Igniting Leadership
at all Levels: EPA-ORD
Working Together to Ensure
the Earth’s Vitality
Pervasive Leadership • Liberating
Collaboration • Engendering Trust
* Slides for the ORD’s Leadership Summit Jan. 2003 in Baltimore. See
http://ai.cwru.edu for David Cooperrider’s articles on Appreciative
Inquiry (AI) and the “AI Summit” Large Group Planning Process.
“Internal & External Stakeholders”
Caring Voices

Students

STAR fellows

Regional and other EPA staff
– Scientists

Other government agency staff
– Management

Business leaders

SES candidates

Program office representatives

College dean

ORD
– Engineers
– Administrative
The First International Conference on
Appreciative Inquiry
Creating an ORD Where Everyone Counts
Henry L. Longest
IOAA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Presentation to ORD Leadership Summit
January 2003
Our Recent History

We started in 1995 when ORD was reorganized

We held Williamsburg I and II-to listen to our people about
change

Management Meeting on our Strategic Plan

Administrative Conference -“Partners in Excellence”

The Science Forum, May 2002 and now a Leadership Summit
to ignite Leadership at all levels
Our Commitment to Change

Throughout the last six years we have also implemented five
ORD Organizational Climate Surveys with the last survey
resulting in 75% response from you

We continue to ask you and you continue to tell us!

We are committed to continuing our change efforts and today
begins a new era for ORD
The Question

“Is this the BIG one?”
The Answer

Yes, this is the BIG one!
Why We Need Pervasive
Leadership

Our theme today and for the next few days is pervasive
leadership—why do we need it
– A “retiring” explosion in the next few years with high projections
of turnover
– Need new energy and new blood
– SES Candidates-None from ORD
ORD Rankings –
Executive Core Qualifications

The Agency used a selection process based on 5 Executive
Core Qualifications. ORD ranked this way
1.
Highest
Coalitions
Communications/Building
2.
High
Results-Driven
3.
Medium
Leading Change
4.
Lowest
Leading People
5.
Lowest
Business Acumen
and
ORD Results – SES Selection
Total number of applicants
ORD applicants
655
40 (6%)
(ORD is 10% of the Agency)
Round 1
Of the Top Ranked 200
ORD applicants selected to move on
11 (5.5%)
(Based on core qualifications review)
Round 2
After SES Panel review
Round 3
After Assessment Center and Interview Panels
ORD applicants selected for program
4
ORD Results – SES Selection
ZERO!!!!!

Our history is top down and it doesn’t work anymore!
High Point Leadership
Experience

Senior Master Sergeant relied on group leaders

Group leaders relied on their people

Their people relied on each other and their leaders

They listened to each other, helped each other

And got the job done
High Point Leadership
Experience

The result?

Completion of the 40 units

Everyone pulling their weight

Relying on each other

Trusting each other

Celebration of getting the job done together!
Leadership Lessons from
Football

The New York Times reported the reason why the Jets won:
– ...” We had energy out there and we were feeding off each
other...among the Jets now, players listen to coaches, coaches
listen to players, players listen to players. They are all absorbing
the teaching, the preparation, sharing knowledge, trusting each
other.”

Struck by the collaboration at every level resulting in a BIG
win, the reporter wrote. “You get that and you get a beautiful
thing!!! (41 - 0) !!!
My Charge to You

Make the most of the days ahead

Step outside of the box

Talk with each other

Discover, dream and plan

Create an ORD where EVERYONE counts
– An ORD for tomorrow
– An ORD working together to ensure the earth’s vitality!
It is not just change, but change in the
order of magnitude of change…
The change that is taking place on the earth and in
our minds is one of the greatest changes ever to
take place in human affairs, perhaps the greatest,
since what we are talking about is not simply
another historical change or cultural modification,
but a change of geological and biological as well as
psychological order of magnitude. We are
changing the earth on a scale comparable only to
the changes in the structure of the earth and of life
that took place during some hundreds of millions of
years of earth development.. --Thomas Berry,
Dream of the Earth
A Time to Re-think Human
Organization and Change…

