Hi all!
10 of us gathered at Frank Friedlander's home on December 12 and had a
wonderful conversation.
The question "What's up with you at this point in
time?" seemed sufficient to keep us engaged with one another for the entire
meeting if we hadn't agreed to additional agenda.
We found several common themes in our sharing / dialogue. Time and
effectiveness; vulnerability and emotionality; and really good / really
challenging poles of experience.
The last 45 minutes or so, we talked with Dennis and John about their
interest in collaborating with NTL on a PhD program. It was the strong
consensus of the group not to pursue a strong affiliation at this point in
time -- rather to design the program we really want, then call on local NTL
resources and Stanford trained facilitators to help in delivery. Dennis and
John agreed to make the purpose and vision of the PhD program clearer, and
then to invite BA-NTL to help brainstorm HOW to do it.
Regards and my very best wishes for the holiday season.
John Adams, PhD
Director, Organizational Systems
Saybrook Graduate School
415 753 6668
415 753 6669 Fax
www.eartheart-ent.com
Agenda
Hi Folks,
The Oct 24 meeting will be at Arlene's in Tiburon, and I am coordinating
details for it.
I will be presenting my TRUTH AT WORK game--we'll play it and share
ideas about how it can be used in our work...and how it can be improved.
The other presentation was to be Dennis, but he now has a schedule
conflict and cannot be there...so we might use the remaining time to
talk about getting work. I see from Scott's email that this topic was
of interest to some. Or is there someone who has a passion that they'd
like to share about?
I'll get directions and details about the program to you later.
Susan
No notes sent.
Agenda
I am afraid that I have some sad news. Dennis Jaffe's sister is among the
missing in the World Trade Center. He has flown back to New York.
We have decided to still hold our Thursday meeting, but it will now be at my
house in Berkeley. Directions are attached.
No lunch, but we will have coffee and cake at 12:30 so that we can start at
1:00. The first agenda item is for us to jointly plan a weekend
trainer-of-trainer program for the Stanford Facilitators. Also attached is
a memo setting out the parameters.
The second agenda item was to be led by Dennis (on how we are handling
money) and that will be postponed. In talking with a couple of you, it
seemed most appropriate to talk about last week. As helpers, we usually
help others and do we get enough of a chance to take care of our needs?
There are a couple of ways we can approach this.
-- Obviously, one way is to speak about what this has personally meant to
us.
-- Another approach is, as behavioral scientists to try and understand this.
[Scott Bristol has an interesting analysis from his value perspective --
Scott, could you e-mail that to all of us?)
We will decide when we are together, which approach we want to take.
Meeting from 1 to 5:30 followed by wine and cheese. There are also
wonderful (and inexpensive) restaurants in Berkeley so consider sticking
around and a group of us will be going out.
Hope to see many of you here on Thursday.
David Bradford
Folks,
Last week 11 of us met at David Bradford's to continue our Bay Area NTL meeting. The meeting ran from 12:30-5:30 with 6 of us having dinner together before heading home. Here's a review of day.
I mention this because it seems to be a structure we are adapting to:
12:30-1:00 Welcoming,
1:00-3:00 1st Subject
3:00-5:00 2nd Subject
5:00-5:30 Wine/snacks
Dinner together- optional
Also, we've established some norms around setting the agenda and making the time meaningful:
- People who have a passion/interest they want to present to the group take the lead on structuring the agenda for their session. They can use the whole session if they need it. This includes getting out any pre-work that might facilitate the session.
- Meetings are open to all NTL members and alumni.
- We hold our couterdependency in abeyance:) and go with the design of the session.
Two topics were addressed at the Sept 20 meeting.
1. David provided the structure and task for the first half of our meeting: Designing an Advanced Train-the-Trainers weekend for a group of the Stanford Facilitators that have been active in the Stanford B-School 'personal skills course'. Mary Ann, Judith and Flo are actively involved in this course, Frank has worked with it before and I've also participated as a Sr. Trainer. Present in our group was good degree of personal experience with the Stanford project and the issues the trainers appear to struggle with. We split into two groups. A number of different themes were explored. One theme that was more of a dialectic was 1) to what degree to we as 'experts' declare and structure the session base on our years of experience vs. 2) to what degree to we ask the participants to declare their own learning needs to which we respond. On top of this was added the complexity and learning model, of concentric "fish bowls"- Sr Staff- Co-Trainers- Participants, etc..
