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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, Philips Electronics, and The Boeing Company. Among this list of invitees, participation October's OD conference call with David Langford (now available for download in mp3 format) included 34 partners from across the US and UK (382 have joined us so far in 2009, 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 (PWR), located in Canoga Park, California, on the western end of the San Fernando Valley in greater Los Angeles.
With the health care debate front and center in the U.S., those network members who have read and admired the thinking of the late Russell ("Russ") L. Ackoff are optimistic that legislators will begin to transform this system from one known by Russ as operating as a "sickness care system" to one that truly functions as a "health care system." Meanwhile, it's time to come together for a few hours of "thinking together;" time that will be well invested.
This month we feature Arnold Goodman as our Thought Leader on Monday, November 16th and Tuesday, November 17th. Details follows below.
As for celebrating Russ, our December (17th-18th) session is dedicated to his immense legacy. Follow this link to the Ackoff Collaboratory for an update on plans for a memorial for Russ at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday, February 12th.
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, 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 Leaders - Arnold Goodman
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's Enterprise Thinking Network welcomes Arnold ("Arnie") Goodman, author and statistician, to lead our eleventh Ongoing Discussion of 2009 on November 16th and 17th (and our 119th session since we began in 2000). He has selected "Enterprise Value Creation and Collaboration: Think and Act Boldly to Defeat the Immune System of our Brain" as our topic this month.
Arnold's Thought Piece is a rich rumination on the importance of collaboration in 21st century organizations. For our November conversation, we're going to work with just the first half pages of his extensive essay; we've promised Arnold an encore "OD" appearance in 2010 to finish the work we start this month.
Here are some questions you might wish to hold as you read the Though Piece:
How is collaboration viewed in Blue Pen and Red Pen Companies?
What might be different ways of defining an "enterprise"?
Who are the stakeholders in your enterprise?
How does your organization approach the conversation about collaboration?
What question about collaboration could be answered "it depends"?
How can we know whether collaboration is benefitting the enterprise?
Arnie's most recent adventure in enterprise is as Co-Founding Editor of ASA and Wiley Journal on Statistical Analysis and Data Mining. He was co-founder of the Center for Statistical Consulting at the University of California at Irvine, and prior to that position he assisted Los Angeles County IT with capacity planning, performance, and IT planning and safety.
Contact Arnie by email at datagoodman@att.net
with any questions you would like to share with him 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 - Monday, November 16th - 12:00-1:00pm
2 - Monday, November 16th - 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Tuesday, November 17th - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Tuesday, November 17th - 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 Friday, November 13th 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 us in the Alpha Room in building 103 at DeSoto. 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):
December 17-18, Friends of Russell L. Ackoff
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 August 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, including the full schedule for 2009. All times listed are Pacific Time. |
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-615
Part 1 - 16-Nov-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 17-Nov-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-617
Part 1 - 17-Dec-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 18-Dec-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-619
Part 1 - 21-Jan-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 22-Jan-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Register to attend Enterprise Thinking |
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
Next class dates to be determined
Contact Tim Higgins to receive class updates
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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
Class #CP-22
8-Dec-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
9-Dec-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
Register to attend Lateral Thinking
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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 #CP-68
4-Dec-09 - 8:00-11:00am
7-Dec-09 - 8:00-11:00am
10-Dec-09 - 8:00-11:00am
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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 Dates To Be Determined
Contact Tim Higgins to receive class updates
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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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