Connect, Connect, Connect

Creating a New Approach to Leverage Social, Collaborative, and Emergent Organizational Learning

Application for the EFMD Excellence in Practice Award 2011

Mireille Jansma & Jurgen Egges, Program managers, Innovative Learning ING Business School (IBS)

Phil LeNir, CEO Henry Mintzberg, Co-Founder

Development has to enable managers to become seriously reflective in the context of taking action. It works best as a form of natural social learning, in small groups that provide meaning to managers experiences. Companies and other organizations function most effectively as communities of human beings; development programs should be designed to enhance this." Professor Henry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies, McGill University

Table of Contents

STATEMENT OF WORD COUNT........................................................................................... 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 6 ABOUT ING AND ING BUSINESS SCHOOL (IBS) ................................................................................ 6 ABOUT COACHINGOURSELVES (CO) ................................................................................................ 6 1. THE CHALLENGE ........................................................................................................... 7 2. THE COMMITMENT ....................................................................................................... 9 LAUNCHING THE PARTNERSHIP WITH COACHINGOURSELVES ................................................................. 9 3. THE L&D INITIATIVE ..................................................................................................... 12 PHASE 1: INITIAL LICENSES .......................................................................................................... 12 PHASE 2: MORE TEAMS, MORE TOPICS ......................................................................................... 12 PHASE 3: STRATEGICALLY APPLYING CO TO INGS ENGAGEMENT PROCESS ........................................... 13 PHASE 4: ADOPTING THE CO APPROACH IN OTHER IBS L&D INITIATIVES ............................................. 15 4. THE IMPACT ................................................................................................................ 16 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 16 END NOTE ....................................................................................................................... 16 APPENDICES.................................................................................................................... 17 APPENDIX A: COACHINGOURSELVES LIST OF TOPICS ......................................................................... 17 APPENDIX B: SAMPLE SCREEN SHOTS FROM COACHINGOURSELVES TOPICS ........................................... 19 APPENDIX C: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES .......................................................................................... 21

Statement of Word Count

4200 words, excluding opening quote, Executive Summary, and Appendices.

Executive Summary
This case study describes an ongoing partnership between ING Business School (IBS) and CoachingOurselves (CO) that began in January 2010. It focuses not on a single learning intervention but rather on the evolution of a continually and broadly expanding application of CO learning philosophies and materials to a wide range of IBS development programs that serve all of INGs leaders, managers, and employees. CoachingOurselves provides a library of topics intended for 6 to 8 managers to read and discuss in group sessions. IBS partnered with CO initially to use a few topics, but the success of CO as a tool that fosters social, collaborative, and emergent learning that leads to meaningful improvements in management performance and engagement, along with its low-cost, modular topics, and immediate relevance, has led IBS to broadly incorporate CO into many of its learning initiatives.

Introduction
About ING and ING Business School (IBS) ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin, offering banking, investments, life insurance, and retirement services to 85 million customers in 40 countries. ING Business School is the internal executive leadership and talent development arm of ING Group HR. Originating in 1998, IBS offers a wide range of programs for executive development, top talents and specialists. Within IBS, Mireille Jansma and Jurgen Egges are responsible for creating innovative learning and development (L&D) solutions. Their mission is to create new approaches that enhance the traditional programs, and to open up learning to a wider audience within the ING organization. About CoachingOurselves (CO) CoachingOurselves is a Montreal, Canada based vendor of management learning materials. It was co-founded in 2007 by Phil LeNir and Henry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at the Desautels Faculty of Management of McGill University. CO is based on three premises that reflect Mintzbergs lifelong work to understand and improve organizational performance: Traditional concepts of heroic leadership are overvalued. Organizations need leaders who manage and managers who lead. Middle managers especially play key roles in organizations; they have the largest impact on results by inspiring team unity, fostering knowledge and skill development, and encouraging innovation. We have had more than enough of detached, heroic leadership. It is time for more engaged management, embedded in community-ship. Organizations work best when they are communities of committed people who work in cooperative relationships, under conditions of trust and respect. The best way to achieve that is to allow management teams to take responsibility for developing themselves as managers. Development can build managers confidence and commitment alongside their capabilities, especially in being able to grow strategies from the middle out. Learning occurs through self-reflection. Thoughtful reflection on natural experience, in the light of conceptual ideas, is the most powerful tool we have for management learning.

