Designing Strength Based
Organizations
“An Emerging Practice Workshop”
With
Bernard J Mohr & Bob Laliberté
Innovation Partners International
Nancy Shendell-Falik
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, NJ
Bob Belanger
Certainteed / St Gobain
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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During the next 6 ¼ hours, we will, with your participation
attempt the following death defying feats!
a) Co-develop description of a “Strength Based
Organization”
b) Learn about three “levels” of designing
c) Experience a “mini” Appreciative Design process
d) Hear about and discuss two great examples of
Appreciative Designing
e) Talk about “Appreciative Designing” and a 4 phase
process for it at the “whole organization” level
f) Translate today’s ideas into the realities of your
“back-home” situations
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Strength Based Organizations
• What characterizes them?
• How well do they perform?
• What results can they achieve?
• Unique day to day management challenges?
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
3
Strength Based Organizations
The Strength Based Organization (SBO) is a
manifestation of Peter Drucker’s
invitation to us:
“The task of leadership is to create an
alignment of strengths in ways that make
the organizations weaknesses irrelevant.”
Let’s make sense of this by reflecting on our
own experiences and by responding to a
few questions…
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
4
Strength Based Organizations
1. What organizations do you know that exemplify
the Strength Based Organization as you imagine
it to be?
2. What are the daily strength based processes,
practices, systems or structures within these
organizations that align strengths in ways that
make the organizations weaknesses irrelevant?
3. How do these organizations bring meaning and
value to people’s lives, their customers and the
world?
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Strength Based Organizations”
What characterizes them?
•
Constant visioning of the individuals and
organization in action
•
The Positive Core, the organization’s DNA,
is made public and continually utilized
•
Relationship building through positive
disclosure
•
Story telling is valued as a process for
communicating the complex knowledge
amd wisdom of the organization
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
6
Strength Based Organizations
What characterizes them?
• Groups of people routinely meet with
purpose and intention… instead of deadly
agendas, sincere inquiries abound
• Individuals/teams routinely volunteer in
areas of strengths
• There is a constant reframing of problems
to opportunities… resilience abounds
• Diversity of perspective is encouraged cross-team, cross-department and crossorganization work… and valued
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Strength Based Organizations
What characterizes them?
•
People are hired for their strengths…
followed by focusing on what qualities
caused the hire and then developing
these even further.
•
Coaching and mentoring aims to bring
out peoples best (rather than
“constructive feedback” intended to
“fix” people)
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Strength Based Organizations
How they perform?
•
•
•
•
•
•
As part of the ONGOING visioning process, people
buy-in… they demonstrate ownership
Enthusiasm and creativity keep the organization
fresh and continually improving
People rally quickly to resolve challenges… they
take action because they are confident in their
strengths
People find generative ways to recognize success
and learn about strengths from difficulties
People speak up for the good of the organization
They are successful together
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Strength Based Organizations
Results they have achieved?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Save a business (Nutrimental)
Become world class (GMCR)
Create an environment of high diversity (CBC)
Substantially reduce cycle time (John Deere)
New processes of cooperation where they did
not exist (John Deere)
Dramatic development of people and
organizations… find new potential
Reduce or increase business
Perform at high speed with agility
Build hope… where none existed (Fairview
Schools)
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
10
Strength Based Organizations
Challenges in their daily
Management?
•
Overcoming a deficit world. Letting go of
fixing problems, refocusing efforts based on
innovation, strengths and future potential
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
11
ASQ Book of the Week
9/12/07
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
The Logical
Thinking Process:
A Systems
Approach to
Complex Problem
Solving
Dettmer, H. William
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
12
Strength Based Organizations
Challenges in their daily Management?
(cont’d)
•
Valuing the work of innovation teams AND managers
•
Constant development and change
–
Maintaining the energy toward change, and the
unintended consequences arising from that
–
Balancing innovation and change with the daily work
of the organization
•
Leading through inspiration and a focus on what is
wanted vs fear and a focus on what is NOT wanted
•
Being and practicing AI in hundreds of small
opportunities we have each day
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Does Design Matter?
