June 2008 Ongoing Discussion Announcement, with Cyndi Laurin and Craig Morningstar

June 2008

Ongoing Discussion Announcement

In This Issue

Welcome First Timers

OD Details

Future OD Dates

Systems Thinking Newsletter

Thinking Roadmap Seminars and Workshops

Enterprise Thinking

Six Thinking Hats

Managing Variation as a System

Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making

The New Economcs Study Session

Aim and Stats

Now in our ninth year of operation, the aim of the "OD" sessions is to continue to foster an appreciation of Enterprise Thinking, as well as inthinking, within an emerging thinking network that is developing inside Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and beyond. Dates for future "OD" sessions along with additional "thinking" opportunities for 2008 can be found in this announcement.

OD Stats

For an update on OD statistics, this month's invitation is going out to 3500+ partners in the U.S., as well as fellow inthinking partners in Australia, Austria, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Dubai, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the U.K. Taken together, these individuals represent over 600 organizations in this list of nations, from elementary schools and senior high schools to colleges and universities, from one-person consulting firms to United Technologies, GM, IBM, General Electric, NASA, and Philips Electronics. Among this list of invitees, participation in May's OD conference call with Tom Johnson included 32 partners from across the US (164 have joined in so far in 2008, 342 joined in for all of 2007, 444 partners joined us throughout 2006, and 402 thinking partners joined us throughout 2005).

Yes, Grace, the diffusion process of connecting thought leaders continuuues...

Quick Links

In2:InThinking Network Website

In2:InThinking Network Newsletter

InSights

Ongoing Discussions

In2:InThinking Network 2007 Screen Saver

Good morning from the west coast home of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, located in Canoga Park, California, on the western end of the San Fernando Valley in greater Los Angeles.

With the summer solstice now behind (in the northern hemisphere), summer is officially here and we're reminded in LA that it's hot, but it's a dry heat. As you consider your summer getaway plans, please consider joining in for this month's Ongoing Discussion, scheduled for Thursday, June 26th and Friday, June 27th, from 12-2pm Pacific Time on both days. Information on this month's Thought Leaders, Cyndi Laurin and Craig Morningstar, follows below.

Click here for the PARTICIPANT SURVEY for this month's OD and to receive the conference call information once you complete the survey.

(Click here if you are having trouble reading this announcement.)

For those who missed last month's "OD" sessions with Tom Johnson, you are in luck. The audio track for these sessions was recorded and is now posted in the In2:IN's "OD" page. Follow this link to download these files.

Cheers...
Bill Bellows

Associate Technical Fellow and Lead
Enterprise Thinking Network
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Canoga Park, California
william.bellows@pwr.utc.com

Welcome First Timers

Your names have been added to this announcement list by virtue of your attendance in our series of Thinking Roadmap seminars, workshops, and overviews within Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, or attendance at the annual In2:InThinking Network Forum, or through a personal request, from you or a friend. Welcome to our thinking networks.

Click either link below to send me the name(s) and email address(es) of anyone you would like to have added to this mailing list, or let me know if you would like to be removed. Thanks!!!

ADDITIONS DELETIONS

Thought Leaders - Cyndi Laurin and Craig Morningstar

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's (PWR) Enterprise Thinking Network welcomes Cyndi Laurin (right) and Craig Morningstar (left) to lead our fifth Ongoing Discussion of 2008 (and our 101st since January 2000) on June 26th and 27th.

For those of you who have been on our mailing list for a few years, you'll recall Cyndi as a former OD Thought Leader (March 2003), as well as In2:IN Forum presenter on several occasions (2003, 2005, and 2006).   She is joined this month in her second appearance by Craig Morningstar, her partner on two forthcoming books. This subject matter serves as the basis for their Thought Piece.

According to Cyndi and Craig, "It has been well documented that corporate cultures espousing creative and innovative thinking [and actions] are leading us from the information age to the innovative age. Achieving high levels of efficiency and conformity is not considered to be a sustainable competitive advantage in today's global market. Typically, when business is good, companies tend to focus attention and resources externally, on innovation, new products/services, marketing strategies, or basic R&D. However, when business is tough, companies tend to focus attention and resources inward, on slimming down, improving processes, cutting waste, and reducing spending."

Does this sound all-too-familiar?   Likely so (not to mention, sadly so), which is why we've invited Cyndi and Craig to join us to share their research findings, as well as proposals for moving beyond such repressive cultures. Follow this link to download article they submitted as their Thought Piece.

