the of consulting a workshop with geoff bellman. ask one question... of as many people as you can...

The of Consulting

a workshop with Geoff Bellman

Ask One Question . . .

• Of as many people as you can

• You’d like to know the answer to

• …and you think others would too

• That is not a question you would ordinarily ask

• That has a short answer

2

3

DEEP PURPOSE

WHAT I STAND FOR

TOOLS/MODELS/METHODSCLIENTS

(COMMUNITY)(FAMILY)

(FRIENDS)

What I Stand For:

• Words that guide decisions and actions

• Linked to deeper purpose/meaning

• Together suggest a direction

• Describe your uniqueness

• Others can understand

• Inspire you

• You are willing to share

4

LEADERSHIP

5

WANTS

YOU

REALITYPEOPLE

7

WANTS

YOU

REALITYPEOPLE

8

WANTS: What do individuals want? What do they want together?

REALITY: How do they describe the situation? What do they agree on?

PEOPLE: Who is key? What resources do they bring? How committed are they?

YOU: How could you connect people-- their aspirations and reality?

9

WANTS

YOU

REALITYPEOPLE

10

WHAT DO YOU DO?

…and...WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU?



11

We see the world through We use what we see to decide We each see it differently This is central to our work

IMAGINE…

12

WHYs?

Join us in our search for meaning Reach across organizational

boundaries and roles Reveal our shared longings Express the heart Essential and under-emphasized

13

EXPRESSING WANTS

* Vision * Mission * Philosophy

* Values * Creed * Principles

* Clear * Focused * Simple * Expressed * Consistent * Persistent

14

WHENs? WHEREs? HOWs? Essential and over-emphasizedAll about doingSeparate us with duty & detailEmphasize our differencesExpress head & hands

15

Your larger, deeper intention Source of your motivation A purpose larger than work Your guide to daily living The way you “keep score”

WANTS

16

What are the pro’s & con’s of pursuing wants with clients? How might you link life wants

to work performance? How relevant are your wants to

your clients?Create your own question

and answer it.

WANTS APPLICATION

17

WANTS: Three Actions

Regularly consider how your work relates to your why’s.

Talk about your why’s with others

Find out what others aspire to and why

18

WANTS

YOU

REALITYPEOPLE

19

REALITY… Not “out there”, but “in here” Many alternative realities Our take on the world shapes what we

say is real “Knowing” blocks discovery “Certainty” precludes alternatives Opportunity hides in reality

20

REALITY APPLICATION

What are the pro’s & con’s of pursuing alternate realities with clients?

How might you help clients get a sense of their shared reality?

How might you share your sense of their reality?

Create your own question

and answer it. 21

REALITY: Three Actions

Help others discover their shared reality

Notice patterns in how you see the world—and the consequences

Listen to others’ understandings of the world as it is

22

WANTS

YOU

REALITYPEOPLE

23

CHANGE!

RISK leads to...

TRUST leads to...

RELATIONSHIP leads to...

WORK leads to...

CONTACT leads to...

24

25

LoveSurrenderEmbraceAccept

UnderstandKnow

“WHAT’S ESSENTIAL TO LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS WITH CLIENTS?”

• 20 consultants

• 10--25 years experience

• Client relationships of

more than five years

26

…AND THEY SAID…

– Accomplishment– Challenge– Partnership– Fun– Motivation– Contract– Friendship– Purpose– Perspective

– Expertise– Learning– Authenticity– Appreciation– Openness– Process– Hardship– Insight– Life

27

SUCCESS COMES WITH…

PARTNERSHIP

ACCOMPLISHMENT

AUTHENTICITY

INSIGHT28

PEOPLE

List the key people in your work and life

Put them in your calendar and on your credit card

29

PEOPLE APPLICATION

What are the pro’s & con’s of close relationships with clients? How might you help clients see how see how relationships affect performance? How could you meet your needs to be cared for by clients? Create your own question & answer it.

30

PEOPLE: Three Actions

Build key people into your life

Maintain those relationships

Make a measure of life success

22

WANTS

YOU

REALITYPEOPLE

32

NEW PERSPECTIVES…

Melt old issues

Open new options

Often supported by old skills

Seeing anew reshapes the world

33

SECRETS. . .

