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Workshops
Workshops are offered dependent on research
results and demand (see Events Schedule).
Below, workshops offered during the Spring/Summer 2005 timeframe are listed
first and have descriptions and baseline agendas connected to the overview
comments. All workshops are available (both onsite and offsite) as part of the Institute's consulting
services.
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Introduction to the
Intelligent Complex Adaptive Organization
- In this highly participative, introductory workshop attendees will
learn the basic concepts, language, and practices needed to achieve
sustainable high performing organizations in a rapidly changing, uncertain
and increasingly complex world. See
A Tale of Two Firms (MSWord)
for a short story depicting the challenges facing today's firms as we move
into the 21st century. A new theory of organizations is presented,
together with its key success factors. Attendees will not only understand
the new principles of organization, leadership and operation, they will also
consider how to apply those principles to their own organizations. The ICAS
emphasizes the role of people in determining the creativity, responsiveness,
resilience and adaptability needed by the organization to survive. Based on
complexity theory and knowledge management, the workshop demonstrates the
need for collaboration, worker empowerment, flexibility and organizational
cohesion. New competencies such as complexity thinking, relationships
network management and knowing are also explored. New ideas like dynamic
balancing, optimum complexity and flow are presented. The workshop
combines theory and practical applications to ensure that many of the
concepts can be transferred to current organizations to make them more
responsive and adaptable. See the
Workshop Description for additional
information on what attendees will learn, the learning approach, and who
should attend. A Baseline Agenda is also provided for your information.
For a brief description of what ICAS leaders do see
Collaborative
Leadership (MSWord). See also the ICAS research area.
- Managing Systems and Complexity--From
Individuals to Organizations
- In this highly participative, introductory workshop attendees will
learn the basic concepts, language, knowledge and practices needed to
understand and begin to deal with our increasingly complex world and its
organizations. This workshop combines theory and practical applications to
help attendees get a feel for working in the increasingly fast-paced,
uncertain and complex environment of industry and government. Three complex
adaptive systems are considered in detail: the individual, the group and the
organization. As our knowledge of complexity and complex organizations
grows, we begin to think and act differently, and see our organizations from
a new perspective. This new perspective is the foundation for continuous
learning, being creative, and more effective problem solving and
decision-making. Emphasizing the role of knowledge and learning in achieving
high performance, participants are also led to consider alternate
approaches to management and leadership. See
Workshop Description for
additional information on what attendees will learn, the learning approach,
and who should attend. A
baseline Agenda is also provided for your
information.
- Personal Knowledge Management (PKM)
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The explosion of information and birth of large complex
systems have challenged everyone to keep up with their ability to live and
be productive while facing a dynamic, turbulent and unpredictable future. One approach to prepare for the future is called personal knowledge management. The
only way any of us can make credible decisions and take control of our
welfare and that of our families is to carefully observe our environment, be
able to make sense of it and work with others to make the best decisions and
take the best actions possible. To do this we must understand what
information, learning, knowledge and intelligence mean. In other words we
must study knowledge and learn how to create, find, share, process and apply
it. One of the few things that we have control over in this world is the
information and knowledge in our own heads. Research in personal knowledge
management seeks to identify ways of learning and ways to recognize, share
and leverage knowledge. Its objective is to provide knowledge workers with
the knowledge, processes and actions available to get them managing their
own knowledge throughout their lifetime. The research seeks to develop a set
of principles, guidelines and methodologies that facilitate knowledge workers
taking control over their learning and over the management of their personal
knowledge needs and applications. See research areas ICAP
and Learning.
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- Lifelong Learning Part I
- This workshop is based on the Institute's current research in adult
learning. As our environment continues to accelerate and become more
complex, the necessity and importance of lifelong learning will have a
critical impact on career professionals and their organizations. A language
for communicating key learning concepts, such as information, knowledge,
meaning, etc. is developed. Current learning theories and models are
reviewed to find ways of helping each of us learn more effectively. The MQI
theory and model are explored and applications used to practice and
facilitate learning. Much of the workshop is spent
learning how to learn
(MSWord),
discussing why we want to learn and what learning is most important to each
of us. Special techniques such as lucid dreaming, use of the unconscious,
critical thinking, etc. are discussed. Part I lays the foundation upon
which individuals can begin building an efficient and effective lifelong
learning program for themselves.
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- Lifelong Learning Part II
- Part II builds on the foundation of Part I, placing more emphasis on
additional ways of learning and the benefits and habits of lifelong
learners. Using the MQI learning model from Part I, the areas of deep
knowledge, knowing and wisdom, intuition, judgment and mindfulness will be
explored. In addition, metaphors, analogies, paradoxes, Sufi-tales,
dialogue, discovery, perspective shifting, and sense-making will be investigated as useful
learning techniques. Ways of finding information, creating and sharing
knowledge, questioning "truth" and group learning as an application of the
model will also be explored. Attendees will have the opportunity to select
specific areas for personal learning, and working alone or in small groups,
will report
their results to the other participants. The objective of Parts I and II
together is to help individuals understand how and why they learn, reinforce
the joy of learning and become lifelong learners to facilitate personal
growth and professional career enhancement. Attendees are encouraged
to develop a personal learning plan and a set of objectives to help get them
started.
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- Leadership in a Changing World
- The new reality of continuous change, uncertainty, complexity and
anxiety (CUCA) has brought with it a demand for new perspectives, new ways of thinking,
more effective collaboration and the leveraging of knowledge, and the need
for worker autonomy. To achieve success will
also require new approaches to leadership. Leading knowledge workers is very different than leading
laborers. The old authoritative approach will no longer work. Although
leaders will always need
to set the broad direction and purpose of the organization they will be more
collaborative, working with employees as colleagues. Historically leaders
were viewed as the senior executives in the organization. While they will
still have this role, many other individuals, acting as leaders will be
found at all levels of the organization, ensuring the cohesion of the work
throughout the system and helping workers get the resources they need. The
job of the new, collaborative leaders will be to inspire, support, be a role
model, and stay connected with the organizations direction. The new leaders
will orchestrate networks, move people and resources around and stay in
touch with the development of their people. See
Description of
Collaborative Leadership (MSWord). Also,
Leadership
in Today's World (PowerPoint, 21 slides)
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- The Intelligent Complex Adaptive Team--Knowledge, Complexity and
High Performance
- As the world grows smaller, there has never been a greater need to
understand and apply the power of community and team in solving problems and
building our future. New ideas from networking and complexity theory help us
create the knowledge we need to better understand our environment. This
workshop addresses the questions of how, then, can this be applied to real
life situations, and how can we use what we know to make our teams more
effective and our communities more collaborative? These important questions
are explored through dialogue, scenario building, and networking.
Relationship Network Management (MSWord) is introduced, and
attendees will work through focused exercises to identify their networks and
create a personal approach to improving and sustaining their networks. See
Workshop Description for
additional information on what attendees will learn, the learning approach,
and who should attend. A baseline
Agenda is also provided for your information.
- Managing Organizational Change
- Continuous internal change will be the key to growth in the new world.
Successful organizations will both influence and adapt to their external
threats and opportunities. Organizational change--an emergent
process--cannot be driven from the top. What will work is a culture of
change driven by learning, empowerment, leadership, vision and knowledge
management. This workshop addresses what social capital, competencies and
structure are needed and how to develop them, a major challenge for
organizations living at the edge of the future. See
The Change Agent's Strategy (MSWord)
and Strategic Change in the DON
(PowerPoint, 23 slides) for a change strategy used in the
Department of the Navy.
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