

My mentor, Dr. Bob Tannenbaum coined the phrase “self as instrument of change”. His last writing is in my Practicing OD. Second edition. Wiley tells me it is now on line. His chapter is not in my third edition. I think I must bring it back to the Fourth edition.

The last paragraph of Bob’s last published words. He is writing about great performers.

“It certainly isn’t magic; it just seems that way. It is really art. And although there is a simplicity and apparent effortlessness in their interventions, it is often hard work. At their best, these practitioners are artists. They certainly are not perfect in any respect, and they have their lows as well as their highs. But they do have high batting averages. They are not all-wise, but they have a professional wisdom. They are not all-feeling, but they are appropriately ¬sensitive. And no matter how competent they are seen and experienced by peers, they do continue to monitor themselves, and they continue to seek new learning.
Being an artist in this work means not just being a sum of your parts, but something much more than that. Your being and its expression in action reflect this little-understood process of integration into an effectively functioning professional and person. As you move toward such integration, such wholeness, you are indeed moving toward artistry.”

Thus, I have taken his concept of “wholeness” and expanded it beyond the individual to the entire organization. Yes the whole organization must monitor itself and continue to seek new learning.

Bob changed my life. Let’s you and I change other people’s lives.

Bob may to this day have the most reprinted HBR article. He introduced participative leadership way back maybe in the late 50’s or early 60’s. He was a man ahead of his times.

Transformation ..published by John J. Scherer, Gina Lavery, Roland Sullivan, Ginger Whitson and Elizabeth Vales

Transformation
There is change and there is transformation. Change is altering something within the given parameters of the situation, but keeping the fundamentals basically the same, like going faster in first gear. Some examples include changing to a new Performance Management Process, installing a different Information Technology platform, sending everyone through a training program, merging two organizations, or reducing the workforce. These interventions are often necessary—but are rarely sufficient to transform an entire system. Something else may be needed – not “more-of-the-same-only-different,” which is change, but something entirely different – like shifting into another gear, or as a more powerful analogy, leaving your car to use a plane to get where you are headed.
We use the image of the quantum leap, which is what happens when an electron makes a shift to another state within an atom (Zukav, 1979). The actual shift from one “shell” to the next does not happen gradually over time. It is discontinuous. One moment the atom is in one state with a certain configuration among its electrons; the next instant it is in another state, which dramatically alters the nature of the atom. In the vernacular, “quantum leap”’ has come to mean a relatively small “jump” that makes a huge difference, and happens all at once.
This jump is what we refer to as transformation. Transformation is a sudden shift that is so profound that the old situation and the way you saw that situation are either left behind or are subsumed into a new way of seeing and doing things. It is actually a new way of being that alters the system’s relationship to what is happening. Chapter co-author Gina Lavery refers to it as the “birth” of a new view because it can be painful, uncomfortable, messy and unpredictable.
Transformation means “going back to zero” and re-thinking the fundamental principles and paradigms on which you are basing what you do and how you do it. When you make a
quantum (transformational) leap, there is a shift in the way the world occurs for people, such as:
• The strategic intention or the ‘Big Idea’ behind the enterprise is understood and embraced by a majority of the organization.
• Employees start working together in completely new ways.
• A sense of accountability and ‘ownership’ becomes personal and present at all levels in the system.
• Leaders lead from a more authentic, related and integrated stance.
• Decision-making becomes more collaborative, and conflicts are handled instead of avoided.
• Communication becomes more honest, especially up the organization.
Change is always embedded in transformation, but the opposite is rarely the case.

