A Community of Effort

TED (noun)
1. Technology, Entertainment and Design conference, held annually in Long Beach and Palm Springs, California. Includes approximately 50 short-format talks on myriad topics over 3.5 days. (see also, TEDActive, TED.com).
2. A fire hose.

Before I first attended TED, this is what I thought it meant, particularly that second definition. As my third conference approaches, I know better. TED is no fire hose. A fire hose is tame. It’s more like deep-sea diving, but without the scuba tank. The format of several 18-minute talks per session, interspersed with shorter 3-5 minute talks seems innocuous enough, digestible. Now that I’ve been through it, I realize the format it isn’t about making it bite-sized. It’s about making it survivable. The content is so rich, the intellectual, emotional and spiritual stimulation is so powerful, that those short talks are really all a person can take in.

The beauty and paradox of TED is, in part, that immersion. I use the word “immersion” specifically. As with immersion studies of French, for example, I do leave TED feeling as if I’m speaking a new language - a language of refreshed connection, of renewed speed, action, passion. The talks have powerful initial impact, but the aftershocks resonate for years. The talks are deftly arranged into 10 sessions, each of having a specific theme (such “Provocation,” “Boldness,” “Invention”). Unexpected connections from talk to talk and session to session bubble up in the days, months and even years following each conference.

Here’s just one example. In one of the shorter talks during TED2009, Renny Gleeson hilariously mused about how technology is impacting how we are present in the moment and how we capture and re-tell that moment.

I didn’t think too much of it at the time or for months afterward. Fast-forward to August when I read The New York Times’ article “At Louvre, Many Stop to Snap, but Few Stay to Focus,” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/arts/design/03abroad.html?_r=1 which delved into how people experience art museums.

Cameras replaced sketching by the last century; convenience trumped engagement, the viewfinder afforded emotional distance and many people no longer felt the same urgency to look. It became possible to imagine that because a reproduction of an image was safely squirreled away in a camera or cell phone, or because it was eternally available on the Web, dawdling before an original was a waste of time, especially with so much ground to cover.

Having been to Paris earlier in the year, the journalist’s observations certainly seemed familiar. Not only had I observed the behavior, I had participated in it (along with sketching and long bouts of gazing). The article bothered me for two reasons, the clearer of which being centered around art appreciation itself. As an art lover, I’d long since observed that many people raced through galleries, even in the film camera era when the cost of film and processing was the great discourager of taking lots of photos, and photo-taking itself was banned in many museums. Frankly, many were already emotionally distant. Technology did nothing to change that.

After a couple of days (and one very spirited debate on the subject on Plurk, a social network similar to Twitter), I finally got clear about the other reason the article bothered me. I recalled Gleeson’s talk. He had asked TEDsters to consider how the ability to capture an experience impacts our shared narrative. While he didn’t apologize for or explain away distractions from the here and now; he encouraged a dialogue that acknowledges change, recognizes that people are being impacted by technology, and challenges us all to be thoughtful about that change. It was a striking contrast to reading the NYT piece, where the message seems to be, put simply, “You’re doing it wrong.”

Linking these two pieces, I took their thinking and my own a step further. I can’t help but believe that technology has only changed the semantics of a conversation that centers on a common refrain: “You should think and do like I think and do.” Art, religion, cultural norms, the workplace—it all adds up to the same, clear message that we should wedge our square selves back into the round holes carved out for us. Why are people so eager for me to experience something, but only in a certain way? I can’t help but wonder who is caring about my experience once I’m back in that hole.

During that last trip to Paris, I took a picture of the Mona Lisa, but did that image focusing on the small portrait behind a bullet-proof glare capture the experience? I wanted to capture what she looks like in her context— not simply the painting itself, but the juxtaposition of a 500-year-old icon in its climate-controlled cocoon. But if I truly wanted to capture the experience, I’d have been better off turning my back to the painting so I could gaze at this:

This crush is similar to what I experienced that day: people 20-30 deep, jostling, cameras raised. There is none of the normal museum hush in the Salle d’Etats housing the Da Vinci work. You’d be hard pressed to emotionally engage with the Mona Lisa, or any other painting in the room for that matter. In fact, it’s hard to even get a clear camera shot, let alone an unobstructed view.

