First ever Dialogic OD Conference in Vancouver BC last week

Dialogic OD opening comments

The first ever dialogic organizational development conference was last week in Vancouver BC at Simon Fraser University. The opening remarks were taped from an interview with Edgar Schein which framed the day beautifully. We had numerous opportunities to engage with others at the conference and the ongoing conversations were a high point for the event.

It was striking that we had 125 participants from around the world, all dedicated to developing an organizational development practice that fits the reality of our times, one framed by complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Old OD practices of diagnosis and command and control, simply are not effective in taping into the wealth of knowledge and experience necessary to pivot in a dynamic world. This is where the emerging practice of dialogic OD have the opportunity to truly make a difference in engaging the minds of people who can and will change our world.

Meeting friends and colleagues was another benefit to being at the conference. It is not easy to stay in touch with so much going on and the conference provided the setting where reconnecting with old friends and connecting with new friends was possible.

More information about dialogic OD can be found on my research page. I would welcome a conversation with anyone interested in the field and would be glad to work with organizations interested in moving away from change consulting based on old rigid models of command and control and move to those based on dialogic OD helping organizations thrive in complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty. Reach out to Dr. Inman at john@dialogicleader.com or call him at 425-954-7256.

A time to reflect on the years conversations

With school, work, health, and family, this has been an incredibly busy year. I can honestly say that I do not remember a year quite like it. So many wonderful outcomes of the conversations that I have had as well. After four years in my current role at work, our site is performing and our leadership team is doing well. I have been coaching and mentoring our leadership team to coach through conversation using conversational leadership, engage with their direct reports, simplify messages, and create the discipline to have the right conversations at the right time and not procrastinate. Incredibly after four years they are doing it and it is paying off. Our staff is doing much better and morale is up. Our site feels successful. Wonderful.

My family is doing great. David is working as a barista and he has a wonderful conversational style with his clients. They love him and he is having fun.  Hazel and Kinnera are also doing well with my Hazel helping at school and again dance skating. Kinnera loves school and is one of the top students in school. She is an example why gaming is not bad for kids. She is a fantastic gamer,  a fantastic student, and socially very connected. A fantastic kid.

School is going well. I am finishing my coursework so that I can start my dissertation starting in May. I study so much it is incredible. But I love the work. My field is dialogue and deliberation and the focus of my thesis is going to be developing generationally diverse leadership in conversational leadership through sustained dialogue using The World Cafe. Very exciting work and I am excited to begin. I will be glad to have my coursework behind me and focus on my dissertation. Another exciting transition in my life.

I hope you have a wonderful new year. I know that I will.