Hans-Peter Korn's Posts - SOLWorld2024-03-29T02:28:46ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKornhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/357565860?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://solworld.org/profiles/blog/feed?user=1i2zz31uxes8n&xn_auth=noImplicit SF: "The 4L’s: A Retrospective Technique"tag:solworld.org,2010-06-25:2102269:BlogPost:258222010-06-25T14:30:00.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Maybe you remember that in the past I referred in some if my SOL-blogs to methods and techniques outside the "SF Community" which have strong similarities with SF without labeling themselves as "SF". <br></br><br></br>Here is one more of such a piece: <br></br><br></br><font size="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The 4L’s: A Retrospective Technique</span></font><br></br><br></br>The L's are standing for: <br></br><br></br><ul>
<li><font size="2">We <em><strong>liked</strong></em> it when a good thing took on a life of its…</font></li>
</ul>
Maybe you remember that in the past I referred in some if my SOL-blogs to methods and techniques outside the "SF Community" which have strong similarities with SF without labeling themselves as "SF". <br/><br/>Here is one more of such a piece: <br/><br/><font size="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The 4L’s: A Retrospective Technique</span></font><br/><br/>The L's are standing for: <br/><br/><ul>
<li><font size="2">We <em><strong>liked</strong></em> it when a good thing took on a life of its own.</font></li>
<li><font size="2">We <em><strong>learned</strong></em> that it really resonated with many folks.</font></li>
<li><font size="2">We <em><strong>lacked</strong></em> sharing the full understanding of the technique.</font></li>
<li><font size="2">We <em><strong>longed</strong></em> for more sharing.</font></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br/></span>You find more about it here: <a href="http://ebgconsulting.com/blog/the-4l%E2%80%99s-a-retrospective-technique/">http://ebgconsulting.com/blog/the-4l%E2%80%99s-a-retrospective-technique/</a><br/><br/>One more "implicit SF": Using Innovation Games as Retrospective Activitiestag:solworld.org,2010-06-11:2102269:BlogPost:254412010-06-11T08:00:00.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Just now I found this blog. It is one more proof, that a lot of "SF" is done without naming it "SF" or even be aware that it is "SF-like".<br></br>
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I don't worry about this ... it works and persons are happy with it ....<br></br>
<br></br>
Here is the blog: <a href="http://blog.james-carr.org/2010/06/10/using-innovation-games-as-retrospective-activities/">http://blog.james-carr.org/2010/06/10/using-innovation-games-as-retrospective-activities/</a><br></br><br></br>Of course, the first step ("speed boat")…
Just now I found this blog. It is one more proof, that a lot of "SF" is done without naming it "SF" or even be aware that it is "SF-like".<br/>
<br/>
I don't worry about this ... it works and persons are happy with it ....<br/>
<br/>
Here is the blog: <a href="http://blog.james-carr.org/2010/06/10/using-innovation-games-as-retrospective-activities/">http://blog.james-carr.org/2010/06/10/using-innovation-games-as-retrospective-activities/</a><br/><br/>Of course, the first step ("speed boat") IMHO it is not SF ... it follows the "belief", which is widely shared by "Agilists", that we have to address and eliminate "impediments" to become better... <br/>But the next step ("remember the future") is a nice SF-piece. <br/><br/>Maybe it is useful to start with this first step, because "looking for impediments" is expected by the participants to become addressed within a retrospective... <br/>Finding The Next Steps Towards The Future: How 25 persons started to develop their organisation in half a day.tag:solworld.org,2010-05-30:2102269:BlogPost:249482010-05-30T13:46:32.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">At the same time when SOL 2010 happened in Bucharest I supported a workshop in Austria - which was one of the reasons why I couldn't attend SOL 2010 (which I regret - especially after having read all those appreciating comments about…</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">At the same time when SOL 2010 happened in Bucharest I supported a workshop in Austria - which was one of the reasons why I couldn't attend SOL 2010 (which I regret - especially after having read all those appreciating comments about it!)</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">On the other hand supporting this workshop for me was a great learning about the strength of OD work based on SF.</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">I provide you a short outline of this workshop now - you are welcome to read the whole description (in German) with illustrating pictures here:</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.korn.ch/archiv/case-studies/ablauf-org-entw-halbtag.pdf"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.korn.ch/archiv/case-studies/ablauf-org-entw-halbtag.pdf</font></font></font></a></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(If necessary: Ask for the free password by sending a mail to docrequest@korn.ch)</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">25 teacher of a high school located in Tirol wanted to create some ideas how they can develop their school. At the moment the school is working quite good - but: How can this kept? What can be the "journey toward the future"?</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Here the outline of this half day workshop:</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Sharing the personal resources which are available today => "Resources Fund"</strong></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(Die heute Vormittag verfügbaren Ressourcen)</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Expectations => "Expectations Wall"</strong></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(Die Erwartungen an den Vormittag)</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Yes, and …. Palaver => "Recipe for the Energy Soup"</strong></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(Ja, und.... Palaver)</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>"Once upon a future time": A journey with the time machine => "Our Future Wall"</strong></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">("Es war einmal ... in zwei Jahren...": Eine Zukunftsreise)</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Working out specific next steps (parallel teams)</strong></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(Erarbeitung konkreter nächster Schritte in die Zukunft)</font></font></font></span></p>
<blockquote style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" dir="ltr"><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><em><strong>Preparation: Find topics, let emerge teams</strong></em></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(Vorbereitung: Themen finden, und Teams bilden)</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><em><strong>Each team: Visualizing the whished results as a => "product box"</strong></em></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(Die "SchuLschachteln")</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><em><strong>Each team: Working out the utmost next step(s) to produce this results</strong></em></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(Die unmittelbar nächsten Schritte in die Zukunft)</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><em><strong>Presenting the results of the teams in a => "minimarket"</strong></em></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">("Minimarket" der Ergebnisse)</font></font></font></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>What expectations (see "Expectations Wall") are fulfilled "good enough" now?</strong></font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">(Welche Erwartungen an diesen Vormittag sind jetzt erfüllt?)</font></font></font></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">More readings about some of this methods you may find at:</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.korn.ch/team-process-modules/team-process-modules-Dateien/slide0002.htm"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.korn.ch/team-process-modules/team-process-modules-Dateien/slide0002.htm</font></font></font></a></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">or</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.korn.ch/team-process-modules/team-process-modules-Dateien/pdf/0team-process-modules.pdf"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.korn.ch/team-process-modules/team-process-modules-Dateien/pdf/0team-process-modules.pdf</font></font></font></a></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">and</font></font></font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.korn.ch/solutionstage/dokumente/looking%20back%20to%20the%20future.pdf"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">http://www.korn.ch/solutionstage/dokumente/looking%20back%20to%20the%20future.pdf</font></font></font></a></span></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"></p>Using What Works: Combining Solution Focus and Agile in work and personal lifetag:solworld.org,2010-05-22:2102269:BlogPost:247012010-05-22T09:23:56.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
<font size="3">Colinda de Beer recently posted in the SOLUTION-List: <br></br><br></br></font><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><font size="3"><span style="font-style: italic;">In my job as a software development manager I try to combine Agile and SF wherever I can. I recently started a blog to share what works for me in combining SF and Agile.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"></br><span style="font-style: italic;">You can find it at :…</span></font></div>
<font size="3">Colinda de Beer recently posted in the SOLUTION-List: <br/><br/></font><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><font size="3"><span style="font-style: italic;">In my job as a software development manager I try to combine Agile and SF wherever I can. I recently started a blog to share what works for me in combining SF and Agile.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">You can find it at : <a href="http://usingwhatworks.wordpress.com/">http://usingwhatworks.wordpress.com/</a></span><br/></font></div>
<font size="3"><br/>Very interesting! Congratulation!<br/>Hans-Peter</font> <br/>for German listeners: "Neue Wege des Lehrens und Lernens" (New ways of teaching and learning)tag:solworld.org,2010-05-20:2102269:BlogPost:246472010-05-20T23:30:00.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
This lecture is (IMHO) a diamond:<br />
<span class="cardData" id="PresentationCardAreaPresentersText">Prof. Dr.Rolf Arnold (Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Fachbereich Sozialwissenschaften, Fachgebiet Pädagogik) presents a very inspiring speech about systemic-constructivistic learning with a lot of synergies with SF: <br></br></span>
<div style="font-style: italic;"><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span class="cardData" id="PresentationCardAreaDescriptionText">Erwachsene lernen zwar in…</span></div>
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This lecture is (IMHO) a diamond: <br />
<span class="cardData" id="PresentationCardAreaPresentersText">Prof. Dr.Rolf Arnold (Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Fachbereich Sozialwissenschaften, Fachgebiet Pädagogik) presents a very inspiring speech about systemic-constructivistic learning with a lot of synergies with SF: <br></span>
<div style="font-style: italic;">
