Collaborative Action

Assessment / Survey Research	Executives often use survey data to support actions they wish to take. Filtering of survey information is expected. Executives frequently employ the use of surveys as a sign of their commitment to change.	Companies often have poor track record on communicating survey results. Employees are likely to view survey efforts with skepticism. Respondents knowingly or unknowingly muffle their responses somewhat.	Assist organizations to understand that surveys & assessments represent an organizational intervention. Substantially increase the safety, value and commitment to responding openly. Assure that executives have the data they need to make business decisions from any assessment, thus increasing commitment to the data collection process. Increase the ease of use of the survey data on a daily basis.	Collaborative Design Invitation Ladder of Inference Sharing Internal Dialogues View of Conversation	Surveying as a Research Tool Collaborative Action Research Methods
Accurate Revenue Forecasting	Privately blame sales & marketing Initiate cost reduction measures & ultimately begin layoffs. Downsize the company - sell off weak market units.	Subtle advocacy of CEO that lines of business would win several possible deals and how senior executives privately interpreted the advocacy VP's increased sales forecasts beyond those of sales execs. Culture of packaging for success	Assure that executive team members could openly raise concerns about strategies in a way that they would not be judged unfairly as a poor team player Create appropriate balance between "real" performance expectations and common goal of working effectively as executive team	Declaring a Bind Different Dictionaries Invitation Private Reasoning	Accurate Revenue Forecasting
Consultant-Client Relationships	Clients typically don't challenge the experts Executives sometimes hire consultants to confirm the accuracy of their own theories. Consultants, in order to satisfy their customers, sometimes overlook "real" issues.	They can't / won't implement what consultants recommend. Just go along; nothing's going to change. This is just another fad. What can someone from the outside tell us that we don't know?	Maximize client-consultant relationships through jointly designing and testing solutions Productively uncover what's difficult to openly discuss about critical business issues Measure, at any chosen interval, the business value of improvements in effectiveness and efficiency.	Collaborative Design Invitation Quality Assurance Cycle Sharing Internal Dialogues	Optimizing Consultant-Client Relationships
Implementation of New Initiatives	Energy is frequently focused solely on incremental solutions instead of root causes Serious problems are downplayed Filtering or packaging one's true response when communicating upward. Management gives mixed messages about achieving quality and preserving resources.	Unclear, conflicting measurement systems, with individuals typically making private decisions about how to reconcile. This includes trade-offs on time (deadlines) and quality (specifications). Change is typically driven from the top. Individuals often"role play" the appearance of providing executives real input on their change efforts. Individuals at all levels of the organization typically filter organization, which is undiscussed. Management directives privately are interpreted and believed to be unquestionable Often lack of understanding that genuine change requires deep alterations in the reasoning people use when producing action	Address critical business issues in parallel with underlying systemic patterns to maximize commitment and value Invite executives to jointly design what information is needed and what form it should be in to facilitate making the most informed business decisions Assure that all stakeholders have the information they need to be most productive in the new environment. Create new levels of safety for individuals and groups. Calibrate bottom-line impact in the design and implementation of new initiatives with credibility.	First Party Checking Invitation Quality Assurance Cycle Systems Mapping	IT Implementation Executive Summary
Accessibility of Senior Management	Executives typically participate in change implementation in limited ways. Executives sanction events by "showing up" or attending an executive briefing. Executives profess to being open and available.	Others judge their commitment privately as perfunctory or just lip service. Mixed messages about the executives' perceived commitment to change result in a belief that nothing will really change.	Senior executives learn not to invest time and resources in change efforts that often do not produce genuine change. Executives & others in the organization have not learned how they have all contributed to producing results that none of them claim they desire. All tend to blame each other privately for the lack of effectiveness.	Invitation Systems Mapping Sharing Internal Dialogues First Party Checking Action Inquiry Ladder of Inference	Designing & Implementing Safety
Organizational Learning	Organizational Learning theory is touted as the key to business viability and innovation. Companies adopt the language and verbalize support of OL principals. HR functions have difficulty measuring the impact of OL.	Difficulty getting buy-in / support from executives, peers and customers. Employees are rewarded for the same old behaviors. Difficulty understanding OL and operationalizing its theories and concepts. Management does not walk the talk.	Measurement systems need to be collaboratively designed to allow individuals to be truly innovative. Learning involves acknowledging error and unlearning.	The Error Case Collaborative Design	Recurring Barriers to Organizational Learning & Change