The conclusion was that we had provided enough training material for more than one weekend.
2. The second half of the meeting focused on recent events at the WTC. To various degrees we we're all still working through our different personal experiences. We used this short time to tell our own story's, share feelings and concerns, and have them heard by a group of empathetic colleagues that could tolerate difference.
3. Evaluation. We all left feeling 're-vitalized' to a degree and appreciating both the intellectual and emotional events of the day and especially appreciating our group of peers.
4. Future topics: Since many of us have been negatively impacted by recent events... we joked about our open schedules.. but also raised the question about how might we generate work? A topic for a future meeting.
Regards,
Scott Bristol
In attendance:
David Bradford, Arlene Scott, Ted Scott, Tracy Gibbons, Flo Hoylman, Jack Sherwood, Frank Friedlander, Mary Ann Huckabay, Judith Noel, Joseph Luft, Scott Bristol
Next sessions are scheduled for
Wed., Oct. 24 (Sue Campbell will be organizing the agenda and it will likely be held in Tiburon)
Wed. Dec. 12. (Frank Friedlander and Tracy Gibbons will be organizing the agenda and it will be held at Frank's house in Las Gatos)
Greetings To All!
We have received replies from about 15 members indicating
they will join us on Thursday, July 26 from 1:00 pm to
5:00 pm to learn about Mark Williams’ unique approach to
diversity training and discuss trainer self disclosure in
a T-Group arising from David Bradford’s work at Stanford.
Our meeting will be held in the Community Room on the
second floor of the new Town Hall in Tiburon. We’ll have
wine, cheese and other nourishments to support us during
our explorations and discussions.
Since we are meeting in a large enough space, last minute
and late arrivals are welcome. However, it is nice to
have a sense of how many might attend so continue to send
us your intentions right up to July 26.
For those of you attending, if you wish to take the draft
Gallup Instrument measuring Mark’s diversity dimensions,
e-mail us your address and we will send you a copy which
you will need to send back for scoring before our
meeting. Unfortunately, we cannot release this instrument
to all who may be interested until Mark’s book is out and
his Diversity Channel is up and running this Fall. So,
please ask for the instrument only if you are coming to
the meeting.
Directions: From Hwy 101, drive East on Tiburon Blvd (CA
Route 131) for approximately 3.9 miles. As you enter the
“downtown” area, you should note the new Town Library and
the new Town Hall (with clock tower) on your left. There
is free parking between the Library and the Town Hall and
behind the Town Hall. The signs say 2-hour limit and, we
are assured by our friends in the Recreation Department,
that there is no problem parking for longer periods. For
those of you who wish to be law abiding, there is a fee
parking lot ($2) next to the Town Hall on the Eastern
side. If the little red machine does not spit out a
ticket, lift a lid to your right, look inside the box a
get an envelope to put your money in. A slot in the box
is for the envelope. (We have been playing Myst III and
this sounds very familiar).
We will start setting up around 12:15 pm so come early and
move chairs! After the meeting, we thought it would be
fun to have as many of us as possible eat an early no host
dinner together at one of the waterfront restaurants. Let
us know if you want to be a part of the dinner group and
we’ll make reservations.
Looking forward to seeing you on the 26th.
Sue & Howard
Summary
Notes
Bay
Area NTL Learning Community Meeting
7/26/01
Present:
David Bradford, Scott Bristol, Susan Campbell, Tracey Gibbons, Flo
Hoylman, Mary Ann Huckaby, Dennis Jaffee, Howard Lamb, Sue Ries Lamb, Joe
Luft, Jack Sherwood ... Notes prepared by Sue Ries Lamb
Mark
has identified -- and the Gallup organization is in the process of
psychometrically validating -- 10 different lenses, or perspectives, which
can be applied at the intrapersonal, interpersonal and organization levels
of diversity work with special emphasis on race, color, ethnicity and
nationality. (A second set of lenses will focus on gender, with subsequent
sets focusing on additional key dimensions of diversity). The Lenses and
their “mottos” include:
•
The Assimilationist Lens -- “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”
•
The Colorblind Lens -- “When I see you, I see a person, not your
color”
•
The Culturalcentrist Lens -- “My culture is central to my
personal and public identity”
•
The Elitist Lens -- “Membership has its privileges”
•
The Integrationist Lens ‘’ “Ebony and ivory live together on
my piano keys ... Shouldn’t we?”
