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Aim and Stats
Now in our tenth 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 2009 can be found in this announcement.
OD Stats
For an update on OD statistics, this month's invitation is going out to 5000+ 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 January's OD conference call with Russ Ackoff (now available for download in WMA format) included 45 partners from across the US and UK (394 partners joined us in 2008, with 342 in 2007, 444 in 2006, and 402 2005...ah, yes, variation exists).
And, yes, Grace, the diffusion process of connecting thought leaders continuuues... |
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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 Valentine's Day a day away (does one day of celebration fit all countries???), Russ Ackoff's 90th birthday a day before, and Friday the 13th upon us......yes, it's time again come together for a few hours of "thinking together;" time that will be well invested. This month we feature Sheldon Rovin as our Thought Leader on Wednesday, February 18th and Friday, February 20th. Details follows below.
Cheers...
Bill Bellows
Associate Fellow and Lead
Enterprise Thinking Network
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Canoga Park, California
william.bellows@pwr.utc.com |
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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 |
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Thought Leader - Sheldon Rovin
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's Enterprise Thinking Network welcomes Sheldon ("Shel") Rovin to lead our second Ongoing Discussion of 2009 on February 18th and 20th (and our 110th session since we began in 2000). He has chosen "Uncertainty, Randomness, and Complexity" as our topic this month.
 Shel's appearance this month represents his third "OD" session with us; his second a year ago was on the topic of "Handling Uncertainty." In his first appearance, in 2007, the topic was Boundary-Less Thinking. Since that time, Shel has written a regular column in the In2:InThinking Network's newsletter, and has appeared at the In2:IN 2008 Forum. He returns to lead the Networking session at this year's Forum. All of this is in addition to his position as Emeritus Professor of Healthcare Systems at the Wharton School of Business and past Director of Healthcare Executive Management Programs at Wharton Executive Education and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. He is also Emeritus Professor and past chair of the Department of Dental Care Systems, School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Among the programs Sheldon directed at the Wharton School are the Johnson & Johnson-Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives, the SmithKline Beecham Executive Management Program for Directors of Hospital Pharmacy, the Wyeth Ayerst-Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Program in Management, and the Wyeth Ayerst-APM Executive Management program for Chairs of Medicine. Sheldon is a diplomat of the American Board of Oral Pathology and holds DDS and MS degrees from the University of Michigan.
Students of Russell Ackoff will recognize Sheldon's name for his co-authorship role on two recent books - Redesigning Society and Beating the System: Using Creativity to Outsmart Bureaucracies. His writings include over ninety journal articles and book chapters, and nine books, including Medicine and Business: Bridging the Gap and Managing Hospitals: Lessons from the Johnson & Johnson-Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives.
This month, Shel is offering OD participants a collection of questions, or provocations, to stimulate the conversation. The full set of questions is this month's Thought Piece, which is posted on the In2:IN website.
In the Thought Piece, Shel offers...
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT AND NEITHER DO YOU."
Here are three of the eleven questions raised by Shel's assertion (belief):
What does this belief mean for us, our organizations, and our society?
Under conditions of uncertainty, to what extent can we trust our judgment?
Under conditions of uncertainty, to what extent can we trust our intuition?
In preparation for this Ongoing Discussion, Shel also offers the following quote from Nobel Physicist, Max Born, in his book The End of the Certain World,
"...The relaxation of the rules of thinking seems to me to be the greatest blessing which modern science has given us. For the belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it, seems to me the deepest root of all that is evil in the world."
Contact Shel by email (shelrovin@earthlink.net)
with any questions you would like to share with him in preparation for his 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 - Wednesday, February 18th - 12:00-1:00pm
2 - Wednesday, February 18th - 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Friday, February 20th - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Friday, February 20th - 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 Tuesday, February 17th 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
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International Participants
Our conference call sessions are toll-free within the U.S. and Canada. Several international participants have been able to connect toll-free using Skype for a VOIP connection, which we now recommend to others calling in from outside the U.S. and Canada.
First, you'll need to establish a Skype account at www.skype.com. Once Skype is set up and functioning correctly the only thing that is different when connecting with our "Thinking Roadmap" conference call sessions ("OD" or "The New Economics Study Sessions") is the use of a pass code and security code. For our "OD" sessions, these numbers are provided once the "participant survey" is completed. For the "The New Economics Study Sessions," these numbers are provided in an email from Tim Higgins, who hosts these calls. In either case, when prompted by Skype to enter these codes, use the keyboard not voice option and be sure to turn off the computer's microphone, otherwise the numeric keys don't function. If the microphone is left on when the codes are entered, Skype's automated operator will reply with "number not recognized," as no number has been transmitted.
New users of Skype are encouraged to perform a conference call test in advance of the scheduled "Thinking Roadmap" conference call. Contact Bill Bellows to arrange for a test call. |
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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)
June 25-26, To be determined
Follow this link to find our current list of Thought Leaders for all of 2009, as well as announcements for Thought Leaders in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. |
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Systems Thinking Newsletter
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 January 2009, 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.
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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. All times listed are Pacific Time. |
Sheldon Rovin - Second Annual Lecture (NEW DATE)
In addition to his OD appearances this month in Canoga Park, Shel will visit Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne on Tuesday, March 10th to deliver a 2-hour "Passport to Leadership" lecture on one of his favorite topics, Uncertainty, Randomness, and Complexity. Contact Bill Bellows by email if you are interested in attending. There is NO fee to attend. |
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-597
Part 1 - 26-Feb-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 27-Feb-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-599
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Six Thinking Hats
Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $165, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
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-54
31-Mar-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
Register to attend Six Thinking Hats
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Lateral Thinking
 Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $120, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
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
Next class not scheduled
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Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making
 Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $330, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
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
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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
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