“I am led to conclude that an organization’s structure can be moral or
immoral in and of itself. Thus I realize that consciously constructing
an organization that, by its design, impairs people’s health is
ultimately no different than willfully using asbestos in the construction
of a brick-and-mortar building when we know that the material is likely
to compromise the health of the buildings inhabitants.”
Jerry Harvey, PH.D
Professor Emeritus of Management Science, George Washington
“Most people spend 50% of their time not just doing their job but
fighting their own institutional bureaucracies.”
Dee Hock, Founder, Visa International
“All systems are perfectly designed to achieve the results they are
currently getting.” Marv Weisbord, Author, “Productive Workplaces”
Levels of Appreciative Designing
• Low = design of a “one time” event (eg. - a strategic
planning retreat, a performance appraisal session, a
visioning workshop etc.)
• Medium = design of a “mission critical” business
process (eg. - patient transfer from unit to unit,
strategic planning deployment process) or an
organizational sub unit (eg team, department etc)
• High = design of a whole “stand alone”
organizational unit (eg. a business unit, a plant, etc)
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Does Design Matter?
“All systems are perfectly
designed to achieve the
results they are currently
getting.”
Marv Weisbord, Author,
“Productive Workplaces”
Four Lenses For Designing
THE WORK ITSELF
(TECHNICAL SYSTEM)
CULTURE/
CONVERSATION
THE ORGANIZATION
(SOCIAL SYSTEM)
OUTSIDE
REQUIREMENTS
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Appreciative Designing
 What does it mean to Design something?
 Designing What?
 How is Appreciative Designing different?
 What does a 4 phase process for Appreciatively
Designing a whole Strength Based Organization
look like?
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
18
Appreciative Designing
 What does it mean to Design something? Brownfield.
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Appreciative Designing
 What does it mean to Design something - Greenfield.
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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Designing What?
Strength Based…..
Processes, Systems, Structures and Strategies for:
1. The Organization’s Core Work
2. Capacity Development - in Leaders, Teams and
Individuals
3. Direction Setting, Goal Deployment
Measurement, and Adjustment
4. Innovation Management
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
21
How is Appreciative Designing
different?
Traditional (deficit based)
Designing
Appreciative (Strengths based)
Designing
• Top down and/or small
design team
• Guided by top AND highly
participative (design
community)
• Identify and fix what’s broken
(or design something new
without reference to past)
•
• Designing as pre-curser to
implementation
• Designing as simultaneous
with implementation
Begin with “whats worth
preserving or building upon”
(even when in “greenfield”)
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
22
A 4 Phase Process for Appreciative Designing
of Strength Based Organizations
DEFINITION DISCOVERY
Establishing
the
Foundation
for the
Strength
Based
Appreciative
Design
Process
Understand,
Map and
share
Current
Strengths,
Assets,
Hopes,
Oppt’ys &
Req’ts For
Future
Success
DREAM
& DESIGN
Imagining the
Plant in
Action (&
Results
Obtained)
and
Developing
The SocioTechnical
Architecture
of New
Organization
DELIVERY
Implementation
Planning and
Implementation
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
23
A 4 Phase Process for Appreciative Designing
of Strength Based Organizations
DEFINITION
Establishing the
Foundation for The
Strength Based Organization
Design Process
Advantages and stages of this
approach understood
Steering Group & Design
Community selected
Current mission, vision and
business plan reviewed
High-level, current state
process descriptions to
establish shared ground
DISCOVERY
Understanding Current
Strengths
Hopes, Oppt’ys &
Req’ts For Future Success
DREAM/DESIGN
Imagining the Plant in Action
(Results Obtained)
and Developing The Nuts and
Bolts of the New Organization
Discovering, mapping,
sharing and prioritizing the
org’ns strengths and
capacities and opportunities
from the lenses of:
Envisioning the org’n
alive with its strengths and
capacities - imagining the new
results
( Future state activity maps
Detailing the new org’n
and new core processes)
•External requirements and
opportunities
•Internal core process
functioning
•Internal organization and
mng’t systems
•Internal culture
Scope, success factor’s, key
roles identified;
Customised plan for
proceeding created -I.e.
decisions about who will be
involved at each stage
including engagement
strategies for key external
stakeholders
Reviewing the “current state”
information - have we
identified the right
opportunities to address?