Thank God our precious time is
now – M.L. King

Global Context of
Democratization

End of Apartheid

No Limits to Cooperation & No
Boundaries in Knowledge

Anticipatory Learning… and
Whole Systems Thinking
Together
We are at the very point in time when a
400-year old age is dying and another is
struggling to be born, a shifting of culture,
science, society, and institutions
enormously greater than the world has
ever experienced. Ahead, the possibility
of the regeneration of relationships, liberty,
community, and ethics such as the world
has never known, and a harmony with
nature, with one another, and with the
divine intelligence such as the world has
never dreamed.
--Dee Hock, Founder & CEO--Visa
Ap-pre’ci-ate, v.,
1. Valuing …
–
The act of recognizing the best in people and the world
around us;
–
Affirming past and present strengths, successes, and
potentials;
–
To perceive those things that give life (health, vitality,
and excellence) to living systems.
2. To increase in value, e.g. the economy has
appreciated in value.
–
Synonyms: valuing, prizing, esteeming,
and honoring.
In-quire’ (kwir), v.,
1. The act of exploration and discovery.
2. To ask questions; to be open to seeing new
potentials and possibilities.
– Synonyms: discovery, search, study
and systematic exploration.
What is an “AI”
(Appreciative Inquiry) Summit?
The AI Summit:
Key Characteristics







“Whole System” in the Room
Task is Clear
Future Focus & Continuity Search
Self-Management, Dialogue, Inquiry
Honor Differences, Discover Common Ground
3-4 Day event/100 to 2000 Participants
Uncommon Action/Follow Through—
Leadership at Every Level
 Exciting Examples: Navy, Cleveland Clinic,
Roadway, etc.
AI Summit “4-D”
Cycle
Destiny
•Actions/Projects
•Pilots
•Improvisation
Discovery
•Opportunity & Call
•Positive Core
Igniting Leadership
Every Level:
Working Together
to Ensure
the Earth’s Vitality
Dream
•Images of Future
•Shared Visions
Design
•Possibility Propositions
Ideal Organizational Designs
Today
DISCOVERY

Opening Inquiry

Forming Groups: Trends, Events, Opportunities, and
patterns/causes of moments of effectiveness

Analysis of the “Positive Core” for Our Future

Continuity, Novelty, Transition: Three Tasks of Leadership


Stories of Change In the Area of “Pervasive Leadership at
Every Level” e.g. US Navy, Roadway
The Future of Science…Getting Ready for Tomorrow
Opening Conversation
(using all 6 questions on page 4-8)

A-->B (40 min)

B-->A (40 min)

Spirit of discovery

Someone from a different function, level, etc.

Take brief notes, search

At the end.. summary & thanks return at: 10:50
Self Management and Group
leadership roles…

Discussion leader

Timekeeper

Recorder

reporter
Groups Form: 2+2+2+2=8
see worksheets, p. 10-11
1.
2.
Introduce your partners vis-à-vis your interviews—share highlights,
insights—using questions in #1 abc & #2 ab.
Everyone listen for patterns/insights in two areas (see worksheet on
page 11):

High Point Stories of Change: Root Causes of Success?

Key Trends, Events, Developments ORD Opportunities?

PLUS: choose one “high point” story from your group for someone to re-tell

Reports at: 11: 40
On the theme of leadership…
“These are hard times in which a genius would wish to
live. Great necessities call forth great leaders.”
Abigail Adams in a letter to Thomas Jefferson
--1790
Leading Change:
Searching For Vital
Balance
Management of
NOVELTY
Management of
TRANSITION
A-->B
Management of
CONTINUITY
Functions of Continuity

For Individuals:

Pride, confidence to act, ethical guidance connection
to others, freedom

For the Organization:
Strengthened commitment, better decision making;
decentralized control; mission stability; organizational
learning; long term thinking; customized change.
What We Want to Carry
Forward… “Positive Core” ORD

See page 12-13 for groups

reports @_2:10______
The US Navy Story of Change

V. Admiral Al Harms, Chief of Naval Education
and Training

Served on many ships: USS Ranger,
Commanding Officer USS John F. Kennedy

Many decorations of merit

Leading “Bold and Enlightened Leaders at
Every Level: Forging a Culture of Excellence

A great person!
An Exciting Story & Example
of Ai In Action

Recently Featured in Fast Company.

From 300 to Zero Grievances, e.g. Akron Terminal

Powerful Product Innovations, e.g. Mannhatten Project




New Culture of Leadership…Leaders Developing Leaders at
Every Level
Powerful Learning Partnerships: Alcoa, Boeing, Cisco, HarleyDavidson, US Navy.
Beyond Negative Culture (“Internal Dialogue”) to a Narrative
Rich Positive Revolution in Change
Many thanks…Sheri Schulte!
The First International Conference on
Appreciative Inquiry
Pioneering Research
Across Many Fields
An Emerging Vocabulary of
“Positive Change”
Many
Disciplines
Positive Images
of Future --->
Positive Action
• Positive Health…Placebo, etc.
• Pygmalion: We are Made and Imagined In
Each Others Eyes
• Imbalanced “Inner Dialogue”
• Rise and Fall of Cultures
• What Good are Positive Emotions?
Inspiration, Hope, Joy, Curiosity…
• Affirmative Capacity
Images of the Future:
Dreams of ORD We Want

