Story:
Unleashing Human Potential in the Belly of the Bureaucratic Beast

Awesome story!

Bill, just a couple of questions for clarification:

What role do you and ABCTS see for enhancing the participants' mindfulness in the P10X Leadership Development Initiative?

What learning architecture would support the P10X learning and change community?

> each voice must be heard, each must be respected — each has wisdom to share.

When you do that, how voices with less vs. more wisdom get differentiated?

This is an important contribution for career navigation that is becoming increasingly critical for professionals in every field, who will become more transient. The average tenure at companies is now 24 months (source: Michigan State University, Office of Career Development) and with the emergence of Cloud, Analytics, and Social Engagement Media the structures of work are about to radically change. Simple competencies will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence; the skills sets of coaching/mentoring will be more highly valued and wholistic human attitudes will be necessary to improve human collaboration leveraging conceptual computing. The authors have provided an important contribution in the movement towards a better alignment of skills sets, aspirations and emergent workplace reality.

Transformational change of this nature is the hardest work an organization will do. This is emotional, and it's personal. Some people just want to come to work, do their job, and get paid. But that leads to the incredibly high percentage of disengaged employees in Our World (by some measures 90% not engaged or actively disengaged worldwide!). For those courageous enough to make this journey, work can turn into a source of joy and fulfillment. Your process is deep and wide, and the implementation specific and practical. Most important in my opinion is your focus on how language shapes our reality. No one would eat sushi if it were called "raw dead fish"! Thank you for sharing your transformational process.

Bill, very encouraging story! From the perspective of leading a culture change in a similar technical service organization, I want to reinforce the importance of finding a compelling measure of business performance. The "soft stuff" is meaningless in most bureaucracies unless it credibly impacts business results. Measuring customer satisfaction on key issues proved useful for us.
Second, your blue zone emphasizes the importance of "supporting employees to grow to full potential" and you mention "organizational learning" as a key B/C work capacity. In our effort two shared values proved critical for both—"risk taking" and "learning from mistakes." Humans cannot grow without taking risks, making mistakes, and learning from them. And organizational learning took off like a rocket when management shifted its emphasis from placing blame to learning from mistakes.
This voice of experience would like to assure the ABCTS'ers that achieving the Blue/Green side of the chasm is well worth the effort producing win/win results for all—employees, management, and customers! So keep up the good work.
Bill Nobles

The ABCTS story is an example and validation of the fact that transformation is possible even in the most intractable of environments. People don't necessarily have a choice about their circumstances but always have a choice in how we relate to them. To move across the cultural chasm we must awaken to the fact that culture is a social construction in language and that we can create a new culture as an expression of our commitment and rigor in language. At the end of the day I've learned that we can surrender or resist and we always get more of what we resist. Project 10X heralds the era in which leadership is about creating reality and we can acknowledge that when we believe we need control to get what we want, we are always going to be the source of what we say we don't want. Good Work.

Loving this Bill.

Some thoughts that come up for me are below. They are not to be seen as corrections but merely as thoughts that emerged for me, done in order to take this conversation deeper if so desired.

1- I have written about the death of sustainability, and I like that you present that as a culture chasm. It’s a longggg jump to make it over!

2’- Dependency on hierarchy’ is what inhibits ‘employee level of initiative and ownership’. And under that is fear of loss of control.

3- Resiliency is an outcome of adaptability (or ‘change capacity’)

4’- Greater innovation’ is a totally, all over the board, misunderstood thing. I propose that it be sandwiched in between the difference of inspiration (or insight) and invention (the manifest of innovation). Thereby innovation becomes framed in a way that bounds a new comprehension for its understanding and what within it needs to change.

5- The trio approach (3 people interacting together) is one I’ve used and feel its potential for creating awareness and learning is a magnitude higher than when we use one-to-one. Two creates a dipole energetically which too often creates less rather than more collaboration. Three on the other hand, allow the third to break the dipole, keeping a flow rather than lockup. Although not always good, it is most effective during change efforts where the future is not well known.

6- Language is still our primary tool for evolving, and is one of the main reasons we are not moving along the sustainability path very well. Because there still isn’t enough words to describe (w)holism, thus a commitment to building on new language must be part of an organization’s transformation process. As my mentor Fritjoj Capra once said: “There is no communication until we are communicating about our communication.” LOL!

7- I think we have to be careful about the idea of ‘leadership overload’, because in fact, if they are on to something that is truly new and change-oriented, they WILL feel overloaded and overwhelmed at times. However, by setting that as part of the context, giving them space to step into (rather than avoid) that overwhelm, is where the golden nuggets will be found.

8- In terms of quality oriented metrics, it will be important to tie value statements - both individual and organizational (as they are often very different) into the measurability. Value statements will take the form of personal importance inside the organization and migrates out to a ‘value proposition’ at the external view of the org. Quality metrics needs to tie into this value flow.

All I have time for. Wondering what comes up for any of you? Hoping you are each seeing some light at the end of this long tunnel of social/cultural change.

Kindly, Vic D.
http://VicDesotelle.com/blog

Appreciate the capture of this very rich. complex initiative.

At the conclusion, you did capture what is obviously a key (if not THE KEY) need to show how P10X directly contributes to business performance. In the end, this will determine sustainability of these efforts. I will look forward to how this particular piece of the puzzle takes shape as it is a piece missing in most all organizational change initiatives.

I was curious if there were "ground rules" going into the 5-day Immersion. If so, what where they?

I would be interested in knowing if there were any existing "measures" being employed within ABCTS -- employee surveys and the like. And if so, how will the P10X measures and metrics fit or feed into other existing measures and metrics.

A small red flag went up for me when I learned that the composition of the initial immersion included the leadership team and "a mix of managers and staff." I would suspect some "power dynamics" might be in play and I was curious as to if and how these dynamics showed up, played out and were addressed (if they did and were). My experience is that the mostly unconscious use and abuse of power is at the root cause of much organizational dysfunction. So, this is a rich area that might beg exploration within the 5-day Immersion program.

Finally, let me acknowledge that champions and participants within the P10X journey for their courage and commitment. Given the nature of the larger organization, there could be (or is) risk involved for advocates and participants. You all have my deepest respect. If I can borrow from Jung's archetypes, these people are organizational Warriors, blessed by the King and embraced by the Lover and Magician -- especially the Magician.

Well done!

Three themes emerge for me as I review this summary, timeline, and description of key innovations and initiatives.

First, the men and women from ABCTS who joined this effort must be applauded for their courage and resilience. Often the cost of being in highly bureaucratic settings is the loss of hope that things might someday be different or better. By coming together and really listening to each other and collectively focusing on positive transformation, hope is renewed and new energies awakened.

Second, the methodology brings attention to belief systems and language that either constrain or liberate our approach to problem solving. If we see problems in isolation or point fingers and place blame on one person or one department or even the "whole system" we lose the ability to stand back and understand the interrelationships and interactions that give rise to the system's behaviors. Simply grasping the significance of the "living system" metaphor helps us to get beyond the mechanical nature of trying to fix problems in isolation.

Third, the approach emphasizes developing groups and networks to see what is possible, examine how best to move in that direction, and develop the validation and measurement instruments needed to offer feedback along the route. This process integrates and transcends the best of individual development as a model for change and moves it toward capacity building along chained networks of people with shared purpose.

The challenges along the route are numerous and not ignored by the leaders of the initiative. They include translating the vision into small victories along the way, continually emphasizing what is working - not only what needs fixing - and developing measures that truly aid recalibration and evidence of success.

I believe this is pioneering work that should be cultivated and watched closely.

Alan Briskin, co-author, The Power of Collective Wisdom

In reading the comments and reflecting a bit more on your 'Cultural Chasm" image I have a couple of other thoughts on the broad subject of 'culture change' that might provoke some additional thinking. BTW, I like the model a lot as a tool for engagement and communication. The difficulty it (like all models) poses is that people can think that their are actual states that match the labels and that they represents reality as distinct from being a tool to access one's reality which at the end of the day is very distinct from what was represented by the model. We need to keep remembering and reminding our clients that like Wittgenstein's Ladder - "Our propositions are merely rungs of a ladder and when we reach the top we must throw them all away".