• What we keep others from knowing• Secret-keeping patterns:

-- Diverting, distorting, deceiving-- Accompanied by fear, anxiety, stress-- A building burden over time

• What we hide from others, we hide from ourselves

• Secrets exert power

34

SIX SOURCES OF POWER:

Coercive: I can punish youReward: I can reward youLegitimate: I have authorityProxy: I have friends with powerExpert: I have knowledge/skillReferent: I am attractive to you

35

KNOWING WHO YOU ARE

• Awareness: Knowing yourself in moment

• Boundary: Sensing edges of yourself

• Identity: Finding your unique self

• Reflective: Standing back from yourself

• Aspiration: Reaching beyond yourself

36

NOTICE MEANING...

• Why is this work important to you?• And why?…And why? …And why?• What questions are alive for you?• What excites you?• What nourishes you?• What calls your true self into being?

37

Tune into yourself: Mental, physical, spiritual,social, professional, emotional

The work: Accepting/Embracing/ Loving yourself as you are and aspire to be

YOU

38

What are the pro’s & con’s of encouraging clients to be

more self-aware? What are possible consequences of

getting secrets on the table?How much of yourself should you share with clients?Create your own question

and answer it.

YOU APPLICATION

39

YOU: Three Actions

Be able to describe yourself: What do you bring to this life and this work?

Ask others to describe you—and listen

Appreciate yourself five times more than you find fault

40

ORGANIZATIONS

41

HOW DO WE CREATE ORGANIZATIONS WHICH…

• Yield a high return for energy invested?• Recreate and sustain themselves?• Vitalize members and the community?• Are self-aware, reflective, and learn?• Lean toward their better selves?• Respect the lives of stakeholders?• Create sense of ownership and identity?• Involve others in creating their future?

44

ORGANIZATIONS…

More unknown than known Serve many purposes--but not well Are interpreted through our fears,

aspirations, imaginations, and projections

Cannot carry our burdens

45

ORGANIZATIONS AS…

• Creatures searching, adapting, changing• Explosions of life and energy• “Corporation”…corpus…body• “Organization”…organ…orgasm…organism• “Machine”…mechanization…mechanism

46

ORGANIZATION DYNAMICS…

Self< >Other Method< >Concept Short< >Long term Urgent< >Important Top< >Bottom Male< >Female

Content< >Process How< >Why Same< >Different Past< >Future Fear< >Hope Work< >Life

47

WHAT IF THIS ORGANIZATION...

• Is not broken?

• Is not the mess I think it is?

• Has an order of its own?

• Is not crying out for my order?

• Makes its own kind of sense?

• Is yet to be discovered?

48

ORGANIZATIONS…

HATE

LOVE

HELP

How does

hating help me?

How does

loving help me?

HARM

How does

hating harm me?

How does

loving harm me?

49

Dealing with the Beast...

Love

Embrace

Accept

Understand

Know

Aware50

CHANGE

51

RENEWING ALTERNATIVES ABILITIES: Knowledge, skills, competencies CONCEPTS: Models, frameworks, ideas PROCESSES: System, procedure, path DIRECTION: Goals, mission, purpose, objectives BOUNDARIES: Standard, tolerance, parameters INTENTIONS: Aspirations, motives, wants, needs CONSEQUENCES: Reward, reinforce, punish PERSPECTIVE: Vision, viewpoint, position CONTEXT: Environment, culture, norms, values ENLIGHTENMENT: Wisdom, belief, myth

52

The Reach for Renewal:

1. Pursue life

2. Commit to a compelling unknown

3. Take a grand leap

4. Lean into the future and learning

5. Create “irrational” positive expectations

53

The Roots of Renewal:

6. Renewal is rooted in the past

7. New effort needs old resources

8. Change “doesn’t make sense”

9. We fall back to the familiar

10. We’ve spent years preparing not to change

54

The Response to Renewal:

11. There is no one right answer

12. Build on creative tension

13. Make the complex simple

14. Create informed choice

15. Engage everyone affected

55

The Realities of Renewal:

16. Asks more than we offered

17. Sustaining is the challenge

18. Necessity of loss

19. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing slowly.

20. Happens here & now

56

Breathing Life into Organizations...

Clarify the ImportantReveal the SecretsRelease the GiftsProclaim the PositiveAsk the Intriguing Questions

57

Face the Beast!

Aspire to the Beauty!

Engage with Both!

Decide!