•
The Meritocratist Lens -- “Cream rises to the top”
•
The Multiculturalist Lens -- “The more, the merrier”
•
The Seclusionist Lens -- “Birds of a feather flock together”
•
The Transcendent Lens -- “We’re all one race -- the human
race”
•
The Victim/Caretaker Lens -- “We shall overcome”
The
approach is intended to be both diagnostic and developmental. Each lens
has its strengths and shadows, as well as what Mark calls its “highest
level of expression” to contribute to effective interpersonal, team and
organizational functioning.
Each
cultural identity group has its legacies
-- the historical events and conditions that have influenced the way that
group views and interacts with other groups. However, the individual
members of any cultural identity group will prioritize the layers
-- i.e., race, gender, ethnicity, age, profession, marital status,
parental status, sexual orientation, etc. --by which s/he identifies
him/herself. Our preferred lenses are influenced by, and in turn
influence, the ways in which we think about our legacies and layers. Mark
suggests that a key way to change the diversity conversation and have more
meaningful dialogue with each other is to use “the 6 L’s:”
-
Lenses
-
Layers
-
Legacies
•
Listening for the content, meaning and world view of the other
person, including
what lens s/he’s viewing the situation from, what layers are most
important to
him/her, what legacies s/he’s been influenced by
•
Languaging in ways which are not offensive or distracting for the
other person,
given his/her cultural identity, lenses, etc.
At
the systemic level, understanding the lenses that are most influential
with respect to marketing, product development, advertising, customer
service, and recruiting and development of employees can help the
organization leverage the strengths of these lenses, minimize their
shadows and identify additional lenses which may be complementary to the
predominant lenses in accomplishing the organization’s business goals.
While
we all have our own perspectives on what is “too much” or “too
little” self disclosure, there was a lot of agreement on the following
points:
•
As trainers, we have an obligation to create psychological safety
for the group;
there may be times when we need to self disclose for this purpose
•
The maturity of the group and the timing of self disclosing
interventions are
critical issues -- Self disclosure early in the group’s history
is not usually
appropriate
•
Sharing our feelings about what’s going on in the here and now,
using I
statements, is the way most of us would go about self disclosure
•
Some times, when we think a group member needs to feel that someone
else has
gone through/understands/empathizes with what s/he is going through
and no
one else in the group is providing this reassurance, it helps for
the trainer to
self disclose for this purpose
•
There are nonverbal ways to show that we are fully present and show
empathy, as
well as the verbal ones
•
There are legitimate reasons for maintaining the trainer role (vs
“hiding behind” it)
•
We all have experienced the nervous sensations in the gut and the
repeated
question in the head about “Should I/Shouldn’t I say what’s
going on for me!”
A
Review of Our Norms
Since
we were a much larger group than at our last meeting, we reviewed and
added to the norms by which we want to operate:
•
We will stay with the planned agenda for a meeting
•
Participants in the group will be current or former NTL members
•
However, we will not be focusing on NTL as an organization or
turning these
•
There will be no pressure about attendance at these meetings
•
Those who do come will have the most influence about the selection
of dates and
•
The agenda will be based on our “passions” -- what we are most
interested in and/or needing support on at the current time
•
Whoever volunteers to present/facilitate a discussion for the next
meeting will
•
If the presenter/facilitator requests preparation ahead of time, we
agree to comply
•
We will engage in straight talk with each other
We
also updated our list of possible topics for future meetings. This list is
attached on a separate page so that we can continue to refer to it at
future meetings.