Mostly we still think of change as a PROCESS moving FROM one state to another. This temporal view combined with our addiction to 'cause and effect' thinking keeps us locked into the Cartesian worldview and the "NEW" is inevitably a MORE, BETTER and DIFFERENT version of the "OLD" culture. Culture in my view is nothing more or less than a collective conversation about 'the way it is' and therefore a product of how we see and experience our 'reality'. In my view, creating a new culture begins with a personal transformation - changing ourselves. Transformation is the kind of change that when it occurs you and I exclaim, "WOW, that changes EVERYTHING". When we have a critical mass of people such as you are creating in ABCIT, that share a new world view then EVERYTHING CHANGES.

Bill and Max, This is an exciting development in your P10X initiative! I share some of the observations of others who have already commented. What I would like to add is what stood out for me, and that is the apparent readiness of the ABCTS group for this work. I can't emphasize enough how important timing and readiness are in transformational initiatives. Consequently, I want to encourage everyone involved to seize the moment and really go for it. At the same time, momentum like this can often lead to a sense of disappointment fairly soon--when transformation doesn't occur as fully or as fast as people want, or it doesn't have all the intended effects that people hope will flow from it. It is so very important for all participants and involved stakeholders to be prepared for a bit of a roller coaster ride and committed to staying the course. Only when members of the system stay with the vision will the deeper and slower work actually get done. Good luck to everyone!

Bill, Max, and colleagues, Heartfelt appreciation for the insights and inspirations offered here. Bill and Max, will done with this detailed yet pithy overview. Einstein does remind us that it is essential to raise our consciousness to stretch into more high-order levels of wisdom - and George, I join you in the wondering of just how far this work can reach as the individuals involved engage in deeper wisdom practices and the teams within the organization begin to bring that deeper wisdom into share mindfulness, collective wisdom and intelligence. Clearly the conditions of our lives, world, and organizations invites us to develop our capacities to thrive in more generative ways and this work offers a compelling foundation to launch into deeper waters at work - that lie beyond the shoals of "business as usual…!"

Bill, Max, I highly support this approach. I would add that metrics are notoriously difficult, especially in the complex domain. I think the distinction from the Cynefin framework of complicated and complex is important: in the complicated domain, cause and effect is fairly clear. An airplane is complicated. So is a building. In a complex domain, there are many independent actors that make cause and effect very difficult to tease apart. Examples: human body, markets, parenting, earthquakes, and more. In the complex domain, you must understand the distribution of effects: whether it's a normal distribution or a power curve. In the complex domain, there is always uncertainty, and experiments are the key to discovering what actually works. Adding a framework for doing experiments and measuring results would, to me, make this approach more effective. In addition, the books "Joy, Inc." and "Employees First, Customers Second," serve as tangible models for successfully reversing from command and control to respond and support. It looks like a great start - keep it up!

Bill and Max, Congratulations to everyone involved in this project. I know we are in alignment that follow up support and continued process are vitally important to any change initiative being able to sustain itself. Is there agreement to continue the learning and the transformational process? I don't know how much time can pass before the early stages of transformation have been started and when the status quo re-establishes itself as dominant... but it can't be too long. Since so many have already done the "heavy lifting" it would behoove the client to have you back soon to follow up and keep the process alive.

Good work and best wishes,

John

Dear Bill and Max,
I really think this approach pioneers a deeply different view of business and actually of work. Indeed, for the sake of getting feedback, let me confess how much I am puzzled by comments stating that how much this kind of approach directly contributes to "business performance" will, in the end, determine sustainability of these efforts. Even if I perfectly understand this view and am not blind to present "reality", isn't this reality precisely the myth which is at stake ?
If this approach is considered as a mean to an unchanged end, then calling it "unleashing human potential" is an illusion or a lure, isnt't it ? Because to me, unleashing human potential IS the end. It does not mean "business results" are something bad, It means that business, in the end, is the quest for being "busy" at something that matters and which brings joy beyond efforts.
And it is what makes this approach so ambitious and thus so attractive to me, however long the way to go seems to be...
So thank you again, Bill, for your "business" :-) !
Philippe.

Dear Bill and Max,
Thanks for your creative work for upleveling organizational consciousness and operations. I'll be interested in learning more about the exercises employed in your immersion program. Also, I'm interested in how this higher functioning enterprise redefines its relationship with the larger business world, much of which continues to operate at the lower end of the cultural chasm you describe.

I wish you every success in this important work in organizational and social learning.

Duane

Congratulations on an exciting and successful first step with this project. I am very curious to see how the leadership team at ABCTS takes this experience forward and if they make any structural changes in order to incorporate the P10X framework into their corporate DNA. In my experience, generative systems best thrive when they exist within containers that are well suited to support them. Even strong convictions and commitments of individuals find difficulty sustaining in structures that do not support generative collaboration. And too, transformation of existing structures is not instantaneous. I would think that if the senior management is committed to infusing the organization with this kind of focused work periodically and over a sustained timeframe (i.e. several years) there would be a very good opportunity to change the core DNA of the corporate identity.

I also have no doubt that regardless of what may or may not happen in the future, the organization will benefit from increased creativity and collaboration as a direct result of this 5 day experience.

Thank God for Bill Veltrop. A world-treasure. Certainly one in New Zealand anyway!

Bill like your approach and would love to learn more about specific approaches like 'stringing the beads' but I assume you'd prefer my questions and comments. The following comments are made on the sketchiest understand of what you actually did - so take them and use them if they are useful but disregard them if I'm telling the master how to suck eggs:

1. I am concerned about the timing issues. I have found that change requires changing habits and that takes several months rather than 5 days. I recommend you consider a modular approach of short sessions over an extended period.

2. Knowing you it would be almost impossible for a group not to feel more deep and connected in your presence. I think your challenge is how they will sustain it when you move on. This implies deep ownership of the process and the ability to spread it within the organisation.

3. Like others I think the system the people are in will need to change otherwise they will revert back to what the system dictates.

4. I think you will have to make some hard real changes otherwise it may not be self-supporting. I have in mind things like where decisions are made and who holds the power over people.

5. Something will need to be done to deal with those who don't/won't change. This is where it gets hard.

6. A support system (something like action learning groups) might help when you go.

Keep up the good work. Virtual Group is currently trying to develop a Resilience Approach based closely on Blue Star so you are still very much in our thoughts and practise.

Warmest wishes
Bruce.

Congratulations Bill and Max on running this 5-day immersion. I echo many of the excellent comments already made, especially around re-conceiving "business performance" at the systemic level, and I sincerely hope ABCTS follow up on your initial work sooner rather than later!

If there was only one book I could recommend ABCTS Changemakers read as soon as possible, which provides fairly detailed examples of pioneering "Evolutionary-Teal Organizations", it would be "Reinventing organizations" by Frederic Laloux (published this year). Laloux states that the case studies researched for the book "reveal three major breakthroughs: Self-management, Wholeness, and Evolutionary purpose."

I'd encourage ABCTS to reach out to such organizations, and to initiatives such as the Conscious Capitalism movement (as it happens, I'm attending a UK CC Chapter event tonight), to share insights, learnings, and extend the network of developmental support groups beyond their organizational boundaries. Also, well worth reading Robert Kegan's HBR article (publication date: 01Apr2014) called "Making Business Personal" about the notion of the "Deliberately Developmental Organization". The more this kind of sharing happens, the faster we can get to a systemic tipping point that moves the global business environment to where it needs to be...

Dear all:
It is a real pleasure reading the initial contribution as well as all the rich comments that followed. I have been involved in a similar work for the last 15 years and I would like to congratulate the team on a model that is simple and concise. It is a good foundation for a long lasting research and evolution of practices, methods and cases that can strengthen the core message – the corporate environments are indeed different and that will be the case in the future too. In different periods of human and social evolution, different competences are needed in order to endure conditions for life.
Based on my experiences, there is a very close relationship between involution (of individuals) and evolution (of structures/systems) http://vibacom.si/upload/TaiwanISSS.pdf ; they challenge each other, encourage, and they can also act as an obstacle in the process of adjusting to the conditions in the environment that they (individuals and structures) are exposed to, and mostly that they constantly co-create, as well.
So, often we tent to forget, that we create structures to serve us in a pursue for a better quality of life (work included); yet, so often I see that we (people) start serving structures, fight for their survival (and the survival of those that proclaimed themselves as guardians of those structures). It is an important step to really bring this to the surface within organizations as well. http://www.maneyonline.com/doi/abs/10.1386/jots.9.1.29_1?crawler=true .
Bill, you and your team have done a great observation in pointing out different levels of organizational consciousness that have and impact on the corporate structures, culture… you might find the model that I use a interesting,too... both of the models could possible compliment each other http://vibacom.com/upload/haagmassinnovationvbulc.pdf . I am joining to the comments that are stating the importance of time in making this cultural/systemic changes. I have been involved in restructuring of companies (between 300 – 1100 of employees) and it took us between 1,5 to 3 years to reshape their business practices, to integrate the changes into the DNA of the company. In addition, it is really challenging that these changes are quite unstable. In other words, with a new ownership or even a new top management, advanced structures could easily disappear in a matter of months… Anyway, I hope you will continue with your project and that we can all co-create an exciting new approach to the leadership (this is my vision: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvbW02JGDq4&feature=BFa&list=PL54F8763316... ) and corporate organizational dynamics. It is needed indeed, VIoleta

Bill and Max,

First, it's truly a delight to see your deeply conceived work put into action. It goes beyond imagination wondering what was unleashed from this venture in the bellies of all involved!

