Updates from Rebecca Petzel Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Rebecca Petzel 4:30 pm on March 17, 2014 Permalink |
    Tags:   

    Hi Bootcampers!

    It was good to see many of you last week. Thanks for letting me join in the fun!

    I have a quick question: @brooking and I are working with a network with some pretty deep trust issues. We know that transparency in decision-making and sharing information are going to be essential in building this trust back up. In the mean-time, we were thinking of introducing the concept of “radical transparency” to help this group take a leap of faith and share more honestly and openly than they might otherwise.

    So here’s the question: Do you all have any resources on “radical transparency” that you like? I know it’s a framework that’s been percolating, but it’s not one I’ve had a need to access up until now. In this case, I think an established framework, almost a pedagogy, will help them take a leap.

    Thanks!!

     

    • Eugene Eric Kim 5:25 pm on March 17, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      What do you mean by “framework”?

      I have a blog post I started outlining several weeks ago on this topic. It’s more a series of anecdotes than a framework, but if it might be useful, I’d be happy to accelerate its publication or share the early thinking from it. I was going to get quotes from three past projects on the impact of the radical transparency: Delta Dialogues, CIA, and the international reproductive health work I did in 2008.

      How else are you addressing the trust issues in your design?

    • Rebecca 7:05 pm on March 17, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      That would be super useful Eugene! Look forward to seeing it.

      By “framework” I mean a tried approach, a structure to help move people through certain work. I don’t really need a “framework” (we have lots of those), but more of a succinct description of the theory, what a radical transparency approach looks like, and why it’s important.

      One of the simple things we’re working on is a decision-making dashboard where we track all the decisions that need to be made, and how they’re being made.

      We’re also investing a lot of time up-front in uncovering motivations so people aren’t making assumptions around what’s in it for others. But this is part of where having some accessible, brief writing on the importance of radical transparency would be useful: time spent on this work is time not spent on other things. It’s different than what they’ve done in other coalitions. They’re bought in mostly, but pointing to the value of slowing down and working transparently in order to go fast later would be helpful.

      Thanks Eugene!

      • Eugene Eric Kim 8:59 pm on March 17, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply

        Okay, I’ll flesh out my thinking and share it with you tomorrow. If I get responses back from folks early enough, it’ll be a Thursday blog post.

        I’ll also share some stuff with you on DRIs (Directly Responsible Individuals), a model used at Apple, Square, and Asana (which I may have shared with you before at some point), and a very rudimentary dashboard that I’ve been using with PostCode (as part of my Code for America experiment).

        The network mindset stuff I’m doing with Garfield may also help you guys with these trust challenges. We put in a tremendous amount of up-front time pre-screening for the right mindsets with our Design Team, and we’ve still run into challenges. Happy to share more if you’d like.

        • Rebecca 9:02 pm on March 17, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply

          Thanks Eugene! And I’d love to hear more about screening for the right mindsets on the design-team! I think screening and criteria are valuable; and we’re trying to figure out how to do those without perpetuating old decision-making / power patterns. I think clarity and transparency around what you’re screening for is a key piece, but it would be great to hear more about your approach to this.

  • Rebecca Petzel 10:42 pm on October 14, 2013 Permalink |
    Tags:   

    Bootcampers! I’m in desperate need of some changemaker advice. I’m running a 20 person retreat next week (once again, working with @renee) and there’s one BIG obstacle. Literally, a big, huge, board room table that despite all my attempted arm twisting will be smack dab in the middle of the meeting room.

    Any advice / strategies for neutralizing the big behemoth in the room, helping attendees connect and stay focused despite the big table standing between them? Any exercises / guidelines from successful meetings you’ve participated in?

     

    • Eugene 1:08 pm on October 15, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Ooo, excellent! A group physics exercise! Unfortunately, this was the workout that tanked the last session, and the new group hasn’t gotten to the revised workout. 🙂 Still, I’d love to hear what others think.

      Modeling bootcamp, my first question is about the goal: What is the goal of the meeting?

      My second set of questions is about understanding the constraints a bit more. How long is the meeting? Is there separate breakout space? If not, is there room around the table to do small clusters? What shape is the table? Is the room carpeted? Is there blank wall space? Are there windows? A picture of the space would be wonderful!

      Finally, a question for my bootcampers, past and present: What’s been your best meeting experience with 20 people stuck in a conference room? What made it great?

      I just finished my last site visit (of six) with Garfield Foundation. All of them have been full-day meetings in conference rooms with long tables. Yesterday’s had 15 people, which was not ideal, but was fine. We’ve gotten excellent feedback on all of our meetings both in the checkouts and afterward.

      We’ve been using graphic recording heavily at our meetings, and we’ve employed two exercises designed specifically to get people moving. The space does you no favors in this regard, so you have to prod a bit more as the facilitator. We haven’t had breakouts, but if we needed to, we could have made it work, either by pairing people up in cases of severe space constraint or more if you have some flexibility.