58

Copyright © 2011 Bellman, Ryan & Coray

TEAMS

59


Field Study:

Why do some groups achieve amazing results while most do not?

What do extraordinary groups have in common that sorts them from others?

How might we create these terrific results more often?

61


Field Study:

Sixty groups of 2-20 Work/community/personal life Self-identified as “amazing” Interviews with 1-3 members/group Gathered results/stories/learning

62


An Extraordinary Team. . .

achieves outstanding results because members see and act on a shared realization

of their capacity for greatness.

63

Interviews with. . .• Motorcycle club• Product design team• Financial leadership • Neighborhood group• White water rafters• Board members• Soccer players• College counselors• Barbershop quartet

•Basketball team•Event organizers•Military platoon•Community activists•Software developers•Nurses•IT redesign team•University faculty•Health administrators



Your Best Team:

1. What did people actually do on the team? List three actions they took that made the experience great.

65


Your Best Team:


2. Why were people attracted to working on the team? List three reasons why they were drawn to it.

66


Your Best Team:


2. Why were people attracted to working on the team? List three reasons why they were drawn to it.

3. How did people feel as a result of being on the team? List three feelings.

67


Teams Historically 200,000+ years of living in groups 6,000+ years of large organizations Survive together, perish alone Genetically informed to group Groups = a natural unit of work

68


Teams Now Individuals do not relate easily

to large organizations Organizations do not relate easily to

individuals Individuals can relate to small

groups Groups = how we get so much done

69


WHAT DO EXTRAORDINARY

TEAMS DO?

70

Eight Performance Indicators

1. Compelling Purpose

2. Shared Leadership

3. Just-Enough Structure

4. Full Engagement

5. Embracing Differences

6. Significant Learning

7. Strengthened Relationships

8. Great Results

71


• Bold/break-through/cutting-edge

• Linked to a noble cause

• Shared & understood

• Guides all action

Copyright © 2011 Bellman, Ryan & Coray72


• Members see selves as leaders

• Designated leader = an option

• Leader sees that group is led

• Shared sense of responsibility for outcomes



• And just in time

• More open…messier

• Structure for outcomes

• Means to an end

• More organic than mechanical


4. Full Engagement

• Excitement & passion evident

• Humor/laughter/fun = part of work

• Enjoy working hard together

• People willingly give…then give more



• Difference = opportunity

• More opinions = creative options

• Individual uniqueness respected

• Trusting environment important



• Surprising & non-linear

• Deliberate, not just accidental

• Stretch to learn builds confidence

• Learning together is exciting

• Life--not just task--learning



• Through risk & success together

• Great work is key

• People count on each other

• Shared work creates deep bonds


8. Great Results

• Tangible & intangible results• Tangible = destination important to

the group and sponsors• Intangible = journey important to

the group more than sponsors• Results along the way build

momentum


Tangible Results• Library built• Software developed• Research

completed• Conferences held• Strategies planned• Beach cleaned• Credit extended• Lives saved

• Candidates screened

• Championships won• Market share gained• Military missions

accomplished• Interns succeeding• Cargo transported• Millions saved


Intangible Results

• Heightened self awareness

• Deepened knowledge/skills

• Changed approach to work/life

• Strengthened relationships

• Increased pride in work & self

• New confidence in teams

• Risked more readily


Eight Performance Indicators




4. Full Engagement




8. Great Results

82


WHY DO EXTRAORDINARY GROUPS PERFORM SO WELL?

83


What individual

motives

urges

needs

drives

supported the group behavior?

84

ACCEPTANCE: I know and appreciate myself for who I amright now.

I know my talents and limitations.

I live in awareness of my abilities.

I can express who I am to others.


POTENTIAL:I am growing into

a fuller and better self.

I sense that I could be more.

I am drawn to my possibilities.

I want to learn and grow.


BOND: We connect creating a shared sense of identity and belonging.

We create a safe space for each other.

We know who we are together.

We each play our parts.


PURPOSE:We reach for common goals together.

We are committed to our shared purpose.

We influence each other.

We count on each other.


REALITY:We understand and accept our world and how it functions.

We are alert to the world we live in.

We are intrigued by our world.

We are ready to respond to that world.


IMPACT:We will act on and change our world.

We want to make our world better.

We are powerful.

We know we can make a difference.