Humans toil for a purpose, whether or not we see the purpose in our work. We often forget why we're called to work, what is in our makeup that drive us to labor. We don't connect deeply enough with our nature to know what comes naturally to us, easily disregarding the many gifts for the world each of us holds in our hearts. We don't clearly see the full interconnectedness of our being, the creative potential to evolve that is embedded in all our relations.

Work offers us a mirror in which to see the things we've lost sight of; an invitation to look more closely at the connections among Our What, Our Why, and Our How.

What's moving about your efforts with ABCTS is that it stirs the pot in the soup of these connections--why people chose to do their work there, for whom, for what, how they want to work, and who they want to become, as individuals and as a group--blending their ingredients into a more intentional community. In that, there is much liveliness and a tremendous potential to make things happen. If you can call that out in the workplace, I have to think any organization would be intrigued enough to tap into this potential and nurture its emergence.

Your enticing framework offers the people at ABCTS a path to shift thinking and perceptions; to locate their aspirations with the philosophies, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors which will allow them to thrive; and, to recast their reasons for working together into structures which will better hold their capacity to learn and to grow, as individuals, as teams, and as a "living" organization. You're inviting alliances among the people at ABCTS which will generate a fabric upon which they can weave a vitality into their everyday work.

As for business rationale, intuitively, why wouldn't a more vibrant group of people make for a more flourishing business? Beyond that, what business wouldn't want to be known as a place where people gather in deep engagement to be generative together? Taking a business perspective, who wouldn't be attracted to work at such a place? Who wouldn't become more curious about doing business with such a company? Just imagine the possibilities!

Beyond these reasons, there is the question of what ABCTS wants to contribute to the communities in which they do business. These days especially, it's quite unwise for a business to look away from this question. The ripple effects of engaging in your P10X work on the social fabric would seem a worthy basis for an organization to pursue this work further.

Regarding design, I wonder about social engagement within the organization and if there could be some focus on the narrative which comes out of the five day immersion and follow up to it. There must be a story to tell, something to build upon, something to leverage, which will deepen the practices for the participants and carry their experiences outward to others. Creating a "living story" can greatly support the work that has already begun, plays to the social nature of people, and reinforces your emphasis on language as a basis for change.

On the topic of business performance and metrics, I'm guessing this is both a sales and service organization, and as such, imagine that customer engagement and loyalty would be important measures. With this assumption in mind, how might you tie back the higher functioning of the technology group to building capacity for deeper customer relationships among the other business groups the technology group supports? How might working with more of a "Blue Zone" mindset among the people in the technology group generate ground-breaking ideas which could become new solutions to customer issues? How might more generative relationships across the organization dissolve fragmentation and create a more unified customer experience?

While there may be some questions raised about the durability of what took place, no doubt there was impact. Something has been set into motion, and from your writing, early indications are that it is elevating the climate. I'm hopeful there are enough people in ABCTS who can appreciate the short-term gains while caring for the longer-term processes needed to truly make meaningful change. I'm reminded of the words spoken by this guy who's spent quite a bit of time working in technology. Bill Gates said, "We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction."

Finally, Bill and Max, your work breathes new life into the ABCTS organization and offers others elsewhere a direction in how to evolve from the restraints we've placed on ourselves and on our social structures. Your toiling in the fields of imagination and design have illuminated a clear path of how we humans can move ourselves, and all of life, into more connection, and enjoy the mysteries of creation. I hope you each see the reflections of your purpose in the unfolding of your work.

Thank you!

Dear Bill & Max,

Well done! Bill, I have so enjoyed your love of scouting and finding your way into wondrous adventures these last 24 years! This one promises that the harvest of all the 10X commitments we have claimed and shared with each other over that time will continue to deepen in this time of the Great Turning.

Two questions this day:

First, how do we evoke the images of living a life where our engagement with every aspect of our life is total - nothing held back - no resistances - so that when we leave this life, we have truly and completely done what is ours to do?

Second, how do you imagine the Blue Zone pioneers talking about Self Responsibility in organizational life? I've always loved Peter Block's definition that the true work of leadership is to confront people with their own freedom. From the Earth wisdom tradition that Pele and I carry, Self Responsibility is foundational to living an awakened life, full of outrageous commitments :-))

The last thing that my digital pen wants to say today is that your's and Max's work renews my interest in joining new and whole measures of business performance with ANY conversation about improving business results -and, of course my passion is that the Voice Of Our Mother (VOOM!), the Earth be invited and listened to at every transformational table in the years to come.

Thanks again for your brilliance…

I have spoken.

I've just read on the blog of this challenge:

"With the Unlimited Human Potential Challenge, we are seeking the most progressive practices and innovative ideas when it comes to unleashing human capacity—designing environments and systems for work that inspire individuals to contribute their full imagination, initiative, and passion every day; and aggregating human capability—leveraging new social, mobile, and digital technologies to activate, enlist, and organize talent across boundaries.

How can we tap into emerging digital technologies and the principles that undergird them (such as transparency, collaboration, meritocracy, open­ness, commu­nity and self-determination) to produce radically new approaches to organizing and creating value?" http://www.mixprize.org/blog/big-thinkers-and-big-winners?challenge=19296

Bill & Max, does your thinking about P10X connect with the last paragraph? If yes, I think making that connection more explicit could enhance the chance of this story to make the list of finalists and attract the leverage by electronic media that Ken Carey referenced in The Third Millennium as "love's most powerful and effective tools of transformation."

Dear Bill and Max,
Congratulations and thank you for your work. I applaud ABCTS for their involvement with P10X. My 35+ years working experience in the corporate belly of three Fortune 500 Company HR Departments gives me an appreciation for the challenges in what you and ABCTS are trying to accomplish.

I love your "sheep dip" metaphor. Personally, I've been dipped so many times that my name should be "Woolly". All of the dips I went through were well intentioned but ultimately the cultures in these three organizations didn't change and the effects were temporary at best. In retrospect, I think the emphasis was to fine tune the "well oiled machine" and if there was any intention to view the organizations as conscious living systems it was a well kept secret. These companies I worked in were and are Yellow Zone companies yet many of the managers who progressed to senior positions were, for the most part, Red Zone managers.

I like and agree with your premise that the organization's language shapes it's view of itself in the marketplace and with it's employees. There were people in the companies I worked in who had generative and sustainable motivations but their voices were drowned out by managers who felt that generative language and approaches were yet another HR ploy that didn't work in the "real"world. As an HR Director, I had difficulty in developing what I would have considered Blue Zone language (although I would not have had that nomenclature at the time).

My questions are not about concept, which sounds solid and complete to me but about implementation:
1. My key question is about measurement. How do you measure Blue Zone concepts and how do you convince successful, profit producing managers that they can be even more successful with Blue Zone rather that Red Zone tactics?
2.How do you prevent P10X from being what we call in the South a "corn shuck fire" that flares up, creates a lot of heat, and quickly dies out?
3. What are the key steps, guideposts and cultural shifts needed for moving from the Yellow Zone (where I worked for 35 years) to the promised land of Blue Zone sustainability and generativity?

I wish you and ABCTS blessings and encouragement on this journey. I sincerely wish you well in your travels.
Strength to your sword arm and honey in your heart.
Paul

Dear Bill and Max,
Congratulations and thank you for your work. I applaud ABCTS for their involvement with P10X. My 35+ years working experience in the corporate belly of three Fortune 500 Company HR Departments gives me an appreciation for the challenges in what you and ABCTS are trying to accomplish.

