Transcript
Page 1: Organizations from the Inside Out - GBV · Leading Organizations from the Inside Out Unleashing the Collaborative Genius of Action-Learning Teams Bruce LaRue Paul Childs Kerry Larson

Leading

Organizations from

the Inside Out

Unleashing the

Collaborative Genius of

Action-Learning Teams

Bruce LaRue

Paul Childs

Kerry Larson

Foreword by Marshall Goldsmith

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York / Chichester / Weinheim / Brisbane / Singapore / Toronto

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 1

Purpose of this Book Why Read this Book? ^ New Approaches to Workforce Development and Succession Planning ^ Who Should Read this Book ^ A Glimpse at the Road Ahead

PART I: The Design and Deployment of

Strategie Change i

1: Getting Started 9

What Are Action-Learning Teams? ^ Stagesofthe Action-Learning Team Process ^ When Is an Action-Learning Team Appropriate? > The Formation of an Action-Learning Team Characteristics of an Action-Learning Team Leader ^ Creating Effective Action-Learning Teams ^

2: Inquiry - Discovering Gaps that Impede Effectiveness 21

Purpose A The Role of Assumptions, Context, and Culture -Y-The Belief Model Recognizing Patterns ^ Leadership Assessment ^ The PIP Process ^ Key Questions to Ask Structuring the PIP Process -v* Symptoms "v* Functions -v-Strategy ^ Culture and Values ^ Leadership Düring Inquiry Leadership Style Leadership Characteristics to Embrace ^ Tendencies to Avoid in This Phase

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: Design - Innovating the Roadmap Forward 43

Purpose ^ Action-Learning and Aerospace Industrial Design Observation ^ Brainstorming ^ Be Focused ^ Keep It

Light ^ Use Spatial Memory Get Physical ^ Create Pilot When Possible -<• Key Questions to Explore in this Phase ^ Tendencies to Avoid in This Phase ^ Leadership Style ^ Characteristics to Embrace Characteristics to Avoid ^

: Deployment - Transformation in Action 57

Purpose The Process Communication ^ Resistance to Change ^ Taking Action ^ The Phases of Deployment Induction Disillusionment -v- Breakthrough Integration

Key Questions to Explore in this Phase -Y- Tendencies to Avoid in this Phase *v- Leadership Style ^ Create a Safe Space; Accept Ambiguity Characteristics to Embrace

: Integration - Aligning Core Systems 73

Purpose How to Perform a Successful Integration Commitment of Leadership "v* Human Resources Systems Training ^ Reluctant Managers > Why Living the Vahles Matters -4- Aligning Organizational Structure -v* Culture ^ Leadership Characteristics Important at This Phase 4-Things to Avoid in This Phase

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Part II: Action-Learning Teams: An Essential

Component of Organizational Strategy 83

6: How Can Action-Learning Teams Benefit Your Organization? 85

Action-Learning Teams and the Informal Organization 4-The Evolution from CoP to ALTs ^ Action-Learning Teams as an Arm of Strategy Action-Learning Teams and the Practice of Innovation ^

7: The New Strategie Imperative 91 Speed, Adaptability and Flexibility New Strategies, New Structures ^ Action-Learning and the Wireless Revolution ^ Implications for the Road Ahead Structures that Mirror the Complexity ofTheir Environment -$•

8: Leading Effective Action-Learning Teams 101

Leading from a Different Place Organizational Structure, Culture, and Leadership Characteristics of an Action-Learning Team Leader Builds on the Wisdom and Insight of the Team •$- Models the Change They Seek in the Organization

High Level of Trust and Respect By and For the Team ^ Leverages Ambiguity to Drive Innovation *0- Focuses Group through Clarity of Intent -v* Adapts Leadership Style to the Situation Exercises Soft-Focus and Pattern Recognition ^ Promotes Culture of Freedom and Accountability ^

9: Action-Learning Teams and Knowledge Worker Development 113

The Rise of the Knowledge Worker -$• Developing Knowledge Workers Why Training Is Not Enough ^

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Knowledge, Basic Assumptions, and Awareness The Core Attributes of Knowledge Work From Training to Learning in Action Lessons Learned from the Corporate University

0: The Action Context as Learning Environment 127

The Role of Context In Learning ^ Double-Loop Learning How Theory and Action Inform One Another In Practice -Y-The Role of Explicit Theory ^ The Role of Implicit Theory -<• Organizations as Complex Adaptive Systems -v-Complexity and Spiral Dynamics ^

PART III: Supplemental Materials 139

11 : The Transformation of the U.S. Army Through Action-Learning Teams 141

Action-Learning Teams in the U.S. Army ^ The Emergence of the After Action Review (AAR) Leaders Who Learn from Their Subordinates Achieving Synergy Through Cross-Functional Alignment -$* From After Action Review to Learning in Action -v* Action-Learning and Knowledge Management in the Army ^ Understanding the Leader's Intent

The Emergence of the "VUCA" World -v* Applying Lessons Learned from the AAR -v* About Bob Ivany "v-

12: Executive Mastery - Cyberspace and the New Frontiers of Executive Education 153

A Case Study in Online Action-Learning It Began as Face-to-Face Coaching ^ Evolution to Online Coaching, Education, and Organizational Development ^ Structuring the Intervention, Connecting With the Team ^ The Online System

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•$* Casting the Net Combining Face-to-Face Meetings With Web-Based Leaniing - The One-Day Orientation Retreat A Monthly Face-to-Face Meetings ^ Blending Theory and Practice -£• MeanwhiJe, Back at the Web Site .. .Insights Emerge ^ Insights Lead to Organizational Interventions Forging aNew Developmental Perspective - A Higher Order of Consciousness ^ Lessons Learned from Praxis: The Hidden Dimension of Executive Development Conclusion: Five Key Outcomes

13. Corporate and Higher Education Practices in an Action-Learning Context 173

The 4-Plex Model of Networked Learning -v* Question and Test Dimension: The Practice Domain -v- Reflection and Theory: The Academic Dimension ^ Simultaneous Processing

A/Synchronous Multi-Platforming ^ Academic Community -$• Practice Community ^ Example of the 4-Plex Model in Action ^

References 181

About the Authors 191 Bruce LaRue ^ Paul Childs Kerry Larson ^