To actualize these premises, CO produces a library of topics (currently ca. 70 business topics, available separately or bundled into thematic modules with 3-8 related topics See Appendix A) that serve as the basis for 90-minute guided learning discussions among groups of 6-8 managers who meet every two to four weeks. No preparation is needed and no equipment such as laptops is used in the meetings. The groups download and print their topic before meeting, then read the pages together and follow prompts to discuss management challenges arising out 6

of the issue. The format is designed to drive reflection, discourse, and sharing around managerial issues, resulting in new insights, collaborative problem solving, and team building. Topics are prepared by world-renowned management authorities including David Ulrich, Philip Kotler, John Seely Brown, Marshall Goldsmith, Ed Schein, Ricardo Semler, Henry Mintzberg, and many others.

1. The Challenge
Until recently, IBS almost exclusively offered traditional executive development and top talent training programs: classroom-based, onsite, with external faculty as experts. Mireille Jansma and Jurgen Egges were hired into the business school in September 2008, coming from INGs former Knowledge and Information Centre. Utilizing their theoretical and practical background in Knowledge Management (KM), they were tasked with exploring new learning initiatives that would solve three pressing challenges IBS was facing, all relevant to INGs strategic goals to be a top employer, strengthen its customer service orientation, and increase operational efficiency: 1. Reduce costs of L&D With development expenditure under pressure and a rigid embargo on air travel because of the financial crisis, it became harder for IBSs customers to attend centralized training programs. More cost-effective approaches were required: decentralized L&D solutions that would be flexible, low cost, transportable, easy to implement and reuse at any location, with little or no use of expensive outside experts. Broaden the audience for L&D Facing major company-wide reorganizations, IBS felt it needed new L&D modalities to foster a learning organization and facilitate cross silo, intersilo and inter-hierarchical collaboration. New initiatives were needed to involve middle managers and the general workforce whose knowledge and experiences are crucial to improve customer service and operational efficiency, in the mean time boosting employee engagement and retention. Develop a more engaged, proactive managerial focus Recognizing that the banking and financial services industry was under rapid change, ING needed its leadership and managers to take greater responsibility and personal initiative, even without immediate assignment, and to be more engaged and solution oriented. Customer service and operational efficiency required a new focus on critical thinking, decision making, and learning by doing, with a focus on achieving meaningful short- and long-term results.

2.

3.

To respond to these IBS challenges and INGs strategic goals, Jansma and Egges devised an overarching strategy, which they called Connect, Connect, Connect. The name emphasized their philosophy that knowledge exchange, collaboration, and continuous management development derive from connecting (1) people with information, (2) people with people, and (3) communities with communities. The Connect3 strategy, which sought to leverage INGs internal knowledge as a critical organizational asset, was based on an evolution in KM thinking 7

that transpired since the 1990s, a progression which KM thought leader Nancy Dixon describes as spanning three eras that increasingly move toward social, collaborative, and emergent learning: 1 The era of explicit knowledge (ca. 1990s) KM thinkers posited that organizations needed to collect and store all the explicit knowledge of their workers. This led to the popular trend to create knowledge databases and warehouses. These, however, proved ineffective in helping organizations mine their internal knowledge for greater learning. The era of experiential knowledge (ca. early 2000s) KM thinkers such as Etienne Wenger and Nancy Dixon argued that most organizational knowledge is not explicit and documentable; but rather is dynamic, emergent, and essentially social, being held in the minds of groups of individuals. This inspired organizations to begin using the internet and intranets to set up communities of practice, expert locator systems, and knowledge harvesting to promote informal information exchange and continuous, just-in-time learning. The era of collective knowledge (ca. 2010) KM thinkers sought to find ways to leverage collective knowledge and bring the whole organization to bear on strategic issues, through collaboration in large and small group conversations, team meetings, and formats such as Knowledge Cafs. Dixon stated, There is a growing understanding that in an age of increasingly complex organizational issues, leaders cannot be expected to have all the answers; rather the task of leaders becomes convening the conversations that can come up with new answers.

The Evolution of Knowledge Management (Reproduced with permission from Nancy Dixon, Common Knowledge Associates.)

In light of this evolution, Jansma and Egges set out to create new initiatives that could actualize social, collaborative, and emergent learning opportunities, which in their view were precisely the right innovations needed to meet the strategic goals of ING and the challenges facing IBS.