      So despite all of my previous ranting and ravings about the evils of conference tables, it will totally be okay. 🙂 I’ll wait to hear your answers to above before making suggestions, and I hope others will share their experiences as well.

      • Rebecca 2:04 am on October 16, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

        Hi Eugene. What a great question: “What’s been your best meeting experience with 20 people stuck in a conference room? What made it great?”

        Would love to hear the answer to that question!

        And to answer yours, here are our meeting goals:

        Shared understanding of what we’ve achieved together: organize our shared thinking
        Group understands the potential and existence of “we” : The FCCP network
        Catalyze collective strategy for the network

        Hard for me to upload a picture of the space… but we will have a break-out room so that’s a plus!

    • Avatar photo

      Natalie 1:53 pm on October 15, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Doughnuts and bacon down the center of the table within easy reach of all participants?

      Hi, Rebecca! 🙂

      • Avatar photo

        brooking 9:35 pm on October 15, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

        Hi there Rebecca – I’m a new bootcamper starting today and just chiming in as I read all the recent posts to catch up 😉 One Idea I used to do with Adaptive Edge was to have objects to play with in the middle of the table – white sheet paper, markers and crayons for doodling, some fun finger toys that you can get at a science/discovery sort of store or a 5 and dime, and PLAY DOUGH. Play dough is magical — it actually can really help people focus and stay in creative space while they talk, especially helpful with tension diffusion. Another trick to make use of the table is to get a bunch of cut outs of images from magazines, e.g., that might relate to content, and have an exercise where folks gather favorite images from the center of the table to create a collage related ot whatever visioning you are doing. These images, the play dough creations, doodles on the paper can all end up being powerful anchors for themes that emerge from whatever process your group is diving into. I don’t have much context to be more specific but all these are creative ways to make use of that table and bring some life to it and to your group, and make it a tangible representation of the creative space that lives between all your participants. Good luck 😉

        • Rebecca 2:02 am on October 16, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

          Hi Brooking! This is all great advice. I was just shopping for play dough today! I’ve decided to cover the whole table with butcher paper and provide crayons, pipecleaners, and play dough. It could turn into a fun palette!

      • Rebecca 2:00 am on October 16, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

        Thanks Natalie! Nothing beats this advice. Eager to catch up soon 🙂

    • Rebecca 1:07 am on October 31, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Hi all!

      Just wanted to follow up and let you know that we had a good meeting despite the big table in the room!

      One thing we did was downgrade, we chose the smaller conference room that was technically too small for us. This intimacy was well worth the distance created by the large board room table.

      There was colored paper and markers all over the table, and folks started off with a creative exercise. It was a bit more touchy feely / creative then I often like, but really important in setting the tone for “this will be a different type of meeting.”

      But really, what made all the difference was the PLAY DOUGH!!! Great suggestion @brooking. Here’s a glimpse into what was created: https://plus.google.com/photos/106758161096309037901/albums/5940338959027890849?authkey=CMrjmLOYpqC5qAE

      • Eugene Eric Kim 2:57 pm on October 31, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

        Glad to hear it worked out! Thanks so much for coming back to share how it went. There was some serious Play-Doh artistry going on at your meeting. My favorite is the dude bowling.

  • Rebecca Petzel 8:45 pm on July 18, 2013 Permalink |  

    Has anyone read Give & Take by Adam Grant? Any thoughts? http://www.giveandtake.com/Home/Index

     

  • Rebecca Petzel 4:38 pm on July 16, 2013 Permalink |  

    Hi Bootcampers!

    I finally got around to publishing a blog post I wrote about the last project Renee and I did together (and this is the first Renee is hearing about it). I thought I’d share here as it touches on some bootcamp themes. Thanks for all of your inspiration, practicing, working and thinking out loud! It’s great to learn alongside you all here.

    http://rebeccapetzel.com/post/55610267203/aligning-for-impact-a-recap

    Finally, enjoy your last session tomorrow!

     
    • Avatar photo

      Natalie 2:47 am on July 17, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Nice, Rebecca. It sounds like you can be incredibly effective when you pair great clients with a great consultant.

  • Rebecca Petzel 1:24 am on July 10, 2013 Permalink |
    Tags: Introduction   

    Hello Bootcampers! I’m fortunate to know most of you, but I wanted to introduce myself for the few I haven’t met. I’ve been working with Eugene for the past 3+ years and am a collaboration, group process, changemaker nerd. I’ve been following the bootcamp closely, and hope no one minds me jumping into the conversation! In case anyone’s curious, you can learn a little bit more about me here: http://rebeccapetzel.me/

     

    • Eugene Eric Kim 1:40 am on July 10, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Welcome, Rebecca! Glad to see you here. Your participation on the website thus far has helped me tremendously in thinking through the workouts, and I’m glad folks here will have a chance to benefit from your wisdom.

      And 3+ years! Wow!

c
Compose new post
j
Next post/Next comment
k
Previous post/Previous comment
r
Reply
e
Edit
o
Show/Hide comments
t
Go to top
l
Go to login
h
Show/Hide help
shift + esc
Cancel