I work best when I can. . .be my true self in a group. (acceptance)

grow myself while in a group. (potential)

be part of, join with, a group. (bond)

pursue goals with a group. (purpose)

face the world with a group. (reality)

change the world with a group. (impact)

93

Choose top three from the six:

3rd most important to you

1st most important to you

2nd most important to you

94


POTENTIALACCEPTANCE

BOND

REALITY

PURPOSE

IMPACT

95


BOND PURPOSE

ACCEPTANCE

POTENTIAL IMPACT

REALITY

96

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE IN AN EXTRAORDINARY GROUP?


Amazing Tribe Vibrant Irritating Rare Power Lovely

Confidence Rewarding Joined Recognition Problems

Good Time Unifying Appreciation Dream Hilarious

Intense Fun Enabling Crazy Audacious Play Rare Happy

Positive Hard Magical Empowering Laughter

Daring Results Challenge Pushing Limits Difficult

Possibility Community Beauty Social Sweet Welcome

Incredible Juiced Exhilarating Charged Wonder Hope New

Fulfilling Innovative Healthy Discovery Energy Bond


Beauty: Wonder, Healthy, Vibrant, Sweet, Rare, Lovely

Discovery: Innovative, Rare, Audacious, Daring, Dream

Possibility: Positive, Hope, New, Pushing to Limits, Magical

Power: Enabling, Empowering, Confidence, Win

Rewarding: Appreciation, Recognition, Fulfilling, Results,

Challenge: Difficult, Problems, Irritating, Hard, Intense

Fun: Hilarious, Crazy, Good Time, Play, Happy, Laughter

Bond: Community, Tribe, Social, Unifying, Joined, Welcome

Energy: Amazing, Incredible, Juiced, Exhilarating, ChargedCopyright © 2011 Bellman, Ryan & Coray

Did this experience ENERGIZE you or your group?

Do you feel more CONNECTED to the group, its purpose, yourself?

Do you feel more HOPEFUL about the group, its work, yourself?

Do you feel CHANGED by this group experience?

100

EnergizedConnected

HopefulChanged


TRANSFOR-MATION


TRANSFORMATION: a fundamental shift

in individual perception that

accelerates behavior change

and personal vitality.


INDIVIDUAL TRANSFORMATION•Four feelings present

•Heart-felt

•Personal

•No guarantees

•Can be encouraged



GROUP TRANSFORMATION

• One person at a time

• Rarely simultaneous across group

• Linked to great, intangible results

• Formulas? No!

• Conditions? Yes!105

HOW CAN WE USE THESE IDEAS?


Consider. . .What needs could be met?What feelings could be produced?What behaviors could be

supported?What could you do?



Use 8+6+4 to. . .1. Design a meeting

2. Frame questions

3. Pursue transformation

4. Define motivating behavior

5. Observe a work team

108


Use 8+6+4 to. . .

6. Broaden group purpose

7. Discover meaning in group work

8. Assess team leadership needs

9. Explore relationships

10. Support creative disagreement

109

Use 8+6+4 to. . .

11. Draw out group aspirations

12. Coach others in work and life

13. Expand outcomes possible

14. Diagnose an organization

15. Create compelling place to work

© 2012 Bellman, Ryan & Coray110

ExtraordinaryGroups

© 2012 Bellman, Ryan & Coray111

Key Performance Indicators

Compelling Purpose

Embracing Difference

Full Engagement

Strengthened Relationships

Profound Learning

o Shared Leadership

o Just-Enough Structure

o Great Results

© 2012 Ryan, Coray, & Bellman 113

www.hrdq.com 115

CLIENTS

116

“WHAT SUPPORTS LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS WITH CLIENTS?”

• 20 consultants with

• 10--25 years in experience

• Discussed client relationships of

more than five years

118

AND THEY SAID…

– Accomplishment– Challenge– Partnership– Fun– Motivation– Contract– Friendship– Purpose– Perspective

– Expertise– Learning– Authenticity– Appreciation– Openness– Process– Hardship– Insight– Life

119

SUCCESS COMES WITH…

PARTNERSHIP

ACCOMPLISHMENT

AUTHENTICITY

INSIGHT

120

PARTNERSHIP...

• BEFORE THE WORK: Discuss why you chose each other.

• DURING THE WORK: Discuss how this is working for each of you.

• AFTER THE WORK: Discuss why & how you succeeded together.

