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What is New...
Notable developments as they come into being
 

New Publications

"Spanning Silos and Spuring Conversations: Positive Deviance for Reducing Infections in Hospitals," in E&Y Performance, Vol 2.3. (pp 78-83). With co-authors Dr. Arvind Singhal, Purcia Buscell and Keith McCandless.

 
Coming soon in the the same European journal, "Liberating Structures: Innovating by Inccluding and Unleashing Everyone." Authors Henri Lipmanwicz and Keith McCandless
 
"Saving Lives By Changing Relationships" with Arvind Singhal and Prucia Buscell.  More about work at the Billings Clinic in Montana. 
 
Video "how to" clips from the Canada PD Project to prevent superbugs...
 
 


 

Liberating Structures Webinar

Webinar offered by the Plexus Institute on Liberating Structures.  Henri Lipmanowicz of the Plexus Institute and I will be sharing our experience developing and introducing a large array of self-organizing change methods in Latin America, Europe and the US.   It is an innovative approach to including and unleashing everyone in addressing complex challenges.  Henri and I have been delighted and surprised by what can be accomplished in a short time and how quickly the methods spread. 

 

http://www.plexusinstitute.org/news-events/show_news.cfm?id=1710  

 

Thursday September 24, 2009
01:00 PM - 02:30 PM Eastern time (10am-11:30 AM Pacific time)

 

Blog


Weaving Positive Deviance and Liberating Structures
OD Network Conference 2009
in Seattle, Washington, on October 18th -21st. 
Presenters:  Keith McCandless, Sharon Benjamin and Henri Lipmanowicz
 
See details below.

 


Liberating Structures, Spreading To Europe
Liberating Structures are the processes, rules and infrastructure that make it easy for people to be creative, adaptable, build on each other’s ideas, and get results. In lively practice-as-you-learn sessions, participants explore powerful approaches to unleashing talent and innovation (e.g., Positive Deviance, Rapid Prototyping, Smart Networks, Min Specs, Creative Destruction, Appreciative Interviews, Open Space Technology). The focus is on using the materials-and-imagination-at-hand rather than creating detailed plans and elaborate budgets.  Success in Latin America has led to vibrant efforts in Spain, Belgium, France and Scandinavia.  New thoughts about why they spread.  

 

Paris LS workshop with 80 participants February 2010.

 


 

Wisecrowds 2008: The Primary Care Revolution with Liberating Structures

On December 2, 2008, the CIMIT Convening and Collaborative Learning Program hosted Wisecrowds 2008: The Primary Care Revolution. The focus of this day-long event was to engage the collective intelligence of the group to create new solutions. Participants generated and prioritized ideas using collaboration tools to innovate concerning specific challenges in Primary Care.


Together, the group:

  • Explored how the design and adoption of innovations can be BOTH a social revolution AND a managed process
  • Learned simple methods that can be used for complex prototyping or innovation
  • Linked complexity science and Wisecrowd collective intelligence concepts
  • Helped with vetting a health care prototype that connects physicians and patients

Listen to the a podcast about unleashing front line innovation with Positive Deviance (one of the Liberating Structures) applied to MRSA prevention. 

 

Check out a video of a group using TRIZ (one Liberating Structure) in the US.  Primary care leaders at Mass General and Harvard hospitals are "creatively destroying" to make space for innovation. 

 

 

 


 
New Workshops:
 
OD Network Conference 2009 in Seattle, Washington, on October 18th -21st. 
Presenters:  Keith McCandless, Sharon Benjamin and Henri Lipmanowicz.

 

Weaving Positive Deviance and Liberating Structures

 

Like Internet entrepreneurs and political strategists, organizational change practitioners are learning to unleash decentralized, self-organized action to get results better-than-expected-or-imagined.    

 

The presenters are using a large array of self-organizing change methods — Liberating Structures — in grass-roots-initiatives in Latin America, Europe and the US.  Multinational business, hospitals, and NGOs are developing more like “starfish” than “spiders” (Brafman, ODN 2008 Keynote).  Similar to Positive Deviance (Sternin, ODN 2007 Keynote), these methods are easy to learn, spread quickly peer-to-peer, and require limited coaching. This mash-up of methods introduces new ways for people to work together. Novel patterns of interacting are transforming leaders and stimulating innovation and productivity organization-wide. 

 

Liberating Structures In Action
2008 Plexus Institute Summit in Philadelpia LS Plexus PDF
There will be Plexus Webcast in the fall of 2009.
 
The End of Leadership As We Know It
Offered to the OSR conference in Seattle in June 2008 
Handout PDF file
 
Artful Leadership 
Artful Leadership: Drawing-Out, Acting-Out New Direction,
first offered with the Center for Ethical Leadership, Seattle in 2007.   /strategyworkshops.aspx
 
 

New Articles 

"Transforming Discoveries: Partners on the Journey," (2009)  This article describes a “landscape” of innovation types as well as wisdom gained among innovators and staff from 2004-2009.  The third and final article chronicling the work of intrepid VHA Foundation grantees.  What are the essential elements for taking a good idea to scale?  PDF file

 

"Safely Taking Risks: Complexity and Patient Safety," (2008).  How safety leaders can match change strategies to the complexity of the challenges at hand. PDF file

 

"Layers of Letting Come and Letting Go." (2007) Reflections on working with Positive Deviance & MRSA prevention. What helps us work confidently without a script?  Word file 

 

“Mastering the Art of Innovating: A Funny, Wonderful Thing Happened on the Way to My Deliverable!” (2006) with Linda DeWolf. How do innovators master the interplay of make-it-happen and let-it-happen strategies to successfully design and spread their work?   PDF file

 


Improv and MRSA Prevention

An improvisational learning approach has been used very effectively in hospitals (eliminating the spread of MRSA, an antibiotic resistant bug) and in many other management challenges.    Here, the players are acting their way into new thinking and safe behaviors. 
 
See the Billings Clinic Players slide show and a 50 minute video presentation by Keith at CIMIT in Bostion
 
Listen to a brief podcast about unleashing innnovation on the front line


MRSA Initiative... A Graphic History

Take a look at the how the Positive Deviance MRSA Prevention project unfolded: key events, strategies, metrics and insights.   PPT file

 

 


 In the works: 

 

  • more on weaving Positive Deviance with other Liberating Structures
  • more video to complement Social Invention concepts
  • new article about MRSA Prevention at the Billings Clinic by Arvind Singhal, Prucia Buscell and Keith McCandless
  • new projects with medical schools: integrating spirituality in medical training; and, boosting inclusiveness in leadership practices

 

More coming soon! 

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"Sockeye salmon in White River,"

pastels on paper by Keith.