Cross-Cultural Integration across 60
nations: Strategic Planning in Children's International Summer Villages
(CISV) by Sharon King
Summary: When the leadership of
Children’s International Summer Villages (CISV) determined they needed
a new strategic plan, they knew they needed to engage the grassroots.
Yet developing a shared, cohesive direction involving 60 nations with
almost as many languages seemed impossible. Even more challenging, many
nations would not attend the annual conference because it was in
Israel. From being sceptical about using AI and OST, people became
excited to be working with each other in this way while developing
priorities for the future.
Engaging the Executive Team in Strategy: an amalgam
of Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space in Canadian Organizations by Larry Peterson
Summary: This
story is an amalgam of six similar engagements over the last three
years. The organizations involved were government agencies and
commercial organisations ranging from 100 to 350 employees, with
executive teams of eight to thirteen members. Five of the interventions
led to work with the whole system, but all began with a request to
work with the senior team and an Executive asking me to assist with
strategy. Often these leaders work within a vision and mission with
outcomes established by a board or previous planning process. Whether
CEOs, Executive Directors, VP’s, Assistant Deputy Ministers or
Directors, they face similar issues implementing vision and mission.
Their concern is usually around better engaging the executive team in
leading substantial or transformative change with the improved teamwork
required for the task. This story highlights the key phases to engaging
a senior team and the successes that follow.
Liberation &
Communication: Tapping the Wisdom of the Collective Chaordic Spirit C by Christine Whitney Sanchez
Summary: This article focuses on Christine
Whitney Sanchez's experience of combining OST and AI and how it led to
the international Appreciative Inquiry to collect stories about
successful chaordic organizing, Collective Chaordic Spirit.
Rapid High-Participation Strategic
Planning by Sallie Lee, Debbie Morris and Birgitt Williams
Summary:
The authors together with Ward Williams
and Steven Garcia were invited to bid on a strategic planning process
for “GWA” (not the actual name). It had the markings of a nightmare
project: complete within two and a half months while involving the
workforce, a geographically dispersed board, and external
stakeholders. The organization runs 24-hours-a-day and some of the
leadership believed a for-profit entity was the answer. This article
highlights the phases followed and reflections on blending different
approaches.
Learning to Lead: A
School for Senior Executives in the Federal Government in Canada
by Diane Gibeault
Summary: This article
describes the power of combining Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Open
Space Technology (OST) in a leadership training program for senior
executives of the federal government. The participants found these
approaches to be innovative and effective for facilitating meetings,
building change processes and managing teams.
The Value of Values for a Business in
Transition in India: Using Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space
Technology by Anne Stadler
Summary: This is a story of
Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space Technology creating wealth in
thechaotic marketplace of India in 1999. The characters are Anil
Sachdev, then the ManagingDirector of Eicher Consultancy Services Ltd.
(ECS, Ltd.), his colleagues, their parentcompany, The Eicher Group,
and their clients. The author takes us through the steps wherethe
company completed a blueprint for evolving the organization as its
Founder andManaging Director moved on.
Unicef’s Annual Retreat
in the Former Yugoslavia: the Facilitator’s Story by Carla Vliex
Summary: Carla Vliex
was the facilitator for an annual retreat of Unicef in the Former
Yugoslavia. Here is her story of what she did and how she felt as she
was designing and redesigning the retreat.
Constructing the Future Together - Police
in Columbia by Kaj Voetmann and Sara
Ines Gomez
Summary: This
work grew out of a commitment of a Police Commander to strengthen the
use ofvalues in the police. The authors brought an approach which
combined the best of twoworlds – OS and AI – to the formal culture of
the police. They invited the policemen to tapinto their best
experiences as police officers, to do some generative planning on the
sixthemes in the police's mission statement and to do some
appreciative time travel into apreferred future.
Open Space and Appreciative Inquiry
Together… Online by Gabriel Shirley
Summary: Blending innovative social
processes - primarily Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Open Space (OS) -
with accessible, easy to use Internet technologies offers great
promise for enhancing their collective impact. The following story
draws from several of my experiences in providing online environments
where AI and OS are instrumental.
Viewpoint: Creating the Open and Appreciative Virtual
Space of the AI International Conference by Anne Radford