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<span class="cardData" id="PresentationCardAreaDescriptionText">Erwachsene lernen zwar in Lehr-Lernveranstaltungen, doch folgt dieses Lernen einer eigenen, biographisch-systemischen Logik. Man kann sie zwar „belehren“, doch folgt ihre Aneignungsbewegung ihren eigenen bzw. „eigensinnigen“ Mustern in Kognition und Emotion. Lernen ist deshalb stets ein durch Differenz und Vielfalt gekennzeichneter Weg, der sich nicht in erster Linie an externen Standards orientiert (oder gar zu orientieren vermag), sondern immer schon bloß dann stattfindet, wenn Individuen das aufgreifen und sich aneignen, was ihnen für ihre Lebenspraxis bedeutsam erscheint, oder eben (mit zumeist guten eigenen Gründen) nicht aufgreifen und sich aneignen.</span><br />
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<a href="http://mediasite.mediamission.nl/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=0b0befae01ed48ee977f63df74e50d24"><font style="font-weight: bold;" size="2">http://mediasite.mediamission.nl/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=0b0befae01ed48ee977f63df74e50d24</font></a><br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/398818517?profile=original" alt=""></p>
</div>"Positive Thinking" as a silver bullet?tag:solworld.org,2010-04-04:2102269:BlogPost:215822010-04-04T21:11:38.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br />
Today I found this (German) article in a newspaper: <br></br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.sonntagszeitung.ch/suche/artikel-detailseite/?newsid=126841">http://www.sonntagszeitung.ch/suche/artikel-detailseite/?newsid=126841</a><br></br>
«Ich konnte doch nicht so tun, als würde ich mich über meinen<br />
Brustkrebs freuen» <br></br>
written by Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of a couple of books, the<br />
last one:<br></br>
"Bright-sided: How the Relentless…</font>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br />
Today I found this (German) article in a newspaper: <br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.sonntagszeitung.ch/suche/artikel-detailseite/?newsid=126841">http://www.sonntagszeitung.ch/suche/artikel-detailseite/?newsid=126841</a><br/>
«Ich konnte doch nicht so tun, als würde ich mich über meinen<br />
Brustkrebs freuen» <br/>
written by Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of a couple of books, the<br />
last one:<br/>
"Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has<br />
Undermined America"<br/>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.amazon.com/Bright-sided-Relentless-Promotion-Positive-Undermined/dp/0805087494">http://www.amazon.com/Bright-sided-Relentless-Promotion-Positive-Undermined/dp/0805087494</a><br/>
<br/>
I personally like her writings: She shows - maybe in a sometimes<br />
provoking way - that a trivialising usage of "positivity" as a "tool"<br />
to overcome any kind of problems does not contribute to make things<br />
better. And for me her writings also is a reminder to take care to make<br />
use of SF not in a similar "reduced" and "tool focused" way as a<br />
"silver bullet"....<br/>
<br/>
In <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/brightsided.htm">http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/brightsided.htm</a> I found the<br />
introduction to her book "</font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Bright-sided: How the Relentless<br />
Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America". Here a short<br />
excerpt of it:<br/>
<br/>
</font><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><font style="font-style: italic;" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Positivity is not so much our condition or our mood as it is part of our ideology—the way we explain the world and think we ought to
function within it. That ideology is “positive thinking,” by which we<br />
usually mean two things. One is the generic content of positive<br />
thinking—that is, the positive thought itself—which can be summarized<br />
as: Things are pretty good right now, at least if you are willing to<br />
see silver linings, make lemonade out of lemons, etc., and things are<br />
going to get a whole lot better. This is optimism, and it is not the<br />
same as hope. Hope is an emotion, a yearning, the experience of which<br />
is not entirely within our control. Optimism is a cognitive stance, a<br />
conscious expectation, which presumably anyone can develop through<br />
practice.</font><br style="font-style: italic;"/><font style="font-style: italic;" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">In the rational explanation that many psychologists would offer today,
optimism improves health, personal efficacy, confidence, and<br />
resilience, making it easier for us to accomplish our goals. A far less<br />
rational theory also runs rampant in American ideology—the idea that<br />
our thoughts can, in some mysterious way, directly affect the physical<br />
world. Negative thoughts somehow produce negative outcomes, while<br />
positive thoughts realize themselves in the form of health, prosperity,<br />
and success. For both rational and mystical reasons, then, the effort<br />
of positive thinking is said to be well worth our time and attention,<br />
whether this means reading the relevant books, attending seminars and<br />
speeches that offer the appropriate mental training, or just doing the<br />
solitary work of concentration on desired outcomes—a better job, an<br />
attractive mate, world peace.</font><br style="font-style: italic;"/><font style="font-style: italic;" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Positive thinking has made itself useful as an apology for the crueler
aspects of the market economy. If optimism is the key to material<br />
success, and if you can achieve an optimistic outlook through the<br />
discipline of positive thinking, then there is no excuse for failure.<br />
The flip side of positivity is thus a harsh insistence on personal<br />
responsibility: if your business fails or your job is eliminated, it<br />
must because you didn’t try hard enough, didn’t believe firmly enough<br />
in the inevitability of your success.</font><br style="font-style: italic;"/><font style="font-style: italic;" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Positive thinking is not only a water carrier for the business world,
excusing its excesses and masking its follies. The promotion of<br />
positive thinking has become a minor industry in its own right,<br />
producing an endless flow of books, DVDs, and other products; providing<br />
employment for tens of thousands of “life coaches,” “executive<br />
coaches,” and motivational speakers, as well as for the growing cadre<br />
of professional psychologists who seek to train them. No doubt the<br />
growing financial insecurity of the middle class contributes to the<br />
demand for these products and services, but I hesitate to attribute the<br />
commercial success of positive thinking to any particular economic<br />
trend or twist of the business cycle. America has historically offered<br />
space for all sorts of sects, cults, faith healers, and purveyors of<br />
snake oil, and those that are profitable, like positive thinking, tend<br />
to flourish.</font><br style="font-style: italic;"/><font style="font-style: italic;" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">I do not write this in a spirit of sourness or personal disappointment
of any kind, nor do I have any romantic attachment to suffering as a<br />
source of insight or virtue. On the contrary, I would like to see more<br />
smiles, more laughter, more hugs, more happiness and, better yet, joy.<br />
In my own vision of utopia, there is not only more comfort, and<br />
security for everyone— better jobs, health care, and so forth—there are<br />
also more parties, festivities, and opportunities for dancing in the<br />
streets. Once our basic material needs are met—in my utopia,<br />
anyway—life becomes a perpetual celebration in which everyone has a<br />
talent to contribute. But we cannot levitate ourselves into that<br />
blessed condition by wishing it. We need to brace ourselves for a<br />
struggle against terrifying obstacles, both of our own making and<br />
imposed by the natural world. And the first step is to recover from the<br />
mass delusion that is positive thinking.</font> <br/></div>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br/>
Cheers<br/>
Hans-Peter<br/>
</font>Retrospectives as Perspectivestag:solworld.org,2010-03-06:2102269:BlogPost:204212010-03-06T15:00:00.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
(although the visual pun works better in German).<br></br>
<br></br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At last Wednesday's <a href="http://www.scrum-breakfast.com">Scrum Breakfast in Zürich</a>, <a href="http://www.korn.ch/"></a>I presented an approach to conducting Retrospectives based on the<br></br> Solutions Focus Method (which Alistair Cockburn translated in to the<br></br> Delta Method). The idea is that a retrospective is like prospecting for<br></br>
gold: Building on your…</div>
(although the visual pun works better in German).<br/>
<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At last Wednesday's <a href="http://www.scrum-breakfast.com">Scrum Breakfast in Zürich</a>, <a href="http://www.korn.ch/"></a>I presented an approach to conducting Retrospectives based on the<br/> Solutions Focus Method (which Alistair Cockburn translated in to the<br/>
Delta Method). The idea is that a retrospective is like prospecting for<br/>
gold: Building on your strengths and looking for improvements to make<br/>
your life and work better.<br/></div>
<br/>Here an addition comment to this from Peter Stevens, the organiser of the Scrum Breakfasts; <br/><br/>
<div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Once I understood the Delta Method (which I didn't until I read</span> <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://alistair.cockburn.us/Solutions+Focus+aka+Delta+Method">Alistair's article</a><span style="font-style: italic;">), I had a real 'Eureka!'-Moment. The idea is simple: Don't than focus on<br/> a) what you are doing wrong or b) the unreachable goal on the horizon.<br/>
This doesn't help. Reflect on where you have come from (things are<br/>
better now than they used to be) and what is the next step in your to<br/>
making things (even just a little bit) better?</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">Alistair</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">visualized this</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">with a picture:</span> <br/></div>
<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://alistair.cockburn.us/get/2791" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://alistair.cockburn.us/get/2791" border="0" height="170" width="400"/></a></div>
<br/><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I have found this approach to be enormously helpful in implementing</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">change processes. It gives people encouragement, helps them understand</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">what they have accomplished, and makes the goals ahead seem much more</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">achievable.</span><br/></div>
<br/>
<br/>You can download my <a href="http://www.korn.ch/archiv/seminare/Praesentation-Retrospektiven-als-PRO-spektiven-SB-Bern.pdf">presentation here.</a> You may need to <a href="mailto:docrequest@korn.ch%20?subject=Unterlagenpasswort%20erbeten%20&body=Ja,%20ich%20will%20das%20kostenlose%20Passwort%20zum%20Lesen%20der%20Details%20zu%20den%20Publikationen%20und%20Seminaren.">ask for the password</a>.