I love your "sheep dip" metaphor. Personally, I've been dipped so many times that my name should be "Woolly". All of the dips I went through were well intentioned but ultimately the cultures in these three organizations didn't change and the effects were temporary at best. In retrospect, I think the emphasis was to fine tune the "well oiled machine" and if there was any intention to view the organizations as conscious living systems it was a well kept secret. These companies I worked in were and are Yellow Zone companies yet many of the managers who progressed to senior positions were, for the most part, Red Zone managers.

I like and agree with your premise that the organization's language shapes it's view of itself in the marketplace and with it's employees. There were people in the companies I worked in who had generative and sustainable motivations but their voices were drowned out by managers who felt that generative language and approaches were yet another HR ploy that didn't work in the "real"world. As an HR Director, I had difficulty in developing what I would have considered Blue Zone language (although I would not have had that nomenclature at the time).

My questions are not about concept, which sounds solid and complete to me but about implementation:
1. My key question is about measurement. How do you measure Blue Zone concepts and how do you convince successful, profit producing managers that they can be even more successful with Blue Zone rather that Red Zone tactics?
2.How do you prevent P10X from being what we call in the South a "corn shuck fire" that flares up, creates a lot of heat, and quickly dies out?
3. What are the key steps, guideposts and cultural shifts needed for moving from the Yellow Zone (where I worked for 35 years) to the promised land of Blue Zone sustainability and generativity?

I wish you and ABCTS blessings and encouragement on this journey. I sincerely wish you well in your travels.
Strength to your sword arm and honey in your heart.
Paul

Bill,

I have no doubt that the process you and Max facilitated helped the participants to enjoy higher levels of trust and openness, and to build a stronger commitment to contribute to each other’s well-being and to the well-being of all stakeholders. I would love to learn more about the ripple effects that flow from such a shift. I was listening to a Ted Talk today by YYves Morieux who talks about the two pillars of organizational change: what he calls the Hard approach (focus on structure, processes and systems, metrics and the Soft approach (Feelings, Interpersonal Relationships, cultural transformation) He argues that both these approaches are obsolete because neither can succeed in the face of today's complexity. I would love to know if you feel your approach is falling in the category that he defines as the Soft approach, and what you think obout how it fits with the hard approach of defining structures and processes.

Dear Bill and Max,

I'm deeply moved to see how your hard work and dedication is catalyzing important and needed change in organizations. Brilliant work! It is also a thrill to read all the very thoughtful comments. The book and article links from commenters will keep me busy for weeks!

I don't know if I can contribute anything beyond what others have so eloquently stated, but, a couple things come to mind.

1. You and Max are providing the contextual framework (P10X) and a safe environment with 'stringing the beads' and other wisdom processes for what can potentially lead to a powerful, organizational 'emergence'. Emergence is a big word having meaning in science, systems theory, philosophy and religion, but, means for me, in this current conversation, that something entirely new and unexpected arises from the process.

"I like this example: "It's not magic," the physicist Doyne Farmer once said about the phenomenon known as emergence, "but it feels like magic." Creatures, cities, and storms self-organize, with low-level rules giving rise to higher-level sophistication. Entirely new properties and behaviors "emerge," with no one direction and no one able to foresee the new characteristics from knowledge of the constituents alone. The whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts."

Question: This kind of thinking seems to speak of the Blue Zone. Did ABCTS journey participants speak to or identify with similar transformational aspects of their P10X experience?

2. I’m reading a book titled “Radical Collaboration” and it’s striking to realize that it only addresses the red and green zones. I’m much more attracted and inspired by your Blue Zone categories. The Stanford Design School, more widely known as the dSchool, lists ‘radical collaboration’ on their home page as one of the guiding principles and describe their process thusly:

“Our culture of collaboration means we move quickly beyond obvious ideas. We help each other even if it’s inconvenient. We ask for inspiration when stuck. We play. And we defer judgment long enough to build on each other’s ideas”.

Question: Are their examples of some of the “shifts” you observed (and that you are willing to share) with ABCTS participants that might foster or fall into the category of radical collaboration?

I greatly admire the creativity, courage, determination and challenge you and Max are bringing to individuals and organizations. Crossing the Great Culture Chasm and dwelling in the Blue Zone is scary, highly personal, and a huge frontier boundless with possibility—to your continued magic.

Thank you!

David

Dear Bill and Max,

Changing the culture of an organization is gargantuan task; it implies the uprooting of basic foundations to replace it with another. I salute your efforts and commend ABCTS for pioneering. More important, thank you for sharing your experiences so far. The wisdom in these comments is tremendous and I feel blessed just to witness this conversation. Some questions/points bubble up to highlight my ignorance:

1. I am intrigued that ABCTS rated itself mostly in the Yellow Zone with significant Orange characteristics. Did this survey cover all 90 employees? Would the client of ABCTS have given a different rating to ABCTS?

2. How did the Vision, Mission, Core Values and the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) of ABCTS play during this entire process? Have these changed? Was it a question of 'who and how' or just the 'how' that needed to be addressed? Did the FFA instrument feed into these changes?

3. I am delighted to see your emphasis on the explicit use of the right language in place of the wrong one. As I understand, language is partly explicit and spoken but largely implicit yet communicated. Would such a transformational process through an outside team (yours) convey "Whatever you were doing was fundamentally wrong and here is the right way ..." How are the elements of implicit language being framed and addressed?

4. How did you decide that the 'diagonal slice' of 20 out of 90 employees was enough to cross the transformation threshold? How did you select these 'changemakers'?

5. How did the 5 day Immersion Workshop address the ones that bake slower in the workshop than the others? Would such a 'batch processing' be able to pull together all the fast and the slow learners? How did you ensure and measure this?

6. What did the ones left out of the Immersion Workshop (70 out of total 90 employees) feel about the P10X transformation process? How much have they bought into this?

7. If one were to apply Hofstede's Power Distance maps, did you have to customize your approach to address the 'dependence on hierarchy' issue? Perhaps the general culture in ABCTS's country falls in the 'small power distance' quadrant or the society may be geared towards short-term thinking?

8. Regarding business metrics, it brings to mind the Zappos story. Where typically a call-center would measure 'average handle time', Zappos measured customer satisfaction and thus calls known to run for 10 hours were regarded as successes. Wouldn't the business metrics of ABCTS have to change accordingly to fit the new language and culture? Would the client of ABCTS accept these new metrics? I guess part of these metrics would have to include the three points under "In addition, ABCTS's client organization challenged them to achieve breakthroughs in -". More 'C' type of work and metrics that encompass intangible achievements. This ties into Paul Strickland's question around - how do you measure Blue Zone concepts?

9. Mother Nature seems to iterate towards the optimum solution. To become truly generative ('self-regulating, self-improving and self-propagating'), would ABCTS need multiple rounds of (involution and) evolution before it settles into the optimum solution? How does the P10X framework lay out such a roadmap and the milestones? Would ABCTS first get to the Green Zone and then into the Blue Zone?

Thank you!

Greetings Bill and Max,

What a wonderful immersion into the P10X journey I have just had! I am thrilled that this journey is unfolding with such depth and breadth and heart for ABCTS. How lucky they are to have heard the call! And that the universe conspired in bringing all of you together.

As you know we are living in rural Maine now so I tend to look at many initiatives, trends, and innovations through this lens. The "Crossing the Chasm" diagram is a very meaningful tool to think about building sustainability and resilience in rural America where leaping into the yellow zone (let alone the blue zone) from a cultural mix of scarcity beliefs and rugged entrepreneurship can be daunting on a good day. I will dig deeper into the article links to learn more about the Future Fitness instrument but I already know I am very curious about it's applicability in my neck of the woods. In a small county were there have been too many "sheep dippings" surrounding economic development and long-term sustainability, I just know there is promise and application from your work.

On another, deeper note, I would love to know how you and Max (and members of the ABCTS team) experienced the sacredness of the work you are beginning. What were the moments that most helped people move from being in "transaction" to being in "communion?" How did people talk about this? What is the language that the participants embraced that helped them describe their experience to others? I am on the never-ending search for the "word bridge" that opens up an understandable invitation to play in the Blue Zone. It will be fun to talk more about this with both of you.

I will be looking for your updates with great anticipation. Congratulations on this exciting journey. Thank you for including all of us in such a meaningful way.

The warmest regards,

Sarah

Dear Bill and Max,

Thank you so much for sharing this post on your transformation of ABCTS. Having observed your work over the years and been a practitioner of facilitating Organisational Transformation,it is a joy to see the simplicity and elegance of your 10X Framework and Models. The picture for "Crossing the [Cultural} Chasm" is both easy to understand and conceptually powerful.
Your whole approach to change is beautifully structured. I deeply appreciate the intense work that you have put into evolving the 10X Model.

