Emergent themes in organizational development

• succeeding with uncertainty
• how self organization happens and why we can trust it
• how values both enable and constrain participation
• expanding our trust network
• intention, identity and interaction in group dynamics
• asymmetric needs and power relations
• strategic conversations in four languages of change
• participatory governance
• how resource allocations drive innovation (or not)
• assessing team action-potentials
• building team synergy and high velocity performance
• method-free facilitation
• catalyzing insight in teams
• creativity and cognitive flow

Playing with complex adaptive and complex responsive systems, we gained a new understanding of the nature of emergent processes. We explored new guidance and design principles for organzational life. We looked at how to negotiate organizational and personal intentions, value streams and identities, how to solve the tension between our uniqueness, asymmetrical needs and the distribution of energy, decision and power in a group. We looked at the design of the architecture of the organizational space– one that allows for the release of built up complexity, for emergent behavior and novelty to arise.  We experimented with the four languages of change, that are at the core of Bonnie’s OPO, the Open Participatory Organization: “I call this new design The Open Participatory Organization, or OPO for short. The OPO is a fully integrated design. It is an open architecture that is supported by a participatory communications platform and is backed-up by a governance that evolves as the organization evolves” from Bonnie’s blog post).
Picture: Bonnitta Roy, APP Associates. 

There are four ‘locations’ with distinctly different values sets, objectives, outcomes and strategic conversations to be held around them. Most organizations have one or two of them, but hardly any are engaging in all of the necessary conversations.

At the end, we explored why this really matters: we are working and living in environments where we have to make choices when we cannot predict outcomes.  Knowing how to allow group dynamics to be emergent becomes invaluable.

Bonnitta Roy’s workshop left us totally inspired, and with many many kind of thoughts and processes to unpack, think about and apply. It opened up new, generative, collaborative spaces. Turning howe to our own business, we have started applying the OPO principles, practices and processes – with first insights and their consequences. We know there are many more insights to come. In some instances we are holding new strategic conversations around our trust networks and new alliances, for example www.eclp.eu and with our Swedish friends around the Crisp Network. Watch this space!  Comments welcome.