<br/>The Complex Manifestotag:solworld.org,2010-02-17:2102269:BlogPost:198072010-02-17T12:59:26.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Just now I found this: <br></br><h3 class="entry-header"><a href="http://www.noop.nl/2009/03/the-complex-manifesto.html">The Complex Manifesto for Software Development</a> <br></br><a href="http://www.noop.nl/2009/03/the-complex-manifesto.html">http://www.noop.nl/2009/03/the-complex-manifesto.html</a><br></br></h3>
which - IMHO - is not useful for SW-Development only but for all kinds of work and projects. <br></br><br></br>The messages are quite near to SF:<br></br><br></br><strong>Each Problem Has Multiple…</strong>
Just now I found this: <br/><h3 class="entry-header"><a href="http://www.noop.nl/2009/03/the-complex-manifesto.html">The Complex Manifesto for Software Development</a> <br/><a href="http://www.noop.nl/2009/03/the-complex-manifesto.html">http://www.noop.nl/2009/03/the-complex-manifesto.html</a><br/></h3>
which - IMHO - is not useful for SW-Development only but for all kinds of work and projects. <br/><br/>The messages are quite near to SF:<br/><br/><strong>Each Problem Has Multiple Solutions<br/></strong><strong>Solutions Depend on the Problem's Situation<br/></strong><strong>Changing Context Requires Changing Solutions<br/></strong><strong>Some Solutions are More Prevalent Than Others<br/></strong><strong>For Every Solution There is a Best Situation<br/></strong><strong>Solutions Change Themselves by Changing Their Situations<br/></strong><strong>Understanding Complexity Helps</strong> <strong>in Applying Simplicity<br/></strong><strong>It Is Impossible to Predict the Best Solution<br/><br/></strong>The <em>Complex Manifesto</em> does not invalidate any existing values, principles, guidelines, or practices. On the contrary, it says that <em>all are valuable</em>, when seen in their proper context. In software development, discussions<br/>
should not be about who is right and who is wrong. Instead, <span style="font-weight: bold;">people</span> <strong>should concern themselves with who is right in which situations</strong>. <br/>SF conqueres Software Developmenttag:solworld.org,2009-12-11:2102269:BlogPost:185692009-12-11T09:30:00.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
At the <a href="http://www.xpday.net/" target="_blank">XP Day Benelux</a>, which is an international conference about agile software development, intended for software development and business people from all walks of life, Pierluigi Pugliese offered a well-received workshop "<a href="http://www.xpday.net/Xpday2009/sessions/Solution%20Focused%20Agile%20Coaching.html" target="_blank">Solution Focused Agile Coaching</a>"<br />
Here is his ==>…
At the <a href="http://www.xpday.net/" target="_blank">XP Day Benelux</a>, which is an international conference about agile software development, intended for software development and business people from all walks of life, Pierluigi Pugliese offered a well-received workshop "<a href="http://www.xpday.net/Xpday2009/sessions/Solution%20Focused%20Agile%20Coaching.html" target="_blank">Solution Focused Agile Coaching</a>"<br />
Here is his ==> <a href="http://blog.connexxo.com/2009/12/solution-focused-coaching-in-agile.html" target="_blank">blog</a> about this workshop with some comments and his <a href="http://www.xpday.net/html/Xpday2009/Solution%20Focused%20Approach%20to%20Agile%20Coaching.pdf" target="_blank">slides</a>.<br />
Pierluigi also pointed on the "tradition" of asking "5 x why" to solve problems (which was created in the context of lean manufacturing). See his blog "<a href="http://blog.connexxo.com/2009/12/the-whys-of-why-not-why.html" target="_blank">The whys of why not why</a>" with a lot of interesting responses.<br />
<br />
I myself had a fine workshop at the SCRUMDAY in Düsseldorf (in German): "<a href="http://www.scrum-day.de/workshops/ws2teamworkrefactoredbysimplicity.html" target="_blank">Teamwork Refactored by Simplicity</a>" The German handout and the slides you may find here:<br />
<a href="http://www.korn.ch/archiv/seminare/handout-SIMPLE-Teambuilding-SCRUMDAY-dez-2009.pdf">http://www.korn.ch/archiv/seminare/handout-SIMPLE-Teambuilding-SCRUMDAY-dez-2009.pdf</a><br />
<a href="http://www.korn.ch/archiv/seminare/webshow-SIMPLE-Teambuilding-SCRUMDAY-dez-2009/Praesentation-SIMPLE-Teambuilding-SCRUM.htm">http://www.korn.ch/archiv/seminare/webshow-SIMPLE-Teambuilding-SCRUMDAY-dez-2009/Praesentation-SIMPLE-Teambuilding-SCRUM.htm</a><br />
To receive the password for free please send ==> <a href="mailto:docrequest@korn.ch%20?subject=Unterlagenpasswort%20erbeten%20&body=Ja,%20ich%20will%20das%20kostenlose%20Passwort%20zum%20Lesen%20der%20Details%20zu%20den%20Publikationen%20und%20Seminaren." target="_blank">this mail</a>Lean Development - Synergetic with SF?tag:solworld.org,2009-11-07:2102269:BlogPost:183272009-11-07T12:30:00.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
In the last months I recognized an increasing popularity of "Lean Development" especially in the area of software development. A closer look will show, that "Agile Development" (which is discussed in SOLWorld since a longer time, see <a href="http://www.solworld.org/group/karlstadgroup/forum/topics/solution-focused-agility-in" target="_blank">http://www.solworld.org/group/karlstadgroup/forum/topics/solution-focused-agility-in</a> ) is very overlapping with "Lean Development", which has a better…
In the last months I recognized an increasing popularity of "Lean Development" especially in the area of software development. A closer look will show, that "Agile Development" (which is discussed in SOLWorld since a longer time, see <a href="http://www.solworld.org/group/karlstadgroup/forum/topics/solution-focused-agility-in" target="_blank">http://www.solworld.org/group/karlstadgroup/forum/topics/solution-focused-agility-in</a> ) is very overlapping with "Lean Development", which has a better acceptance on management level than "Agility" which sounds a bit strange in the ears of some managers....<br />
<br />
And everything which is labelled as "lean" nowadays seems to be quite "sexy" and promising much more efficiency and effectiveness in rough times....<br />
<br />
Now, we found out, that there are a lot of synergies between "Agile Development" and SF.<br />
So: Are there such synergies between "Lean Development" and SF also ?<br />
<br />
Yes, I think so. Check it out by "googeling" for "Lean Development" or by looking to <a href="http://poppendieck.com/ld.htm" target="_blank">Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit</a><br />
<br />
Here a very short overview:<br />
<br />
ELIMINATE WASTE<br />
<br />
AMPLIFY LEARNING<br />
FEEDBACK<br />
ITERATIONS<br />
<br />
DECIDE AS LATE AS POSSIBLE<br />
OPTIONS THINKING<br />
Decision Making<br />
INTUITIVE DECISION MAKING<br />
SIMPLE RULES<br />
<br />
DELIVER AS FAST AS POSSIBLE<br />
PULL Systems<br />
QUEUING THEORY<br />
<br />
EMPOWER THE TEAM<br />
Beyond Scientific Management<br />
SELF DETERMINATION<br />
MOTIVATION<br />
LEADERSHIP<br />
<br />
BUILD INTEGRITY IN<br />
<br />
SEE THE WHOLE"decentering" from problem by using different forms of expressive arttag:solworld.org,2009-08-27:2102269:BlogPost:180232009-08-27T12:13:14.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
I am just reading this new book:<br />
<br />
<b>Lösungskunst: Lehrbuch der kunst- und ressourcenorientierten Arbeit</b><br />
von Herbert Eberhart (Autor), Paolo J. Knill (Autor)<br />
# Verlag: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (17. Juni 2009)<br />
# Sprache: <b>Deutsch</b><br />
# ISBN-10: 3525401590<br />
# ISBN-13: 978-3525401590…
I am just reading this new book:<br />
<br />
<b>Lösungskunst: Lehrbuch der kunst- und ressourcenorientierten Arbeit</b><br />
von Herbert Eberhart (Autor), Paolo J. Knill (Autor)<br />
# Verlag: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (17. Juni 2009)<br />
# Sprache: <b>Deutsch</b><br />
# ISBN-10: 3525401590<br />
# ISBN-13: 978-3525401590<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.de/L%C3%B6sungskunst-Lehrbuch-kunst-ressourcenorientierten-Arbeit/dp/3525401590/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250090331&sr=8-1" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.de/L%C3%B6sungskunst-Lehrbuch-kunst-ressourcenorientierten-Arbeit/dp/3525401590/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250090331&sr=8-1</a><br />
<br />
This book describes the method of "decentering" by using different forms of expressive art (painting, writing, storytelling, music, rhythm, dance, improv-theatre, ..) as part of a SF-therypy or SF-coaching.<br />
"Decentering" means, to turn the focus completely away from the "problem" by producing a piece of art which is (in contrast e.g. to role play) not based on the semantics of the problem. The client is invited to produce something which is far away from the problem.<br />
And after this the client is asked something like: "Well - now you have done xxxxxx which has no obvious connection with your concern. So, anyway, is there anything you experienced during the production process or if you look on the product now which might be an - maybe unexpected - association to your concern? .... What else? ..."<br />
This provides a lot of - often very surprising and unexpected - new ideas for next steps. And this ideas are after the "decentring" worked out in a SF way.<br />
<br />
In the book this "decentering" embedded in a (IMHO very) SF-based treatment is described in detail. And also, for those who are not familiar with SF, the book contains a very good description (and "meta reflexion") of the principles of SF far way away from some kinds of "SF-simplifications".<br />
<br />
Her more infos:<br />
<br />
About the Authors:<br />
<a href="http://www.egsuniversity.ch/about-egsahs/faculty/herbert-eberhart/" target="_blank">http://www.egsuniversity.ch/about-egsahs/faculty/herbert-eberhart/</a> (he is one of the very first early adopters of SF in Switzerland)<br />
<a href="http://www.egsuniversity.ch/about-egsahs/faculty/paolo-knill/" target="_blank">http://www.egsuniversity.ch/about-egsahs/faculty/paolo-knill/</a><br />
<br />
About Expressive Arts Coaching, Consulting and Education:<br />
