“Why would we bring thousands of participants together and not engage their minds for significant advancement?”
or assessment of strengths and opportuni- ties.Day two achieves the planning and vision of the future.And day three produces the innovations and initiatives.It’s really a rapid-prototyping session, to set the future into motion.It develops an energy far greater than anything you might ever see, even in the best conferences such as the TED format.TED— while entertaining, informative, and connecting—is still in an older paradigm.The Complete Convention is about increased productivity and payoff. I make a distinction between conferences/conventions and summits.A summit is very task-oriented, bringing the whole system of all participants together to focus on, for example, the next innovations that will coalesce a whole industry.We used this model with the dairy industry.Half the meeting was held in the typical convention format and the other half in a planning modality to help the dairy industry look at sus- tainability initiatives and plan a future surge for potential economic benefit. Once the summit was over…in three months…they attracted millions of dollars of investment.It is that tangible.
CERTIFICATION MADE POSSIBLE
Everyone can be part of the inner circle of strategy.The new methods are here.We would carefully craft questions about inno- vations and opportunities that are present- ing themselves.People sitting at roundtables would go through the AI processes to deter- mine the boldest images of the future and
ways to mobilize the initiatives.You would have report-outs from the tables.You start to hear patterns. All tables turn in their notes, which would be integrated overnight for feed- back to the groups the next day.What is the common ground? Yes, there will be differences.You honor the differ- ences.But then you discover and put your stake in the ground of the common, most valued future.
Let’s be practical. Take a meeting with 10,000 people over four days. How would you manage the input of10,000 people?
So, there could be a two-track event. In the morn- ing,we could use AI tools to address mega-issues facing the group, and then in the afternoon, feature the typical convention activities. Every morning, a synopsis can be shared for moving forward. At the closing general session, there could be a report about the outcomes ofthe three days and recom- mended plans for the future. That’s right.Through the use of collaboration technology and tools, participants can instantaneously vote on priorities, viewpoints, and directions.In the field of management, we used to think that the most effective-sized group was six to
‘We Are All Change Leaders’
David Cooperrider believes that “we are all change leaders.We are called upon to create families, communities, and organizations that bring out the best in humankind.”To accom- plish that, he said,“we need systems that enable us to thrive in the midst of upheavals—environmental challenges, partisan politics, and the overall tumultuous times.” When Cooperrider sits down with CEOs and other senior
leaders, they all are facing unexpected levels of change and tur- bulence “with no road map.” But the question, he said, has shifted from“How do we manage change?” to“How do we man- age change at the scale of the whole? How do we move a whole 67,000-person telephone company, a city, country, an associa- tion of 10,000 members, a whole industry or profession for- ward? It’s about successfully moving forward together.” That requires leadership. According to Cooperrider, true lead-
ers have the ability to: Stay ahead ofthe curve. The best leaders have the ability
to create organizations that deal well and thrive with relentless 68 pcmaconvene December 2011 www.pcma.org
change. Organizations don’t change well under moments of the highest trauma, so calling on the whole system to plan together aheadof the curve is essential.When change is traumatic, it is too late. AsWayne Gretsky said: “I never play a puck where it is, but where it will be.” See strengths. Strength-based leaders have an apprecia-
tive intelligence andare able to see the true, the better, the pos- sible that others can’t see. They use the new psychology of human strengths andwhole-system learning. So many man- agers spend close to 80 percent of their time finding problems —andonly 20 percent of their time focusing on strengths and opportunities. These leaders completely reverse that 80/20 ratio. Treasure innovation from every level. This requires overcoming silos. It requires courage. For example, Admiral Ver- non E. Clark [retiredchief of naval operations for the U.S. Navy] would bring 500 or more three-star admirals, E-5 sailors, and every level andfunction together—including civilians andbusi- ness leaders—to search for better approaches.