2. The Commitment
In April 2009, Jansma and Egges launched their first initiative under Connect3. Called Challenging Minds, it was comprised of three building blocks; each was crafted to be low-cost, stand-alone, yet combinable with other learning trajectories on all types of subjects. It is important to describe briefly the first two elements because they are part of Jansmas and Egges overall strategy to implement social, collaborative, and emergent learning. Over time, they also coordinate with the third element that is the subject of this case study the use of CoachingOurselves. 1. Research Alerts These are a series of special communications containing topical articles of interest, information, and news. This element is designed to advance emergent learning throughout the organization, by alerting participants to new ideas and approaches to current business issues. Working with Dick Ringelberg (Information Manager), Jansma and Egges sent out Alerts via email and RSS feed to anyone who subscribed; they were also available on the companys intranet portal and at Diigo (an online bookmarking site). To date, Challenging Minds has sent 22 Research Alerts to a growing internal audience now numbering ca. 1000 subscribers. Video + Knowledge Caf Discussions Jansma and Egges were inspired to establish Knowledge Cafs (KCs) by the work of David Gurteen, fine-tuning his concept by adding videos to supply focused conceptual input for each KC. This element seeks to encourage collaborative and social learning by breaking down silos and rigid hierarchical dynamics so as to empower all participants and increase engagement. Following a brief introduction and watching the video together, attendees are invited to converse and share their experiences on the topic. Some KC sessions are open to all ING employees, regardless of department, role, or rank. Other KCs are limited to certain groups of managers. By the end of 2010, Challenging Minds had hosted 32 KCs, attracting over 700 internal participants.

2.

Launching the Partnership with CoachingOurselves CoachingOurselves forms the third building block of the Challenging Minds initiative. In January 2010, Jansma and Egges invited Phil LeNir, CEO of CO to IBS to explain his companys conceptual framework and demonstrate how its materials could actualize their strategic goals for social, collaborative, and emergent learning. LeNir discussed how CO is the practical application of Henry Mintzbergs model of management learning based on reflection, community building, and on-the-spot problem solving using real world, immediate issues of relevance to managers. The CO group meetings among 6 to 8 managers offer participants a context to openly discuss and share their day to day 9

working experiences, exchanging insights that can improve their managerial competence and acumen. As Mintzberg states, You need a different kind of educational initiative in business schools. You have to go beyond conventional classroom instruction. You have to foster commitment: to the job, for sure, but also to the organization as a community, and beyond that, to society. With LeNir in attendance, Jansma and Egges invited several groups of managers to pilot test a few of the CO topics. Teams of HR staff also tried some topics so they could personally experience the team building and knowledge sharing dynamics created in a session. The reactions were unanimously positive. Below are a few screen shots to illustrate the format of CO topics a combination of explanation punctuated with prompts for discourse among session participants. (Appendix B contains additional screenshots.)

Screenshot from Dealing with the Pressures of Managing

Screenshot from FeedFORWARD Instead of FeedBACK

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Jansma and Egges concluded that the CO format would substantially assist them in meeting the three business challenges IBS faced, as well as be an excellent match for their mission to develop initiatives emphasizing social, collaborative, and emergent learning. The following chart identifies how the benefits of CO correlate with IBSs business challenges: IBS Business Challenge Reduce costs of L&D How CoachingOurselves Solves It
The CO materials are low cost, adaptable, modular, and transportable. They require no travel; any group of managers at any ING location could use them. The topics do not rely on outside experts; there are no facilitators, trainers or formal coaches, just managers and employees empowering each other to learn from their own practical experiences. The CO format extends the reach of L&D to a larger audience of people, especially middle managers. The conversations highly support the goal of encouraging people at many levels to share knowledge, co-create solutions, and foster community. The list of topics available enables IBS to address a variety of issues that managers at many levels and their teams struggle with. The format of the sessions empowers participants to take responsibility for their own development. The topic sessions build trust networks and stimulate social networks, thus flattening silos and building a unified, learningoriented corporate culture. The modularity of topics provides a framework to deal with immediate and emerging management issues, while inviting participants to continue exploring specific aspects of the issues discussed during the KC sessions. The CO topics introduce managers to a wide range of business thinkers and management consultants, from which they can learn a variety of theories, practices, and approaches that can contribute to their self-development and engagement.

