Three Hour Workshop about Team Learning and Team Academy
- Written by Ville Keksijä Keränen
- Published in Archive, English
- Permalink
Now, as the topic says, the case is to host a three hour workshop about Team Academy and Team Learning. This is a nice tricky case. I think.
How to stage an experience of Team Academy in three hours?
How to make it so that people have fun and they learn? (In this case learning quals to change their behaviour, at least get one thing to put in practise.)
Should we show videos or tell some facts about Team Academy?
I am doing this with Anita from Creative Impact. We have never done a workshop together for a customer. I have worked a lot with her in the Team Mastery 2 and in the SoL’s evolution process, but we have not delivered things like this before together. It’s interesting to work with new people. I think we are about to learn something. I feel that. It always happens when working with new people. And learning is fun, when doing mistakes is allowed and even recommended.
Another interesting factor is that I have not met the customer ever before. We have changed some emails, and he has participated in the SoL Spain’s event that was about Team Academy. And now he is inviting his colleagues and friends into this workshop. Exciting. I think we need to talk with him more today in order to really know what he wants. What kind of results he is looking for? And what kind of results are the people he has invited into this workshop looking for? As Anita put it very well: What is the question that calls us into this meeting?
I think the questions above are very important if we think in the same way as Einstein used to. ”If I had one hour to save the world I would use 59 minutes to figuring what the right question is and then 1 minute to actually solve it.” This is important because we have to do our a kick ass workshop with the right theme.
Anyways, we are thinking to start from the individual and personal mastery. I think in workshops it’s absolutely crucial to be on the personal level. What I can do to change this world? I get furious if people outsource the problem beyond their reach. As Gandhi says, we have to be the change we want to see in the world. And as Viktor Frankl says: ”You can always choose your own attitude.”
Peter Senge asks in his book Fifth Discipline in the chapter about personal mastery two-three questions:
1. What is important (for me) now?
2. What is happening (around me) now?
3. What is my dream? Where am I going?
These are highly related to Dee Hock’s ideas about managing oneself:
”The first and paramount responsibility of anyone who purports to manage is to manage self — One’s own integrity, character, ethics, knowledge, wisdom, temperament, words, and acts. It’s a never-ending, difficult, oft-shunned task.”
He also talks about how we should, as leaders, to divide our time:
55% for management of self
20% for mgmt of peers
20% mgmt of bosses
5% for subordinates
Manage yourself, hire good people and let them do the same. All else is trivia. This is what Dee Hock says. And I think he’s absolutely right. My friend and fellow Monkey Tatu says: ”Today the survival need of Maslow is about surviving with our own brains.” This applies to the more developed part of the world very well, I think.
Combining all this we come to something our Monkey Henna was part of developing in the Young Leaders Training program of Team Academy back in 2007. In one of their birth givings they came up with term Friend Leadership. How do we lead people who are our friends? How do we manage the relationships when it’s a lot more than just work and making money? I think this is what Dee Hock really meant, the friend leadership is the way to manage in chaordic organizations. Johannes with Team Academy coined the term into 10 principles and they are here:
Then we could also throw in the idea of Single Leader vs. Team Leader Discipline by Katzenbach & Smith. Or Covey’s Circles of Influence. Or the challenges of managing networks as in the Management Masterclass. Or Bohms and Isaacs ideas about Dialogue and thinking together. Maybe even drop Losada’s theory about High Performing Teams and low task orientation. There’s plenty of theory in this world, but what is really important? What do we need to do tomorrow between 9 and 12am? What is it that matters?
I believe that if we can create an environment where people can meet one another in a safe environment and in the spirit of inquiry and respect we have succeeded. All else is trivia. Because in the end, people create the knowledge in their heads and hearts and as Varela and Maturana says: Everything said is said by the observer. Having fun is essential in life. If we have fun in our workshop (and work in general), I am sure we get better results too.
Ps. A key to successful workshop/seminar is to have enough breaks. But before the break we need check-in, some inputs maybe, and action. Then on the breaks people can talk what is on top of their mind, and the coaches/hosts can have dialogue on the spot and decide what to do next. It’s a living process, and we shall trust in it.
Ps2. Thanks to everyone whom I have met during this trip. It’s been amazing. And I am looking forward to making mistakes with you in the future.