<a href="http://www.egsuniversity.ch/academic-programs/ma-expressive-arts-coaching-consulting-education/" target="_blank">http://www.egsuniversity.ch/academic-programs/ma-expressive-arts-coaching-consulting-education/</a><br />
<br />
About "Decentering" in short:<br />
<a href="http://www.nla-schweiz.ch/Download/Surprise..(editedrev04.03).doc" target="_blank">http://www.nla-schweiz.ch/Download/Surprise..(editedrev04.03).doc</a><br />
<br />
I hope, this will give you some more insights ....<br />
And I also encourage you to contact Herbert Eberhart directly for more documents maybe also in English):<br />
herbert-eberhart@bluewin.ch<br />
<br />
<br />
Cheers<br />
Hans-PeterIndividuals and interactions over processes and tools!tag:solworld.org,2009-06-27:2102269:BlogPost:172032009-06-27T13:17:54.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
One of the <a href="http://www.sfwork.com/jsp/index.jsp?mnk=c10" target="_blank">SIMPLE principles</a> of SF says:<br />
<b>Inbetween - the action is in the interaction</b><br />
and an other says:<br />
<b>Every case is different - beware ill-fitting theory</b><br />
and in the "<a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/" target="_blank">Agile Manifesto</a>" two of the four values are:<br />
<b>Responding to change over following a plan<br />
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools</b><br />
<br />
Today a colleague of mine sent me a…
One of the <a href="http://www.sfwork.com/jsp/index.jsp?mnk=c10" target="_blank">SIMPLE principles</a> of SF says:<br />
<b>Inbetween - the action is in the interaction</b><br />
and an other says:<br />
<b>Every case is different - beware ill-fitting theory</b><br />
and in the "<a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/" target="_blank">Agile Manifesto</a>" two of the four values are:<br />
<b>Responding to change over following a plan<br />
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools</b><br />
<br />
Today a colleague of mine sent me a <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html" target="_blank">link to a talk of Barry Schwartz</a> which - for me - seems to provide some brilliant insights to this. This talk was hold on the <a href="http://conferences.ted.com/TED2009/" target="_blank">TED2009 conference</a>.<br />
Barry Schwartz studies the link between economics and psychology, offering startling insights into modern life. Lately, working with Ken Sharpe, he's studying wisdom. In this talk Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for "practical wisdom" as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.<br />
<br />
Of course: the term "Solution Focus" is not mentioned once in this talk.... but, anyway: What Schwartz says is IMHO a very useful platform for SF work in organisations.Could or should SF be scientifically researched?tag:solworld.org,2009-06-21:2102269:BlogPost:170212009-06-21T20:56:53.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
In the book "More than Miracles" Steve deShazer wrote in one of his chapters, called "don't think, but observe" on page 109 something that could be understood in a way, the solution focused approach couldn't or shouldn't be scientifically researched.<br />
More about this you can read in a discussion running just now in the <a href="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A0=SOLUTIONS-L">SOLUTIONS-List</a> here:…
In the book "More than Miracles" Steve deShazer wrote in one of his chapters, called "don't think, but observe" on page 109 something that could be understood in a way, the solution focused approach couldn't or shouldn't be scientifically researched.<br />
More about this you can read in a discussion running just now in the <a href="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A0=SOLUTIONS-L">SOLUTIONS-List</a> here:<br />
<a href="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A1=ind0906&L=SOLUTIONS-L#9">http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A1=ind0906&L=SOLUTIONS-L#9</a><br />
<br />
You want to take part in such discussions? Well, you are welcome to subscribe to the list ==> <a href="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=SOLUTIONS-L&A=1">HERE</a><br />
<br />
Best regards<br />
Hans-PeterHow to manage OPPORTUNITIES using Risk Managementtag:solworld.org,2009-04-22:2102269:BlogPost:138042009-04-22T18:13:21.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Working as a project manager (or as a coach for project managers) I always feel very uncomfortable how risk management is done:<br />
Finding out how big the uncertainness of results, quality and costs is, digging for all factors which could harm the project, looking in depth for all sorts of impediments and calculating their probability multiplicated by their impact in € or $ ...<br />
Then defining and planning actions to avoid, reduce or transfer those risks ...<br />
And then, during the project, keeping a…
Working as a project manager (or as a coach for project managers) I always feel very uncomfortable how risk management is done:<br />
Finding out how big the uncertainness of results, quality and costs is, digging for all factors which could harm the project, looking in depth for all sorts of impediments and calculating their probability multiplicated by their impact in € or $ ...<br />
Then defining and planning actions to avoid, reduce or transfer those risks ...<br />
And then, during the project, keeping a sharp view on all those risks....<br />
<br />
Oh dear - for me all this is soooooooooooo boring problem focused!!!!!!!!<br />
<br />
If I would practise that e.g. for my ski- or snowshoe-tours in the Alps I never would feel disposed to leave the mountain shelter...<br />
<br />
So, since many years I had in my mind the question how to find a way to ask for opportunities in the same intensity as for harmful risks (= threads) and to use methods and tools for digging out and evaluating such opportunities as they are used for risk management.<br />
<br />
How can it be done, to ask at the begin and during a project SF-questions like:<br />
=> What are the best unexpected things which maybe could happen?<br />
=> What of those things have happened in the past sometimes and maybe in a tiny way?<br />
=> How can we manage it to enhance the probability for such "positive surprises"?<br />
And so on ....<br />
<br />
I found no good answer..... until today:<br />
<br />
By chance I became aware of Dr. David Hillson from <a href="http://www.risk-doctor.com/">http://www.risk-doctor.com/</a><br />
<br />
He published some very useful articles about "opportunity management", for example:<br />
<a href="http://www.risk-doctor.com/pdf-files/opp1101.pdf">Effective Strategies for Exploiting Opportunities</a><br />
and<br />
<a href="http://www.risk-doctor.com/pdf-files/TRN02.pdf">Risk management, Maslow and memetics</a><br />
<br />
In the article "Effective Strategies for Exploiting Opportunities" he did what I looked for: How to map the methods and tools for risk management to dig out and evaluate opportunities.<br />
In contrast to managing threads he calls opportunities the "upside equivalent" of threads. Here a short part out of his paper:<br />
<br />
<i>((Managing opportunities is)) Generalizing and extending the four common threat strategies results in the following concepts:<br />
•Avoidance strategies that seek to remove threats are actually aiming to eliminate uncertainty.The upside equivalent is to exploit identified opportunities — removing the uncertainty by seeking to make the opportunity definitely happen.<br />
•Risk transfer is about allocating ownership to enable effective management of a threat.This can be mirrored by sharing opportunities — passing ownership to a third party best able to manage the opportunity and maximize the chance of it happening.<br />
•Mitigation seeks to modify the degree of risk exposure, and for threats this involves making the probability and/or impact smaller. The opportunity equivalent is to enhance the opportunity — increasing its probability and/or impact to maximize the benefit to the project.<br />
•The accept response to threats includes the residual risk in the baseline without special measures. Opportunities included in the baseline can similarly be ignored — adopting a reactive approach without taking explicit actions.</i><br />
<br />
And in his paper "Risk management, Maslow and metrics" he reflects upon a question which is very important for SF also:<br />
<i>Current risk management theory and standards agree that not all risk is bad. Most of these include opportunities alongside threats within the definition of risk, and they expect the risk process to address both opportunities and threats equitably, proactively and effectively. <b>However current risk management practice still focuses on threats.</b> Managing opportunity through the risk process is often seen either as an optional extra, or as only for advanced practitioners, or as just plain wrong. <b>Why is this?</b><br />
</i><br />
<br />
You are interested in his answers? Well, here you find it: <a href="http://www.risk-doctor.com/pdf-files/TRN02.pdf">http://www.risk-doctor.com/pdf-files/TRN02.pdf<br />
</a>Edgar Schein: "SF as a simpicistic reduction of complexity"tag:solworld.org,2009-04-22:2102269:BlogPost:138012009-04-22T12:58:18.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Just now I received an announcement for a workshop given by Prof. Edgar Schein (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Schein">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Schein</a>) with the title: "Leadership and Transformation - Leadership in tough times", see <a href="http://www.trias.ch/d/kurse_coaching_for_transformation_2009.php">http://www.trias.ch/d/kurse_coaching_for_transformation_2009.php</a><br />
<br />
There I can read:<br />
"Sie (= Coaches) setzen Beratung nicht als verkürzte «Quick…
Just now I received an announcement for a workshop given by Prof. Edgar Schein (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Schein">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Schein</a>) with the title: "Leadership and Transformation - Leadership in tough times", see <a href="http://www.trias.ch/d/kurse_coaching_for_transformation_2009.php">http://www.trias.ch/d/kurse_coaching_for_transformation_2009.php</a><br />
<br />
There I can read:<br />
