Archive for category: Power

Culture Map (Renate Bia Franke)

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Bringing transparancy into the cultural patterns of organizations can help to speed up transformational change. The culture map is basically rooted in the concept of the spiral dynamics by Claire Graves but made applicable for the organisational context. It is one of theses concepts that is so useful as a frame of mind in the back of your head because “it explains the world” – as a participant called it – and at the same time it can be used as a tool through which you can look at organisations.

We will explore the map in an interactive fashion  and give you an idea of your own culture map and how you can use it in an organisational context.

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The Politics of Change (James McCalman)

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Political behaviour in organizations is an acceptable and pervasive dimension of organization life. There is a growing body of literature that views organisational politics as central to our understanding of the workings of the organization.

The main objectives of the workshop are:

  1. To examine sources of power and influence and how these interplay with change agendas and programmes
  2. Analyse conflict and experience different  techniques of dealing with difficult situations and the influence and political choices open to participants.

We provide a useful process of distinguishing between the purpose of the political act (outcomes), the behaviour itself (means deployed) and the relevant context (situational characteristics). This enables us to conclude that organisational politics occurs when goal attainment is sought by informal, rather than formal means of influence in the face of potential conflict. Therefore, participants will explore how they influence change utilising political strategies.

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Creating your future NOW, via a disruptive Story-Work approach. (Yannis Angelis)

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Can you imagine the future of your organization, department, product, yourself in a highly disruptive world? Who will be you at that time and what will be your role? How disruption will have transformed you and your work? Are you interested to explore that?

As most organizations strive for a sustainable growth in an era of constant disruption, they fall into a paradoxical mythology, the one that they are able of keeping control and remain safe as they grow towards the future, the same way they did in the past. It is inevitable that a different approach is needed to detach themselves from the paradox that this mythology provokes and move towards a new narrative which reflects the multi-directional forces of the environment that they operate. The hypothesis, which forms the basis of this highly interactive workshop, is that if one tries to create successful strategies for the future, this cannot happen today without experiencing, “playing,” and getting more familiar with the disruption itself and its consequences.

This workshop firstly aims to produce important strategic outcome on the future of whatever you would like to explore, by considering how disruptive the future may seem. Secondly, via the introduction of a serious game concept, a set of disruptive interventions are used as ignitions and catalysts for new future personal stories and organizational scenarios to emerge. The concept provides a safe space for participants to familiarize themselves with disruption and by that to experience their creative-self being liberated.

More in detail, participants will be invited to interact with each other, combine and work with what exists today in the field they are operating, and what could be the consequences of several disruptive interventions occurring in the environment (I am disrupted) or induced by them (I am the disruptor). Inspiring challenges, working with stories and scenarios, leveraging group collaboration and dynamics, storytelling, sophisticated feedback and a lot of fun is deployed during this workshop.

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The Focused Leader in Change Management (Douglas Gilbert)

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Focused leadership is crucial to the success of change management. Neuro-science based models of human interaction explain the domains of focus for leaders of change. The SCARF model, developed by Dr. David Rock, helps leaders focus on key concerns during change of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness.

The workshop provides an overview of the basics of neuro-science and change informed by the SCARF model of social interaction. Participants are then provided with a easy to use diagnostic and change process, termed RAINE, that leverages individual mindfulness to create an operating approach at the group and organizational level.

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Shifting from Power-Over to Power-With Leadership (Ute Franzen-Waschke)

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In this workshop participants will go on a quick tour around the human brain to find out where trust ‘sits’ and how fragile the notion of ‘trust’ is. The quality of our conversations and our ability to connect with our counterparts play an important role. Interaction dynamics – not only in the face of change – can be filled with conflicting beliefs about authority, leadership, power and dominance. Learning to shift into Power-With Leadership by changing conversations will promote healthy, thriving, productive workplaces where change is co-created in a trustful environment, says Judith E. Glaser from Benchmark Communications Inc and The Creating WE Institute. But how exactly?

Workshop participants will have the chance to experience a ‘brought-to-life’ version of the CHANGES® model in more depth, and share their thoughts on application and practicability in their contexts. The CHANGES® model is at the heart of a catalyst tool developed by Judith and her team, the CreatingWE DNA Index®, which helps teams and entire organizations to go through major transformations shifting from I to WE.

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Deep Democracy – An approach for Change Management (Caspar Fröhlich)

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The aim of the workshop is to present the ‘Deep Democracy’ approach and to show how that this philosophy can be applied to change management projects. The workshop consists of a short input presentation and a group exercise in which one goes through the classic phases of a (process-oriented) group process. Finally, a joint debriefing takes place. Deep Democracy is an approach that explicitly focuses on making cooperation patterns in groups transparent. There are different application possibilities, among other things in the organizational context. One possible application is change management. It is aimed at people who deal with change on a collective and individual level. Deep Democracy is more than a tool or a method. It can be relevant for OE’ler, change managers, PE managers, organizational consultants and executives (who are entrusted with comprehensive change projects).

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Process-oriented Psychology in Business (Barbara Leuner Corpina)

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The methodology describes social change processes on a individual and collective level. The methodological and ideological roots are based on C.G. Jung, constructivism, quantum physics, taoism as well as on shamanistic ground, psychodrama, gestalt and further developed by Arnold Mindell/USA. Process Work offers promising future methods, tools and attitude in dealing with individual and collective change processes. We believe that the key to solution-focused results lays within the irritation resp. resistance in itself. There, where irritations show up the most, there lies the juice, where there are unconscious, not yet known, important information to make further development possible in a larger field. Originally, Process Work comes from the therapeutical area and finds its application more and more in the business world, such as organisational development, individual and personal transformation processes, leadership, conflict resolution, be it in smaller or larger groups as well as within management coaching.
Specialities of Process Work are Deep Democracy as an attitude, field theory, polarities, area of tension and irritation, 3 levels of reality, rank and privileges, awareness of different communication signals, body work and relationship building.