So why go see the world’s most famous painting? If I apply the reporter’s message further, why would I even go to TED? After all, I’m not in the room with most of the speakers. I’m not in the same building or even the same city. I’m watching it (or most of it) on a screen at the Riviera Hotel in Palm Springs, in a ballroom the TEDActive team converts into a modern viewing lounge with rows of leather armchairs, couches, beanbags and blogging stations. And all you TED.com site fans—the millions upon millions around the world who have taken part in the TED experience—why even bother if you can’t be up-close and personal with the speakers, hearing the talks as they happen?

I’ll tell you why I’ll keep doing what I’m doing: because technology allows me to dole out my time and attention as I please, in ways that work for me and help me enhance my experience. I’m less often at the mercy of other arbitrary factors. It allows me to not just experience something, but often to share that experience with others in a richer way. (It takes me from “I saw this really cool painting” to “See how this part is in shadow and how light is treated here? This is why I really liked this painting.”) Most of all, it allows me to revisit an experience more fully, perhaps more accurately, without the veil of mis-remembering. It is in that revisiting that I often find the connections to other experiences flow, adding new meaning and impact. So I’ll continue to take my museum pictures and take part in the TED satellite conference. Sure, there will always be times when I simply experience without recording anything, and I’ll continue to cherish and honor those moments and memories. But in the meantime, that will be me snapping a picture of Venus de Milo on my iPhone. That will be me, cozily ensconced on a couch a the Palm Springs ballroom, watching and listening to the snippets of thought that will replay themselves in my mind, in my blog and in my conversations for years to come.

On 11-14 March 2010, I had the honor of being the Change Agent in Residence for a weekend at Bainbridge Graduate Institute http://bgi.edu/ located on an island near Seattle Washington. It was a wonderful experience to be able to interaction with and sharing Inclusion as the HOW concepts with students, faculty and students. I walked away highly impressed with the Mission and the talent and thinking of the students. Sitting at a table at meal time with a cluster of students engaging in a dialogue about organizations and change was one of many highlights. I asked a few of the students to write a blog that we would post on the KJCG Website about anything that was on their mind…see Nina’s blog below:

By Nina Carduner
Bainbridge Grad Institute Class of 2011

The path to global environmental sustainability is a hard and immense journey, with the looming threat of worsening climate change ever on our shoulders. Fingers are pointing to developed and developing countries, to big business and obstinate governments. The world is full of problems with few visible solutions. Yet part of our collective struggle lies at the very heart of organizational dysfunction; our planet needs a culture of inclusion. The truth is, we all play a part in environmental destruction and we all play a part in dividing and conquering access to natural resources and human rights. We either destroy or once disempowered and afraid — we passively watch. The exclusionary nature of humans coupled with the capacity to exploit within our species is harming our continued existence on the planet. When I woke up to these realities, I began a personal quest to find the answers to my question, “how do we make the changes we need for sheer survival?”

These questions lead me to the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI), to earn an MBA in Sustainable Business. The school is not even a decade old and is the first of its kind to offer a business degree that addresses our world’s need for environmental sustainability. Our school motto exclaims, “Changing business for good!”

Certainly, the school faces all the normal hurdles of a start-up on top of the pressures to confront climate change. Yet, within the school, rests a key foundation that supports the inter-personal skills I believe will lead us towards cooperative inclusive solutions in addressing the world’s problems. I’ve broken down this foundation into five core practices that BGI embodies and incorporates.

1. Emphasize Co-Creation
Part of the learning curve at BGI comes when you realize, you’re not going to get all the answers from faculty. This was a rude awakening during my first two months after years in traditional academic institutions that emphasize pedagogy and regurgitation. Instead, curiosity and exploration within guided teamwork set the stage for finding the most profound and impactful answers. Hierarchy is not entrenched and all voices carry equal weight in the BGI circle. The faculty does not see students as empty vessels ready to receive their vast knowledge, but as partners in learning with value and experience to add to the class. Once I got used to this difference, I felt excited and passionate to share my voice and I feel I’ve become a more resourceful person throughout the course of my studies.

2. Protect and promote diversity awareness
Significant parts of the BGI curriculum are dedicated to personal development and social justice. In these courses, we sometimes experience discomfort, awkwardness, fear, and pain. Yet, these feelings are the simple result of doing the deep personal reflections that the coursework requires. Going through personal development and watching your classmates do the same leads to greater empathy and awareness of others. For myself, I experienced an extremely challenging awakening to the white privilege I have enjoyed my entire life. Doing so has enriched my life and my personal friendships in ways I could not have imagined. The simple understanding that other people experience the world differently than I do you can helps all of us serve one another in the ways we truly need. That awareness alone helps us engage people before we act without fully understanding who may be affected and if we are truly serving their interests.