As I read and re-read your post, your work inspires me to raise a few questions :

1) Can we have a structured approach to change and also truly be open to Emergence? Is there a "middle path" somewhere which also emerges!

2) What is the connection of the 10X approach to raising Consciousness and Awareness in people? Is this a part of the 5 day Immersion?

Having worked in the area of the overlaps between Consciousness , Leadership and Systemic Transformation, I have come to see that the main "Bureaucratic Beast" that overshadows Infinite Human Potential is the resistance that comes from an attachment to and identification with the human Mind. In fact the untamed Mind IS the Beast!

When people learn to transcend the Mind and get comfortable with the space of No-Mind, Resistance drops to zero! People are thinking, communicating, collaborating and transforming more fluently. There is ease and grace in the transformation process. And emergence moment to moment! The whole team becomes more agile and creative.

Have shared more on this in an article (for the Accenture Journal) called "Consciousness is at the Root of Excellence" :
http://www.accenture.com/microsites/vaahini/in-conversation/interview-in...

The work of transformation needs to start with us. I feel I feel that the 10X approach is a beautiful vehicle which can bring about immense changes in organisations and other human systems. If we strengthen the piece (Peace?) on awakening Consciousness/Awareness/Mindfulness, the evolutionary movement of many organisations will be catalyzed. This is the foundation of our approach to Wholesome Leadership.
www.pragatileadership.com. It resonates with the work of Violeta Bulc.

To conclude my comments, I will share a quote below from Lao Tzu. It has touched me immensely:

“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the World, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation”

~ Lao Tzu

Dear Bill and Max, gratitude from my Heart for all that you are doing.
Will be in touch to co-create and co-evolve further.

Much Love,

Arun
Arun Wakhlu
www.pragatileadership.com

Dear Bill.

What I appreciate in your approach is the high target that you set. You don’t want just “compliance’ you want enthusiasm, hearts, joy, open mind attitude, altruism, love for your colleagues, your environment, this world. Just performing is not good enough.
A warning is in place here. In such an environment as you are striving for, some egocentric individuals might take advantage of the altruistic attitude of the majority. Let’s suppose they are very egocentric and are acquiring wealth and property taking it from the altruistic majority.
This “robbing” the good ones will be very successful as their motivation to steel from the majority is much stronger that the motivation the altruists have to act against them.

This can only be controlled by a “leader” or management aware of this danger and willing to act in time and taking care of the egocentric violators.
For that reason I foresee a lot of difficulties to sustain this culture.

This does not imply that i suggest you should stop striving as the world you are creating as a world worth living in

"Hi Bill and Max,

I read through your Story :"Unleashing... in the Belly of the Bureaucratic Beast" based on your "Project 10X" creation and also read all the comments submitted by many wise and knowledgeable people in your circles of influence. As I read through all these writings, an explosion of thoughts came to mind just as when reading "Project 10X" some months back. My reactions ranged from YES!!!!, YES!!!, YES!!! to a few YES, BUTs.

I am reminded of your work Bill going back what? twenty four years ago. Qualities that jump out are what I call the three P's: patience, persistence and perseverance. Oh, I missed the most important P: PASSION! It takes Passion to stick with the other three P's.

A somewhat vague metaphor best describes your efforts: Looking at a large gem stone such as a diamond, figuring out the best way to cut it, observing it from one angle, realizing that perhaps there is a better angle, moving on to another, and another, and another, You've had the opportunity to take a whack at this diamond over and over and every time you do, the opportunity for it to shine becomes greater and greater, yet so are the perils. As Machiavelli wrote in The Prince: "There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." "Perilous, difficult, uncertainty are not words in your operational vocabulary. Of course, the challenge of introducing a "new order of things,"is a joint peril shared by you and your clients. I recall what it was like in 1990 when we (my company) participated in your "Learning Expedition," along with six or seven other companies. I was sold, but the greater challenge was getting others to accept the notion that "we are so much more than what we have become and are."

Management's reaction to "new orders of things" is naturally resistant because it reflects a criticism of their current state of affairs and an admission on their part of "why didn't I think of that." Your concepts were brilliant then and are even more so now. So what is different now? What is different now is twenty plus years of honing the message and the approach so that the "introduction of a "new order of things" is not as threatening to "management." Or, perhaps rather than looking at it as "threatening," is approaching the introduction in a way that "management" embraces the "introduction" as something they had been looking for and even more so, for which they "proudly" assume ownership. Your story with ABCTS clearly reflects your and your immediate "client's" sensitivity to this issue. Some more comments about this issue in paragraph on "Context" below.

So, now on to another metaphor to answer this question: "How do you know you are making progress?" Just as a hiker climbing a mountain, you measure ascent. I know that over the years, you have remained undaunted and continue to ascend. Congratulations. Every step you have taken going back as long as twenty plus years ago has contributed to ascending. At times, it has been elusive pretty much as it is for a hiker who wonders whether he/she will ever get there. When you look back, you realize your progress. When you look at where you stand in the context of looking back, you will realize how far you have come. When you look forward and up, you realize what great opportunities lie before you. Keep plugging away !!!

To recap: Your latest effort reflects all the work over the years in that it is simple, it fits the context of the organization's and its people's concerns. I'm reminded of Albert Einstein's advice: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." The description of your "Unleashing..." story reflect this advice and thus gives it a better opportunity for success.

Now, more specifically, I like that your first header is CONTEXT and I would encourage you to dig deeper into the core question when addressing CONTEXT. "What is your purpose?" By digging deeper, I mean going beyond ABCTS purpose and asking "What is the purpose of ABCTS' client organization and perhaps also asking "What is the purpose of ABCTS' client's client organizations?" It is similar to accepting as an answer to the Purpose question the first derivative, rather than searching for the answer to the second or even the third derivative. (A bit of calculus!). The closer you bring a person to the ultimate purpose, the greater the probability of achieving personal and organization transformation. I recall Peter Senge writing in "The Fifth Discipline" that "Why?" has to be asked five times to get at the true answer to "Why?" The notion of first, second, third derivatives is essentially expressing mathematically what Senge expressed by the number of "Whys" being asked.

It would be quite challenging for ABCTS to understand and embrace the business of the client's client or even more so the business of a client's client's client's purpose, but it is worthwhile exploring. Why? (I won't ask five times in this case) Because it creates a shift in how an organization and its people see themselves. their context and their relevance to the ultimate business purpose (Mission) and it lays the foundation for your work to flourish and to be self-sustaining and ultimately generative. It means taking the people in the organization and the organization itself to a "higher level" of being, of thinking, of acting, It creates the intrinsic realization that their success (and survival) requires them to leave behind many habits that no longer serve them well and the development of new "higher level" habits are business and personal imperatives and simultaneously empowering. No small challenge if Aristotle had it right: "Habit is but long practice and in the end, it becomes 'man's' nature." You heard the expression: "I can't help it, it's my nature!" The good news is that while all of us and organizations do have a "nature," the intentional and relentless practice of new habits, eventually creates a new "nature" in us and organizations; no small task, but well worth it.

One other key issue that you have addressed in your story is "Commitment." Much can be written about and around Commitment. I've been using the story of the chicken and pig for breakfast as a simple way of creating distinction betwen involvement and commitment. The chicken was involved, the pig was committed. It takes commitment of all to succeed (ascending). Your model jumping the "great culture chasm", is a simple and powerful way of eliciting and creating commitment. Who wants to be mired in "toxic," "dysfunctional" or "compliant" cultures when the potential to live in a "sustainable" or better yet, a "generative" culture is so much more "spirit-lifting" and empowering.

It gives good reasons for all stakeholders to commit. However, as we know from experience, it does not happen miraculously. It takes all the "P's" and the "Cs" (beyond Commitment) you can collectively muster to make this happen and mostly by the leadership in organizations such as ABCTS , wherever you can find it, and preferably by those who are charged with this responsibility.

Best wishes for success for ABCTS, you and Project 10X. I look forward to more success stories.

Blessings to you and ABCTS,

Peter Waldheim

Bill & Max, thank you! What a great submission.

I would like to introduce myself, I am Kim, AKA - Meg!

I value sharing, learning and so I decided to weigh into this submission with my own views on our pioneering P10X journey.