"Sie (= Coaches) setzen Beratung nicht als verkürzte «Quick Fix»-Orientierung ein, wo die kurzzeitortientierte Lösungsfixierung oder Lösungshypnose den Blick für den organisationskulturellen Kontext verlieren lässt.<br />
Dadurch machen Sie sich nicht zum Akteur einer blinden Lösungsfixierung, sondern helfen den Führungskräften oder Klienten, den Blick für den systemischen Kontext zu erweitern. Tools sehen Sie im Kontext von Systemprozessen und nicht als simplizistische Verkürzungen von komplexen Vorgängen."<br />
<br />
An interesting - and not quite respectful - "short cut" of SF......<br />
<br />
Does anyone have a closer contact to this Prof. Edgar Schein?<br />
<br />
Cheers<br />
Hans-Peter"implicit" SF found in a "Software development box"tag:solworld.org,2009-04-20:2102269:BlogPost:137572009-04-20T12:12:11.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Just now I found a nice piece here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.swqual.com/newsletter/vol2/no6/vol2no6.html">http://www.swqual.com/newsletter/vol2/no6/vol2no6.html</a><br />
<br />
It is called: <b>"Project Retrospectives: A kinder, gentler, more productive way to learn from past mistakes"</b><br />
And it contains this part:<br />
<br />
<b>The “Mining for Gold” Exercise:</b><br />
<br />
* What worked well that we don’t want to forget<br />
This list is for those things that most agree worked well and that we want to continue doing on the next…
Just now I found a nice piece here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.swqual.com/newsletter/vol2/no6/vol2no6.html">http://www.swqual.com/newsletter/vol2/no6/vol2no6.html</a><br />
<br />
It is called: <b>"Project Retrospectives: A kinder, gentler, more productive way to learn from past mistakes"</b><br />
And it contains this part:<br />
<br />
<b>The “Mining for Gold” Exercise:</b><br />
<br />
* What worked well that we don’t want to forget<br />
This list is for those things that most agree worked well and that we want to continue doing on the next project…<br />
<br />
* What did we learn<br />
Here is where we document cause and effects that have lead to learning…<br />
<br />
* What should we do differently on the next project<br />
This list is for issues that need to be done better next time<br />
<br />
* What still puzzles us<br />
This list is for issues that the project team doesn’t have enough information or skill to resolve. The issues on this list often require training or more thorough investigation…<br />
<br />
* What do we need to discuss in more detail<br />
Issues on this list are things that need further discussion, clarification, information…<br />
<br />
<br />
And, interestingly, there is not one word about "Solution Focus".....<br />
<br />
For me this is ok anyway: DOING Solution Focus for me is more important than the "label". And "Mining for Gold” sound nice....<br />
<br />
Cheers<br />
Hans-PeterSome important convergences towards Simplicity and Agility in Managementtag:solworld.org,2009-04-01:2102269:BlogPost:133012009-04-01T21:40:15.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Some days ago I pointed in the Solutions-List to this video: <a href="http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Agile-Transitioning-Mike-Cohn">http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Agile-Transitioning-Mike-Cohn</a><br />
showing Mike Cohn reflecting upon the transitioning process towards an agile organization and how to deal with the complexity of such processes.<br />
<br />
And today I become informed about very recent news about an upcoming "deal" between the "Project Management Institute" (PMI…
Some days ago I pointed in the Solutions-List to this video: <a href="http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Agile-Transitioning-Mike-Cohn">http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Agile-Transitioning-Mike-Cohn</a><br />
showing Mike Cohn reflecting upon the transitioning process towards an agile organization and how to deal with the complexity of such processes.<br />
<br />
And today I become informed about very recent news about an upcoming "deal" between the "Project Management Institute" (PMI <a href="http://www.pmi.org">http://www.pmi.org</a>) and the "Scrum Alliance" (<a href="http://www.scrumalliance.org/">http://www.scrumalliance.org/</a>) concerning a much closer cooperation.<br />
<br />
<b>This may serve as one of some triggers for a "cultural change" within the Project Management scene..... And as Project Management is one of the core management fields in many companies it may serve as a trigger for some change in the "Art of Management" also.</b><br />
<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
<b>Well, here the background:</b><br />
<br />
With more than 265,000 members in over 170 countries PMI is the world’s leading not-for-profit association for the project management profession. PMI is recognized for the advocacy programs we conduct with governments, organizations and industries around the world as they recognize and embrace project management to achieve business results..<br />
And the PMI until now is seen as "THE" "custodian" for a "classical" kind of project management based on the idea, that a project can be planned and steered based on five process groups:<br />
<br />
* Initiating<br />
* Planning<br />
* Executing<br />
* Closing<br />
* Monitoring and Controlling<br />
<br />
And, in most cases, a project traditionally is seen to have to follow the first four groups consecutively, like a "waterfall", and the fifth group is "across" all those four groups. As a consequence of that it is broadly acknowledged that it is necessary to collect and analyse all requirements in a very early stage (Initiating and at the begin of Planning) - and to "freeze" them latest at the end of the Planning. And following this strategy for a project until the of the third process (Executing) nothing else will be visible but documents. Documents for requirements, for concept on different layers, documents with plans. Not until the end of Executing testable results are visible for the user . That means: Between collecting the requirements and the outcoming results there is a time gap of many months ...<br />
You can imagine, that this does not fit very well to complex business areas which are very versatile and does not fit to new business areas where the quite unclear requirements become more and more clear step by step during the practical work in this new area only.<br />
<br />
And this was the motivation to create an "agile" kind of project management based on the idea, to "cut" the project into "vertical slices" which are completed slice by slice incrementally: Each slice is a usable "feature" and is done very quick like a "mini project" covering Initiating, Planning, Executing, Closing, Monitoring and Controlling within two or four weeks only...<br />
<br />
That means metaphorically: The "waterfall strategy" is like producing a torte by asking the costumer to explain very specific how the whole torte should looks like and taste, then ask him to sign this as a contract, then creating a recipe, then organizing all the ingredients, than producing the bottom cake layer of the torte, then producing the first cream layer, then the middle cake layer, then the next cream layer, then the upper cake layer and then the chocolate coating. An NOW - after a long time of waiting - the customer sees the torte and can taste a vertical slice of it.... and the cook hopes, that there are no change requests for the next slice... because it is nearly impossible to change the torte....<br />
<br />
The "agile" strategy is very different:<br />
The cook asks the client to tell him some first ideas how the first slice of the torte should looks like and taste. He also provide some mock ups (maybe based on lego bricks) to co-create a better understanding. And maybe for the taste he also provides some "samples" out of his kitchen.<br />
And then he starts to produce in a quick - but very professional and not "dirty"- way the first slice of the torte consisting of a piece of a bottom cake layer, the first cream layer, a piece of the middle cake layer, the next cream layer, then a piece of the upper cake layer and then the chocolate coating for this slice only. And he invites - after a reasonable short time - the customer to try it out. And the cook asks him to tell, what he should change for the next slice. And maybe the customer says: For the next slice please without the chocolate coating but with an additional cream layer with strawberry flavour! The cook responses: Great - no problem! It is a pleasure for me to do this!<br />
<br />
So, "classical" cooking and eating means to plan and prepare the meal in the kitchen during many hours and then to eat it afterwards without sending many parts of the meal back to the kitchen with change requests.<br />
"Agile" cooking and eating means to plan, cook and eat "incrementally" trying out a lot of improvements.<br />
"Classical" is a noble and perfect dinner. "Agile" is a barbecue party.<br />
<br />
So, there is no "good" or "bad". It is different. It depends on the context: At a camp site a noble dinner might not be the best choice...<br />
<br />
Of course, this "torte metaphor" is very simple and does not cover many other aspects. But it is - I hope - a good platform to understand the meaning of the "four values" of agility, proclaimed in the "agile manifesto":<br />
<br />
While there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more:<br />
<br />
* Individuals and interactions over processes and tools<br />
* Working products over comprehensive documentation<br />
* Customer collaboration over contract negotiation<br />
* Responding to change over following a plan<br />
<br />
So, you can imagine, that the "agilists" and the "classicists" understood themselves as very opposed.<br />
<br />
In the agile scene some specific agile "frameworks" how to support projects have been created, the most important today is "Scrum", sustained by the "Scrum Alliance".<br />
The Scrum Alliance is a global nonprofit organization with about 50'000 members committed to delivering articles, resources, courses, and events that will help Scrum users be successful. The Scrum Alliance's mission is to promote increased awareness and understanding of Scrum, provide resources to individuals and organizations using Scrum, and support the iterative improvement of the software development profession.<br />
