Nov 29 2011

Use Ethical Ploys to Change the World

In this series, I’ve been discussing the use of ethical ploys by practitioners to add value where it is needed, but not solicited. I define an ethical ploy as a “noble ruse” that guides someone toward seeing a point of view he or she might not have otherwise been open to.

In this post, I’d like to present two examples of ethical ploys that highlight the concept of enticing people, in an honorable way, to see more than they asked for or expected from a situation. As you will see, the results of either can have benefits far beyond the realization of the change goals. more

Jan 14 2011

The Learning Paradox

In this series, I’m encouraging you to review the models (concepts, approaches, and frameworks) that may have slipped into unconscious application over your years of practice. I’m also sharing a few learning-related models that have surfaced from observations in my practice. The model below is one that came to light for me as I watched people learn (or fail to learn) from their disappointments.

Model 2: Corrective Mistakes vs. Failure

In organizational transformation, clients must have lofty ambitions in order to break the gravitational pull of the status quo. However, aggressive aspirations make them risk falling short of their objectives. Many people, and even entire organizational cultures, assume they must choose between succeeding with goals that don’t challenge the current paradigm, or failing at groundbreaking—but nonetheless out-of-reach—intentions.

My experience is that clients who consistently succeed with change embrace an alternative path— more

Jun 24 2010

Patterns Aren’t Created, They Are Revealed

We don’t own patterns, yet we are all responsible for them.

Some of us might be fortunate enough to be the first to observe and document a pattern, but we didn’t invent it, we uncovered it. Adjusting to the unfamiliar has been part of the human experience since the beginning of time. Any change-related pattern we use was in play long before any of us started practicing this craft. And even though some of us have fashioned our own particular way of articulating transition dynamics (nomenclature, principles, guidelines, axioms) the basic patterns can’t be commandeered by any of us.

So, we can’t take credit for conceiving the patterns of change, but because we did discover them, we have a responsibility more