Designing Conversations to Improve Business Theory and Practice and to Encourage a More Participatory Culture in the

1. Designing Conversations to Improve Business Theory and Practice and to Encourage a More Participatory Culture in the Workplace A presentation by Skip Rowland and Jim Wolford-Ulrich at the annual conference of the International Leadership Association, Nov. 5, 2004

2. Session Outline • Dialogue as design process and product • Courageous Conversations • Definition and conceptual overview • Lessons from the field: • Using courageous conversations in the Seattle Public Schools • Skill building in a dialogue ‘practice group’ • Using structured dialogue in a business setting • Using dialogue to form a learning community • Implications for leaders • Q & A / Discussion

3. Organizational members – guided by leaders – can establish norms and protocols for communication Requires facilitated implementation: assessment / planning skill training / practice measurement / feedback Intended to complement other forms of communication – not replace them Purposes served: Divergent thinking Root cause analysis Joint application development Scenario planning / rehearse execution Create shared vision Resolve conflict Move beyond impasse Deepen trust Enhance safety and openness Build community Communication Can Be Designed

4. Design as Process / Product • Design is what leaders do – they create with others preferred social realities • Design processes are guided by vision / purpose / design intention • Design is collaborative: we “co-design” • Design – like conversation – has an emergent quality – we don’t fully know at the outset the outcome we intend • Designs that ‘work’ become ‘design patterns’ that can be adapted and fitted to new situations

5. Educational Credentials Chapman Univ - B.S. Social Science Gonzaga Univ - M.S. Management Science Seattle Univ - Ed.Doc. Educational Leadership Professional Experience Entrepreneur – Business Owner Professor of Leadership Studies Global Learner Corporate Executive Government Administrator Race Relations, U.S.A.F. Child and Family Therapist Presenter Bio

6. Courageous Conversations • Use of structured dialogue as an intervention to address racism within Seattle Public Schools. • Transformational Leadership – Leadership model for institutional change. • Culture – Groups with a socially shared meaningful structure. • Institutional Racism – Organizational behavior that systematically subordinates an individual or group.

7. The C.A.R.E. Package Learning SystemA model for structured dialogue and courageous conversations

8. Right Hemisphere Left Hemisphere Mammalian Brain Reptilian Brain The Human Brain

9. Preparation of the Imagination:Vision Building

10. Transformational Communications Sender Bridge of Trust Receiver 1. Good Ideas 2. Appropriate Language 3. Respect the Receiver 4. Read and Listen 1. Open Mind 2. Read and Listen 3. Decode 4. Respectful Feedback Feed Forward Interpersonal Gap Feed Back Reciprocal flow of influence

11. Transformational Attitudes Self Talk = Inner voice Self Image = Self Portrait Self Esteem = Feelings Self Expectation = Beliefs INPUT SOURCES FIVE SENSES Hearing Family Touch Friends Brain Taste Managers Smell BEHAVIOR Filter Peers Sight Media

12. Reaction Reactive Model Motivating Action Behavior Reflective Model Able to Respond Freedom to Design Motivating Action Behavior Goals are targets for the mind! Intention Reframing Judgment Appropriateness Responsible and Transformational Goals

13. Strategic Effort

14. Collaborative & Reflective Performance Evaluation Courageous Conversation Performance Evaluation ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Vision Communications Attitudes Goals Resources Effort Overall Score 100%

15. Additional “Lessons from the Field”

16. Field notes – Setting 1 • Dialogue “practice group” • 7+ Training and OD professionals met monthly over a period of 4 years • Format: • Check in • Dialogue • Check out • Debrief • Outcomes

17. Lessons Learned – Setting 1 • Having the ‘form’ (purpose and protocols) and the vocabulary facilitated skill acquisition • The ‘debrief’ was an important element that promoted group learning • After a “critical mass” of participants gained competence in the structured dialogue form, we felt more free to improvise and adapt the form • When new members entered the group, it helped to go back to using the form and protocols

18. Field notes – Setting 2 • High tech, telecom R&D company • Fast-paced, action-oriented culture • As an outgrowth of a middle-manager leadership development program, multiple work groups become intentional around ‘learning organization’ skills: • Personal mastery • Team learning • Dialogue • Shared vision • Mental models • Systems thinking • HR & learning and development staff formed a ‘community of practice’