What kinds of questions might you consider during this Ongoing Discussion session with Cyndi and Craig?   Here are some to consider...

What do you believe hinders you from involuntary, creative contributions to your organization?
How does the management in your organization motivate or
inspire out-of-the box thinking?
How does the management in your organization reward (or punish) out-of-the-box thinking?
Describe a thought or belief held by senior management that hinders your organization's greatness?
How do you balance innovative, creative thinking with process improvement initiatives mandated by management?
What is an essential element to getting employees to contribute their innovative thinking?
Does your management have a process for generating spontaneous creative and innovative thinking from employees? If so, what does it look like?

Cyndi Laurin, Ph.D. is an author, popular international speaker, and business developer. Having taught for over 10 years in the College of Business at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo and more recently with California State University, Dominguez Hills and The National Graduate School, her insights and expertise in process improvement and performance management are transforming both domestic and international organizations. Find more about Cyndi online at www.guidetogreatness.com.

Craig Morningstar is the President of Synergy Business Associates and has recently partnered with Cyndi. Craig's background includes 8 years at Southwest Airlines and 8 years at Charles Schwab in addition to starting, owning, operating, growing, and selling a total of nine companies in the import/export industries as well as software development, office maintenance, retail distribution, transportation shipping, and business services and consulting.

Contact Cyndi and Craig by email with any questions you would like to share with them in preparation for the OD sessions.

OD Details

Please join us for one or all of the hours of this month's OD. As always, you are invited to participate for as long, or as short, as you can in one or both of these sessions...

Option Time (Pacific Time)
1 - Thursday, June 26th - 12:00-1:00pm
2 - Thursday, June 26th - 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Friday, June 27th - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Friday, June 27th - 1:00-2:00pm

The agenda for each option will be:
Timing: Topic
Opening 10 minutes: Call in & Introductions
Next 45 minutes: Ongoing Discussion
Last 5 minutes: Farewells and Close

Please reply to this note by noon Pacific Time on Wednesday, June 25th to confirm your plans to participate in one (or more) of these options. If you do plan to attend, please complete the OD PARTICIPATION SURVEY by using the link below...

PARTICIPANT SURVEY

Those of you connecting in Canoga Park can join in from conference rooms 205 and 206 in building 1 at Canoga. Telecon lines (including a pass code and a security code) have been arranged for those who cannot join us at Canoga and are provided upon completion of the participant survey.

As always, please forward this announcement to anyone we missed who would also like to participate.

Regards...
Bill

Future OD Dates

Mark your calendars - future Ongoing Discussion sessions will be held on the following dates, from 12-1pm and 1-2pm Pacific Time.

Month, Dates and Thought Leader(s)
April 24-25, Ariane David - POSTPONED
July 24-25, Thought Leader To Be Determined (TBD)
August 21-22, Sheila Ronis
September 25-25 (NEW DATES), Thought Leader TBD
October 23-23, George Roth
November 20-21, Joel & Michelle Levey
December 10-11, Thought Leader TBD

Follow this link to find our current list of Thought Leaders for all of 2008, as well as announcements for Thought Leaders in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Systems Thinking Newsletter

Now available online for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne employees...

The Systems Thinker is an electronic newsletter made available monthly (on a subscription basis) by Pegasus Communications. Each issue provides articles and case studies on systems thinking concepts and is available only electronically (as a .pdf file). Tools and techniques for use in the Learning Organization are regularly included in this valuable publication. Featured authors include thought leaders and consultants well known in organizational learning and change management circles.

The current edition of the SYSTEMS THINKER, as well as archived issues from December 2002 through June 2008, is available for reading and printing by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne employees here.

Network friends outside of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne can learn more about this newsletter AND read a variety of sample issues and articles online. Individual and site licenses are available.

Thinking Roadmap Seminars and Workshops

The following in-house "Thinking Roadmap" seminars and workshops are open to employees of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), as well as suppliers, customers, family members, and "Members of the Community." "Members of the community" are individuals who are involved full or part time, or in a volunteer capacity, in community related work.

Background information on PWR's Thinking Roadmap, in addition to seminar and workshop descriptions and upcoming schedules, can be found in a new addition to the In2:InThinking Network website at www.in2in.org/TR/. Links to descriptions for each session are embedded in the titles below.

The schedule below includes the next available offerings for the listed seminars in Canoga Park, California. Contact Bill Bellows to request additonal information.