See worksheet page: 15--16

Creative presentations at: 11:10
What Do We Mean by “Design” ?
Both a product and a process
As a verb…”to design”…Is to invent, to innovate, to conceive and
to make choices - about the purpose, principles, roles,
processes, practices and structures which will house,
support and give life to the organizations members and the
dream they have created.
As a noun, “the organization design” …Is the set of choices we
have made about the above
Does Design Matter?
“ First we shape our structures and then
our structures shape us ”
Winston Churchill
Does Design Matter?
“ Most people spend 50% of their time not just doing their
job but fighting their own institutional bureaucracies ”
- Dee Hock, Founder, Visa International
Does Design Matter?
“ All systems are perfectly designed to achieve the results
they are currently achieving”
Example
Choices/Elements in the Formal Organization
Ways we move, assign
and develop people
Recruitment
Retention
strategies
Processes for understanding
the business context
and setting priorities
Ways of connecting
with the BU’s
How people are
grouped together
Key Relationships/Partnerships
(Internal and External)
Technical VP’s
Who makes
what decisions
Gov't and
Regulatory
agencies
Our Staff
Universities
The Dream
Reward/recognition
practices
Who has what
Information
and how?
Bus. Unit
Leaders
External Suppliers
Tools and Equipment
Mechanisms we use
within to stay
linked and
in sync
Professional Bodies
Our practices for challenging ourselves.
renewing ourselves And continuously improving
Physical layout
And location
Processes for
Prioritization
Goals and
Measures
of Performance
That we use
“Design Elements” in the
dreams:

See page

Open forum discussion @
Design elements…things heard,
implied in presentations

High quality magnetic work environment—work is
exciting, attracts great people

Scientific Excellence: World class reputation for
science (how we are seen)

Elevated, ignited sense of purpose

Proactive partnerships with industry, ngos,

Collaborative, team based work environments

Enthusiastic people, fun, high passion
Design elements…things heard,
implied in presentations

Organizational agility, capacity to change

Organizational learning capacity—foresight, anticipation,
innovation,

Technologies for virtual team and collaboration (virtual office)

Positive climate of trust, enthusiasm,

Diversity and valuing diversity

Global environmental relationships (international partnerships
and impact)
Design elements…things heard,
implied in presentations

Great training and leadership development opporunties

Structures—networked, flat, flexible

Rewards and recognitions systems (valuing, celebrating)

Effective communications and connectivity with public

Business (financial excellence) and collaborative use of
resources

Organizational agility, capacity to change and grow
Design elements…things heard,
implied in presentations

Internal communications

Decision making

Career development, mentorship, performance appraisal

Mechanisms for best practice sharing

Planning Processes for the future and clarity across all levels

Collaboration with and support of the Program Offices

Education of the public
Design elements…things heard,
implied in presentations
Design elements…things heard,
implied in presentations
What area (design element) generates
the most energy for you?

Look around the room at the design elements on flip charts on
the walls.

Think about one area (e.g. communications, training,
organizational learning, etc) that generates energy for you—
something that you can contribute to—on behalf of the whole.

Go to that flip chart and form a new group of 8. If there are 16
people there, then form two groups of 8. Its OK to have
several groups using the same design element.
Organizational Design Elements
we heard in the Dreams

Structures (from vertical hierarchies to networked
systems)

Communications in ORD

Communications with the world (marketing etc)

Organizational learning processes/events

Partnerships with industry
A Possibility Proposition is...
A statement describing your ideal organization.
It is a bridge from the “positive core” of past and
present to the desired and new future.
Its like being an architect…a social architect.
Example Proposition:
Strategic Impact in World

ORD is a vital force in the EPA and is the
world’s premiere environmental research
organization. Through our science and massive
public education and awareness building
capabilities, an environmental ethic is replacing
ignorance, and ecological awareness based on
good science is shared throughout the country.
Example Proposition
Design Element: Org. Learning

Fairmont Minerals is an organization that is
productive with learning where everyone is part of
an online positive change learning network,
constantly searching for and spreading stories of
innovation, achievement, and generosity. Our
online positive change web is alive with sharing
because every year we bring together all
stakeholders in a person summit to do the annual
best practice sharing for the future. Through this
process we have created a climate of participation
where the organization is in “full voice” and
everyone feels part of one seamless and integral
whole.
Your propositions…enter
them on disk

Choose someone to finalize your draft proposition

Type these onto a disk (word perfect)—there are 8
computers in KENT A&B on harborside level—
leave your disk in the box right there…by 6:30pm!