19. Lessons Learned – Setting 2 • Expect frustration and a perceived sense of failure / irrelevance at first • Readiness is key • Embed the practice of dialogue in solving real problems • Example: two work teams discovering they were ‘accidental adversaries’ • Scatter the seeds widely and water liberally

20. Field notes – Setting 3 • Teaching masters-level students team learning concepts & skills: • Left hand column • Ladder of inference • Balancing advocacy with inquiry • These became ‘building block’ core competencies for self-leadership and for productive group processes

21. Lessons Learned – Setting 3 • Concepts are relatively easy to understand, but frustratingly difficult to practice, let alone master • Having a shared vocabulary enables peer coaching, feedback • Over time, these skills can be instilled in the culture of a learning community / cohort • Modeling the skills (e.g., by faculty) is essential • These are core “self-leadership” competencies and form the basis for a transforming leadership practice as described by Quinn, Kegan, and others

22. Courageous ConversationsReflective Exercise • Pair off in twos. • Write the words “Black” and “White” on your pads. • Write down under each word the emotions you associate with that word. • Summarize your findings. • Report out to the large group.

23. Implications for Leaders • Important conversations can and should be designed • “Producing intentional change is facilitated by intentional communication” (Ford & Ford). • Change happens in dialogue • Conversation is not merely planning for change that will occur later. • Dialogue and collaborative inquiry promote generative learning • Dialogue enables followers to do the ‘adaptive work’ leadership requires (Heifetz).

24. Guidelines for Action* • Create space for dialogue and conversation • Generate awareness, cultivate skills • Build in continuous feedback • For example, by using facilitators & mentors, providing open forums, and encouraging reflection • Create individual and collective scenarios for desired futures • Trust the process *Adapted from Kurt April (1999) in Leadership & Organization Development Journal

25. Your thoughts and questions? Thank You!

26. Skip Rowland, Ed.D. Professor of Leadership & Management Sciences Antioch University 2326 Sixth Ave. Seattle, WA 98121 P: 253.839.6321 C: 206.227.7215 E: skip@bannercross.com Jim Wolford-Ulrich, Ph.D. Team Leader, Leadership Faculty School of Leadership & Professional Advancement Duquesne University 600 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15282 P: 412.396.1640 F: 412.396.4711 E: ulrich@duq.edu Presenter Contact Info

27. References • April, K. A. (1999). Leading through communication, conversation and dialogue. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 20(5), 231ff. • Ford, J. D., & Ford, L. W. (1995). The role of conversations in producing intentional change in organizations. The Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 541ff. • Whyte, D. (2004). Five conversations on the frontiers of leadership. Leader to Leader 33, 20-24.

28. Additional Slides

29. Adopt Make Reach Add Start With Beliefs & Assumptions Inferences Conclusions Personal/Cultural Meaning Observable Data The Ladder of Inference

30. Dialogue & Mental Models • “We are coming to believe that this ‘slip ‘twixt cup and lip’ stems, not from weak intentions, wavering will, or even non-systemic understanding, but from mental models. More specifically, new insights fail to get put into practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting.” Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline

31. What I’m Thinking (or Feeling) What Is Said Left Hand Column Exercise “Tacit Assumptions Which Govern our Conversation and Contribute to Blocking our Purpose in Real Life Situations”

32. The Left Hand Column (LHC) • What led me to think and feel this way? • What was my intention? • Did I achieve the results? How? • How did my comments contribute to the difficulties? • Why didn’t I share my left hand column? • What assumptions am I making about others? • What is the cost of operating this way? • What was the other person’s LHC? Note: Some LHC thoughts should stay hidden!

33. Advocacy / Inquiry Protocols • Improve Advocacy • Make your thinking process visible • Publicly test your conclusions and assumptions • Walk up the ladder slowly • Improve Inquiry • Ask others to make their thinking visible • Use unaggressive language • Compare your assumptions to theirs • Gently walk others down your ladder

34. Intentional Dialogue Principle 1 • Suspend Judgment • Avoid categorizing people based on their ideas. • Avoid jumping to conclusions. • Question your own assumptions.