The goal of the workshop is to perceive and understand the underlying structure of on-going processes, unfold the human potential for one-self as well as for the group and organisations to develop sustainable solutions and effects. Self-empowerment and activation of the resources of the group and all persons involved are keys. During the workshop theoretical-conceptional input and exercises are balanced to make space for self-reflection, exercises in pairs and working on specific topics in order to transfer it back to the teams at home. Likewise we follow the on-going process at the very moment of the group, of the seminar leader itself with a beginner’s mind and a lot of curiosity and playfulness

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Eroding the Power from within: Activist Communication (Esther Barfoot)

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Get a load of this: in the Netherlands a police officer isn’t allowed to choose the partner with whom he is teamed up in the police car. He has no say in the choice of partner who might or might not save his life in a life or death situation. Police people, nurses, teachers and many other professionals are often prevented from doing their work properly by all kinds of rules, regulations and interference by managers and other staff, based on an inherent distrust of the healthy judgement of professionals. Fortunately, in many organisations, professionals are standing up and forming movements to reclaim their own professionalism, judgement and space to do their work properly. These movements, of course, want to spread the word and communicate with the people inside and outside the movement. This calls for a different kind of communication than the classic, top down corporate communication. It is what Esther calls ‘activist communication’.

Activist communication does the following:

  • It stands between and is co-created with the innovators and change agents
  • It harvests stories from the undercurrent
  • It gives words to new concepts
  • It spreads valuable ideas
  • It keeps the dialogue alive
  • It kisses the future awake

It does this in many, often creative forms. Activist communication searches for ways to appeal to the right brain, the intuition. In this workshop Esther will talk to the participants about activist communication and her experience at – among others – the Dutch National Police (illustrated with many photos and examples). Then the participants will do the activist poster workshop she has done many times at the police and, for instance, in health care organisations. The participants develop an interesting quote or motto about something that really frustrates them in their work, makes them an feel rebellious, or alternatively something that really inspires them. Through (street) art they turn this into an appealing poster. The workshop is designed to empower participants, as well as search for ways to make progress, break down faulty systems and move from distrust to trust, while staying in conversation with the main order of things.

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Power of Looking and being looked at – The Practise of Empowering Photography (Eeva-Liisa Vihinen)

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Power issues show up in every encounter we have with other people.We can use our way of looking at each other in either oppressing critical or accepting and appreciating way. Choosing an appreciative look enables trust to emerge. We all want to be looked at and seen acceptingly an lovingly – that makes us want to give our best. One way of turning upside down and exploring the power issues in professional helping work in its different forms is the method of Empowering Photography. In the core of this method is the loving and appreciative way of looking, not really the photografic technique. With the accepting and loving look through the camera lense we can give voice and power to those who have been lacking it and thus make real the whole potential of the organisation.

In the workshop we explore and experience what happens when the power of the photographer’s look as an auteur is given to the person or group looked at. The basic method is developed by a Finnish social pedagog and photographer Miina Savolainen and is developed further by tens of pedagogs, social workers, working life developers and consultants. The method is about exploring what happens when we give up our own “knowing” and definitions and surrender ourselves for the interaction with the other. The change it produces is often a feeling of intimacy and commitment that stems form the experience of being understood. It is an ability to listen another human being with deeper concentration and a growing experience of your own ability to show love and respect. In the workshop we will throw ourselves to the process of opening up to see and be seen by each other through the camera lence. We will also be reflecting on the possibilities of the method and its basic ideas to apply on corporate issues like building a shared strategy, making all voices heard to meet the challenges and developing an appreciative and empowering culture.

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Powerful Collaboration- It´s all about relationship and rank (Barbara Leuner Corpina)

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This workshop is based on Process Work by Arnold Mindell et. al. Process Work is a paradigm how to work within companies these days. Process Work views companies as complex systems in which structural aspects, such as positions, the individuals filling them, hierarchy, larger cultural content and power dynamics inform the way the company is functioning. Process Work focuses on working with the interaction bringing out all the voices and making visible and bring to light the hidden insights and wisdom of the group. Having awareness of your own ranks helps you to understand why you may feel less powerful or abused by someone with higher rank. On the other side having awareness of your higher rank can lessen the likelihood of your using it in a way that is experienced as hurtful or abusive by someone of lower rank. Rank is described as the sum total of a person’s power and privileges at any given moment. You earn some of your power and privilege over your life, by facing life’s challenges and overcoming them. Some ranks are unearned: you acquire them by birth or social position. Rank is not constant and can change from moment to moment in a particular situation. Having more awareness of your own ranks in your relationships and talked about it, can radically change the way you interact and behave with people.

In the beginning there will be a short introduction to Process Work, different rank types, privileges and the connection to relationships. The participants will experiment with their own ranks and privileges, better understand the different rank types, identify with them in order to be more powerful and effektive at work. Furthermore, they become more sensitive to the hierarchies in the background of the relationships, roles and organisations and arrive at a strong position in terms of action. Also becoming more conscious of their own ranks and practice perceiving and enjoying them.

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