3. Facilitate open conversations
Over the years, as BGI has expanded in size, the school has experienced numerous shifts in culture. Students and faculty keep an open dialogue going through some of the most difficult community conversations. When difficult issues come up at BGI, they are vocalized in our open circles when the whole student body is present. If we are not in session, these discussions are taken to our online forums where everyone is invited to weigh in. These conversations are often framed within the context of the first two practices mentioned above.

4. Make public appreciations
It’s funny how subtle differences in language can make a huge impact. You can say, “I would like to thank you” or you can be more direct and take full ownership of your gratitude by saying, “I thank you…” These are some of the interpersonal skills we learn at BGI. In our open circles, BGI creates space for people to express deep gratitude and appreciation for each other. These appreciations run the gamut, for small kindnesses to deep supportive friendships. Bearing witness and holding the positive energy of gratitude with the student body and faculty has been instrumental in building the supportive community at BGI.

5. Recognize all people’s skills and values
When BGI asked me in my admissions interview, “What talents and experience could you share with the rest of the school?” I immediately racked my brain for the most business-y things I could think of. With a background in performing arts, it didn’t occur to me that a business school would value my artistic side. Yet, that is exactly what I was told next when the dean of admissions offered, “Can we tell you what we think you can offer the BGI community?” It was quite a stunning experience to feel valued as an artist by a business school and it was the first time I felt openly appreciated as an artist. Part of diversity is recognizing that every person has vast untapped knowledge and skill sets. I didn’t even realize this about myself before attending BGI. I wonder how many of us are still in this boat? The world’s challenges will require more than “group think” to re-imagine a sustainable world.

Like all organizations that are trying to operate in a different more inclusive way, the school still has some ground to travel. Yet, the ability to traverse that ground is supported by the five practices. In many organizations, people are afraid to be singled out as the “gadfly” when bringing up concerns or problems. People are afraid to ask for help, or ask for what they need. At BGI, we are encouraged to bring our voices and express our needs. Doing so may not always get the immediate results we seek, but the administration and faculty are quick to listen and are supportive of the discussions that will lead to solutions.

In the big picture, I see the world edging toward these practices with every new generation. We are not helpless individuals. BGI has helped me see that everyone is part of the solution.

(This post was contributed by Guest Blogger, Organizational Development Consultant and member of our Community of Effort Donna Alonso)

My “Latin American Journey to Self-Discovery” was born from a spiritual awakening I experienced during the summer of 2003, shortly after I completed my advanced degree in organization development. This incredible idea came to me as I was feeling full of gratitude for life and filled with genuine excitement about life’s possibilities. It was a simple, yet, profound moment when the intense thought became an idea that became a dream that became a calling that became my inner voice and self saying, “GO to Latin America, live, learn and be with others!”

In 2005 and 2006, I launched my self-directed immersion program to explore three distinctively different Latin American countries: Puerto Rico, Panama, and Ecuador. This was not a vacation; it was a journey – one nurtured with incredible learning experiences that evoked everlasting change within my whole being.

Prior to leaving the United States, I researched and reached out to various organizations and made arrangements to volunteer with an American non-government, non-religious organization called “Global Citizens Network” (GCN) who partners with grassroots organizations around the world. I volunteered to work in two different communities in Ecuador right outside the city’s capital of Quito. I partnered with GCN because their mission speaks to my shared values of promoting peace, justice, cross-cultural understanding and global cooperation through the sharing of resources that will enhance the quality of life around the world.

During my travels, I lived with local families and used local hostels as needed to help me make the transition between families, communities, and countries. I frequented an established travel club and briefly attended language school - both provided great local contacts. I kept a journal the entire time I traveled to help me capture a real, pure essence of what I experienced. There are so many experiences in fact that it would take pages and pages to even begin to describe what was so generously given to me from the hearts and souls of the people I lived with and grew to know as family as well as others whom I met throughout my travels.