Implementing WST Processes
In virtually every request for transformation, some or all of the following elements are present. First, there is an awareness among a few key leaders that “things are not working,” that there are forces and/or factors at work in the organization’s world that must be reckoned with, and that some units—or the entire system—would benefit from breakthroughs that lead to higher levels of effectiveness or performance.
Second, those same leaders have had some kind of a transformational experience that allows them to see that the normal ways the system addresses situations like this are not likely to work, and that they must take a radically different approach. It is important to have a senior leader in the system who sees or wants transformation for the organization, and is well-positioned and willing to be a strong “champion” in making it happen.
Finally, the notion that the “answers” or “‘solutions” are already in the system somewhere, rather than existing only in the reports of expert external consultants—or in senior management. The developed leadership core must realize that there is a lot more potential to be actualized.

from my friend, Deon, on employee engagement

Managing the Employee Stakeholder is of far more strategic importance than
most managers realise.

Not only are they an organisation’s most important ambassadors but engaging
the hearts and minds, and not just their hands is crucial to building a
favourable reputation in the minds of other stakeholders.

An organisation by the way obtains its reputation from the way the
organisation is perceived by its various stakeholders. Some research shows
that as much as 55 – 73% of a company’s stock price comes from its
reputation. Other studies show that Loss of Reputation is the biggest risk
that organisations can face.

Recently I was asked to facilitate a workshop on Strategic Employee
Engagement at a PR Conference – I thought I would share some things:

What is Strategic Employee Engagement?

“The state of emotional and intellectual commitment of a person, group or
organisation to the entity with whom they are employed.” Source: Hewitt

Engagement defined as “employees who are mentally and emotionally invested
in their work and in contributing to their employer’s success.”

It is also interesting to note what Jack Welch had to say about it: “It goes
without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run
without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to
achieve it. That’s why you need to take the measure of employee
engagement at least once a year through anonymous surveys in which people
feel completely safe to speak their minds.” (Jack Welch, Former CEO, General
Electric)

One of the best studies that I have seen on the subject – ASTD Engagement &
Learning Study 2007

Regards,

Deon Binneman
Speaker, Seminar Leader & Management Consultant in Reputation Management
Because YOUR REPUTATION matters……..!

definition of od

for my friends at ODN list serve… the following is to large to post on the list serve so here it is here.

I specially define OD for each client system i enter

my second edition had a most comprehensive definition. The following is from the edition just released.

Roland Sullivan.

Organization Development Defined
According to Clardy (2003, p. 785):

“The field of planned organization change was long equated
with organization development (OD). OD proponents were
up-front with the bona fides of their approach: full disclosure,
informed consent, inclusive participation, and so on. These
canons of OD provided the principles and practices that could
be applied to any organizational change project. Yet, for a
number of years, standing alongside the OD literature were
smaller volumes (Zaltman & Duncan, 1977) that did not so
neatly fit the OD mold. By these accounts, the geography of
organizational change management was bigger than that
encompassed by OD.”

While some might disagree with the assertions in the preceding
paragraph, those assertions are effective in helping readers to clarify their
beliefs about the field of OD and to recognize that there are multiple ways of
defining the field.

Over the years, OD has been defined and redefined by just about every
author who has written about it. Here are a few definitions, organized
chronologically, that represent a range of ways to understand OD:
 Organization development is “an effort (1) planned, (2)
organization-wide, and (3) managed from the top, to (4) increase
organization effectiveness and health through (5) planned
interventions in the organization’s “processes,” using behavioralscience
knowledge” (Beckhard, 1969, p. 9).

 Organization development is “a response to change, a complex
educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes,
values, and structure of organizations so that they can better adapt
to new technologies, markets, and challenges, and the dizzying rate
of change itself” (Bennis, 1969, p. 2).

 Most people in the field agree that “OD involves consultants who
work to help clients improve their organizations by applying
knowledge from the behavioral sciences—psychology, sociology,
cultural anthropology, and other related disciplines. Most would
also agree that OD implies change and, if we accept that shifts in
the way an organization functions suggests that change has
occurred, then, broadly defined, OD is analogous to organizational
change” (Burke, 1982, p. 3).

