Ambassadors and Members of The Organizational Zoo Ambassadors Network (affectionately known as OZAN) used the Zoo Character Cards to explore the behavioural DNA of Leadership. That is, which metaphors best represents the complex behavioural capabilities required to inspire others to follow you when the situation is ideal and the organization is performing well. Clearly, a successful leader (consciously) adjusts their behavior when the context changes and this is the critical point of facilitating "Conversations That Matter" using the Zoo concepts. The most...
The Organizational Zoo character cards were used to assess the which metaphorical "animals" (representing behaviours) supported or detracted from a creative environment at Creative Bangkok. This activity was repeated at the HEC Creativity Summer School in Montreal in June 2015. The Montreal group was larger (about 70 people broken up into 18 groups) and of a more mixed cultural background. Despite this there were strong similarities in the outputs of the activity. For example the strongest characters supporting a creative environment...
The participants of Creative Bangkok 2014 engaged in assessing what “animals” (Organizational Zoo metaphor characters representing behaviours) supported creativity and which were detrimental to it. After a very quick introduction (because we wanted intuitive interpretation and creative open exchange of perspectives with minimal preconception) to The Organizational Zoo, participants allocated character cards into 4 categories for the context of generating creative environment: Expected (required for creative outcomes) Desired (not absolutely required, but a positive influence on creativity) Tolerated (not desirable, prefer not to...
The limitation of many psychometrics is the way they are used by some. Used well, they can provide insights into the preferences a person has “generally”, though this cannot be applied to all situations. However, they often are used to stereotypically categorise the person, with the implication that this may inform them what roles they may be best suited to. That is, applied in ways that puts the person in a box. This is dangerous given often this largely based...
Umeå Univeristy host a weekly event called 8.23 each Tuesday morning to discuss a paper in development and to share ideas around what resident researchers are working on. I participated in this firstly as someone engaging around other's ideas and later as the facilitator of my own Organizational Zoo concept. Both conversations led to stimulating exchange of ideas. I believe that the concept of proactively engaging others to seek their perspectives though constructive feedback enhances the value and relationships for everyone...
Leadership is a subjective participation sport of perspectives and relationships. The more effectively you influence others to play with you, the greater your own success, and the more value you generate with, and for, others. Great leaders generate trust and act in an open and trustworthy manner. In doing so, they generate an environment in which people desire to be involved in decision-making and the implementation of value-creating actions. They interact in an open manner to solicit a range of...
We rarely afford ourselves with the luxury of engaging in sufficient time to do what Donald Schön called "reflection in action". When we do so, we realise just how much more there is to life and we enhance our learning experiences. One of the biggest challenges in our lives is productively engaging with others. Group dynamics is a double edged sword! Groups enable us to share workload, enjoy learning from other’s perspectives and engage in a deeply rewarding relationship that...
In the beginning of any new relationship the key is to show you can create benefits they value and build interactions you each enjoy. Often the best way to find things they care about and value is to ask a series of questions. A perceived problem can often be a symptom of something else such as poor management generally or too focused on tactical solutions. To find the best opportunities to tackle FIRST, you need to explore a little in...
Although I have actively engaged in mentoring throughout my career, I have proactively increased my mentoring efforts since leaving the "big corporate" world. This increased interest and activity has resulted from a number of emergent opportunities: Firstly, my association with many young people from a range of cultures through coordinating courses for RMIT University's MBA, which led me to revamp and lead the student mentoring program in which volunteer business leaders offer their time to invest in conversation with MBA students. Secondly, my interest...
People often ask me about the origins of the cover image on The Organizational Zoo. Although it is a LONG story, in short it took several drawings over several months to get the message right. We wanted to portray the behaviours people encounter on their career path through a typical organisation. You can see the kid (naive recruit) about to enter the front gate of the zoo (organisation) and as one would expect the Owl (eternal mentor) ready to greet them at the gate....
The recent media debates on multicultural societies and leveraging diversity stimulated my thinking about metaphors that fit this debate. As a lover of fruits, I thought when do I want and apple versus an orange or fruit salad? Why (or perhaps when) would I choose these individual fruits rather than simply blending them and get all together? In many ways a culture is a blend too - some with a dynamic mix of many recognisable behaviours and values operating in...
For some people, life is like a series of somewhat unpredictable interactions that just happen to them - and can lead to benefits or tragedies. They react to what the environment "allows" rather than create the environment they would like to experience. However, occasionally, we also see someone who always seems to "get what they want" and appears to lead the environment rather than be constrained by it. How does this happen? What do they have that others do not? The...
Connections are strange things - they seem to come out of nowhere, but have importance to us and how we lead others. A few weeks ago three unrelated things happened a few days apart that triggered me to recall two unrelated memories from my childhood. These stimulated some useful reflections on our behaviour as professionals and in which boat we should be. I attended a session on the use of multiple senses and poetry to influence perception at the ILA...
The use of animals as metaphors for behaviours was covered in The Organizational Zoo as well as some other places. Sports metaphors also have been widely used for business teams. I have for some time played with the combination of the two to generate an understanding of the relationship between behaviour and a team role. Belbin's research built an understanding of how different teams benefit from acknowledging that a diversity of roles is required to optimise outcomes. My own interactions have been experimenting with...
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