<br />
And now:<br />
<br />
<b>WHAT IS this very recent news about an upcoming "deal" between the "Project Management Institute" (PMI <a href="http://www.pmi.org">http://www.pmi.org</a>) and the "Scrum Alliance" (<a href="http://www.scrumalliance.org/">http://www.scrumalliance.org/</a>) concerning a much closer cooperation? A cooperation which may serve as one of some triggers for a "cultural change" within the Project Management scene?</b><br />
<br />
Here it is (shortened):<br />
<br />
<i>Gregory Balestrero, President and CEO of the Project Management Institute, wrote in <a href="http://blogs.pmi.org/blog/a_chief_executives_perspective_on_project_management/2009/03/on-the-threshold-of-agility.html">http://blogs.pmi.org/blog/a_chief_executives_perspective_on_project_management/2009/03/on-the-threshold-of-agility.html</a><br />
this message:<br />
<br />
I recently attended the Scrum Alliance Gathering in Orlando, Florida. I attended with Mark Langley, PMI Executive VP & COO. The intent of the visit was to bridge the gap between the Scrum Alliance and PMI. But I guess the real reason we attended was to dispel the myths that surround the PMBOK® Guide ((which is decribing that kind of project management the PMI stands for)) and Agile practice. There is a widely held opinion that the PMBOK® Guide and Agile don't mix... they can't be "shaken, nor stirred" together.<br />
<br />
I went with an open mind and actually had it filled with great information and dialog. It was enlightening. We met with Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, the founders of the Scrum concepts, and Jim Cundriff, Managing Director of the Scrum Alliance. All were really receptive and eager for collaboration. Ken and Jeff in particular were striking in their passion for simplicity and agility, with fascinating backgrounds and rigor in the field of software development.<br />
However, there was great anticipation among many Scrum gatherers that PMI was going to do something wrong.<br />
Well, my remarks were well received, and committed us to understanding one another and collaborating wherever we can. Many of the attendees really resonated on the desire to collaborate, and maybe recognized that there was a great deal of room to collaborate. The team of PMI volunteers that is putting together the new PMI Agile Forum was in attendance and was the driving force in getting us to attend the meeting. They too were energized.<br />
<br />
There is no question that agile PM is a leading and emergent practice. It has great traction in software development and software installation. It is now moving into mainstream activities such as manufacturing in the telecommunications field. I was in Lima, Peru recently, and I spoke with many of the PM leaders there. Agile is on the move in Peru, where 60% of the GDP is driven out of small and medium sized companies. Agile approaches to PM are more the rule than the exception in these applications.<br />
<br />
The movement in Extreme PM, Agile PM, and Scrum are movements which are critical to understand in reference with the standards developed by PMI. No doubt about it. And, the critical issue is to dispel myths and misunderstandings that would allow PM to prosper. There are zealots on both sides of the issue. In fact, I was as surprised of the number of PMI members who either misunderstood, or to the extreme, feared Scrum. So the issue is on both sides of the fence.<br />
On the Scrum side, there was the perception that "the PMI way is incompatible with agile." And there is also a misperception that PMI "methodology" pushes against the movement of speed and agility in PM. Both sides of the proverbial fence share misunderstandings that needed correction.<br />
<br />
The issue that gets in the way of an agile approach seems less the issue of the PMBOK® Guide, but more the issue of organizational culture. High demands for accountability, detailed planning, extensive reporting, mechanistic approaches, and hierarchical controls, may very well be averse to an agile approach. Maybe, just maybe, there should be strategic principles and values that address management style, instead of viewing management, and in particular project management as a tactical approach for which someone else is responsible.</i><br />
<br />
IMHO there is nothing to add to this last paragraph...<br />
<br />
<b>Thank you for your patience to read all this "stuff"!</b><br />
Hans-PeterSF Self Evaluation for Blended Learningtag:solworld.org,2009-02-09:2102269:BlogPost:118862009-02-09T11:30:00.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
In Nov. '08 I was invited as a keynote-speaker at the "<a href="http://moodlekonferenz2008.ch/">moodle konferenz 2008</a>" in Zug, Switzerland for the topic: "Solution Focused Evaluations for Learning Processes". You may find the handout (in German) ==> <a href="http://www.korn.ch/nexttools/praesentation-lf-messen-lehr-und-lernprozesse-handout.pdf">HERE</a><br />
<br />
"moodle", by the way, is one of the most popular environments for "blended learning" used in 204 countries by 1,860,009 Teachers in…
In Nov. '08 I was invited as a keynote-speaker at the "<a href="http://moodlekonferenz2008.ch/">moodle konferenz 2008</a>" in Zug, Switzerland for the topic: "Solution Focused Evaluations for Learning Processes". You may find the handout (in German) ==> <a href="http://www.korn.ch/nexttools/praesentation-lf-messen-lehr-und-lernprozesse-handout.pdf">HERE</a><br />
<br />
"moodle", by the way, is one of the most popular environments for "blended learning" used in 204 countries by 1,860,009 Teachers in 2,564,079 Courses for 28,079,347 Users. It is an "Open Source" software.<br />
For more see here: <a href="http://moodle.org/">http://moodle.org/</a> and <a href="http://moodle.com/">http://moodle.com/</a><br />
<br />
After this conference about 10 persons - most of them participants of that conference - wanted to find out together with me in detail how to do such "SF evaluations" within learning processes based on moodle.<br />
<br />
One of the results now is available. It is a "pilot version" for a <b>"SF Self Evaluation for Blended Learning"</b><br />
<br />
It is based on a "SF self evaluation" I developed some time ago as this ==> <a href="http://www.korn.ch/exchange/EvaluationForm-for-courses.pdf">form (in English) to print out</a><br />
Based on that a "web-form" for the usage in internet-platforms like moodle was created.<br />
But you can use it also without integration into moodle and also for "traditional" courses without any parts to be done in the web.<br />
<br />
<b>You are very welcome to try it out as a Web-application:<br />
==> <a href="http://www.lernenzwei.ch/evaluation/index_e.php">English Version</a> <i><b>(form to print out also available, please send me a message!)</b></i><br />
==> <a href="http://www.lernenzwei.ch/evaluation/index.php">German Version</a> <i>(form to print out also available, please send me a message!)</i><br />
==> <a href="http://www.lernenzwei.ch/evaluation/index_cs.php">Czech version</a> <i>(form to print out also available, please send me a message!)</i><br />
</b>IT WORKED: "Teambuilding" for agile Teamstag:solworld.org,2009-02-04:2102269:BlogPost:117592009-02-04T21:30:24.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Today I held the "breakfast-workshop" in Zürich about <b>Teambuilding for agile Teams: About the courage, NOT do understand Team Dynamics</b>, as I announced it in this ==> <a href="http://solworld.ning.com/profiles/blogs/teambuilding-for-agile-teams">blog</a> (pls follow the link to see a bit more about it)<br />
<br />
The workshop, organised by the <a href="http://www.swissict.ch">Swiss-ICT</a> working group "Lean, Agile & Scrum" was sold out: About 25 persons attended physically, about 10 to 15…
Today I held the "breakfast-workshop" in Zürich about <b>Teambuilding for agile Teams: About the courage, NOT do understand Team Dynamics</b>, as I announced it in this ==> <a href="http://solworld.ning.com/profiles/blogs/teambuilding-for-agile-teams">blog</a> (pls follow the link to see a bit more about it)<br />
<br />
The workshop, organised by the <a href="http://www.swissict.ch">Swiss-ICT</a> working group "Lean, Agile & Scrum" was sold out: About 25 persons attended physically, about 10 to 15 virtually using <a href="http://www.webex.com/">webex</a>, all persons IT professionals (most of them IT project managers or IT consultants).<br />
Maybe it was helpful to follow the preceding suggestion of the organisers NOT to announce it as "Solution Focused Work with Agile Teams" or "Solution Focused Teambuilding". This might - they argued - sound too much as one more of those "psycho hypes".... And so I avoided to use the wording "Solution Focus" as far as possible in the announcement and in the workshop.<br />
<br />
It worked very good!<br />
<br />
At the beginning I gave each participant a small paper bag, and asked them to discuss in pairs what they think will be in the bag after the workshop and write that in catchwords on the bag.<br />
<br />
Then I asked them to work out in changed pairs short answers to this questions:<br />
<br />
=> How does teamwork perform out of your experience? Show the range (from - to) on a scale from 0 to 10<br />
<br />
=> Focus on two examples of teamwork (one example by each partner in the pair) being placed on the upper part of the scale<br />
<br />
=> Seeing this teams working: What do you observe, so that you can say, that they are on the upper part of the scale?<br />
<br />
=> What are helping preconditions and environments for that teams?<br />
<br />
=> What are contributions of the members of those teams so that they manage it to be on the upper part of the scale?<br />
<br />
I collected the answers on a flip chart.... and had a lot of aspects created by the participants which I could now link to my prepared presentation.<br />
And in this presentation I introduced basic "SF-things" like "looking and appreciating what is here" "exploring positive differences" and so on - without using the word "Solution Focus".<br />
And I proposed some suggestions how to change a little bit some "tools" and questions which are essential for "agile project management" (especially for Scrum) to make them a bit more "SF".<br />
