Please note: the program will end at 9:45 a.m. rather than 9:30 a.m.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
Why World Café? Conversation is the vehicle that drives personal, business and organizational life. The World Café is more than a method, a process, or technique – it is an incredibly simple and provocative way of thinking and being together sourced in a philosophy of conversational leadership. In the words of Meg Wheatley, “Intelligence emerges as the system connects to itself in diverse and creative ways.”
Using seven design principles and a simple method that stimulates emergence, the World Café is a powerful social technology for engaging people in connecting conversations that matter.
Join us at the September meeting for an exciting, experiential learning session designed to demonstrate this useful process as we engage in the conversations that matter to us – on questions designed to stimulate creative thinking and insightful dialogue about aspects of our OD professional interests.
Our World Café process will be modeled by two OD professionals who have used these tools extensively in organizations. Each table discussion will be facilitated by a St. Louis Organization Development Network member including some Board members.
PROGRAM LEADERS:
Doris Martin, Ph.D. candidate, facilitator, has consulted for both corporations and nonprofit organizations: leading World Café facilitations, conducting strategic planning sessions, and performing other process consulting roles.
She is currently involved in planning for the 50th anniversary of Organization Development in 2013 at Benedictine University. She planned and conducted a World Café to create the conversations on fund raising to make the anniversary initiatives a success, including funding a new building.
Other recent process facilitations have included: Illinois Community Action Network appreciative inquiry session for over 200 people, Vision Summit using appreciative inquiry for 300 employees to craft new vision for Stepan Corporation in Northbrook Illinois, and America’s Promise Birth to Work Summit in Normal, IL The Work Summit brought together 500 educators, police, and health care leaders to dialogue on how to curb the dropout rate in that area.
Doris has over 20 years of successful corporate experience in technology, sales, management, and training. She earned her Ph.D. in OD from Benedictine University and MBA and MA in Education from Roosevelt University in Chicago. Doris has presented both nationally and internationally and currently teaches business courses at Elgin Community College in Elgin, IL.
Dawn Newman, Ph.D. candidate, co-facilitator, is an internal consultant and coach at the Boeing Company. Newman teaches Leadership at the St. Louis University School for Professional Studies and previously served on the St. Louis Organization Development Network Board. Dawn’s background includes an MBA from St. Louis University, a BS in Mathematical Statistics from SIU-Edwardsville, and professional certifications in: Executive Coaching, Organization Design, Lean Six Sigma, Supply Chain Management, and Human Resources (SPHR).
For more information regarding this process, visit http://www.theworldcafe.com/about.html
Why World Café?
“I am cognizant of the interrelatedness
of all communities...We are caught
in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one
directly affects all indirectly.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
Why World Café?
“In the new economy
conversations
are the most important form of work.”
– Alan Webber, Harvard Business Review
St. Louis region's network for OD professionals.