If there is one thing we all must learn to live as a ‘truth’ is that change is constant. We are living in a world where the technology we use daily changes rapidly and yet we are still using management principles that were designed hundreds of years ago and really not fit for the 21st Century. I had seen the impact that change has on many organisations and this is generally not a positive experience as most large organisations tend to look at headcount for savings and those at the ‘coal face’ are the first to suffer. I had been researching for alternatives to what I describe as ‘sheep dip.’ I had read many books and white papers on Change & Leadership development when I came across Bill and Max’s initial MIX submission.

My first thought was, WOW, imagine an organisation that values people more than profit. Imagine a group of people who come together because they care about each other, care about the future of their organisation, their customers and stakeholders in a way that is sustainable, can grow in an organic way that would have a lasting impact on them, their families and future generations. It almost felt like a dream, a breath of fresh air and a future that I only dared to imagine. I had grown up in a system that required compliance and adherence so to me this sounded like one BHAG! (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)

So I knew that there was huge potential within my organisation to make the shift towards a different future, a sustainable bottom line impact. The problem was that the potential was almost wasted as the people who could make a difference were not able to bring their ideas and creativity to life in our corporate system. How could we activate these talented individuals to accelerate a movement towards a new and better future, a Blue Horizon future that allows you to evolve with the system, to learn your way through the challenges that many organisations, whose foundations were built in the industrial age and beyond face today?

And so our journey began!

I have read the many comments and I am overwhelmed by the input from so many, much more wiser than me. I would love to address all of the questions, however for now, I would like to just share some of the personal learnings from embarking on such a journey and hope that this in some way helps others to take a ‘leap of faith,’ explore some new territory and rid yourself of old habits, ways of thinking that may well be hindering you, your organisation and more importantly your fellow human beings from exploring a new and different way of being!

We have seen many ripples in our organisation, from more interaction on our social platform to comments about ‘the boss’ being different. He now truly has an open door! I have seen our community take forward their personal commitments and have made changes that to an outsider looking in may be small - believe me, they are not small! Raising awareness through our journey has been challenging but we continue to practise this and encourage each other to become more aware of the impact we have on each other. Concept, design and testing ideas was not part of our culture, we have embraced this, as we have embraced many of the other elements of learning that our P10X journey has taught us. Through these testing and vetting sessions, we designed a follow-up to our pioneering 5 day immersive, to enable our community to understand the new language and different culture, way of being that would become part of our future.

I could list at least one hundred learnings but I have tried to outline those that were most meaningful for me:

1. Be brave!
2. Spend time imagining and living the culture you collectively desire (the FFA was pivotal for us)
3. Never underestimate the power of relationships and work hard to ensure you give people time to get to know each other at a deeper level than just work (Barretts Values have helped us instil this thinking)
4. Accept that you alone can not and do not have all the answers, there is a big world out there, look outward and invite others to help you find solutions, human beings by nature are very generous with both time and knowledge, all you have to do is ask (thank you Bill and Max, you are true partners)
5. Believe that every single person on this planet has a unique gift and that once you tap into this gift you will find passion, it takes time so be patient.
6. Put in place structures that support life long learning (we are struggling with this a little, Co-creative trio’s is the way forward!)
7. Sometimes not everyone is up for the journey. I have learnt that for some, things are just cool where they are today. You can take a horse to water…
8. Invest time, effort and expect the unexpected. Forget the idea that those in your system who have a big title will do big work, please let us stop measuring by status and measure by a persons character and contribution. I have seen some of the smallest voices have the biggest impact.
9. Have a light that guides you. We developed our ‘Atlas’ as part of our journey. It is a WIP, AND it spells out ‘how things are done around here.’ As we grapple with the idea of being being less hierarchical and move to a more inclusive culture, we invite our community to update this and embrace the wisdom of the collective.
10. Have FUN! A brilliant quote I heard recently ‘don’t take life too serious, its not like you’re getting out alive!’ When you work in an environment that requires you to be a person other than the person you are… REBEL! Be yourself, discover stuff you like and stuff you don’t like but always try and bring a sense of fun and humour - it will make the journey easier, I promise!
11. Social media - embrace it, learn as much as you can about it, it is the future and will engage your people.
12. Go easy on yourself.. I have had so many sleepless nights wondering if this was the right path as once the genie is out of the bottle, you really can’t put it back in! A question? Why wouldn’t you unleash something so powerful as human potential?? Remember, what others think of you is none of your business!
13. I end on my lucky number! Get yourself great guides, Bill & Max have provided us with insights beyond any books or white papers I have read (and there have been many) Culture Change is not a game for the faint-hearted and one that you must be prepared to carry through to the bitter end. It is so very challenging and difficult but if it weren’t then I suppose that every organisation in the world would be hugely successful.

I would be delighted to chat through the journey and any related questions. I hope this post has provided some inspiration and comfort to those who may wish to embark on such an adventure.

Bill and Max,

on the relational side, I love the Crossing the Chasm grid because it provides a map and credence to the aspirational. If people have never considered or have forgotten their aspirations, you give a framework for concrete evolution from a way of thinking (siloed, repetitive loop of maintenance of status quo) to a way of being (interconnected, co-created, evolutionary).

As Kim notes, Culture Change is not a game for the faint-hearted and one that you must be prepared to carry through to the bitter end. So, you've engendered structures, frameworks, assessments, ways to measure milestones, progress, regression > all leading to increasing levels of awareness of self and awareness of self in a co-operating organism.

I love the attention to language: Language Designed for Crossing the Chasm. I've always thought, change the language, the culture follows.

I'm wondering now about sustainability beyond the initiating phases. What governance and sustenance mechanisms are occurring?

Lastly, the use of Blue Zones, I assume you know the work of Dan Buettner?

Bravo to you all!

Bill and Max

An intriguing and inspiring story. As a change practitioner of many years I am very heartened (but not surprised) to notice some key points of emphasis in your approach, namely:

1. Emphasis on personal relationships and the building of community. So much of BAU organisational life is transactional with little attention paid to or by the unique humans involved in that "transaction". And thus it is no surprise that many organisations get so little of the full potential of their people at work and that so many feel oppressed and used while at work. My experience echoes yours (and many of the fantastic comments below) namely that if we can release the potential of all engaged in any endeavour then so much more is possible. Key question is how do we build the social architecture to support that? For me a vital element of leadership is the ability to build and sustain deep trust relationships with those you wish to partner with (which is, if we see clearly, just about everyone!). All of this is heightened at times of change when trust may be eroded by fear and anxiety provoked as we seek but often don't get engagement. I love Peter Senge's quote: "People don't resist change; but they do resist being changed". And so your approach places relationship building, community building and unleasing potential through the establishment of connection.

2. Identifying ways to connect to personal and group higher purpose. Without that inspiration and that reminder of the bigger context in which we operate it is all to easy to fall into task completion mode. I love the use of the Blue Zone to paint that picture of the potential future and to use it as a beacon to draw those engaged towards it. I would love to know more about the balance of the framework you have created providing useful boundaries in which creativity can thrive AND the extent to which emergence and innovation is allowed to usefully challenge that framework - "building the bridge as we go" perhaps across the cultural chasm.

3. Your focus on language (and in my mind at least) organisational metaphors. When I read Images of Organization (Morgan) years ago I remember then having the scales fall from my eyes and seeing just how pervasive the mechanistic metaphors of organisation pervaded management thinking. Your emphasis on the organisation as a living being and that that requires and enables of us as members of that living being again is a vital emphasis (perhaps particularly in a technological environment?). The language we use is not merely a descriptor of our current reality; it is the way we can bring that reality into being. If we can speak the new future with passion and conviction then our commitment to making it a reality is hugely strengthened.

I do have a few questions too:

1. I see from the comments that follow-on activities are already underway which from a sustainability view point is of course vital. Were these envisaged (beyond merely concept) when you embarked upon this journey or are the only now emerging?

2. What was the most important internal messages / messaging that got the senior leaders "on-side" to what is viewed as a potentially radical approach?

3. What was the biggest challenge you (as catalysts / facilitators) faced and how did you deal with it?

4. What was your greatest joy in this journey?

I look forward to seeing how this develops further and in particular how the "virus spreads"!