Before
ending the meeting, Scott and Tracey gave a brief report on the NTL
Membership Meeting which was held in Bethel last week.
After
the meeting, seven of us capped a delightful afternoon by having dinner
together at Sam’s on the Tiburon waterfront.
The
next meeting will be hosted by Dennis Jaffee on Thursday, September 20th.
Topics will include a discussion facilitated by Dennis on “Money,
Legacies and Retirement” and group input to David Bradford and Mary Ann
Huckaby on a design for a weekend training program for Stanford
facilitators.
P.S.
Book recommendation from Dennis Jaffee: Developing
Cultural Competence by Franz Trompenaars
Potential Topics for Future Meetings of the
Bay
Area NTL Learning Community
•
Design of weekend training program for Stanford facilitators --
September 20th
•
Money -- its significance for us, how we’re earning it, what we
want to do with
it in retirement, what legacies we want to leave -- September 20th
•
Bringing in special workshops for our own growth -- e.g., Power
Equity Group
•
Developing other weekend training programs for professionals and
others
(Maybe be able to generate some income from this ... Maybe develop
a
training program that could be used as a “feeder program” for
new younger
NTL members
•
Our professional development and support
- What we’re
currently needing support with in terms of client cases, crit
incidents, etc.
- Questions/discussion
on theory and practice
•
What we’re working on that’s “new and different”
•
“Johari Safari” -- exploring our hidden and blind sides
•
Community building -- where is it, what are useful corrective
points?
•
Redesign and staff some of NTL labs to offer them in this area
-
More business-focused HI
Susan Campbell’s team building game -- October?
Bay Area - NTL Members
This is a reminder and a request for confirmation if you plan to attend.
- Need know how may people will be present on Wed so I can have enough chairs, etc.
- Need to know if your coming Tuesday night and want to attend an informal dinner at my house (108 Clark Ave, Santa Cruz 95060).
Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9-4
Place: (My Office) 55B Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: 831-457-3117
Theme: "Values, Words and Meaning"
Schedule
Tuesday Evening: 6:00 PM Informal dinner at my house Wednesday:
Wednesday: 9:00-4:00
9:00- 10:30 Focus Session
a) Overview
b) Personal "values disclosure":
-Individuals share and discuss personal values that are motivating them at this stage of their life?
- How do these values relate to our work in group dynamics?
c) Identify relevant pressing questions we want to address.
d) Use "pressing questions" and group size to structure the days agenda.
Break
10:45-12:00 Working session 1
12:00- 1:00 Lunch- (Enjoy the environment!)
1:00 - 3:00 Working session 2
Break
3:00- 4:00 Summary of Learnings and Next Steps.
Additional Request for Information:
1) In order to facilitate disclosure and discussion of personal values and to directly relate "values" to group and organizational development I'm requesting that you complete the Life Journey Map, an online values ranking process I developed. You'll receive immediate feedback after completing ljMap ranking- your top 6 priority values. We will use our personal priority values to start and structure the day.
2) If you have "pressing questions" and agenda items please send them to me so we can build a list. Here are some I've received:
- "exactly what is the role of the trainer in a T-group?" ,
- "how (and when) disclosing should we be?
- "How and when to use our own issues?"
- "What about our values; do we bring them in?"
- It would also be nice if we could share times when we felt we used ourselves inappropriately.
Best regards,
Scott Bristol
Hello to all --
The bad news is that
only five of us (David Bradford, Scott Bristol, Flo Hoylman, Howard Lamb,
Sue Ries Lamb) got to experience it ...
The good news is
that our Bay Area NTL Members Meeting on Wednesday, May 29th, was
characterized by new learning, stimulating ideas, great colleageality,
even a gourmet lunch prepared and hosted graciously by Scott’s wife,
Virginia! Overall, the best time I personally have had with a group of
NTLers since the close-to-perfect time when a dozen or so of us got
together in Bethel to work on realigning the four core courses in the OD
Certificate Program.