121

ACCOMPLISHMENT...• Expertise

Of course! Many consultants have it Not all you need for a long term relationship

• Versatility Seen as useful in many situations A natural extension of the client team Client knows you bring value

• Patterns Through time Small to large Recognized widely 122

AUTHENTICITY…

• Who am I?

• Who am I becoming?

• How am I unique?

• What might I contribute?

• How does my work support my answers?

123

INSIGHT...

• PERSPECTIVE

• CONTEXT

• CHALLENGE

• APPRECIATION

• EXPERIENCE

• REFRAMING

124

WITH LONG TERM CLIENTS...

• Less cold marketing• Deeper relationships with fewer

individuals• Deeper experience with few organizations• Bigger eggs in fewer baskets• Become part of the system• Impact possible over long term• Financial security…and dependence• Psychological security…and dependence

125

THE CONSULTING PROCESS

126

Block’s Five Phases

1. Entry and Contracting

2. Discovery and Dialogue

3. Feedback and the Decision to Act

4. Engagement and Implementation

5. Extension, Recycle, or Termination

127

Bellman’s Ten Steps

1. Entry

2. Contract

3. Inquiry

4. Interpretation

5. Feedback

6. Alternatives

7. Decision

8. Action

9. Measurement

10.Exit

128

1. Entry

• Client’s definition/solution may be right or wrong

• Hold your judgment aside• Assume equal & different expertise

between client and you• Begin where the client wants to begin• Express the results you intend to deliver• Get client support for your first steps

129

2. Contract

• Contract vs. contracting

• Prepare client for what can happen and get permission

• Danger: you want to be liked and don’t contract well

• Contract to re-contract throughout process

130

3. Inquiry

• Get past what the client knows to what else is going on

• Engage more rather than less people

• Tell people who help about what you are doing

• Don’t collect secrets

• Avoid analyzing while you are inquiring

131

4. Interpretation

• Sort the data 3-4 ways

• What does it say?

• What does it mean?

• Be willing to not understand

• Write a report

• Shape your report to be readily understood

132

5. Feedback

• Separate data from interpretation

• Present data and seek ownership

• Help them interpret the data

• Add your interpretation to theirs

• Expect some negative reactions

• Expect the client to focus on action and results

133

6. Alternatives

• Develop alternatives that fit with the interpretation

• Slow down; consider an array of alternatives

• Anticipate how you will involve them in developing their own alternatives

• Don’t over-reach

134

7. Decision

• Discourage a decision until hearing alternatives

• Involve people who will be affected by the decision

• Assure that people understand the decision’s implications

• Help the client lay out who will do what by when

135

8. Action

• Help the key leaders find and take observable, immediate action that demonstrates change

• Insure that people connect action with the earlier decision

• Support and reinforce new behaviors

• Help your client anticipate setbacks

136

9. Measurement

• Expect the project to be evaluated

• Do not wait until now to measure

• Build in regular progress reviews

• Incorporate measurement into the Action step

• People respond to what is measured

• You can’t measure everything

137

10. Exit

• Look back on what happened with the client

• Celebrate accomplishment

• Finish this effort

• Note what’s next—and your part in it

• What did you learn?

138

Entry

Contract

Inquiry

Interpretation

Feedback

Alternatives

Decision

Measurement

Action

Exit

139

THE CONSULTING LIFE

140

TIME BASICS. . .

• Your calendar shows your values

• Where are you investing yourself?

• Where will you invest yourself?

• Calendar your time first!

• Hold onto your time!

142

MONEY BASICS. . .

• Savings store energy

• Debt consumes energy

• Savings create life options

• Debt limits life options

• Live on less than you earn

• Save early! It multiplies!

• Savings & debt reflect values

143

FRIENDSHIP BASICS. . .

• Cultivate friendships that feed you

• Consider clients as potential friends

• Work is enriched with caring

• Get friends on your calendar

• Maintain relationships

144

HEALTH BASICS. . .

• You can influence your health,

but not control it

• Genetics are given

• Health habits have momentum: + or -

• Later life is shaped by past patterns

145

THE STUFF GRID

DON’T HAVE HAVE

NEED

Need

&

Don’t Have

Need

&

Have

DON’T NEED

Don’t Need

&

Don’t Have

Don’t Need

&

Have

146

NOTICE MEANING...

• Why is this work important to you?• And why?…And why? …And why?• What questions are alive for you?• What do you aspire to?• What excites you?• What nourishes you?• What fulfills you?• What calls your true self out of hiding?