One of my most cherished experiences was the time I spent in the dry, mountainous, desert-like, Afro-Ecuadorian community called Tumbatu. I lived with an exceptionally wise and hard working couple, Marisol and Fabian, and their two, young children. Marisol is a vibrant, resourceful and dedicated mother and wife and a strong leader in her community. Fabian is a patient, reflective and supportive father and husband and a primary worker in the community’s local farm. They are very proud homeowners especially because they actually built their home themselves. They expressed their excitement and hopes for their home improvement plans and assured me that when I returned some day, they’d have indoor plumbing and running water. Fabian worked daily on the community farm to cultivate the land that produced beans and other crops. Marisol worked three days a week as a domestic worker for another family in a larger town on the other side of the river. She showed me how to wash my clothes in the village’s natural water system and make the best three bean salad and natural papaya shake! They welcomed me into their home and treated me like family. They shared their food, their home and their stories. Stories? Ahaaa, so many!

However, with all of this, my favorite times were the evenings I spent sitting outside with Marisol and Fabian and sometimes the children after a long day simply talking and sipping warm tea and passionately discussing a variety of subjects such as, politics, history, education, culture, economics, Spanish and English vocabulary and just every day matters. They helped me better understand the complexities of Ecuadorian history and culture and gave me an awareness and perspective I could only know from actually living and experiencing their world. They told stories about their families and how they met, and they shared their hopes and dreams. We laughed, I cried, we exchanged pictures and we vowed to somehow stay in touch.

You may have questions, like, “How are you different now as a result of this journey?” Or, perhaps, “What would you recommend to people who may want to do something like this?” How am I different: I returned to the United States one year ago and since then, I’ve heard family, colleagues and friends say, “You seem different” and, when I ask for more clarity, I typically hear “You seem calm,” or “You seem at peace.” Their observations are accurate. I feel changed at the core of who I am, and, I believe this change within me is still happening! This difference is most prevalent during times of uncertainty and resistance. Who I am today feels one with what I believe and what I do.

When I was in grad school, I learned about “the gift of presence” and how you can only acquire it when you “become whole and in access to and the courage to become more and more of who you are as a unique person – to change and grow from within.” It was then when I also heard for the first time the term “use of self” and the notion of “use of self as an instrument.” I believe the long term impact to what I experienced during my Latin American Journey is in how I embrace myself, and how I use myself to impact others. And, yet, I wonder, “How do I continue to use what I’ve learned and experienced to further my own development and how do I share what I’ve learned to enhance the development of others?” As practitioners who facilitate change, we have to be willing to continuously explore and challenge our own boundaries. My intent to immerse myself in this journey to self discovery was to stretch myself in a way I’ve never experienced before. The outcome taught me to pay close attention to the emotional reactions, biases and perceptions for myself and of others.

I enjoy doing organization development work because I get satisfaction from helping organizations learn how to change their environments in a way that sustains improved impact. If as the consultant practitioner, I am the primary instrument of the OD work, then my self-directed cultural immersion project was a great success. I came away with a deeper understanding of my emotional, perceptual, and cognitive processes. My journey to self discovery was a very special gift and, yes, I’d do it again when the time is right. So, stay tuned because my journey continues as I further embrace self and willingly explore my Spanish European ancestry during my next trip – Spain, 2009.

(Donna Alonso is an independent organization development consultant working with not for profit and for profit organizations. She facilitates small and large group sessions in a way that supports inclusion, identifies emergent themes and allows respectful and appropriate space for difference. Clients appreciate Donna’s ability to connect strategic goals to performance, champion diversity initiatives, and build authentic relationships. Donna received her advanced degree in Organization Development from The American University in Washington, DC. and National Training Laboratories (NTL) Institute, Alexandria, Virginia. She’s lived and worked in Latin America and volunteered for projects designed to promote social justice and preserve the culture of indigenous communities. Donna can be reached at donnaalonso at hotmail dot com )

“Over the next two decades, 76 million Americans will be retiring and only 46 million will be entering the workplace to replace them, according to the American Society of Training and Development. The vast majority of those 46 million workers will be from Generation Y, also known as the Millennial generation.” (from Management Techniques for Bringing Out the Best in Generation Y)

In the 1970s, organizations were beginning to focus on the need to be more diverse in response to consumer demands. Now more than ever, it is the marketplace of talent driving the need for diversity and organizational change. Because of the imminent talent shortage caused by the retirement of 76 million Americans over the next 20 years, the Millennial generation is in a position to challenge workforce conventions and make organizational demands that previous generations had no leverage to make. These demands include fast-track career positioning, greater life work integration , additional training and cutting-edge technology, but the demands don’t stop there.

