|
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 4000+ 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 November's OD conference call with Joel & Michelle Levey (now available for download in Mp3 format) included 33 partners from across the US (376 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... |
|
|
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 "Big 3" U.S. automobile companies running low on cash and viable competitive solutions and a continuing world-wide financial crisis unfolding, the need for "better thinking about thinking, learning, and team work" is all the more evident to those who are so aware. That said, it's time to once again come together for a few hours of "thinking together." This month we feature two OD sessions, one early in month and one later in the month in our standard design. The Hopper brothers Kenneth ("Ken") and William ("Will") as serve our Thought Leaders in a special edition one-day session on Thursday, December 4th. Details follow below. Join us on December 18th and 19th for two afternoons with George Roth.
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 - Kenneth and William Hopper
This month, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's Enterprise Thinking Network welcomes Kenneth (top photo below) and William Hopper (bottom photo) as our Thought Leaders on Thursday,
December 4th. They'll provide us with an update on the growing interest being generated around the world on their book, The Puritan Gift, which has been honored by the Financial Times as one of the top 10 business books in 2007.
Growing up in Scotland during the 1920s, brothers "Ken" and "Will" were filled with stories from their chemist father about his work during World War I in British chemical industries. Included was a tale of the use of one-legged stools in a nitroglycerine factory, where sleepy-eyed willing workers could bring a rapid end to a chemical factory. The insights triggered by their father at an early age gave them the ability to question such things as
"the superior efficacy of various nations' manufactures." In so doing, Ken and Will were inspired after World War II to enter careers in manufacturing and banking, respectively, and travel the world in these pursuits. They were later inspired by Peter Drucker to document their life-long accounts of their observations of corporate operations, both inspiring and depressing, in a book that was eventually published in 2007. In a letter from Drucker, he offered this encouragement;
"I am tremendously interested in what you write and impressed by it. I look forward to your book on the subject. Don't forget to tell your publisher to send me an order form."
Most recently, Russell Ackoff, offered his endorsement of The Puritan Gift; to appear in the coming second edition, a paperback to be released in January 2009;
"This is one of the best books I have read in my long life, and I don't just mean books on business. The brothers Hopper have written a social history of our nation, which doubles up as a commentary on managerial culture. I am indebted to them for providing an understanding of the evolution of American society from the 1630s to the present day."
In preparation for an afternoon of story-telling, insights, and encouragement from Ken and Will, "OD" participants are invited to read both the Prologue and first chapter of their book. Both can be found online on their website, along with additional book endorsements, as well as reviews , and a BBC interview with Will.
Contact Ken (k.hopper@puritangift.com) and Will (w.hopper@puritangift.com) by email with any questions you would like to share with them in preparation for their OD session with us.
|
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, December 4th - 12:00-1:00pm
2 - Thursday, December 4th - 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, December 3rd 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)
December 18-19, George Roth (NEW DATES)
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 November 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.
Note that the dates listed below are subject to change. Follow this link to find the latest updates to our schedule. |
Enterprise Thinking
 Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend
Prerequisites - there are NO prerequisites
Format - two 4.5-hour sessions over two days, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Bill Bellows
Schedule for Enterprise Thinking classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-593 (NEW DATES)
Part 1 - 15-Dec-08 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 16-Dec-08 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-595
Part 1 - 22-Jan-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 23-Jan-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-597
Part 1 - 26-Feb-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 27-Feb-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-599
|
Six Thinking Hats
 Registration Fee - $165, charged back to participant's department for PWR employees and paid by check for "Members of the Community."
Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months
Format - one 8-hour session, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Schedule for Six Thinking Hats classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-53
21-Jan-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
Register to attend Six Thinking Hats
|
Lateral Thinking
 Registration Fee - $120, charged back to participant's department for PWR employees and paid by check for "Members of the Community."
Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months
Format - two 8-hour sessions, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Schedule for Lateral Thinking classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Next class not scheduled
Contact Bill Bellows to attend the next Lateral Thinking seminar |
Managing Variation as a System
 Registration Fee - there is NO fee for employees to attend. Visitors are asked to bring a copy of the course textbook (Donald Wheeler's Understanding Variation), which can be purchased online for as low as $25. Follow this link to Amazon for one purchase option.
Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites
Format - three 3-hour sessions over three days, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Joe Onstott
Schedule for Managing Variation as a System classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #MVS-92 (NEW DATES)
8:00-11:00am for each session below
Part 1 - 1-Dec-08
Part 2 - 3-Dec-08
Part 3 - 5-Dec-08
|
Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making
 Registration Fee - $330, charged back to participant's department for PWR employees and paid by check for "Members of the Community."
Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months
Format - three 7-hour sessions over three weeks, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Suggestion: If you are unable to attend all three sessions in a given monthly series, we encourage you to attend the first session and then attend the second and third in any order during a future monthly series.
Schedule for Kepner-Tregoe classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Next class not scheduled
Contact Bill Bellows to attend the next Kepner-Tregoe seminar
|
The New Economics Study Session
 Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend. A copy of The New Economics is provided to each participant. In addition, this is a toll-free call from the United States and Canada. International participants are welcome to join in as well, provided they do so at their own expense for the conference call.
Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites
Format - seven 2-hour sessions over three and a half weeks, offered as a teleconference event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
| |
|
|
|
|
|