Broaden the audience

Develop a more engaged, proactive managerial focus

The partnership officially launched when IBS licensed three topics from CO and began using them over the next months. The initial objective of this first commitment was limited to using CO as a complementary building block to the other two elements of the Challenging Minds initiative. However, as noted, the relationship between IBS and CO would substantially evolve over the course of 2010 and into 2011. From this initial commitment, it would grow into a far-reaching partnership spanning many types of L&D initiatives at Group level as well as extending into multiple business units, as the next sections will describe.

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3. The L&D Initiative

The L&D partnership between IBS and CO has gone through what might be viewed as four phases. The flow from one phase to the next was not originally planned; rather it morphed organically as Jansma and Egges recognized new applications for which they could leverage the CO philosophy and group session format to advance the goals of the Connect3 strategy. Each success of CO inspired them to investigate its broader potential for other L&D initiatives. Phase 1: Initial Licenses Challenging Minds first licensed only three topics from CO. These were Time to Dialogue, Foresight, and Decision Making: Its Not What You Think. The initial use of the topics besides their application in the Challenging Minds campaign was limited, given that it took time to raise awareness among company managers that this new type of learning initiative was available to them. In this phase, approximately 5 teams formed to use the topics independently of the Challenging Minds campaign. Jansma and Egges measured the success of those groups using SurveyMonkey, a 3rd party online surveying tool. The results were extremely positive, garnering a 97% approval rate and an average appreciation score of 8.9 out of 10. Participant feedback included the following types of comments:
The method is appealing because we can put it into practice immediately. Another advantage is that we work in groups and learn from each others experiences. I like the open questions (no steering) and that you can be creative while brainstorming and discussing. Together we complement each others ideas and arrive at new insights. The method is simple but highly effective. The way the topics are structured forces you to step-bystep explore the subject further. Absolutely worthwhile to continue using this approach.

Phase 2: More Teams, More Topics As awareness of the CO topics spread through ING in mid-2010, more groups of managers voluntarily formed to use the topics already licensed, plus new topics, thus increasing the usage of CO. No HR directives were ever imposed on anyone. Some groups of managers began meeting consistently every few weeks, solidifying their teams and moving through the list of available CO topics. Jansma and Egges even conducted CO topic sessions for an external network of visiting managers. Feedback from the expanded use of CO continued to be not only highly positive, but also illustrative of the impact the methodology was having on improving managerial competence immediately. For example, one high level HR manager who had done the Time to Dialogue topic reported implementing what he had learned, e.g., to split meetings into two parts, a dialogue portion and then a decision portion. He pursued this strategy during two difficult meetings one with a diverse group of stakeholders and the other with many high level managers from Dutch banks and banking regulators. In both cases, attendees lauded his results, saying they had never been to a meeting so productive in making decisions. It was unbelievable how quickly we started to trust and connect, and could really talk with each other, one attendee told him. 12

Photos of CO sessions at ING

Phase 3: Strategically Applying CO to INGs Engagement Process The third phase of the IBS-CO partnership evolved out of a specific dilemma that Jansma and Egges sought to solve for IBS. For years, ING had been conducting an annual employee engagement survey. The results were used to guide managers in follow-up conversations they had with their teams. However, Group HR was concerned with a critical problem that plagued the effectiveness of the process the inability of management to address engagement gaps identified in the survey. Jansma and Egges proposed using the CO philosophy and group meeting format as the solution. Given the close partnership dialogue they had built up with LeNir, they recommended 13

