PotentialPracticestowardsaDeliberatelyDevelopmentalOrganization

Whatifwewouldreachallemployeesintheirlearningefforts,notjustthe'happyfew'inamanagementdevelopmentprogramorthe'onceayearrefreshments'?Whatifwecancreatelearningenvironmentswhichhelppeoplebecomingthebestversionofthemselves?Arecentbook'AnEveryoneCulture'istalkingaboutorganizationsthatprosperwhentheyaredeeplyalignedwithoneoftheirworkers’strongestmotives:togrow.TheseDeliberatelyDevelopmentalOrganisations(DDO)havepeople'songoingdevelopmentwovenintothedailyroutinesandconversations.WhatarepotentialpracticesthatcanbeadrivingforcetowardsaDDO?WhatisaDeliberatelyDevelopmentalOrganisations(DDO)?Aligningtheorganizationtopeople'smotivestogrow,meansfosteringaculturewheredevelopmentispartofthedailypracticeandroutines.ADDOhascreatedasafeenoughculturethateveyonecomesoutofhidingandcanshowupasthebestversionofthemselves.Blindspotsareknown,strengthsareknown,peoplesupporteachotherintheprocessofovercomingtheirlimitations.InaDDO,therelationshipbetweenorganizationalandhumanpotentialisalogicalone.Whentheemployeesaregrowing,theorganizationwillgrow,givingspaceagainforemployeestogrow.Atthelevelofculture,itisaboutintegratingdeeperformsofpersonallearningintoeveryaspectoflifeinthecompany.ADDOasaconceptcanbedescribedinthreedimensions:• Home:thedepthofitsdevelopmentalcommunities• Groove:thebreadthofitsdevelopmentalpractices• Edge:theheightofitsdevelopmentalaspirationsAllthreedimensionsintegratedwillbringadynamicDDOsysteminview.Whatwoulditlooklikeiforganizationsandemployeesarepartnersineachother'sflourishing?Creatingspaceforallthreedimensionatthesametimewilltogetherfosteradeliberatelydevelopmentalorganization.Withingthesethreedimensions,twelvefeaturesarerecognisedasdeparturestocreateacontinuousandimmersivefocusonpeopledevelopment.Thesearenotjusttweaksofcurrentstandardpractices,butafundamentaldifferentwayoforchestratingexplicitlyandinharmonytoproduceanimmersivedevelopmentalculture.Astheauthorssay:"atthelevelofculture,itisaboutintegratingdeeperformsofpersonallearningintoeveryaspectoflifeinthecompany.

ThethreedimensionsofaDDOwith12features — AnEveryoneCulturep.86

WhatarepracticesthatpotentiallyhaveapositiveimpacttowardsaDDO?Lookingatwhattheauthorsshare,IhavecomeacrosssomepracticesinmyworkwhichformerelatetoworkingtowardsaDeliberatelyDevelopmentalOrganization.Asthereisno'onewaytogo'here,theseexamplesareallmerelyinvitationstostartexperimentingwith….• Bringpurposeintoplay.Oneofthebreakthroughsincreatingorganizationswherepeoplecan

betheirwholeselfisaligningthepurposeoftheorganizationandindividualpurposeasaperson(ReinventingOrganizations — FredericLaloux).IfdevelopmentispartofthepurposeofaDDO,thenalignmentbetween'whatismypersonaldesiredfutureandwhatisthedevelopmenttothat'andthe'desireddevelopmentfortheorganization'shouldbepartofacontinuousconversation.Asupportingquestiontosharecouldbe:'howcanIservetheorganizationinitsdevelopment,andhowcantheorganizationservemeinmydevelopment?'.

• Startexperimentingwithpositive,strengthbasedpracticesfordevelopment.Itisnotonlyourlimitationsor'screwingup'wheregrowthispossible.Moreandmorewecometoanunderstandingthatbyfocusingourattentiononourstrengthsandon'whatisworkingwellalreadyanddowewantmoreof',weunleashtheenergyforpositivedevelopmentofourselvesandtheorganization.