Scott, who wins the
title of “OD practitioner with the most scenic office” hands down,
generously shared his innovative and useful work on values with us,
helping us understand how the results of his ljMap educational tool
applied to each of us personally; providing us with a group profile of our
values and suggestions about how we could begin to use this information in
working together; and giving us some examples of how he uses his work in
executive coaching and organization consulting. Separately from this
e-mail he will be sending out a summary of the content covered. I would
strongly urge those of you who missed out on this opportunity to look for
other ways to connect up with Scott and get an orientation on what he’s
doing.
In the afternoon, we spent
some time applying what we had learned in the morning to the task of
considering possible futures for those Bay Area NTLers interested in
continuing to meet as a group.
We established the
following mission for ourselves: “A community that designs innovative
learning experiences for ourselves and others.” We agreed that we want
to meet every 6 weeks for 6 hours in the near future in order to get some
momentum going. Whether the meetings will start at 9:00 am and go till
4:00 pm, or start at 1:00 pm and go to 7:00 pm will be decided by whoever
is convening each meeting, based on input from interested members. The
next three meetings will take place on Thursday, July 26th (at Howard’s
and my home in Tiburon), Thursday, September 20th, and Wednesday, October
24th.
Some
of the topics we brainstormed for future meetings included:
•
Designing a trainer-of-trainers weekend to support the continued
learning of
trainers who serve the Stanford Organization Behavior t-group
program
•
Consulting with each other on issues related to our work -- e.g.,
Howard and Sue
need to develop a series of diagnostic assessment tools related to
a new
approach to diversity
•
Discussing theoretical issues related to t-group training
•
Expanding our skills for t-group facilitation -- e.g.,
understanding major clinical issues
•
Designing/arranging for and carrying out weekend labs -- for
ourselves and/or for other professionals -- e.g.,
- Learning
more about Power Equity Group’s approach
- Learning
more about Tavi approach
•
Rethinking NTL’s basic HI -- incorporating more
tie-in/application to participants’
organization experiences
•
Supporting each other with respect to client problems or personal
growth issues
•
Revisiting Scott’s values work once we have had a chance to
digest it and talking
about ways to apply it in t-group work as well as our own
consulting practices
The
norms we have agreed to are as follows:
•
Group members will have the NTL history and model as a common
experience
•
Members will come when they can without any pressures about
attendance
•
Influence over meeting content and scheduling will be based on
participation in
the group
•
We will engage in Straight Talk with each other
•
We will hold ourselves and each other accountable for follow-up on
commitments
made
•
We will share leadership for different tasks -- agenda
development/content
presentations, hosting meetings, communications with members
•
We will legitimize people taking the initiative and not shoot them
down for doing so
•
We will be system driven -- i.e., at each meeting we will follow
through on the
planned agenda vs redesigning on the spot
•
There will be times when pre-work will be required; if so, the
expectation will be
that everyone has done it
We
will be sending out an agenda for the meeting on July 26th (9:00 am - 4:00
pm) and directions to our place later. Looking forward to seeing as many
of you as possible then.
Cheers,
Sue
Agenda
NTL Area's of Specialty regional review and feedback meeting.
Bay Area - NTL
Recently at a meeting a David Bradford's house a number of us (NTL) agreed
that we wanted to continue to meet and dialogue about what we are doing that
is of professional interest and passion. I volunteered to organize and
facilitate our next meeting.
You are invited to our next meeting.
Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9-4
Place: (My Office) 55B Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Theme: "Values, Words and Meaning"
My work in recent years has been in the area of "measuring and mapping
culture, values and meaning".
An "aha" that has been important to me is that I create and sustain
personal meaning through my language. Implicit in my language are my values.
If so... then, who do I want to spend the remainder of my life talking to?
and what do I want to talk about?
In order to explore these observations and questions in more detail I will
send you an invitation to complete the Life Journey Map, an online values
ranking process I developed. You'll receive immediate feedback after
completing ljMap ranking- your top 6 priority values. We will use our
personal priority values to explore our similarities and differences on May
30th. This is a scaleable measurement methodology that I have used at the
individual, group and organizational (cultural) level.
Please confirm your intent to attend or interest in receiving an ljMap
values ranking invitation.
Best regards,
Scott Bristol
831-457-3117
www.ljMap.com