Learning as Open Conversation

A core practice in any of the forums that we create through our institute is dialogue. We have a commitment to dialogue. To learning through interaction.

There are many beliefs that we are enacting through this commitment, and we are learning to articulate some of these.

In recently reading from Sylvia Gherardi's Organizational Knowledge: The Texture of Workplace Learning, I found a framing that helps contextualize some of this commitment and belief. Gherardi gives attention to "conventional wisdom of organizational learning -- information delivery from a knowledgeable sources to a target lacking that information." This is nothing particularly new, but it does describe a deep habit in western culture learning. Further, it shows up in the way that we design conferences and learning forums.

Gherardi further describes three views of science production: 1) idealist -- a form of rhetoric of scientific writing which relies on the emotionality tied to the idea of universal and disinterested knowledge, to knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself. 2) militant -- the imposition of language and form such that some knowledge achieve hegemony while others are marginalized. 3) the production of science as an open conversation in which diverse discourses on knowledge meet and clash, each of them with its own system of representation (its own grammar and syntax).

It is this latter position that we give our attention too. We simply ask the question, what else is possible for us to advance forward if open conversation were our mode of discovery and practice?

Learning and Innovation Symposium

Tentatively scheduled for April 30 - May 2, 2008 at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah, we are now giving much attention to shaping, design, and creation of an invitation.

The primary purpose of this conference, captured by Kate, is to create a forum where experience and research about learning and innovation processes in business organizations can be exchanged in order to increase the utilization of knowledge that adds business value.

Further, this forum will contribute to the development of a network of thought leaders with academic and practitioner backgrounds which will stimulate new thinking, provoke new ideas for research and enhance the dialogue about learning in organizational contexts.

The Symposium exists as a part of the continuing effort of the Learning Economics Group (LEG) to be a resource for those interested in the application of research and practice that advance the business value of learning and innovative processes. The design and management of the Symposium is in collaboration with our institute.

The Symposium will feature:

Goal: $3 Million in 18 Months

The Dyer Institute has been recipient of generous gifts that have helped to support our start-up programs and operating costs. For this we are thankful. Another approach to sustaining and increasing our contributions is through an endowment. The above reflects our goal. We are working with many to make it real, including connections with wealthy individuals, corporate foundations, corporate partners, and alumni.

What can we learn from others about simple messaging in fundraising? This is one of the questions we asked of Joseph Ogden, Assistant Dean in the Marriott School’s External Relations. Joseph’s background is marketing and public relations. He has been very involved in Marriott School efforts to fund expansion of the Tanner Building. Joseph has also helped other centers and institutes create products to support their core message. So he was a natural person to learn with.

Our conversation helped us become aware of several helpful approaches:

- give attention to our programs and their impact on people

- developing simple materials that capture our core purpose and need

- think from the perspective of those we will approach (what logic, emotion, and credibility would accurately convey our request in a way that can be heard)

- work with an alumni team to extend our reach and contacts

- show the value of our product through pictures, teachings, numbers

Working through our dean’s office, we asked a similar question of Maurice Keetch of LDS Philanthropies. Maurice is a delightful, spirited man with a background that includes Deutsche Bank. “People have been prepared to give.” I appreciate Maurice for speaking at this level, in addition to his many clear recommendations that help us tell our story.

Reunion and Professional Experience? Integrating Event Formats to Serve Core Purpose

By Tenneson Woolf

Cori Lindstrom, (Talent Management Specialist, Honeywell; MBA OBHR Class of 2006), and our institute are partnering to create and host a three day event at Aspen Grove, Utah in October 2007 for the MBA OBHR Class of 2006. This week we created together a draft design for a Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon that Cori is taking to his colleagues. Cori is also clarifying specific purpose and need that we can then use to improve the agenda.

It has been interesting to watch clarity surface regarding choices of event format. When Cori and I first talked several months ago, I asked him what he and his group most wanted in coming together. I remember some of his responses: fun, a professional conference that our employers will support, more than just "getting together," a reunion, training.

For me, I relate to the desire for all of these things. I also relate to how in choosing an event format it is possible to be very deliberate with play, socializing, listening, sharing experience, and training that all serve a core purpose -- in this case, something about staying on the leading edge as HR professionals.

This started as a "reunion," then shifted into a "seminar." It might still shift to "summit" or "community of practice." I find myself wondering what each of these labels and others might unitentionally connote. With "reunion," just an excuse to get together? With "seminar," perhaps a more passive style of learning and listening? With "community of practice," a more active and deliberate peer-based participation.

My point isn't to be too nutty about language. However, I recognize a service that OB and HR leaders can offer in our respective settings. Being deliberate about what we call something, and even moreso, gaining clarity with our design teams and with those we invite to events is a very important step in any event and change process.

Here is a bit of the invitation language we are considering:

- In a world of rapid change, development, and movement, how can we as OB and HR professionals stay on the leading edge?

- What would be possible if we as the BYU MBA OBHR Class of 2006 met periodically to deliberately share stories, experiences, questions as a form of learning and serving together?

- “Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deep their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis…. Knowledge has become the key to success…. At the same time that the increasing complexity of knowledge requires greater specialization and collaboration, the half-life of knowledge is getting shorter. Without communities focused on critical areas, it is difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of change.
Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, William M. Snyder
Cultivating Communities of Practice

- “Knowledge is not something that people do together.”
Kenneth J. Gergen
The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Corporate Life

The design will evolve over the next few months.

Stay tuned...