 |
||
Real Alternatives Inc. (RA) is a Canadian firm specializing in organizational effectiveness and founded on the principles of Quality Management. It is a brand new enterprise, co-created from the ground up by a group of independent consultants in Ottawa, Canada. RA is the brainchild of Cille Harris, an organizational assessment and improvement expert who cares deeply about bringing to life all she has learned about truly effective and participative organizations in this new company. Real Alternatives Inc. (RA) is a Canadian firm specializing in organizational effectiveness and founded on the principles of Quality Management. It is a brand new enterprise, co-created from the ground up by a group of independent consultants in Ottawa, Canada. RA is the brainchild of Cille Harris, an organizational assessment and improvement expert who cares deeply about bringing to life all she has learned about truly effective and participative organizations in this new company. In the spring of 2003, Cille and the leadership team were looking for an innovative way to find RA's place into the market. The months of sharing ideas and building relationships had generated a lot of energy, and everyone was anxious to start winning contracts and generating revenue. Eager to move quickly and to use internal expertise to full advantage, Cille asked us if we would facilitate the company's first strategic planning exercise. We had been involved in RA from the outset so were delighted to accept! Appreciative Inquiry (AI) appealed immediately to the collaborative, high trust culture of the group. Since Quality Management traditionally searches for the root cause of organizational problems and builds corrective & preventive action, the appreciative perspective represented a challenge! With open minds, the leadership team agreed to research the root causes of success. The process: In our first planning meeting with the advisory team, we described a strategic planning process using an AI approach, comparing it with a traditional approach. Some of the advisors had assumed that we would gather input from the associates and then have the advisory team spend a day together drafting the strategic plan. However, by the end of our meeting there was unanimous agreement to invite all the associates to participate in the whole planning process. Together we clarified the topic of inquiry: "A vibrant successful organization that attracts clients and fantastic associates". Given that all the associates were independent consultants, it was difficult to get full attendance on any given day! We decided to spread the process over two separate dates within a month. A group of 20 consultants gathered to discover, dream, design and begin to deliver a plan to transform RA from a group of people with passion and ideas into a viable business that helps organizations improve. We began the first day with paired interviews. The pairs then moved into groups of 6 to share stories and gather life-giving factors. Three groups then created three dream images on flipcharts. The first day ended with each of the three teams presenting their dream image. A representative from each team volunteered to blend the three images into one written macro-provocative proposition to take into the next session.
On the second day the dream images were posted on the wall. The journey of day 1 was described for the associates who joined in for day 2 and the macro Provocative Proposition was shared as the focus of the day. The group participated enthusiastically, embracing the positive image of the presence they might create in the market. Next, the whole group of 20 brainstormed a "Goose Egg" (Mohr & Magruder Watkins, 2001) of RA's current and possible relationship and system elements and chose 5 key leverage areas to focus on in the design phase. Borrowing some principles of Open Space, the group self organized into teams around the key leverage points and produced a micro provocative proposition. New groups were formed to build an action plan for each. The final portion of the day in which the groups presented and received suggestions was lively indeed! By the end of the day dialogue was flowing between the groups and there was a shared sense of momentum. Outcomes: The results of RA's strategic planning process continues to be realized! The design process yielded several working groups that have carried on, each with a provocative proposition to guide it. RA's strategic planning process has been documented to use as a model with other clients. The appreciative, participative process fueled the commitment of the leaders and the associates, strengthened relationships and established a solid foundation upon which to deliver RA's first two contracts. "AI was a very successful way for us to build our strategic plan. It's an innovative process that exceeded my expectations in the results, in the energy it created and the commitment to action by the associates. We have created a pull - people want to participate, to help, to grow the company into what we described in the
dream." |
