If you think of yourself as a change agent, or if solving conflict is a significant part of your work, you may find inspiration in the challenge that was presented to a group of experts in organizational development, how it was framed to them, and their tangible promises to meet it head on. This narrative offers highlights from the conference during which Power+Systems presented that challenge to its trainer community. Using immersive experiential exercises and a proven methodology, Power+Systems focuses on helping people see and better understand the world they operate in rather than fix people. Their goal is to enable people to build robust partnerships up, down and across the organization in ways that make them and their organizations successful.

1. 1
F o r b e c o m i n g a f o r c e i n t h e w o r l d
A path

2. 2
What does it take?

3. 3
How can each one of us, as individuals and
as a community, influence the world in a way
that creates positive, focused, engaged
communities, organizations and people?

4. 4
BEWARE
Everybody wanting to move the world ahead always feels a little lonely.
Source: Peter Block, highly regarded author, consultant and authority on organization development, community building, and civic engagement.

5. 5
We’re stuck
in the deficiency, needs-based narrative
that dominates our consumer world.
“What I have is not enough.”
“Who I am is not enough.”
“No matter how much you’re doing, I need more from you!”

6. 6
Part of our blindness
is not being able to see
our own grace and gifts.

7. 7
 CON
FLICT

8. 8
We need to bring sincerity to conversations
and get people focused on how they are
touching each other positively.
We need to help the world to say:
“Thank you, I like hearing that.”

9. 9
By helping people see the world in a new way
Recognize situations that happen
with surprisingly great regularity
[PREDICTABLE CONDITIONS]
Understand the predictable ways in which we
respond in those situations and contexts
[PREDICTABLE RESPONSES]
And get in front of the very familiar outcomes
that make us feel unappreciated and discouraged
[DISEMPOWERING SCENARIOS]
Source: Barry Oshry, visionary, academic, writer and speaker on a lifelong quest to unlock the mysteries of power and powerlessness in social system life.

10. 10
Shifting blindness to sight
creates partnership and prevents destruction.
Barry Oshry:
www.powerandsystems.com

11. 11
“By helping people see
systems better, we help
unleash a tremendous
amount of energy.”
Source: Angela Sebaly, Co-Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Personify Leadership and member of the Power+Systems community.

12. 12
We invite an alternative narrative
of gifts, abundance and the possibilities of learners
and it starts with simple promises each one of us makes in
our daily work.?
Source: Power+Systems’ community of organizational and leadership development trainers and coaches

13. 13
We invite an alternative narrative
of gifts, abundance and the possibilities of learners
and it starts with simple promises each one of us makes in
our daily work.?
Source: Power+Systems’ community of organizational and leadership development trainers and coaches

14. 14
I promise to…
… deliver a TED Talk – eight months to completion
… host an open enrollment Organization Workshop (e.g. public workshop showcase) in Boston
… being a connector to the Asian OD Network
… integrate “Seeing Systems” into core theory/practice base for clients
… build Space of Service into teaching curriculum and share
… work with others on evaluation tools for the transformation project
… network with other practitioners around design formats
… summarize our company’s Organization Workshop experience for the benefit of others
… take info from the conference to the Myanmar OD network (e.g., Merging Cultures, Space of Service)
… initiate a West Coast trainer gathering
… use the Space of Service within Siemens
Promises by the Power+Systems community to -- at a grassroots level --
help family, friends, colleagues and clients see the world in a new light.

15. 15
I promise to…
… seek ways to share learning from our conference within my network
… get my colleagues up to speed about this conference
… approach CCL leadership to collaborate in research and white paper development
… share the Space of Service with my team and incorporating it into “Collaborative Consulting”
… connect with West Coast trainers to more actively develop regional P+S activities
… share my Organization Workshop expertise to be a resource/mentor
… turn story about Door B into a write-up we can share
… share this session with the people in the network who were not here
… make our website a repository of our ongoing gifts
… incorporate the Space of Service into the Systems course
… share Organization Workshop and related experience … Power & Love
… share this with colleagues, particularly Space of Service
… offer Organization Workshop and When Cultures Meet to the school system
… share Power & Love paper with my husband to open dialogue re: where we are versus want to be
… create diagnostic tool for Power & Love

16. 16
I promise to…
… share our team’s materials with whoever would like them
… organize sharing tools for our community
… take the Space of Service approach and socialize it in Lunch & Learn
… participate in a Middle Integration SIG to develop more robust implementation strategy
… continue to build community timeline to connect with people
… interview someone else’s client or client group and write up their experience and reflections
… meet with a friend certified in the Organization Workshop to integrate this with our client work
… share the Space of Service with a former client who trains young lawyers
… make a joint presentation on the overlap of P+S with SCT and plan future involvement with P+S
… edit videos from conference and share with community
… help articulate the new narrative of the community
… be a design resource to P+S people upon their request
… do four Organization Workshop workshops this year
… help plan and co-host annual conference in Denver
… do Space of Service and community build internally

17. 17
NANCY ARONSON
LESHEMA BLAKE
JOHN SMITH BILL WILSON ALESIA LATSON BEN TAYLOR MAUREEN CLARRY PHIL CADY
ROBERTA KRAUSDONNA DIBBERT WAYNE DORRIS SUSAN BERG GINNA MARTIN
ANGELA SEBALY
ANDREA UMBACH RICHARD PHILLIPSJILL HUPPENBAUER CINDY WALKER KEVIN PURCELL ANNE LITWIN, PhD
SOPHIE PARKER MICHAEL CONNOLLYSUSAN STEWART KAREN & BARRY OSHRY TILLY PICK
CYNTHIA SHAHEN LORNA RICKARD RICHARD de LAAT ILENE WASSERMAN www.powerandsystems.com

18. 18
“We have a real, deep underlying need to help.”
Wayne Dorris

19. 19 tell us
What ideas do you have for influencing
the world in a way that creates
positive, focused, and engaged
communities, organizations and people?