Generative Power in Organization: Building an Evolutionary Driver
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A complex, multifaceted and little discussed construct, power nevertheless influences every relationship in our lives, every context we show up in. Historically humanity has struggled deeply with this facet of our existence. These struggles frequently leave us either limp with frustration or pumped up like puffer fish on our own importance. And when events in our world reach crescendos of chaos and limited resource, the application of power has a nasty track record. Despite the direct relevance of this topic to the quality of our human lives and that of the entire planet, power remains a philosophical runt and a practical hornet’s nest. This paper is an invitation to an ongoing dialogue around and concrete practice of healthy, ethical forms of power in our everyday contexts. Building on the work of Integral, organizational, and developmental theorists, this presentation offers a summary of some new frameworks for understanding power, its application and its contexts. We will then dive into the concrete tools and practices that provide us with a much-needed set of levers for instituting healthier and more ethical expressions of power in any organizational context. Using case studies from the application of this set of tools in a range of organizations, I discuss what appears to work in practice and the theory behind the practice.
Transcript of Generative Power in Organization: Building an Evolutionary Driver
Communication is an omnipresent force located in the cross hairs of all work flows, all organization, in other words,
….every act of work requires that we communicate.
Appreciative Inquiry
Results Based Accountability
Non-Violent Communication
Shadow Work
Giving Voice to Values
Carver Governance
Sociocracy
Holacracy
Business Model Generation
Agile Software
Lean Management
Integral Coaching Canada
Strengths Based Leadership
Getting Things Done
Managing by Objectives
And more…
Standard Meeting Practice
Checkins
Admin
Operational Reviews
Agenda Building
Agenda Processing
Meeting Wrap Up
Closing Round
Meeting Prep
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Notes for the Standard Meeting Practice
Standard Meeting Practice is designed to be held 2-4 times per month per Scope to provide a place to synch up with our Scope mates and to process the most common forms of tensions: Governance and Operations. As such, Agenda Processing for this meeting is geared to produce resolved Governance and Operations tensions, with all other tensions receiving a next Action for the Scribe to schedule the appropriate meeting to focus on those tensions using the correct processes.
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Integrative ConsensusWhat is Integrative Consensus?
Integrative Consensus is a rapid form of deliberative decision-making which includes the perspectives of those who will enact the decision.
Why is Integrative Consensus important?
Integrative Consensus allows all relevant perspectives to be surfaced and integrated quickly in service of the overarching work of the organization or Scope. This decision-making method includes the core value of consensus that all perspectives have some value and including them in the decision-making process makes for healthier and more enactable decisions. At the same time, this method transcends the limitations of common forms of consensus. It does this by defining the Scope (arena of work) within which decisions are being made and inviting only those who are actually doing the work to make decisions. In addition, Integrative Consensus constrains the input to the proposal around insights into what would cause harm to the work of the Scope, thus sidestepping our tendencies to use personal preference and personality weight to make decisions.
What’s the output of Integrative Consensus?
The output of Integrative Consensus is a decision made by the whole Scope that varies in its output format depending on what kind of tension it is being used for. Please see the relevant component cards for details.
Which meetings use this card?
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What’s the process for Integrative Consensus?1. Proposing: Facilitator invites Proposer to generate a proposal following
the correct output format for this tension. Proposer may ask for proposal generating assistance from Scope Members present.
2. Clarifying: Facilitator invites Scope Members to ask clarifying questions or to offer clarifying points of information, popcorn style.
3. Responding: Facilitator invites each Scope Member one at a time in a round to respond to the proposal on the table.
4. Amending: Facilitator invites the Proposer to amend their proposal. Amendments are at Proposer’s discretion.
5. Aligning:5.1. Surfacing: Facilitator solicits via round any objections related to
these current versions and Scribe records. If there are no objections, current versions are adopted until there are new tensions related to this Aspect. Any participant with an objection becomes an Objector for the duration of their objection. If there are objections, the Facilitator selects an objection to begin with.
5.2. Testing: Facilitator tests the validity of the objection through dialogue with the Objector only. No open discussion. Facilitator can ask questions related to any of the objection criteria located below and continues until the Objector has concretely explained why their objection meets the criteria or has withdrawn their objection.
5.3. Integrating: Once the Objector has demonstrated that their objection is valid, the Facilitator asks the Objector: “Can you suggest a way to make it safe to try for now, knowing we can always come back and change this agreement?”
5.3.1. Objector works with the Scribe to amend the original proposal in a manner that integrates their objection while still resolving the original tension of the Proposer.
5.3.2. If the Objector does not have an integration, the Facilitator opens discussion for input from Scope Members present who wish to offer amendments, until an amended proposal is produced that satisfies both Proposer and Objector.