Ideas for short-term
breakthroughs
Design Innovations generated
In areas such as
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Technology
Group Boundaries and
Coordination
Jobs/Skills
Compensation
Information & Measurement
Hiring/selection Procedures
Training Systems
Quality Control
Continuous Innov. systems
Customer and Supplier Links
Strategic Mng’t systems
DELIVERY
Implementation
Planning and Implementation
Identification of project
dependencies - Who
and what else is
needed?
Estimates of implementation
resource requirements
Agreement on priority
Projects
Agreement on how
we will learn and adapt
as we implement the
changes
Implement, A-valuations,
modifications
Ideas for short-term
breakthroughs
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
24
Contact Info
• Bernard J. Mohr, is an organizational designer and keynote speaker focusing on Organizational Innovation.
Innovation in how people organize and coordinate, how strategy is translated into daily practice, how
improvement in quality, effectiveness and relationships is approached and the way organizations (public,
private and not for profit) address challenges such as mergers, rapid expansion, new market demands and
social contribution. Recent books include "Appreciative Inquiry: Change At the Speed of Imagination" (Jossey
Bass, 2001) and Essentials of Appreciative Inquiry: A Roadmap For Creating Positive Futures (Pegasus
Communications, Waltham, USA 2002) and “The Appreciative Inquiry Summit: A Practitioner's Guide for
Leading Large-Group Change” (Berrett-Koehler 2003). He can be reached at 207-874-0118 or
bjMohr@InnovationPartners.com
• Bob Laliberte has managed or consulted to organizations for more than 30 years in the field of highperformance work system design, redesign and project management.ﾊ His focus is on innovative whole
system change approaches. For 20 years prior to consulting, Bob worked in engineering or OD/HR capacities
for American Optical, Polaroid and lastly Domtar where he led the organizational design and start-up of the
Newington site, still recognized as one of the most productive wallboard facilities in the world.ﾊ He holds a
BSME from Northeastern, an MS in Management Science from WPI; teaches the Project Management
Certificate Program at two universities and is adjunct faculty at the University of Maine. He can be reached at
207-787-4191 or bob@InnovationPartners.com
• Nancy Shendell-Falik, RN, MA is the Vice President of Patient Care Services at Newark Beth Israel Medical
Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. In this position, Ms. Shendell-Falik is
responsible for all administrative and clinical operations for the Departments of Nursing, Pharmacy,
Anesthesia, Renal and Transplant Services, and Infection Control, as well as clinical areas including Critical
Care, Medical-Surgical, Perioperative, Emergency Department, Behavioral Health, Maternal and Infant Health
and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey. She can be reached at 973-926-7612 or NShendell-Falik@sbhcs.com
• Bob Belanger is Manager, Operations Development, Certainteed Gypsum Inc. Bob has spent 17 years in the
wall board manufacturing business – as Plant Manager and various roles in Maintenance, Quality, Mill and as
a Production Superintendent. He started in one of the first high speed plant’s built in the United States,
featuring line speeds in excess of 400 FPM, two Board Dryers and a very unique high performance work
structure. He is currently responsible for all operations development at Certainteed Gypsum and is also the
HighCommitment/High Engagement design coordinator for the greenfield plant in Moundsville, West Virginia.
He can be reached at 813-944-7778 or Bob.Belanger@saint-gobain.com
Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Sept 16, 2007, Orlando, Florida
Designing Strength Based Organizations © Mohr and Laliberte - www.InnovationPartners.com
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