Tim Stanyon

Bill and Max

An intriguing and inspiring story. As a change practitioner of many years I am very heartened (but not surprised) to notice some key points of emphasis in your approach, namely:

1. Emphasis on personal relationships and the building of community. So much of BAU organisational life is transactional with little attention paid to or by the unique humans involved in that "transaction". And thus it is no surprise that many organisations get so little of the full potential of their people at work and that so many feel oppressed and used while at work. My experience echoes yours (and many of the fantastic comments below) namely that if we can release the potential of all engaged in any endeavour then so much more is possible. Key question is how do we build the social architecture to support that? For me a vital element of leadership is the ability to build and sustain deep trust relationships with those you wish to partner with (which is, if we see clearly, just about everyone!). All of this is heightened at times of change when trust may be eroded by fear and anxiety provoked as we seek but often don't get engagement. I love Peter Senge's quote: "People don't resist change; but they do resist being changed". And so your approach places relationship building, community building and unleasing potential through the establishment of connection.

2. Identifying ways to connect to personal and group higher purpose. Without that inspiration and that reminder of the bigger context in which we operate it is all to easy to fall into task completion mode. I love the use of the Blue Zone to paint that picture of the potential future and to use it as a beacon to draw those engaged towards it. I would love to know more about the balance of the framework you have created providing useful boundaries in which creativity can thrive AND the extent to which emergence and innovation is allowed to usefully challenge that framework - "building the bridge as we go" perhaps across the cultural chasm.

3. Your focus on language (and in my mind at least) organisational metaphors. When I read Images of Organization (Morgan) years ago I remember then having the scales fall from my eyes and seeing just how pervasive the mechanistic metaphors of organisation pervaded management thinking. Your emphasis on the organisation as a living being and that that requires and enables of us as members of that living being again is a vital emphasis (perhaps particularly in a technological environment?). The language we use is not merely a descriptor of our current reality; it is the way we can bring that reality into being. If we can speak the new future with passion and conviction then our commitment to making it a reality is hugely strengthened.

I do have a few questions too:

1. I see from the comments that follow-on activities are already underway which from a sustainability view point is of course vital. Were these envisaged (beyond merely concept) when you embarked upon this journey or are the only now emerging?

2. What was the most important internal messages / messaging that got the senior leaders "on-side" to what is viewed as a potentially radical approach?

3. What was the biggest challenge you (as catalysts / facilitators) faced and how did you deal with it?

4. What was your greatest joy in this journey?

I look forward to seeing how this develops further and in particular how the "virus spreads"!

Tim Stanyon

Bill, Max, Kim & All Generous commentators

Firstly thank you for the great submission, which introduces the inspirational journey on which our community has started.

Thank you to Kim (Meg!) for her clarifying and deepening commentary and a truly overwhelmed “Wow” to all of the many people who have taken the time to share their thoughts, encouragement and questions on the many many posts.

By way of introduction, I am the Head of ABC’s Technology Services and the Executive sponsoring and nurturing this wonderfully energizing and challenging initiative.

Bill, Max & Kim have done a fantastic job of describing how we have started on our journey to our “Blue Horizon” and the many things we have already learned as individuals and as a collective.

Personally I have probably learnt more about myself as a Learning Leader and Leading Learner over the last six months than in the many preceding years of working in the corporate world.

I am not going to attempt to list them all, but would like to share a few key learning’s that have really impacted on me.

The importance of Design in social architecture and therefore the significance of guidance from Master Architects, as Bill says, “Most organizations are perfectly designed to produce the results they are currently getting”. We are comfortable with the need to design so many things but I was blissfully ignorant of the concept from a social and learning perspective.

The need to be Brave; embarking on our initial Change maker intensive felt like a very significant and daunting step. I was really concerned that we were making the right decision; a helpful blog from Seth Godin around this time reminded me that the size of the leap or step is often only a matter of perspective.

The world we live in is truly a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) place, how we embrace this and develop ourselves and our communities to thrive in it will define us over the coming years.

Patience and the need to manage our precious energy levels; frustration with the time it takes to make real change in the face of many challenges can be a significant drain on your energy and enthusiasm. Realistic expectations, support from others and positive energy boasting experiences are so important.

Finally I would really like to address the many questions raised in the numerous posts, but I am not sure of the most effective way to do so? I am certainly happy to share my experiences in more detail with anybody who is interested. You can contact me directly via Bill or Meg.

Bill, Max, Kim, and Anonymous,

You are heroes and role models illuminating the way for those of us with the humbling and audacious calling of creating healthy, successful organizations.

In 9 days, over 200 global leaders will convene for 3 days in Reykjavik, Iceland for the Spirit of Humanity Forum to explore "The Power of Love and Compassion in Governance." Since my son, Ramon and I will be contributing interactive keypad technology to the conference, I have had to privilege of seeing a "sneak preview" of what is to come.

Your incredible story must be spoken and shared in that Forum. I commit to sharing the link with the talented and committed conveners I have already had the privilege to meet. Your work will resonate with them on so many levels. The Barrett Values Centre CVA you are utilizing in your work is also being taken by every participant in the Forum. If you have any handouts on your model, please email them to me to help me share it with others.

The Emergence of Community
I also want to do a "shout out" to all those who have commented on your post. After a very long day, I sat down for "one hour" to read the article and write a post. I am 4 hours into reading the posts, following links, and enjoying the expansion of my consciousness about organizations as living organisms. I am energized, though reluctant to start commenting on all that has been shared.

FireHawk: Thank you for your teaching on Earth Wisdom done so masterfully with Pele Rouge and Lana Holmes. Your work can help prepare people for the organizational work Bill and Max are manifesting.

Another recommendation I have for resources that can help individuals navigate the journey from the Red Zone to the Blue Zone is Internal Family Systems (www.selfleadership.org). It is a 30-year old non-pathologizing therapeutic model that has an emerging community of executive coaches and change consultants using it in organizations globally.

As Bill's ideas and the comments dance in my mind, I am most encouraged by what I see as a true community forming among us. May we continue to nurture and feed it using platforms such as this and global cross-sector movements such as the Spirit of Humanity Forum.

Wishing you all joy and satisfaction in your work. May you be encouraged in knowing that every step we take matters.

With love and respect,
Julia

Julia Sullivan
Los Gatos, CA

This has been a fun conversation to watch. And now I see it moving down into the bowels of our being. So excellent!

Our engagement here is going from the stage of complementary to atonement. This is the place where emotion reveals the real game at play. It is the realm of VULNERABILITY.

I've been studying 'being vulnerable' from a place of asking myself: "What does it take to atone the human psyche? Where do we need to go to create a new state of being that aligns with the attributes we speak of here in this wonderful conversation? How can we review our understanding of what LEADERSHIP has been and move it into something that it needs to be?

My conclusion so far keeps being pulled toward a center that is spoken to here - one keyword: ‘vulnerable’.

This idea of vulnerability is a very misunderstood and feared concept and is so often avoided like a plague. Yet, in order to move, to change, to bifurcate, or transform, I am convinced that it does not and can not happen from a mental state of being and interacting. Vulnerability does not live within the realm of strategy and logic and intellect (as we mostly use this word), although have been too often assumed this to be the place where our human(e) condition aspires to its own evolution, its innovation, and even its redemption. But no. Instead there is another part of our humanity, which is usually revealed through EMOTION, that brings us into the opportunity for real change. When in this place, we become vulnerable.

Here resides the crux of resistance to change. Vulnerability has had to be a suppressed part of our nature. Why? Because during the past couple thousand years, we have been ‘designed’ as a WAR machine. A machine that is used to kill each other. Vulnerability has no place here. If you open yourself up to the enemy, even your cohorts in war - you die. Vulnerability is the place where we expose our life to another’s weapon who wants us dead.

This brings up for me the book called “The Culture Code”. Do you remember it? The author speaks eloquently about how nations take on a cultural traits that we exhibit within our day to day lives and directly influences our decision making. This is most apparent when we take on leadership roles where choices and decisions need to be made. The part that I don’t recall him speaking to is the almost archetypal relevance of ‘war’ that has permeated our DNA throughout humanity’s HISTORY. It resides within us right now, right here, today. Just listen to the language used inside a board room to recognize its presence. And it indirectly influences how we are with each other.

Thus, to be vulnerable rarely happens, because you are ‘killed’ if you do; excommunicated, fired, ‘TERMINATED’. Rather than be able to look a vulnerable person’s revelation in the eye, we have been trained instead to kill it. Shoot first, ask questions later, because it poses a threat to our own life.

