September 2008 Ongoing Discussion Announcement, with Peter Scholtes and Brian Joiner

An Afternoon with Peter Scholtes - Thursday the 25th, Noon to 2pm Pacific Time
Peter is well known for two seriously useful books. The Team Handbook (of which Brian Joiner is a co-author) is considered by many to be the standard guide for "forming, norming, storming, and performing" teams. The Leader's Handbook is a comprehensive guide for leaders and managers in an age of increasing complexity, when too many leaders resort to short cuts that bypass thinking about systems, variation, psychology, and a theory of knowledge. The Leader's Handbook proposes relatively simple approaches that are mindful of Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge. See this book to learn about the new leadership competencies around systems thinking, statistical thinking, learning and improving together, and, most important, understanding interactions among the parts of a system. Regarding interactions, Peter is also well known for his leadership in changing our view of performance appraisal. When asked what managers should do about performance appraisal, Dr. Deming replied, "Whatever Peter Scholtes says."

The links above will provide an overview of both books, which are thought pieces for Thursday's conversation with Peter. As a place to begin the conversation with Peter, we might consider the possibility that teamwork and leadership are perhaps even more in our awareness today than when Peter wrote these books. And if you'd like to explore more of Peter's thinking and writing, see also a variety of articles and letters by and about Peter at his website.

An Afternoon with Brian Joiner - Friday the 26th, Noon to 2pm Pacific Time
Since 1997, when he ended his management consulting career, Brian Joiner has been a full-time community volunteer working to help create a just and sustainable society. In doing so, he is co-founder and President of Sustain Dane, a non-profit organization in Dane County, Wisconsin, committed to creating communities that deeply enjoy, care for and are sustained by their unique environment. We all know that many of our current practices as communities are not sustainable and that together we need to find better ways to live in the world. Given this perspective, Brian and the Sustain Dane community are committed to taking an integrated approach to change.

Brian has offered us several Thought Pieces related to his current work. According to Brian, "The thing I am most excited about now is the Transition Towns movement which started in the UK a few years ago. It's what I will be focusing on once the First Unitarian Society green building is effectively launched." For a little background on that green building project, follow this link. In addition, the following site gives a brief intro to the Transition Town approach, with much more detail on the Transition approach available in their Primer. Says Brian, "I hope this will be enough to start conversations."

Prior to his retirement, Brian Joiner was Chairman and co-owner of Joiner Associates, a nationally recognized management consulting firm. Prior to Joiner Associates, Brian was a University of Wisconsin professor. He is author of Fourth Generation Management: The New Business Consciousness and coauthor with Peter Scholtes of The Team Handbook, published by Joiner Associates and one of the best selling business books of all time, having now sold over one-and-a-half million copies. Brian was one of the original nine judges of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and, thirty years ago, was one of the originators of the Minitab statistical software system which is still in widespread use by corporations today.