that CO bundle five related topics into a single integrated unit. LeNir liked the concept of thematic management groupings and so he created the CO Engagement Module, consisting of: Time to Dialogue: a topic to practice specific behaviors that help managers move towards a more dialogue-based way of communicating with employees. Rewards of Recognition: a topic to help managers take recognition seriously, thereby effectuating increased motivation, greater acceptance of ongoing change, and improved organizational performance. FeedFORWARD Instead of FeedBACK: a topic that presents managers with an alternative to the common, often overly critical practices of giving feedback to their group. Appreciative Inquiry (AI): a topic that offers an alternative to the problem solving approach that dominates most organizations. Models of Engagement: a topic that introduces various models of employee engagement, helping managers assess the realities of these models relative to their own team. This thematic module would help managers develop a more explorative mindset about engagement, and learn how to work collaboratively with their team members to start real dialogue, build trust, and thus enhance motivation and commitment. Jansma and Egges prepared a proposal to submit to Group HR with their idea for the new engagement curriculum. They approached Celine Aladel, Senior Project & Change Manager within the engagement team, explaining the benefits ING could gain in using the CO module to help managers prepare for engagement conversations with their employees, including: Less reliance on HR to train managers; Lower costs to train managers; Faster time to readiness. Aladel endorsed the proposal wholeheartedly; she agreed to use the team of HR coordinators to encourage managers to start using the CO Engagement Module. Hendrik-Jan Bot, Program & Change Manager within the engagement team, also agreed and proposed yet another innovation using the CO approach itself to introduce the Engagement Module to the HR coordinators. He thereby created a CO-like topic session to which he invited HR coordinators so they could experience first-hand the social learning, information and knowledge sharing, trust and problem solving insights uncovered in the CO environment. The experiment was successful, so Bot and Aladel took the proposal to INGs Director of Leadership and Talent Development who approved a plan to purchase from CO 50 team licenses covering the 5 topics in the Engagement Module. In December 2010, Jansma and Egges began promoting the new approach. They coordinated with INGs communications department to release an announcement to the global HR community that simultaneously included the engagement survey results and information about using the CO Engagement Module. They also promoted it on the ING intranet, through their Research Alerts, and during Challenging Minds KC sessions. They produced a video to introduce the CO format to managers who had not yet participated in a prior CO topic session. Teams were 14

invited to form and sign up on a voluntary, first-come first-served basis, identifying one person as a coordinating team manager. It was then up to these individuals to take responsibility for scheduling and running their groups sessions for all five topics within the engagement module. The 50 teams met from January to April 2011. In May, Jansma and Egges will conduct a qualitative survey to assess results. Thus far, informal feedback from the team managers about the effectiveness of the CO engagement module has been highly positive. Phase 4: Adopting the CO Approach in other IBS L&D initiatives Since late 2010, Jansma and Egges, as well as numerous other HR managers have been impressed with the results achieved in using CO topics and have moved to incorporate them into many other L&D initiatives, as follows: 1. ING International Graduate Program (IIGP) This program is a four-year curriculum attended by young graduate talents from around the world to master their knowledge of financial services and develop their leadership capacities. Live classes are conducted in Amsterdam during several weeks once per year. Maarten Hoekstra, IIGP Program Manager, explained to Jansma and Egges that one of the weakest areas of the program is a sharp loss of community building and knowledge sharing among participants between annual sessions. Hearing about CO, he thus opted to begin using some topics during the year to strengthen their students sense of community. The first CO topic was introduced during the IIGP session in April 2011 when participants were on-site, and the teams accepted responsibility to do four additional CO topics via online conferencing during 2011. With this benefit, the IIGP program managers plan to trim external faculty time and replace it with CO topics in alignment with their curriculum, which will be a significant cost saver. 2. New Talent Development Initiative As of this writing, a new 7-year talent development program currently being designed intends to incorporate CO formats and topics as an integral part of its curriculum. 3. Redesigned Management and Leadership Initiatives In addition, several of IBSs traditional leadership programs will be redesigned to accommodate a finer granularity of building blocks by integrating various CO topics into their curriculum, thus making those programs more flexible and quickly adaptable to emerging market challenges. For example, just as this paper was finalized, the global HR manager of ING commercial banking announced she wants to implement CO in her line manager development programs. 4. Challenging Minds Crash Course In early 2011, Jansma and Egges designed a new initiative that tightly integrates all three original Challenging Minds elements the Research Alert, Challenging Minds KC sessions, and CO into a 3-day program. It begins with content of the Research Alert as pre-work, then invites people together to do several Challenging Minds KC sessions, interspersed with related CO topics, after which they receive follow-up information and ongoing written conversations. The course is planned to run five times in Q1-2 of 2011, and 15

every session is already fully booked with a waiting list to boot. In the future, Jansma and Egges will also train others to run elements of the crash course themselves. Their objective is to introduce more people to experience the transformative, self-reflective dynamic of the Challenging Minds social and collaborative learning approach and to encourage others to adopt CO topics into their own business lines, regions, and ING companies. 5. Intercompany Trainings Jansma and Egges are also involved in a movement for intercompany trainings, fueled by the Connect3 strategic idea of establishing across-company learning networks for anyone who wants to learn from others, regardless of position, region, or organization. They have given workshops about CO for the Paper Tigers, Philips, and Tata Steel.