The other piece that keeps the essential ingredient of vulnerability to happen is so well presented by Brene’ Brown (I have a youtube of her on my blog page at http://vicdesotelle.com/2011/04/01/victor-victim-villain-the-obstacle-th... is the subject of ‘shame’. To become vulnerable goes completely against the exposure of what she speaks to, where not only you may be killed, but you are also put face to face with your own SHAME, which I believe goes way way back along the chains of our DNA history. It is a place filled with the ugliness of our DARKER TRUTHS, which brings up incredible guilt and shame for what we have done to each other, and is still happening today. To address the shame of our inhumane-ness sets the stage for being -in-vulnerable (i.e. the John Wayne pose), creating an impermeable stance that keeps truth at bay. This too will have to be announced and addressed as part of our bridge building process.

Why am I bringing all this up?

Because I believe that, until we address our INHERITED CULTURAL BELIEFS around war that flows through every one of our bloodstreams, we will not be able to get to any level of transformation or change that can ‘sustain’ or can resolve to the principles of ‘sustainability’, as it will be killed by the next warred victim of our own enculturated making.

To reveal this warring gremlin, to expose it, and to learn ways of protecting ourselves from its influence - this may sound like an odd thing to do. But I believe it is crucial for those of us asking the deep questions about change, and to consider how it can be addressed. Because it is this silent shooter, the elephant in the room, that is rarely revealed, let alone spoken to directly. It is here where we can begin to build the BRIDGE over the P10X chasm that Bill’s and partners wonderful model represents. To open ourselves to a place where we can become vulnerable with each other again, without the fear of getting shot. ... Then CHANGE CAN HAPPEN.

In that 25th hour of your day, I'd love to hear some thoughts from participants of this great conversation. How do we address vulnerability?

Vic Desotelle

Thank you Vic for your comments below. Yes, I too have been loving this very evocative conversation that has been triggered by Bill's and Max's original post.

Found these words of yours inspiring:

["What does it take to atone the human psyche? Where do we need to go to create a new state of being that aligns with the attributes we speak of here in this wonderful conversation? How can we review our understanding of what LEADERSHIP has been and move it into something that it needs to be? My conclusion so far keeps being pulled toward a center that is spoken to here - one keyword: ‘vulnerable’." ]

Here is my contribution to the discussion:

Atoning the human psyche is a return to the fundamental and unifying space of Awareness that is at our core. It is the place where we are all One.(At One). It is a place where we forgive/go beyond and let go of (Atone) all our sins, deficiencies , neurotic tendencies, addictions, resistances, pet dreams and schemes, our past, future, titles, degrees, imaginings,stories, theories etc.etc. and all the "clutter-bugs" that the Human Psyche is made up of. Awareness is a space of deep acceptance, inclusion, wide openness and peace. It is also a very intelligent and generative space.

For me, Vulnerability, is a releasing of attachment to our ego and a deep resting in the space of who I really am. Vulnerability is what the ego may feel as it takes its first baby steps towards the space of Awareness. When we finally come home to our innermost I (Awareness), there is absolutely no vulnerability. There is just an immense relief, a deep gratitude,joyous celebration and a serene and fluent doing of what needs to be done in each moment.
Work becomes fluent and playful. There is ease and grace in all aspects of our life.

Luckily, there are many reminders to bring us Home.
See for example Nothing Else Matters by Scott Morrison
http://scotmorrison.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/nothing-else-matters/

The more we can all relax into this space of Grace, and let the Joy of Being guide all our thoughts , words and actions, what Bill and Max and all of us are manifesting on the planet at this point, will be easier.

The real work is to move from the Ego to Vulnerability to a return to the wide open space of Awareness.
Peace to you dear reader. May we all come home to our intrinsic (and already attained!) Oneness.

Love and Blessings,

Arun

I am truly overwhelmed by the tremendous response Bill & Max’s article has generated.

It is testament to the truly innovative approach they have guided and helped us to embark on. Reading through the many posts, which express genuine interest, support and generative advice is a heart warming experience. Which further serves to convince me that we are embarking on not just the right path, but a really important voyage of discovery.

I have read through most of the Comment posts and have been truly impressed with the insight and wisdom of those who have invested their time to support this pioneering initiative. However, it’s also an overwhelming amount of reading.

For the benefit of those members of ABCTS (or other such organizations) I have tried to single out those posts that seem most directly relevant to where we are — in the early stage of an on-going journey. As a guide I’ll simply list the date, the individual’s name, and a quote, a question or other hint of the content, in order to help direct your reading:

26 March — George Por — “What learning architecture would support the P10X learning and change community?”

26 March — Kimberly Wiefling — “Transformational change of this nature is the hardest work an organization will do.”

27-28 March — Bill Nobles — In a couple of posts Bill provides a number of pragmatic suggestions and questions. Bill headed up a similar technical service organization and lead a major culture change.

26 March — Jim Selman — “People don’t necessarily have a choice about their circumstances but always have a choice in how we relate to them.”

26 March — Vic Desotelle — “In terms of quality oriented metrics, it will be important to tie value statements — both individual and organizational into measureability.”

26 March — Kim Krisco — “At the conclusion, you did capture what is obviously a key (if not THE KEY) need to show how P10X directly contributes to business performance. In the end this will determine sustainability of these efforts.”

26 March — Alan Briskin — Alan, co-author of The Power of Collective Wisdom, identified three themes that are relevant, profound and pragmatic — each worthy of deep reflection.

26 March — Susan Louise Harris — “It is very important for all participants and involved stakeholders to be prepared for a bit of a roller coaster ride and committed to staying the course.”

26 March — Joel Levey — “Clearly the conditions of our lives, world and organizations invites us to develop our capacities to thrive in more generative ways and this work offers a compelling foundation to launch into the deeper waters at work — that lie beyond the shoals of ‘business as usual’!”

27 March — John Renesch — “I know we are in alignment that follow up support and continued process are vitally important to any change initiative being able to sustain itself.”

27 March — Philippe Compagnion — “I really think this approach pioneers a deeply different view of business and actually of work.”

27 March — Bruce Holland — Bruce lists six ideas and concerns

28 March — Gavin Peacock — Gavin recommends several readings describing other pioneering initiatives.

28 March — Violeta Bulc — Violeta has been involved in similar work for the last 15 years and is generous in sharing her wisdom and interesting resources.

28 March — Rick Bidgood — A rich description of many of the dimensions of aliveness possible in organizations

28 March — FireHawk Hulin — FireHawk asks two challenging questions.

29 March — Paul Strickland — Paul’s 35+ years of working experience in the corporate belly of three Fortune 500 Company HR Departments equips him to appreciate our challenges at ‘ABCTS.’ He asks three great questions.

29 March — Leslie Eveland — Leslie asks if our P10X initiative would fall in the ‘Soft approach’ category.

29 March — David Warren — “Crossing the Great Culture Chasm and dwelling in the Blue Zone is scary, highly personal, and a huge frontier boundless with possibility — to your continued magic.

31 March — Jitendra Mudhol — Jitendra asks 9 great questions of us.

30 March — Sarah Strickland — “I am thrilled that this journey is unfolding with such depth and breadth and heart for ABCTS.” She asks three ‘juicy’ questions.

31 March — Arun Wakhlu — Arun is quite eloquent in describing and appreciating our work. He leaves us with a couple of deep questions.

31 March — Arie Quik — “What I appreciate in your approach is the high target that you set. You don’t want just ‘compliance.’ You want enthusiasm, hearts, joy, open mind attitude, altruism, love for your colleagues, your environment, this world. Just performing is not good enough.”

31 March — Peter Waldheim — “Your latest effort reflects all the work over the years in that it is simple, it fits the context of the organization’s and its people’s concerns. I’m reminded of Albert Einstein’s advice:

‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.’

The description of your ‘Unleashing…’ story reflects this advice and thus gives it a better opportunity for success.

31 March — Kim Paterson — A great description of our journey to date from her perspective from within the belly of the beast. Don’t miss it.

31 March — Patricia Neal — “On the relational side, I love the Crossing the Chasm grid because it provides a map and credence to the aspirational. …you give a framework for concrete evolution from a way of thinking (siloed, repetitive loop of maintenance of status quo) to a way of being (interconnected, co-creative, evolutionary).

1 April — Tim Stanyon — Very insightful observations and questions from “a change practitioner of many years.”

2 April — Julia Sullivan — A rich contribution from another experienced professional.

Kind Regards

To Bill and Max, plus the 50 mixers who commented this post, this is my own favorite clear demo in the Story category, of the perfect alignment between the statements (unleashing human potential, power of co-creation and interest of R&D and metrics into the organization field) and generated outputs.
The value of both the info (quantity, detals and ambitious topics) about a floor grounded experience aiming at building communities able to dream and look up and ahead.
I'm impressed;