<br />
The presentation (in German only... I am sorry) you can find ==> <a href="http://www.korn.ch/exchange/PraesentationTeambuilding-ScrumBreakfast-Feb-2009.pdf">here</a><br />
<br />
At the end of the presentation I started the discussion asking the participants to check the catchwords on their paper bags and to ask for "things" in addition to the presentation to "fill the bag" more. And to ask any other questions...<br />
<br />
And all question and comments gave support, that those "SF-things" will be very helpful and many of the participants "committed" themselves to start first tries as soon as possible.<br />
So, there is a big chance especially in project management for those "SF-things" ... without using the "label" SF ... which might be irritating in a less useful way...."Teambuilding" for agile Teams: About the courage, NOT do understand Team Dynamics.tag:solworld.org,2009-01-14:2102269:BlogPost:109232009-01-14T17:53:07.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
"Agile" Project Management is one of the recent buzzwords. And it has a lot in common with SF (see <a href="http://solworld.ning.com/group/karlstadgroup/forum/topics/solution-focused-agility-in">Solution Focused Agility in Projects and Management</a>)<br />
<br />
One of the four "<a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/">values</a>" of agility is:<br />
<i>"Individuals and interactions over processes and tools"</i><br />
Indeed: working together in a project as a self-competent and self-organized team is very typical for…
"Agile" Project Management is one of the recent buzzwords. And it has a lot in common with SF (see <a href="http://solworld.ning.com/group/karlstadgroup/forum/topics/solution-focused-agility-in">Solution Focused Agility in Projects and Management</a>)<br />
<br />
One of the four "<a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/">values</a>" of agility is:<br />
<i>"Individuals and interactions over processes and tools"</i><br />
Indeed: working together in a project as a self-competent and self-organized team is very typical for all agile frameworks like, e.g., "<a href="http://www.scrumalliance.org/">Scrum</a>".<br />
<br />
But: How to "build" such teams?<br />
<br />
A lot of models and theories explain, how individuals and teams are "working": Personality typologies (e.g. Myers-Briggs-typindicator), team-dynamics (e.g. Tuckman model), and interaction models (e.g. transactional analysis). Is it necessary to understand such theories and models to build and moderate teams? In my experience: no.<br />
<br />
<b>How to build up teams and to moderate teamwork based on "not wanting to understand" such theories and models?</b><br />
<br />
My approach:<br />
I accept teams as complex social systems - and the behavior of complex systems is not predictable (see e.g. the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin">Cynefin-framework by David Snowden</a>). So, it is less helpful to derive the future effects of our actions in complex systems from models and theories. But: To build a team I, as a moderator, can offer conditions to support individuals to decide themselves to work together as a team. A useful support is, to discuss the following three aspects (see Gunther Schmidt, "Hypno-systemische Teamentwicklung", in: „Lernende Organisation“, Juli / August 2001) and make them transparent:<br />
<ul>
<li>The members of the team share a basic common agreement about the "sense" of the team</li>
<li>Each member has an individual and relevant benefit from the membership in the team</li>
<li>Each member is convinced, that this benefit can be obtained in the best way within this team and not alone or elsewhere</li>
</ul>
<br />
To clarify this three aspects and to moderate other discussions in the team for the moderator this attitudes are helpful:<br />
<br />
==> Instead of wanting to know and understand the "team mechanic" better recognize unbiased and curiously all what works (reasonably) well - to sustain and empower it.<br />
<br />
==> What happens now is exactly what has to happen now: Handle unexpected spontaneous interactions in the team not as "disturbances" but as topics which in THIS moment are senseful and necessary. And if I as the moderator cannot see the sense or necessity I ask the team members to make it clear for me.<br />
<br />
==> Not to see what should happen based on a model or a theory but to see all what happens: Observing and acting based on theories and models entraps to shift and reduce the observations turning the observation to a verification of the theory and model taken as basis: "John is an alpha - now he showed it again!"<br />
<br />
==> Teams and their participating individuals develop themselves in day-to-day work, not in teambuilding events: "Team building exercises sent colleagues whitewater rafting together, but when they returned home, they still disagreed fundamentally about business problems" Peter Senge wrote in his book "The Fifth Discipline".<br />
<br />
The art of "teambuilding by day-to-day work" means for the moderator to focus on the meaningfulness and on the success of the teamwork.<br />
<br />
How does this looks like in practice?<br />
<br />
<b>At the ==> <a href="http://www.scrum-breakfast.com/2009/01/scrum-breakfast-in-zrich-4-feb-2009.html">Scrum Breakfast</a> at Zürich, 4. Feb 2009 I will present some tips and tools, for instance:<br />
</b><ul>
<li><b>SF-modifications of the "three questions" in the "Daily Scrum"</b></li>
<li><b>"Burn down charts" - turned around to make them more SF</b></li>
<li><b>Focus on resources, not on impediments only</b></li>
</ul>The 36th Chinese Stretegem: "If everything else fails, retreat"tag:solworld.org,2008-11-15:2102269:BlogPost:92812008-11-15T11:00:04.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
This is the most famous one of the 36th strategy, immortalized in the form of a Chinese idiom: "Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best." (三十六計,走為上策 - sānshí liù jì, zǒu wèi shàng cè)<br />
<br />
This seems to me similar to the SF-principle: "If it don't work - try something different"<br />
<br />
What's about the other 35 strategems? How do they fit to SF?<br />
<br />
Well, looking in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-Six_Stratagems">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-Six_Stratagems</a> or (in German) in…
This is the most famous one of the 36th strategy, immortalized in the form of a Chinese idiom: "Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best." (三十六計,走為上策 - sānshí liù jì, zǒu wèi shàng cè)<br />
<br />
This seems to me similar to the SF-principle: "If it don't work - try something different"<br />
<br />
What's about the other 35 strategems? How do they fit to SF?<br />
<br />
Well, looking in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-Six_Stratagems">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-Six_Stratagems</a> or (in German) in <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/36_Strategeme">http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/36_Strategeme</a> I become a bit uncomfortable: Nearly all of them sound for me as advices to fool the others using tricks and hiding the real intention. Or is my reaction a consequence of a thinking based on "western" ethics?<br />
<br />
In <a href="http://www.strategeme.com/HSml/etmo.htm">http://www.strategeme.com/HSml/etmo.htm</a> I found a "top of the iceberg" for an answer to that question:<br />
<br />
Rolf Dobelli, founder of getAbstract wrote in his review on: "The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitive Edge" by Kaihan Krippendorf:<br />
<i>...this is an excellent introduction to a neglected classic. Its strategies <b>(an ethical minefield if you take them too literally)</b> are not limited to battlefields or businesses. We recommend this book to business strategists, policymakers and those struggling with competition. It is also valuable for anyone working in or facing competition from East Asia, where these strategems are already well known and widely used.</i><br />
<br />
Maybe I have to understand those 36 strategems not as "advices" but as a variety of possibilities how others (and also I) may act to get a better awareness for the traps by cooperating with others?<br />
BUT: is this "SF"? Or is it more "problem focused" to increase my awareness for behaviours like: "Kill with a borrowed knife" (the 3rd strategem: Attack using the strength of another (in a situation where using one's own strength is not favourable). Trick an ally into attacking him, bribe an official to turn traitor, or use the enemy's own strength against him.)<br />
<br />
And at the same time I read in <a href="http://www.strategeme.com/HSml/36strat.htm">http://www.strategeme.com/HSml/36strat.htm</a> such things which also are referred in a SF-context quite often:<br />
<br />
<i>Kaihan Krippendorff splits the stratgems in die this four groups:<br />
<br />
YING YANG / POLARITY 1-9<br />
Westerners believe they can pursue good and banish bad, but this assumption runs counter to the Taoist understanding which doesn't judge anything. There is no "good" or "bad" -- they are simply two sides of the same coin.<br />
<br />
WU WEI / GO WITH THE GRAIN 10-18<br />
Westerners equate yielding with weakness and overcoming adversity with strength. Taoists view the contrary: They value "going with the grain," which often leads us to the opposite answer to the same question.<br />
<br />
WU CHANG / CONTINUOUS CHANGE 19-27<br />
Westerners believe the past determines the present and that change connects static moments. If Westerners assumed instead that the present determines the present, and that change is continuous, as the Taoist perspective suggests, Westerners would choose different courses of action.<br />
<br />
SHANG BING WU BING / INDIRECT ACTION 28-36<br />
Westerners prefer to meet an adversary head-on; the Eastern preference for indirect action often seems impractical, deceitful, or indicative of weakness. Embracing indirect action puts powerful new tactics into Western hands.<br />
</i><br />
<br />
So, my question to those in this community which are very familiar with "Eastern Thinking" is:<br />
<br />