35. Intentional Dialogue Principle 2 • Speak from Awareness • Be aware of others around you. • Listen intently to what is said and what is not said. • Be aware of yourself and how you are feeling. • Speak from personal experience. • Speak when moved -- not just to break a silence.

36. Intentional Dialogue Principle 3 • Hold the Space for Difference • Be slow to respond to others' ideas. • Entertain multiple views of reality. • Accept that others don't see reality the way you do.

37. Intentional Dialogue Principle 4 • Speak to the Center • Disassociate what is said from who said it (and from what his or her position in the organization is). • Respond to ideas, not to people. • Honor the collective mind.

38. Intentional Dialogue Principle 5 • Balance Advocacy and Inquiry • Share your left hand column. • Make your thinking process visible. Walk others up your ladder of inference slowly. • Publicly test your conclusions and assumptions. • Ask as well as tell. Invite others to slowly walk you down their ladder of inference. • It’s okay to wonder out loud.

39. The “Check In” Process What is a “check-in”? How does it work? • Everyone (in no special sequence) says something about “where they’re at” -- then says “I’m in.” • Members speak when they feel moved, not merely to fill the silence between others’ talking. • Comments are fairly brief and may be about their personal life, things they are excited about, potential distractions, or just how they feel at the moment -- whether ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ • The check-in is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of everything that has happened to the speaker since the group last met! • Others accept whatever is said -- without commenting, responding or taking responsibility for how others are feeling. Whatever is – just is. • Other members acknowledge each person’s presence with a “Welcome!” or “Thank you!”

40. Benefits of the “Check-In” The “check-in” may appear to be an artificial group ritual. Here’s the substance behind it: • Encourages participation • Symbolically gives everyone a voice • Reinforces a climate of safety, since whatever is said is accepted • Helps each participant become more aware of his or her own inner states and feelings and how they may be affecting their participation in the group • Helps each person be present and focused on the here and now • Encourages people to speak personally (e.g., by using “I statements”) and thus to take responsibility for their own feelings and actions

41. The “Check Out” Process What is a “check-out”? How does it work? • A “Check-out” is often used to conclude a conversation, meeting or series of meetings that was opened with a “check-in.” • Everyone (in no special sequence) says something about “where they’re at” after – and as a result of – the conversation(s) they’ve just experienced. The traditional closing words are “I’m out.” • Members speak when they feel moved, not merely to fill the silence between others’ talking. • Comments are fairly brief and reflect how they feel at the moment: • Members share a key insight they gained, a fear they have about going back to ‘reality,’ a word of appreciation, or any other thoughts or feelings -- whether ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ • Others accept whatever is said -- without commenting, responding or taking responsibility for how others are feeling. Whatever is – just is.

42. Rationale for the “Check-Out” The “check-out” is a useful conversational form for several reasons: • Meets a psychological need people have for closure. • Reinforces a safe communication climate, since whatever is said is accepted. • Members will be more likely to participate in the group in the future if they experience that their thoughts and ideas are accepted. • The discipline of a check-out maintains the integrity of the conversation(s) which precede it. • Like bookends which keep a row of books upright, the check-in and check-out encourage participants to keep their conversation focused, intentional and purposeful. Note: a check-out may be followed by a ‘debrief,’ in which participants comment on how well they kept the form of the check-in, meeting or dialogue, and/or check-out. • Reflections about how well group members performed in any of these relative to their stated purpose belong in a debrief, not the check-out.

43. Five Courageous Conversations We Need to Have* We need to have the conversation we’re not having . . . • with the unknown future - what lies over the horizon • with a present customer, a patient, a vendor, who all represent the future as it's lapping up against the side of our organization • between different divisions of the organization • in our work group, among our colleagues - people we see every day, or people we e-mail or talk to on our cell phone every day • with that tricky moveable frontier called ourself Source: David Whyte in Leader to Leader (Summer 2004)

44. The ‘what happened?’ conversation The ‘feelings’ conversation The ‘identity’ conversation Source: Stone, Patton, Heen & Fisher. (1999). Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most Conversations for Initiating Understanding Performance Closure Source: Ford & Ford. (1995, July). The Academy of Management Review. Types of Conversations