The themes and
patterns articulated during the National Leadership Development Discussions (NLDD) Design
Conference fell under two headings:
Content - what we want to talk about, learn, practice and
apply in regard to leading change
Process - the manner in which we want to participate as
learners, experimenters and critical friends.
A Content / Process matrix supports the workshop designers'
intention to provide a challenging, enlightening, relevant and productive learning
experience. Each Content "piece" can be designed to touch on all Process
expectations and vice-versa.
THE DESIGN MATRIX - A GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION - IS AVAILABLE AS
A SEPARATE RESOURCE.
To insure that all key elements reflect the collective wisdom of
the NLDD Design Conference participants, it is our intention to address each of the matrix
items, indicating what is meant or included in the word. In addition, we may offer
examples for the Workshop #1 Design Group's consideration.
A) CONTENT AREAS
What we want to talk about, learn, practice and apply in regard
to leading change.
Leadership / Learning Community
Leadership
It is the intention of the NLDD workshops to provide an
opportunity to examine both broadly known and emergent ways of thinking about leadership
for various uses. One use is to employ an adaptive, embracing model that is universally
applicable; another is as shared tools for specific instances.
We use the term Collective Leadership to indicate the shifting
and collaborative nature of group leadership, ultimately resulting in a community of
leaders.
The NLDD series is focused on identifying, developing, and
amplifying collective leadership skills and capabilities. Collective Leadership emerges
from integrated structures -- constructs occurring at the overlaps of informal systems
from numerous, engaged institutions. The focus is not on personal or individual leadership
development , which is the focus of most training and development workshops and seminars
on leadership.
Learning Community
Combining the words Learning and Community suggests two fields of
practice: learning and community building, resulting in respect, acceptance of shifting
responsibilities, and generosity of support for each other.
Learning Community further implies consciously using the
workshops as a practice field -- a place of safety where new behaviors can be 'tried on'
and honest feedback solicited, offered, and received. Characteristic of a learning
community is a willingness to listen for another's intention rather than hearing only the
words used; helping each hear and be heard.
It is our intention that the attitudes and behaviors of the
workshop participants and those with whom they interact will shift: individuals will take
on the role of leader in challenging situations, making learning (rather than being right)
an explicit intention; they will foster and reflect upon the growing sense of community;
the role of leader will be seen as transitory and available to all.
Change Process
It is possible, and the participants at the Design Conference
decided that it would be desirable to explore the process(es) of change as a major topic.
That is, to examine how and why change occurs, in a random or planned and coherent
fashion, and what are the key factors that make for successful planned change.
B) PROCESS AREAS
The manner in which we want to participate as learners,
experimenters and critical friends.
Mental Models / Metaphors
As change agents, we are challenged to make explicit -- by
metaphor or conceptual framework -- representations of the whole that are memorable,
perhaps visual, contribute to the exploration of specific change intention, reactions, and
behaviors, and are seen as useful tools to encourage the accumulation of collective
knowledge. Mental models include a variety of conceptual frameworks and multi-disciplinary
expressions that facilitate learning. Metaphors are those figures of speech that help
frame issues and ideas in ways that are more graspable, or more worth grasping.
Experiences / Case Studies / Stories
Workshop design participants said they wanted experiential
learning moments, meaning activities designed so that participants experience various
dynamics and interactions, and then have the opportunity to reflect on and learn from
them.
Case studies are descriptions, either from organizational
literature or from the actual events occurring at the grantee institutions, of strategies
and activities aimed at creating intentional change. The intention is to provide cases of
both successful and unsuccessful efforts.
Stories of others' experiences will be solicited since a story is
the next best thing to being there. Stories will be recounted in a manner that highlights
learning rather than blame or self-aggrandizement. Here too, it is desirable to have
stories of both successful and unsuccessful events.
Issues As Learning Vehicle
Compelling current issues such as tenure, compensation and
recognition are examined, not for purposes of resolving them, but rather as vehicles to
extract the learnings that have broader application for the larger system and for planned
change.
WORKSHOP DESIGN
In order to insure relevance and truly reflect the complex
systems the workshop participants work within, each learning/exploring moment may be seen
through the lens of the individual, the group, the institution, and the larger communities
in which they exist. The Design Group is asked to think in terms of learning moments being
infused with or surfacing energy and the spirit of possibility that enhances both
individual and collective learning. The intention is to produce six Workshops (more
desirable term than Symposia) over the next eighteen to twenty-four months, with a
shifting cast of participants, all of which will contribute to understanding and effecting
change at the grantee institutions, with particular emphasis on Leadership.
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