<b>How do you deal with this 36 stretegems - which seems to be very important for Chinese people and maybe for most asian people also - out of a "SF-view"?</b><br />
<br />
For me this is an important question to understand better the connection between SF and "Asian Thinking", because: "Chinese culture possesses the richest and most systematic knowledge of stratagems, It easily functions as the best mirror for the strategic behaviour of all people on earth." (Chio Chien, Former Head of Departement of Antropology, Chinese University of HongKong)How to make benchmarking more SF?tag:solworld.org,2008-07-17:2102269:BlogPost:53662008-07-17T17:09:07.000ZHans-Peter Kornhttp://solworld.org/profile/HansPeterKorn
Last week I asked in the Solutions-List for some helpful inputs concerning benchmarking:<br />
<br />
<i>In the beginning of the next week I have a meeting with one of the established consulting companies for "benchmarking" (see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmarking).<br />
What I observed is, that the focus of benchmarking is on the difference between the scores for business critical measures of the own company (asking for the benchmark) compared with the best scores of similar companies for the same…</i>
Last week I asked in the Solutions-List for some helpful inputs concerning benchmarking:<br />
<br />
<i>In the beginning of the next week I have a meeting with one of the established consulting companies for "benchmarking" (see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmarking).<br />
What I observed is, that the focus of benchmarking is on the difference between the scores for business critical measures of the own company (asking for the benchmark) compared with the best scores of similar companies for the same measures. That means: This difference is a deficit. And the "philosophy" is: knowing this deficit motivates to reduce this deficit.<br />
BUT: In practice this in most cases works as a legitimation for the top management to put more pressure on the "lower" managers to reduce the deficits and to adopt some of that things (e.g. production or selling processes) which (seems to) make the competitors more successful. And this "better" solutions are proposed by the benchmarking-consultants based on their knowledge retrieved from benchmarking-projects in other companies. So, the motivation of the "lower" managers to deliver information to the benchmarking-consultants for a benchmarking-project often is very reduced.... because they fear, that such deficits will become visible.... and they have to implement new solutions which they don't see as really helpful...<br />
<br />
I think that using some SF-ideas would make "benchmarking" better accepted.<br />
<br />
What ideas do you have to make benchmarking a bit more SF?</i><br />
<br />
I received a lot of very helpful replies and was able to make use of them by preparing a presentation.<br />
I showed it the executive director this Tuesday. In short: My message was well understood by him and appreciated as a possibility to create a better willingness for a constructive cooperation and for doing changes as a consequence of benchmarking projects - especially in those, where some resistance is expected.<br />
And: There is reaonable chance, that I will be engaged in such a project to try out this SF-approach.<br />
<br />
<b>How did I profit from your inputs?</b> (I consider, all of you are also member of this solworld.ning)<br />
<br />
<b>Here some details:</b><br />
<br />
<i>> Paolo wrote:<br />
> "benchmarking" can be useful to see "what is possible"<br />
> Unfortunately, most consultants also use the concept to import successful practices from other organizations, i.e. they not only use the "what" but also the "how".<br />
> I would therefore use the "what" as an input in a brainstorming phase re "what is possible", to enrich their "preferred future" scenario.<br />
> Then I would ask them the "how"... letting them discover best practices...</i><br />
In my presentation I renamed "deficit" or "weakness" to "possibility for grow" and showed them in green colour. And the "strengths" I showed in red and called them "areas to sustain and rise". ((Normally deficits are red to attract attention and strengths are green...))<br />
<br />
Concerning "then ask them the "how"... letting them discover best practices...": Benchmarking projects are ordered by the top management. And more and more (over 70%) such projects are not ordered as a "complete full screening" but for a very specific single score the management knows where cost should be compared with the competitors to cut them down remarkable in a short time. And they order an analyse from a benchmarker, who has much facts and experience from doing such analyses in the past at similar companies. And they expect, that the benchmarker is able to say, where "the screws must be turned" to become more competitive by cutting costs. So: "discover best practices" is not seen as a "process of discovering" but as a task to analyse the "cost driving mechanic" based on a model the benchmarker knows.<br />
AND: This, I am sure, is very reasonable: In companies there are a lot of things where it is very useful and successful to understand and handle them as "simple" or "complicated" cause - effect relations in a "mechanistic" way.<br />
AND - at the SAME time - is is important to understand, that changing such "mechanics" will effect "the way how work is done by persons". And changing "process mechanics" done by persons means, to change a complex and not a complicated social system.... SO: It is helpful to do BOTH: To analyse the "cost driving mechanic" based on a model the benchmarker knows AND to change the "process mechanics" done by persons in a solution focused way with a high degree of appreciation for existing ways of doing and with a high degree of involvement of that persons to find out ways HOW to make the "process mechanic" better.<br />
<br />
By the way: "ordering more an more projects NOT as a "complete full screening" but for a very specific single score the management knows where cost should cut down remarkable in a short time" for me is a nice step towards "SF-management": Managers make use of their OWN competence to know, what score is in the focus (instead of asking an expert to find it out). And kicking off projects only for this aspect to make specific changes in a short time gives the chance to enhance the performance of a company step by step incrementally and not based on a "masterplan" covering two or more years.... SO: "Solution Focused Agility" is already done.... as a way, to lead companies in a swelling sea with heavy winds from unexpected changing directions...<br />
<br />
<i>> Sharon wrote:<br />
> Answer ot the question: "what can he offer his clients instead of the "how" to legitmate<br />
> his fee?":<br />
> Perhaps s/he can also offer the "how it is possible" as a menu of choices for the organisation to choose to add to their repertoire?</i><br />
I integrated this idea in the presentation and I learned in the meeting, that "best practices" by the benchmarkers already are seen more as such offers of choices than as "receipts" to be followed 1:1<br />
<br />
<i>> Klaus wrote<br />
> "The true art of discovery lies not in traveling to foreign places, but in seeing with new eyes.")<br />
> So he'd be selling a different "how": not "how to implement additional pressure", but "how to better imagine attractive possible futures".</i><br />
Good point! I based my presentation on the aspect of "seeing benchmarking with new eyes" by "refraiming" expressions and changing some terms and colours... see above...<br />
<br />
<i>> Yoram wrote:<br />
> Benchmarking could be for us (solutionists) another kind of scaling.<br />
> If benchmarking is about differences between the scores for business critical measures, then the "Best Score" could become the Future Perfect.</i><br />
Again: Yes, this "change of the understanding of benchmarking" makes one of the most important differences! I used it in my presentation - and it worked<br />
<i>> What do we have that makes our "mark" higher than the competitor's "mark"?<br />
> Why this "mark" and not less?<br />
> What will be considered as a small step higher on that specific scale?<br />
> What can be done in order to reach that?</i><br />
Good suggestion - thank you! I integrated it in the presentation!<br />
<i>> "What can he offer his clients instead of the "how" to legitimate his fee?"<br />
><br />
> Well, with your question you demonstrate the answer - starting with: "What" instead of: "How".<br />
><br />
> Benchmarking and SF work (consulting, coaching, etc.) can both be seen as "What" we do in order to develop, promote and help organizations. It doesn't have to be presented as "How" we do it. What makes "What" better than "How" (if at all)?</i><br />
I was very pleased to hear as a feedback to my presentation that the executive manager estimated this "SF approach" as a helpful way to create a better willingness for a constructive cooperation and for doing changes in benchmarking projects - especially in those, where some resistance is expected: "WHAT" SF is doing is, to apply useful "know HOW" to handle projects in order to develop, promote and help organizations in a constructive way."<br />
<br />
<i>> Lori wrote:<br />
> successful practice is worth looking at more closely, but does it always have to be outside the organisation?</i><br />
Also a very important point! I used it to show in my presentation in broader way how to make visible in benchmarking project also all "successful best practices" within the company. Interesting comment from the executive manager: "Yes, fine - and at the same time the "benchmarker" in some cases has to commit, not to tell this best practices other companies....."<br />
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<i>> Mark wrote:<br />
> Sometimes such benchmarking visits are characterised by 'it wouldn't work for us'. Perhaps the 'what would work for us and how' would be a more useful way to spend the time?</i><br />
Important point: I incorporated it in the presentation that way: "Accepting "best practices" from other companies as offered choices to ask: "How can we make use of what parts of this practices for our company in an adopted way?"<br />
<br />
<br />
Thank you all for your inputs!<br />
Hans-Peter