147

REWARDING QUESTIONSWho are you now?Who are you becoming?What encourages you?Who encourages you?How could you create rewards you

want?

148

YOUR SIGNATURE PATH. . .

• You create it by walking it

• No repeating and no erasing

• On-the-ground action, not intention

• What & Where & Who you touch

• Your mark on the world

149

DESIGNING YOUR LIFE...

→You have purpose: Pursue it→You have roles: Shape them→You make life rules: Live by them→You have unique talents: Express them→Reflect on life as you live it→Expect the unexpected→Play well→Play the hand you are dealt→Play like this is the only game in town

150

RELATED QUOTATIONS

151

All the greatest and most important problems of life are fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved, but only outgrown. This "outgrowing" proves to require a new level of consciousness. Some higher or wider interest appears on the horizon, and through this broadening of outlook, the insoluble problem loses its urgency. It is not solved logically in its own terms but fades when confronted with a new and stronger image.

C. G. Jung

152

If you want to build a ship,

don’t drum up people to collect wood

and don’t assign them to tasks and work,

but rather

teach them to long for

the endless immensity of the sea.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

153

The important thing is not to stop questioning.

Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

One cannot help but be in awe when one contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.

It is enough if one tries to comprehend only a little of this mystery every day.

Albert Einstein

154

Watch your own intentions…Do they call for

people to change who they are?

An ‘elder’ assumes that people are exactly what they are meant to be in this moment.

Perhaps they are full of mundane characteristics like greed, envy, vengefulness, and abusiveness.

Can you accept them as they are right now?

Better yet, can you change yourself to love

them?

Arnold Mindell 155

Out of clutter, find simplicity.

From discord, find harmony.

In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.

Albert Einstein

156

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves.

Do not seek the answers which cannot be given because you would not be able to live them.

And the point is to live everything, live the questions now.

Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers.

Rainier Maria Rilke 157

Leadership is fueled by a spiritual journey that takes us inward and downward, toward the hardest realities of our lives…we will meet the darkness that we carry within ourselves—the ultimate source of the shadows what we project onto other people.

Good leadership comes from people who have penetrated their own inner darkness…[They] can lead the rest of us to a place of ‘hidden wholeness’ because they have been there and know the way.

Parker J. Palmer158

There is a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change.

People wonder about what things you are pursuing. You have to explain the thread.

But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can’t get lost.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and grow old.

Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.You don’t ever let go of the thread.

William Stafford159

There is a conflict that comes to light betweenone’s heart’s desire and one’s circumstances, between what one wants to be and what one must be.

One can find whatever unity there is between what one wants to be and what one must be. Heart’s desire and circumstances cometogether to define a path.

John Dunne160

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.

Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love.

Reinhold Niebuhr 161

The future belongs to those who givethe next generation reason to hope.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

162

Much protest is naïve; it expects quick, visible improvement and despairs and gives up hope when such improvement does not come.

Protest that endures is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one’s own heart, a spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence. Wendell Berry

163

It's the action, not the fruit of the action,

that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in

your time that there'll be fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the

right thing. YYou may never know what results come

from your action but if you do nothing, there will be no result.

Gandhi

164

We are sometimes inclined to think that thesame things are monotonously repeated overand over again in the history of creation.

That is because the season is too long by comparison with the brevity of our individual lives, and the transformation too vast and tooInward for us to see the progress of what is tirelessly taking place in and through all matter and spirit. Teilhard de Chardin

165

Do not depend on the hope of results . . .you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. . . you gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people . . . In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything.

Thomas Merton166

Whatever you do may seem insignificant,

but it is most importantthat you do it.

Gandhi

167

Geoff Bellman Books • Extraordinary Groups. (w/K. Ryan)

Jossey-Bass. 2009.• The Consultant’s Calling.

Jossey-Bass. 2002. • Getting Things Done When You Are Not in

Charge. Berrett-Koehler. 2001.• The Beauty of the Beast.

Berrett-Koehler. 2000.• Your Signature Path.

Berrett-Koehler. 1996.• The Quest for Staff Leadership.

Scott- Foresman. 1986.168

[email protected]

www.extraordinarygroups.com

206-365-3212

169

the of consulting a workshop with geoff bellman. ask one question... of as many people as you can...

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