Send to KindleCreativity at Work Newsletter, May 2008
Trust, Fear of Disclosure and Dialogue
Connecting at the Speed of Trust
My guest contributor this month is Dianne Legro. I met her at an IDRIART conference in Slovenia a few years ago and was impressed with her disciplined rehearsing (even when suffering from jet lag) and her shimmering stage presence as a singer and actress. Read “Connecting at the Speed of Trust” for tips on building trust in the first crucial moments of meeting someone.
Disclosure
One of my colleagues was recently hired by the CEO of a large corporation to conduct a seminar on creativity for a group of 90 people. He started off by asking who in the audience was familiar with the literature on left brain/right brain thinking. Ten people put up their hands. He then asked who was unfamiliar with the literature on left brain/right brain thinking. Seven people put up their hands. He asked again and got pretty much the same response. Clearly the numbers didn’t add up and he told the audience he would keep asking the question until the numbers did add up. The CEO was rather annoyed with his employees.
What’s going on here? Fear of public disclosure. Without trust there is no disclosure, and no risk-taking, making it impossible for both meaningful conversation and creativity to occur. Trust is an essential nutrient of creativity and collaboration.
Dialogue and the Coaching Conversation
Trust can be developed in small groups through dialogue. The Coaching Triangle System is a new, innovative organizational learning framework for professional development that uses a coach approach to develop leadership skills and enhance learning. It can be used in multitudes of ways to extend learning from workshops, to foster a coaching culture or to transfer knowledge. It mines the existing intellectual capital of the organization fostering new relationships.
The depth and value of the Coaching Triangle is felt through the dialogue and complexity of relationships and the potential interaction with other Coaching Triangle members as the system grows. It can be layered into any existing organizational structure. The overall value of the system can be realized in measurable results such a lower number of grievances, increased engagement, higher retention, local problem solving, or more effective knowledge transfer.
Want to know how this could work in your organization?
Dialogue and Risk Management
During a discussion about the value of dialogue in organizations, a VP for risk management noted that investment companies who averted disaster in the sub-prime loan crisis, where the ones who engaged in dialogue before making investment decisions. They didn’t just rely on quantitative analysis. Goldman Sachs for example, saw the market changing and took steps to cushion itself against the subprime fall. Chief Financial Officer David Viniar says “The basic framework of our risk management structure is to put the right people in the right seats; provide them with an appropriate level of data; and have a consistent level of dialogue between our traders, controllers, risk managers and senior management.”
Recent Blog Posts
Working with Wisdom: Orchestrating Collaboration at Work
Collaboration has become a hot topic lately, and a recent IBM global study of CEOs revealed that collaboration is key to innovation success, especially when collaboration occurs beyond company walls. Projects are often too complex for individuals or even teams in one company to tackle. Collaboration can be a challenge depending on the culture of an organization.
So how can groups collaborate more effectively? Please add your comments to the post.
Also of interest
What is the connection between leaders and artists? John Cimino has devised a quiz based on two lists of competencies, from Eliot Eisner at Stanford University and The Center for Creative Leadership.
Brain Rules Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know–such as the brain’s need for physical activity to work at its best.
How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget–and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?
In Brain Rules,molecular biologist Dr. John Medina shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule–what scientists know for sure about how our brains work–and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives
Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know–such as the brain’s need for physical activity to work at its best.
How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget–and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?
In Brain Rules, molecular biologist Dr. John Medina shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule–what scientists know for sure about how our brains work–and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.
Happy Creating,
Linda Naiman
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About Linda Naiman
Linda Naiman is recognised internationally for pioneering arts-based learning and development applied to creativity, innovation, collaborative leadership and teamwork. She is co-author with Arthur VanGundy of Orchestrating Collaboration at Work. Linda is available for coaching, corporate retreats, workshops, or to speak at your conference.
About The Creativity at Work Newsletter
The Creativity at Work Newsletter provides overviews of new research in creativity and innovation, ‘best practices’ of leading organizations, links to new or relevant websites and an array ideas and techniques from innovation experts.
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