Week 3: We are a living system: Social systems and conversations that bind them

Description

In this module we want you to understand that you are not just a cog in the enterprise and that we as an enterprise are not simply a collection of parts. The power of a community is in its ability to leverage the connections between people. Think again if you believe your role is to do tasks. Yes tasks are important but at least 1/2 of your job involves relationships with others. (Sample Company) is a complex social system and you must understand how to be effective as a critical member of that social system.

Outcomes

• Managers will define the complex network of relationships that they have that drive the success of their work and that of the enterprise.
• Managers will create conversations with staff, coworkers, and managers that create understanding, learning, and new knowledge.

Performance tasks

• Schedule an hour to talk with your team. Sit down with them and ask the following question: How would our department perform differently if we all looked for ways to make each other successful? Capture the major ideas that emerge from your conversation and bring with you to the next workshop.
• After reading "The Nature of Social Collaboration", on a sheet of paper, draw a network of those people who help make your department successful. If there are any particularly strong relationships that have a greater impact on your success, make these lines bolder. Bring with you to the next workshop.

Week 3 assignment

  Read The Nature of Social Collaboration: How work really gets done from the SoL Journal. This article is excellent and there will be quite a bit of new and uncomfortable ground to cover. If you can understand this article, you will understand why your job is not just doing tasks.

Read Dynamic Facilitation. You will understand from this reading why work is managed and people are led. The concept of managing people simply is ineffective. This article will build on the last and give you a strong foundation for the rest of this course.

Take some brief notes based on your reflection to help you with your next assignment. 

  I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation. Not mediation, negotiation, problem-solving, debate, or public meetings. Simple, truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we each listen well.
~ "Turning to one another: Simple conversations to restore hope to the future" by Margaret Wheatley

Are you ready to move on?

When you are finished with the assignment from the week three self-study learning assignment, please go onto the week four self-study learning assignment. If you have any questions, please contact your instructor. 

We recommend that you build ongoing conversations with our fellow learners via the discussion board. 

 
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