Hi Cathy, I just got back from a 4-day, technology-free vacation at the Sleeping Lady Lodge near Leavenworth with the women of my book club. Nice to get away with girlfriends! Thank you for asking these four questions and prompting me to reflect on our time together at lunch last week. My own self-organizing groups always do this for me (and always ask the best … [Read More]
Hey Doug, thanks for asking me to get more clear on this subject! I’ve only recently started thinking about this idea, which is why I am fuzzy speaking about it. What I believe I see so far has to do with perceived location of the self. That is, in the moments in which I/we think: “individual self” I am capable of leading my individual self … [Read More]
I just came across this picture of Bonzai from December 2010. Like many indoor cats, she had a thing for lying near—and ideally laying on—laptop and computer keyboards. She preferred our older Mac laptop, which put off more heat that our PCs and newer Mac laptop. Like many cats of her generation, she felt that lying on newspapers was just too old school, too 1995 … [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]
Today, for me, a self-organizing group is a collective whose members are surprised and delighted by what they become and do together. These collectives create themselves and contain members who become increasingly aware that the group is giving them more than they could imagine and plan as individuals.
Check out these two 3-minute videos of Seattle’s umbrella/singing-in-the-rain flash mob from this Saturday. The first video is a spontaneous performance in which group members decided to head over to a downtown shopping center and spread some holiday joy: Umbrella/Singing-in-the-rain mob. This video captures their performance in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. As you share the experience, what can you say about these people? what can you … [Read More]
I attended a special, brief flash mob for Father “ROG” today on the Seattle University campus. I’ve never met him, but he inspired me today. I learned that Father Rog (aka, Fr. Gillis) is an SU jesuit and teacher who has cancer and has been in the hospital. He is apparently known for dancing a signature dance–not particularly well–to start teaching sessions. The impromptu flash … [Read More]
One of my self-organizing work groups is talking about learning styles this morning. Here’s part of our discussion (and yes, as usual, the long-winded one is me). If you’re a learner, trainer, teacher, consultant, employee, manager, administrator, instructional designer, researcher, or self-org work group that has an opinion on this subject, let me know what you think. I’d love to share it with my group. Group member 1: “I … [Read More]
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