Quick update for those of you who are here with me weekly. My neighbors who were fighting to save their house won! They get to stay! Lori’s headline: Self-organizing group saves itself—community helps! http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2011/10/24/mitchells-get-new-loan-plan-can-keep-their-21st-ave-home. Woo hoo! Ok, now for the 12 tips… If you haven’t heard, Bas and I have just begun research for a series of eBooks we’re writing together. I got these tips … [Read More]
I spend all my time working with and as self-organizing groups and reflecting on what we experience and learn together. Thanks to these groups, I live my life in a very good mood: to the point that, most days, it’s hard to wipe the smile off my face. I recently saw this same experience on the face of a person next to me at Skillet … [Read More]
Last week I spoke to three groups at the International Society for Performance Improvement annual conference about how to rapidly foster self-organizing work groups. First attendees identified their own self-organizing groups by writing down the names of people and groups who came immediately to mind for them in response to the following statements: I get more from the group’s spontaneity than I do from my … [Read More]
I’ll be speaking at the ISPI conference in Orlando in a few weeks (Wednesday morning, April 13th) on this subject. Hope to see some of you there. Here’s the 2-page handout… 7 Tips for Rapidly Fostering Self-Organizing Work Groups As an individual: Prioritize working/being with people who help you trust your instincts while stretching/expanding those instincts. As you can, let go of people and groups that … [Read More]
Self-organizing work groups value collective spontaneity over individual ideas and planning. For me, there’s just no other way of working that’s as interesting, rewarding, fun, and impactful. The tradeoff, though, is that I can’t individually control/plan my way into a self-organizing work group the way I individually planned my way into groups in the past. To become part of a group that values collective spontaneity over individual planning, I’ve learned that I have to prioritize “spontaneous Lori” above “planning Lori.” And I have to actually listen to spontaneous Lori, God help me.
Continuing from previous blog. The last two things I see in these groups that helps them sustain themselves are that: 7. As a group, they rely on the group’s strengths (and notice that this is happening) Group members do this in the moment—sometimes talking about it and often not. Here are several examples I’ve seen in the groups I study and am part of: Members … [Read More]
Continuing from previous blog on the subject of sustaining self-organizing work groups. 6. As a group, they become better able to embrace and appreciate: A. Being learners B. Their own and others’ differences C. Their own and others’ limitations And they make the time to notice that this is happening to them. This sustains the group… A. Being learners In the groups I’ve studied and … [Read More]
Continuing from last week’s blog. Here’s more on ideas 4 and 5… 4. As a group, they become more open and visible over time (and can notice this is happening) The self-organizing groups that I’ve studied and been part of make their creating, brainstorming, and trouble-shooting sessions as visible as possible in their environments and are able to become more so over time. That is, … [Read More]
These eight ideas are based on the 18 groups I’ve studied to date and am studying now. They are a summary of what I’ve seen these groups demonstrate so far. In the coming weeks’ blogs I plan to discuss these ideas in detail, using examples from the groups themselves. My research allows me to see self-organizing work groups existing and moving in their organizations as … [Read More]
Three years ago when I was asked this question for the first time, off the top of my head I said something like “That with the right group of people, I can do anything.” Luckily for me, because I’m a researcher, that impromptu comment was recorded. I got to listen to it over and over for an entire year as I sought to understand what … [Read More]
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