Wednesday, November 10, 2021.
HOSTS: Svenja Ruger, Rob Evans & Matt Taylor.
The Transforming Organization model describes how a traditional hierarchical organization can go through a transformation toward a more fluid and adaptive, network structure with minimal disruption to operations. The model relies on one central design strategy: Never directly attack the hierarchy!
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About the Model
Organizations can rarely be “fixed” through an organizational “intervention.”
Traditional organizations regard interventions — quite correctly — as existential attacks and respond accordingly. The typical response has two outcomes. First, the interveners can be hindered, damaged, or even eliminated from the world of the organization. Second, the response itself can redirect so many resources form normal operations that the organization’s effectiveness and productivity also take a hit.
But while organizations cannot be fixed, they can be re-created. The design strategy for doing so using this model relies on understanding how hierarchies actually function and adapting those dynamics to create a different way of working…”
What an interesting model to explore in our current times as many organisations are moving away from pure hierarchies towards networks of patches & nodes.
As you study the model as a pre-read, please also have a look at the corresponding terms of art, such as “design strategy”, “recursion”, “node”, etc. — all of which will be provided to you upon registering for this event.
Together, let’s explore the wonderful details of that model and what it enables us to achieve as facilitators and designers.
We are very much looking forward to our conversations to further explore how to best use this model and all its possibilities.
What are the “Models of the Month” Webinars?
Our live Model of the Month (MOTM) conversations are free to join for any member of our vast community.
Session notes and video recordings are available to members of our TVW Learning Community in our MOTM Archive.
Kindly come prepared for our sessions by having read the detailed descriptions of the model provided to you when you register for this workshop.
We not only share the model in discussion but also corresponding terms of art to set the larger context.
Please plan to join us for a 90 minute facilitated session; we plan to stay on for another 30mins for informal discussions with Rob, Matt and Svenja thereafter.
You may have found our organization because you believe in the power of intentional process design and facilitation to solve complex problems.
One key element of our work is based on the MGTaylor models, both as design templates for creating multi-stakeholder journeys towards concrete outcomes, as well as diagnostic or auditing tools to understand the current or future state of a situation, challenge, intention.
Given the current state of our planet and the complexity of humanity as a driving force within — and aiming at creating a future by design and not default — it is now even more important to collectively explore the models at hand, and how they allow us to navigate this complexity together.
How can we as practitioners become better at what we do in the service of humanity?
We, therefore, invite you to join a monthly conversation about exactly that: exploring the MGTaylor models, sharing experiences, and discussing their application in areas of great need.
Workshop Hosts
Svenja is a facilitator and designer of large scale collaborative sessions. Her passion lies in building resilient communities and facilitating collaborative processes to solve complex challenges on a systems level. She cares a lot about the challenges the world is currently facing and wants to support connecting the dots in order to create impactful, meaningful solutions. She promotes listening to understand, not listening to speak, and holds the space for what is trying to emerge.
Being part the The Value Web, she took on lead design and facilitation roles for international engagements with the World Economic Forum, LEGO Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, International Red Cross & Red Crescent, INSEAD Business School, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Berlin Civil Society Centre, and many others
She believes in servant leadership, and that facilitation is all about making it easy.
Rob Evans is recognized as one of the world’s best known and most respected facilitators. He has taught thousands of leaders and facilitators in the private, public, and NGO sectors.
THE COLLABORATION CODE® is a book series curated by Rob Evans co-founder of Imaginal Labs. Book three in the series, Models: Frameworks for Transformation presents the entire set of models and terms of art in the MG Taylor Modeling Language, including many never-before documented models with illustrations by Kelvy Bird, Christopher Fuller, and Kelly Adams.
For information about purchasing books, The Collaboration Code®
Matt Taylor is a designer, inventor, teacher, facilitator, sailor and entrepreneur. He has focused his career on the application of architectural design methods to solving complex, systemic problems found at the intersection of physical environments, ecologies, organizational practices and visionary ideas. This work involves business processes, tool-sets and software programs, and includes their expression and utilization in the design, construction and use of virtual and physical environments for collaborative work and sustainable creative living. The components of these environments, and the environments themselves, are designed and built in regards their fit with, and long term impact on, social-economic-ecological systems.
The sum of his work is outlined in a System and Method co-invented with partner Gail Taylor. He is cofounder of the MG Taylor Corporation.
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