Leveraging Assumptions for Nudging Organizational Culture
“The stories we tell are the stories we live.”
“One more meeting on the same problem; no matter how much we talk about this problem and how many times we try to solve it, we keep getting the same unwanted results,“ CEOs, managers, department heads frequently lament. What they want is a way to solve problems so they stay solved.
The conventional approach is to train executives and teams in individual growth and behavior change. This approach can yield small changes at best.
Nudging Culture creates a context so these new behaviors / cognitive changes can produce desired, long term results. This is done by uncovering how the organizational culture is embedded in the systems and process used by the organization.
By seeing these systems and processes as interrelated and interdependent, executives can find new leverage for solving problems.
The underlying and unexamined beliefs and assumptions are the cause for problems not staying solved. The ongoing problems are the result / effect. The status quo is maintained by unexamined beliefs and assumptions which give rise to the problems.
Organizational systems can be seen at three levels: strategic, operational, and human. Culture binds these three systems into a web which maintains the status quo. Cosmetic tweaks to a process or system without addressing culture will fail. Organizations can change.
Methodology
Through problem-solving in a role-play, participants will experience the dynamics of four distinct cultures, and will examine the relationship between systems and culture. ZenSigma (a dialogic process) will uncover beliefs and assumptions contributing to satisfying, collaborative, and productive decision-making.
Your Presenters:
Steve Siegel has more than 40 years experience as an entrepreneur, consultant, and coach – focusing on the alignment of systems and culture for organization effectiveness. Blending his Lean Sigma Black Belt experience with degrees in psychology and organization development, Steve uses social construction as a tool to coordinate the efforts of individuals within organizations. Steve’s current research is focused on the intersection of organizational culture and systems.
Steve began his career as a third grade teacher, founded a summer camp and preschool, and has consulted to organizations such as WellPoint, Anthem, Blue Shield, The Getty Center, Pharmavite, Hewlett Packard, Motorola, Relativity Media, and the US Department of Education.
Steve has presented at a number of National conferences including SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), APICS (Association for supply chain professionals), and ISPI (International Society for Performance Improvement). He is a Past President of the Association for Talent Development – Los Angeles, holds an MSOD from Pepperdine University, an M.A. in Educational Psychology from California State University, Northridge, and enjoys many outdoor activities and time with his family.
DR PAULINE ARNEBERG has served as an Organization Development practitioner for over 30 years. She has extensive international experience has worked in Bahrain, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Phillipines, Thailand,
Botswana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and India. She served as the Convenor of the Applied Behavioral Sciences Group at the School of Public Administration, University of Southern California where she lead the International Training of Trainers Program and the Certificate Program in Human Resources Development. She currently teaches at the California State University Northridge. She has participated in projects sponsored by the World Bank, USAID, UNDP, and the University of Massachusetts. Her US clients include: Southern California Edison, City of Burbank, Aerospace Corporation, the Center for NonProfit Management, Ernst and Young, County of Santa Barbara, City of Malibu, and many LA County Organizations.
She has presented at ATD National Conference as well as ODNetwork National Conference. She is a frequent speaker on “The Stories We Tell Are the Stories We Live” and has used this approach in training and capacity building sessions covering all (or almost all) management topics.