5.4. Facilitator repeats this process from testing through integrating until all objections have been integrated.
6. Finalizing: If there have been any objections integrated, Facilitator conducts a final popcorn style objection scan and processes any further objections. When no further objections exist, the Proposal is adopted.
An objection is a concrete, explicable reason why a proposal will cause harm if enacted now.
An objection is not:• a reason why I don’t like the proposal • a better way to do it• based on predictive concerns
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PurposeWhat is Purpose?
Purpose describes an organization or a Scope’s reason for being. It provides the directing force that clarifies where a group of Individuals working together is going, what work it is doing, and what principles inform the work. Purpose is constructed of three separate and interrelated elements: Vision, Mission, and Values.
Vision describes what the world looks like when the organization has fulfilled its Purpose. Mission describes the concrete work an organization is doing to make that Vision possible. Values are the guiding principles that an organization holds itself to while moving towards its Vision.
Why is Purpose important?
Purpose delivers high level direction without which organizations can drift and lose traction easily. Internal conflicts over direction can plague Interpersonal relationships and create factions in the organization. A clear and articulated Purpose is also very powerful in inspiring and motivating work and it acts as a siren call to attract aligned talent to the organization.
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What’s the output of the Purpose Process?
A clear, concise, and requisite version of our current Vision, Mission, and Values
What’s the process for Purpose?The process for Purpose is threefold as each of its components, Vision, Mission, and Values are articulated and evolved to their relevant outputs.
If you encounter a Vision, Mission, or Values tension in your regular meeting, the Scribe should take a next action to schedule the appropriate meeting.
Please consult the Purpose Meeting Practice for details on process and outputs.
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Questions to identify a Purpose tension:• Am I confused as to where we are heading as a Scope
or organization? (Vision)• Is there a conflict over how my Scope or the whole
organization should respond to a given circumstance? (Values)
• Is there an opportunity or demand to move our Scope or organization into new markets, products, or niches? (Mission)
Scope Member
Purpose of Role
Having a defined role of Scope Member creates a very clear set of accountabilities and reinforces the notion of what a Scope is and how it can work to deliver greater effectiveness and efficiency. The Scope Member role contains our basic team responsibilities such as tracking our tasks daily and showing up prepared for meetings. This format lays out all the expectations for engaging in team work together in a way that is transparent, fair, and uniform across the Scope.
In addition, defining Scope Members makes it clear who can participate in the Scope Meeting processes and who cannot. Only Scope Members and any relevant Links may participate fully in the meetings for their Scope. Others from outside the Scope may be invited to observe but only those people who are doing the work of the Scope have the right to fully participate in the meeting processes of the Scope. This reinforces ownership and builds engagement.
The Scope Member Role is automatically assumed by any Individual doing work in a Scope.
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Accountabilities1. Surfacing tensions arising from conducting the work of the
Scope, tracking those and bringing them to the requisite meetings.
2. Acting beyond their Roles when necessary to support the health and efficiency of the Scope, tracking those occurrences, and bringing them back to the Governance Process of the Scope for processing into further clarity for the Scope.
3. Reviewing and updating the tracking system for any out-of-date information on Projects, Roles, and associated Recurring Tasks.
4. Tracking tasks regularly.5. Preparing for Scope meetings by reviewing and preparing
Recurring Tasks, Projects that relate to our current Roles, and presenting those as clearly and succinctly as possible.
6. Attending all Scope meetings.7. Digesting meeting proceedings by capturing Next Actions
and Projects that belong to them and integrating them into the tracking systems.
8. Establishing routines for processing in-boxes in a timely and effective manner.
9. Identifying mis-alignments between any Scope Member and the Roles they are filling and initiating an election process to support role-fulfillment.
10. Conducting Roles & Accountabilities Scrubs regularly and bringing forward changes to Governance. Roles & Accountabilities Scrub includes reviewing all Roles and Accountabilities that one currently holds including Scope Member and 1) checking if there are any new Projects that could be activated in relationship to these Roles & Accountabilities, and if so, highlighting those new projects in the Operations meeting and listing them in the tracking system; 2) preparing for Governance any changes to one's Roles & Accountabilities that are needed to keep them reflecting reality.
11. Identifying Interpersonal tensions arising from daily work and generating feedback for any Scope Members to be offered during the Interpersonal Meeting Practice.
12. Inserting agenda items on the Living Agenda before the meeting.
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What your disaffected workers cost. (2001, March). Gallup Business Journal. Retrieved from http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/439/ What-Your-Disaffected-Workers-Cost.aspx.
LRN. (2011). The HOW report: Rethinking the source of resiliency, innovation, and sustainable growth.
Green, C. M. (2013). Case studies. Retrieved April, 2013, from http://www.roundskysolutions.com/case-studies/.