 Organization development is “a systemic and systematic change
effort, using behavioral science knowledge and skill, to change or
transform the organization to a new state” (Beckhard, 1999,
personal communication- dick and I created this on the phone…. Days before he died the day he closed up his NTL Bethel Cabin for the last time.— roland ).

 Organization development is “a process that applied a broad range
of behavioral science knowledge and practices to help
organizations build their capacity to change and to achieve greater
effectiveness, including increased financial performance, customer
satisfaction, and organization member engagement” (Cummings &
Worley, 2009, p. 1).

These definitions imply several key points:
First, OD is long-range in perspective. It is not a “quick-fix” strategy
for solving short-term performance issues, as employee training is often
inappropriately perceived to be. Many managers are becoming acutely aware
of the need to move beyond quick and often unworkable solutions for
complex organizational problems. Organization development is a means to
bring about complex, deep, and lasting change. This may include any domain
in the organization that is in need of discovering ways to improve
performance. Traditional OD asserts a need for patience and a long-term
effort in order to achieve deep and significant change. In many organizations
OD is coupled with strategic business planning, a natural fit because both can
be long-range in scope. For more information on OD and strategy see
Chapters Sixteen and Eighteen.

Second, OD works best when it is supported by top managers. They
are traditionally the chief power brokers and change agents in any
organization; top managers often control an organization’s resources and
reward systems. Although OD efforts can be undertaken at any organizational
level without direct top-management participation, OD is more likely to
succeed if it has at least tacit approval from top management.

Third, OD effects change primarily, although not exclusively, through
education. Organization development expands people’s ideas, beliefs, and
behaviors so that they can apply new approaches to old states of existence.
Even more important, OD change efforts go beyond employee-training efforts
and concentrate on the work group or organization in which new ideas,
beliefs, or behaviors are to be applied. Organization development has often
been synonymous with organization learning (Argyris, 1993, 2004; Bennis,
1969; Kanter, 1995; Lippitt, 1958; Senge, 1990; Vail, 1996). Peter Senge
(1990, p. 13) says, “A learning organization is a place where people are
continually discovering how they create reality and how they can change it.
Organization-wide learning involves change in culture and change in the most
basic managerial practices, not just within a company, but within a whole
system’s management. . . . I guarantee that when you start to create a learning
environment, people will not feel as though they are in control.”
The words change and learning are often used to mean the same thing.
Consider, for example, the title of a classic book, The Laboratory Method of
Learning and Changing, by OD founders Benne, Bradford, Gibb, and Lippitt
(1975). Many of these early leaders of the field were innovative educators.
Many OD founders were leading educators. They saw as one of OD’s major
goals was to innovate and re-invent education. It is important to remember
that learning is broader than education, and learning occurs outside classroom
settings. For instance, how a manager or consultant models behavior provides
an important learning lesson for others, who may be inclined to imitate how
their leaders behave.

Fourth, another OD effort that is interrelated to organization learning is
knowledge management (KM). KM focuses on organization learning as it
transforms to elicit tacit knowledge and new knowledge that can be organized
and used to improve performance (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Many case
studies on KM as it relates to OD are available in Harvard Business Review
and the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL: http://www.solonline.org).

Fifth, OD emphasizes employee participation in assessing the current
state and in planning for a positive future state; making free and
collaborative choices on how implementation should proceed; and,
empowering the system to take responsibility for creating and evaluating
results. In this sense, OD differs from other methods that hold managers or
consultants responsible for the success or failure of a change effort. In OD at
its best, the entire system is accountable rather than just management. Further,
in OD, everyone in an organization who is affected by change should have an
opportunity to contribute to—and accept responsibility for—the change.
Organizational effectiveness and humanistic values meet as employee
ownership of processes and outcomes increases. Although early OD
contributors did not focus on business effectiveness it has become equally
important in OD ideology over the past decade (Gottlieb, 1998).

Roland—it then goes on to say what OD is not.. just as master, Earon , suggests………..