Also bring the proposition (well written) on a flip
chart and leave in KENT room

Tomorrow we will …move to action…destiny.

Joyce…closing tonight.
Good (Design) Propositions

They are bold…they are a stretch “provocative”

Build on strengths (continuity) and vision (novelty)

Represent real beliefs you hold about the healthy,
vital, significant organization of the future (are not
platitudes but point the way toward actionable
practice)…think of them as guiding principles, like a
constitution.

Stated in the present…”ORD is an organization
that…”
Group task: see page 18

Craft a possibility proposition, and write your draft
on a flip chart page.

Presentations on propositions at:
Today
Moving to Action “Destiny”

Improvisation and Creativity , Frank Barrett Phd.

Re-visiting our possibility propositions for the future
as a prelude to moving to action

Leadership and open space—what is open space?

Open space: round one

Open space: round two
Looking at all the
propositions as a package

We will review and get a sense of the meeting with
a polling process;

We will have a chance to write post-it notes to add,
edit, challenge, change.

All this will be taken up by a group to go through
more drafting and improving.
Overview of all the
propositions



Green: “I like the substance of the proposition and (assuming
some editing) feel like it is an ideal we should aspire to”
Yellow: “ I like the substance mostly and would like to add
some notes for either 1. stretching it further 2. making some
additions or changes, or 3. deepening our discussion of it.”
Red: “ This is a red light for me…not a direction I think we
should go”
Open Space: If anything
imaginable was possible…?

Conveners can convene and open space group around an
initiative, a project, a topic for learning, a possibility—ways to
help us move in the direction of igniting leadership at every
level

Whoever comes is the right people

Whatever happens is the only thing that could have

When it starts is the right time

When its over it is over

“the law of two feet”
Possible roles in open space

Convener—proposes the “first note” of an idea for
an initiative or project or simply a topic for
dialogue.

Collaborative partners —might co-create and
commit to helping make something happen….

Thinking partner– interested in the topic/initiative
today…and wants to help today to lift up or enrich
the action plan.
afternoon

Round one open space sessions 1:00—2:30

Round two open space sessions

Closing our day getting ready for presentations
next morning
4:00
(ballroom)
2:30—4:00
Conveners see: Action planning sheets, pg 2122…bring these tomorrow
Tomorrow presentations (e,g collaboration website,
etc)
Action planning sheets, page
21-22

Conveners and reporters will bring summary of the
initiative or project to whole group.

All summaries will be part of the summit report.

Presentations on morning last day (Thursday).
Today

Projects, Initiatives—Highlights and Summaries

Chance for one more quick “huddle”—set very next
step

Key learnings, reflections on our work

The power of appreciation

Closing
Open Forum on Highlights From
Your Open Space Planning

Highlights…group name, contacts, purpose, next
steps

Up to 2 minutes

Also: need hard copies of everyone’s
project/pilot/action ideas (see page 21-22 for forms)
before leaving today (box up front). Thanks
conveners!
Some Closing Reflections on
The Power of Appreciation
We Are Born To Appreciate:
Three Facts About All Human Beings

Exceptionality

Essentiality

Equality/Voice and Vision
Wide Ranging Applicability
of Appreciative Inquiry
 AI Organization Summit Method
 Strategic Change/Planning
 Full Engagement of People: Organizations,
Schools Communities. Networks.
 AI Benchmarking Tools/Learning Partnerships
 Labor-management Partnerships
 Transformation of Measurement Systems
 Project Teams, Rapid Design Events
 Mergers, Alliances and Customer Partnering
 Knowledge Magnification: The “PLN” Software
 Action Learning & Leadership Development
 Call Monica: CWRU for training 216-368-6405
Being a Coach
(turn to person next to you)

What do you do best already--from a life-affirming
leadership perspective?

What would you like to do more of?

One leadership or personal development initiative
(small or large) you would like to take on-- to
develop yourself and/or others?

What one message, positive action, or commitment
do you want to take from this summit and share
with others that were not here?
Closing Reflections and
Learnings About Our Work Here

Insights, learning, new understanding?

Feelings?

One big hope?
Website Sharing AI Tools and
Writings... Leading Positive Change


http://ai.cwru.edu
www.worldinquiry.org
“Appreciative Inquiry Commons”
Weatherhead School of Management,
Case Western Reserve University