4. The Impact
In the perspective of this case study, the best metric attesting to the positive impact of the IBS-CO partnership is the sheer expansion in the adoption of CO across so many IBS L&D initiatives. What began as an original commitment to only a few topics for one initiative has grown to CO having a key involvement in a total of six initiatives Challenging Minds (regular and Crash Course), ING Engagement, IIGP, new Talent Development initiatives, new Leadership Development Programs, and inter-company trainingswith even more ideas under discussion. The CO philosophy, format, and topics are used at both Group level and in the businesses, and the audience now extends to include senior executives and alumni from the IIGP program, top ING talents, middle managers, and employees. IBS has not measured in any quantitative way the impact of CO on actual management results. However, qualitative feedback shows that managers and employees who participate in CO are nearly unanimous in endorsing the materials for precisely the reasons Jansma and Egges selected them: the CO format and topics have helped them discover new insights, quickly adopt new ways of managing, form stronger team bonds and a sense of community, and boost the level of engagement.

Conclusion
With their background in KM, Jansma and Egges believe they have found an ideal solution to embedding effective social, collaborative, and emergent learning in an organization. Not only does CO now serve as an integral element of the Connect, Connect, Connect strategy, it has inspired a profound change in the global IBS delivery model itself, leading to a new approach and excitement in L&D program design for all initiatives. Its modular character provides considerable benefits in the design and delivery of training interventions, as tailoring them to specific or timely business needs is easier, while contrary to what one would expect the delivery process is simplified and costs substantially lowered. Whereas the traditional programs take a long time to design and cannot easily be modified for topical relevancy, COs modular approach facilitates quick, customized solutions that lead to immediate learning results. _______________________________

End Note
1

This description of the evolution of KM thinking is summarized from an article authored by Nancy Dixon. See http://www.nancydixonblog.com/2010/08/the-three-eras-of-knowledge-management-summary.html.

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Appendices
Appendix A: CoachingOurselves List of Topics CoachingOurselves topics are grouped around common management themes, such as Basic Managing, Leadership, Establishing Strategy, and Venturing & Innovating. Themes make it easier for organizations, or the groups themselves, to select a series of topics that work together to reinforce reflection and insight around a larger issue. Themes may include from 3 to 8 related topics. The CoachingOurselves website displays the list of specific topics included in each thematic grouping. However, companies are not required to use thematic groupings; they can also select individual topics as desired directly from the library. Thematic Groupings Basic Management Communicating More Effectively Consolidation Dealing with Mergers and other Combinations Developing the Organization Driving Change Engaging People Establishing Strategy Fortifying Culture Leadership Practical Tools and Skills Strengthening Teams Venturing and Innovating Individual Topics Library
Analyzing Employee Performance Appreciating Appreciative Inquiry Being a Catalytic Leader Beyond Bickering Beyond Bullying Brand Building for Every Manager Chains, Hubs, Webs, and Sets Changing Things: What and How Coaching Others Consulting Ourselves-The Wiki Way Control Through Decision Making Crafting Strategy Dealing With the Pressures of Managing Decision Making: Its Not What You Think Developing Our Organization as a Community FeedFORWARD Instead of FeedBACK Fit to Lead Foresight From Top Performer to Manager Global or Worldly? High Performing Teams How Global Should Our Firm Be? Igniting Momentum with Customer Insights Innovate Using Generative Relationships Introducing Culture In Organizations Introducing Strategy Through Robin Hood Leading Change in Difficult Times Learning in and from the Social Sector Lenses for Leadership Insights Lessons from Machiavelli and Lao Tzu