TakeforexamplethephilosophyofAppreciativeInquiry,foundedontheprinciplethathumansystemsmoveinthedirectionofwhattheyfocusonandtalkaboutregularly."Peoplelearnandorganizationschangemostreadilywhentheyfocuson,study,andengageindialogueaboutstrengths,patternsofsuccessandwhotheyarewhentheyareattheirbest."Afirstpracticetoconsidermightbeaddinga'successinquiry'inyourteammeetings.Askeachmember'whathasbeenworkingreallywellforyouinthelastmonth'or'whatareyoureallyproudofrightnow'.Thesetypesofcheck-inquestionssupportbuildingpositiverelationshipsandenergywithintheteamandforeachindividual.Itcreatesspacetobringourauthenticselfintotheconversation.

• Createalearningenvironment'byandforthepeople',givingopportunitiestogrowbyteachingothers.Youmightcallthatanin-houseacademy,moreimportantlyitisasustainablelearningenvironmentdedicatedtocreatespaceforindividualandcollectivelearningmoments.Linkedintothecorporatestrategy,theacademyconnectsintoallstakeholdersintheorganizationthroughanetworkedwaywhereeveryemployeeisaco-creatorofthatacademy.TheacademyfacilitatesconversationaroundallthreedimensionsoftheDDO:

- whatareourdevelopmentaspirationsandhowcanwesupportthose?- wherecandevelopmenttakeplaceinaparticipatoryenvironment?- whatpracticesworkwellhereorshouldweadd,andhowcanwereinforcethose?

Inthelightofprimaryandsecondaryprocesses,wemightevensaythat'development'becomestheprimaryprocessoftheorganization.Throughdevelopmentwecreatenewproducts,servicesorinnovationingeneral.

• InaDDO,managersandleadersarecoachesandmentorsinthecomplex,ongoingprocessoforganizationaladaptationofwhicheveryoneintheDDOisapart.Theyareinsteadshapersoftheconditionsandstructuresthatwillallowcrewmembersonthefrontlinestocontinuallyparticipateinimprovingthewaytheywork.TheDDOdimension‘Home’involveslessonsaroundamoreparticipatoryworkplacecommunity.Whatcanwedotostartexperimentingwithmoreparticipatoryapproaches?AnevolvingpracticeistheArtofHostingapproach.Itblendsasuiteofpowerfulconversationalprocessestoinvitepeopletostepinandtakechargeofthechallengesfacingthem.Afirststeptoconsidermightbeorganizingan'openspace'facilitatedsession.Startingwithacentralthemeandframing,thespaceisopenforanyonetostartasessiontopic.Participantscreateandmanagetheirownagendaofparallelworkingsessionswheretheysharetheirquestionsandworktogethertowardspossiblestepsforward,suggestions,solutions.

Assaid,leadersshapethespaceforconversationandideageneration,andareanequalparticipantduringtheopenspaceprocess.

Whatwoulditlooklikewhenyoustartexperimentingwithoneormoreofthesepractices?Ihavewrittenthisblogasaninvitationtobebold;startbuildingcapacityandlearningwhatisworkingforyouandwhatyouwouldliketodomoreoff.

Whatresonatesmosttoyounow?Whatquestionsareyouholding?Whatboldstepwouldyouliketotakeforward?

OnnoGeveke

IamaseniorODandLearningfacilitator,currentlyworkingasanindependentconsultant.Mypurposeistoservepeopleandorganizationsinbecomingthebestflourishingversionsofthemselves.

MyworkisinspiredbyAppreciativeInquiry,ArtofHosting,U-theory,WorldCafe,PositivePsychology,strengthbaseddevelopment,ReinventingOrganizations,generativenews.https://twitter.com/onnogevhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ogeveke/