The Millennial generation is working to change the rules. They see themselves as consumers in a different sense – they are CHOOSING where and how they are going to work. This generation is unwilling to be pioneers of diversity and inclusion. Many of them watched their parents play those roles and their expectation is that organizations have become more diverse, instituted workplace flexibility and removed the barriers that have been identified over the past twenty plus years. They know they are expected to deliver – and they expect organizations to live up to those same rules. They are ready to contribute.

A recent New York Times article discussed one such example of Millennial expectations. Stanford Law students have undertaken a project to evaluate and hold accountable the prestigious law firms for their results with respect to diversity (the numbers of women, people of color and gay lawyers who are partners) and inclusive practices (including workplace flexibility and the number of required billable hours) by handing out “diversity report cards” to the big law firms

Beyond refusing to accept positions at firms that scored poorly, these “best and brightest” students have bigger plans. They will be lobbying top schools and universities to restrict recruiting by firms who scored in the bottom of the rankings. The students also have plans to send the scores to the general counsels of all Fortune 500 companies with the recommendation that the rankings be considered when selecting lawyers and law firms.

This is the first generation who can say, “Here are the rules we want to play by, so if you want the best and the brightest you need to be positioned to utilize our talents.” For this generation, it’s not all about the money; it’s about a healthy life work integration, an inclusive environment that is conducive to collaboration and innovation, a culture that invites their voice, their input and their ideas and most importantly, it’s about feeling valued and able to contribute.

“Firms that want the best students will be forced to respond to the market pressures that we’re creating,” said Andrew Bruck, a law student at Stanford and a leader of the project. This is just one more example of how the game is changing for organizations, and for those that say they just need more time to make improvements, it just might be too late.

Too often, organizations conceive of their diversity and inclusion efforts as pre-packaged, isolated programs that will, in a few simple steps, make the organization diverse. From a consultant’s perspective, to be working at a strategic systems level and trying to have the right conversations is frustrating when an organization is mired in an event-based diversity mindset; when what the organization really wants is diversity in a box.

Just when I think the conversation about inclusion has finally progressed passed the insulting Diversity in a Box portion, I’m reminded that many organizations are still not only working within this framework, but certain that it is the right thing to do. One of those reminders came last week during a potential client presentation.

Upon arriving on site I was greeted by a member of the organization’s Diversity Council and I asked her how that day’s event aligned with and connected to the organization’s inclusion efforts and diversity strategy. I learned the organization used to have diversity awareness months during the year; each month dedicated to and celebrating a different group. For example: Hispanic Month, Asia-Pacific Month, Disabled Month, and GLBT Month. But if that wasn’t bad enough she told me that the organization recently consolidated all its diversity into one month.

Now intrigued I pushed and asked what other efforts had been made to work towards a more diverse and inclusive culture and was told associates participated in an exercise during which they wore blindfolds and earmuffs so they could better empathize with those who are blind and Deaf. During a similar exercise in futility the associates pretended they were elephants and giraffes and together had to figure out how to build a house that would accommodate both.

At this point I was in a surreal situation that epitomized every stereotypical “Diversity in a Box” effort there is. I often joke about organizations having ethnic food months; but they were actually doing it. How about a Diversity through Poetry Monthly Newsletter? They’ve got one. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse; it did.

The Supervisor of the Diversity Council member with whom I was speaking walked up and introduced herself and I thought; “Now I’ll get the real scoop on what efforts are really being made.” After explaining to me how the firm has affinity groups that work with the Marketing Department to tell them how to market to their people (groan) she abruptly stopped and asked me, “Do you have any advice with what we should do with our Asian population?” What we should DO with the Asian Population? Beyond being speechless I was disheartened that this organization, one that is widely recognized for doing Diversity well, is still doing it in a Box.

Diversity is not a problem to be managed; it is an opportunity to be leveraged for business growth and performance enhancement. To approach it in a segmented fashion, with a numbers driven approach, is an approach that is doomed to failure and also illustrates a complete misunderstanding of the meaning of leveraging diversity.

A truly diverse organization moves well beyond numbers and pockets of effort; it explicitly ties the essence of diversity – valuing people – to its mission, vision and purpose. Diversity can not be reached through newsletters and ethnic food month and is not an end unto itself; it is a vehicle for invigorating the organization and improving it in every way.