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Management Competency Raising Management Styles: Art, Craft, Science Managing On the Edges Managing to Lead Managing Metaphors Managing on the Planes of Information, People, and Action Managing Time and Energy Models of Engagement: Employment Relations Models Of Human Behavior Opening Up The Moral Senses Ordinary People, Extraordinary Leadership (The) Play of Analysis (The) Players of Cultural Change Political Games in Organizations (The) Power of Social Learning Practical Tips for Leading Meetings That Matter In Praise of Middle Management Probing Into Culture Reflection (The) Rewards of Recognition Searching the Invisible Web Seeing Beyond Belief: Observation Skills for Managers Silos and Slabs In Organizations Some Surprising Things About Collaboration Strategic Blindspots Strategic Thinking as Seeing SWOT for Strategy Talent Management Ten More Ways to Release Change Ten Ways to Release Change Thinking Entrepreneurially to grow your Business Time to Dialogue Turning the Tables: Unusual Seating for Creative Problem Solving Two Models of Change Understanding Organizations Understanding Stakeholders Visionary Management The Art of Seeing First

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Appendix B: Sample Screen Shots from CoachingOurselves Topics Each CoachingOurselves topic is composed of about 15 PowerPoint screens. Managers download the selected topic and print out the screens. Groups of 6 to 8 managers meet in a comfortable setting to review the topic, reading the pages together and discussing the issues as prompted. Each session last 90 minutes in total; information in the top right corner of each screen informs managers how much time to spend on each screen. The sample screens shown are reduced in size.

Screenshot from Appreciative Inquiry (AI)

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Screenshot from Time to Dialogue

Screenshot from Dealing with the Pressures of Managing

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Appendix C: Additional Resources These resources provide links to further background information that informs this case study. About CoachingOurselves Henry Mintzberg, Rebuilding companies as communities (HBR, July-August 2009) http://hbr.org/2009/07/rebuilding-companies-as-communities/ar/1 Paul Crookall, Coaching Ourselves: Achieving success through guided conversations (Executive, 14 March 2011) http://cge.itincanada.ca/index.php?id=13916&cid=311 Henry Mintzberg, Why Managers Need to be Curious (TEDx Montreal, 2011), http://tedxmcgill.com/2010/12/23/henry-mintzberg/ The Economist, Never Too Old to Learn, May 12,2010 (cites Henry Mintzberg), http://www.economist.com/node/16036092?story_id=16036092 Mike Prokopeak, Self-Coach to Boost Retention, (Chief Learning Officer, January 5, 2100) http://clomedia.com/articles/view/self-coach-to-boost-retention Art Kleiner, Management by Reflection: An Interview with Henry Mintzberg, (Strategy + Business, March 15, 2010) http://www.coachingourselves.com/sites/default/files/ManagementbyReflection-1_0.pdf Henry Mintzberg, Management Education on the Fly, (Bloomberg Businessweek, March 8, 2010) http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/mar2010/bs2010038_762086.htm

About Knowledge Management Nancy Dixon, The Three Eras of Knowledge Management - Summary (Conversation Matters, 1 August 2010) http://www.nancydixonblog.com/2010/08/the-three-eras-of-knowledge-managementsummary.html David Gurteen, Introduction to the Knowledge Cafe (Bob Buckman Masterclass, University of Greenwich, London, February 2006). http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/kcafe David Gurteen & Dan Remenyi, The Knowledge Cafe If Only We Knew What We Know (Slideshare, 2007) http://www.slideshare.net/dgurteen/introduction-to-the-knowledge-cafe Dave Snowden, 7 Principles of Knowledge Management (Cognitive Edge, 10 October 2010) http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/2008/10/rendering_knowledge.php John Seely Brown. Collaborative Innovation and a Pull Economy (Stanford Technology Ventures Program, 14 April 2010) http://edgeperspectives.com/blog/2010/04/jsb-at-stanford-collaborative-innovation-and-apull-economy.html 21

About Complexity and Emergent Learning Henry Mintzberg, Crafting Strategy, (HBR, July-August 1987), http://zonecours.hec.ca/documents/H2009-P6-1881381.craftingstrategy.pdf Shawn Calahan, A Simple Explanation of the Cynefin Framework (Anecdote, 3 April 2009) http://www.anecdote.com.au/archives/2009/04/a_simple_explan.html Dave Snowden & Mary Boone, A Leader's Framework for Decision Making (HBR, 1 November 2007) http://hbr.org/product/a-leader-s-framework-for-decision-making-harvard-b/an/R0711CPDF-ENG Dave Snowden, The Cynefin Framework (Cognitive Edge, July 2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7oz366X0-8 Nassim Taleb, Anti-Fragility (The Economist, October 2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IpTpjhVo7I

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