London&SE Deming Network - Creative Chaos: How much is too

[Colston Sanger <colston@shotters.dircon.co.uk>]

Dear all,

You are warmly invited to our next London and South-East Deming Network 
meeting on 24 July at the University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, United 
Kingdom.

Hope you can come. Hope to see you there!

Warmest regards,

Colston Sanger

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CREATIVE CHAOS:
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? HOW MUCH IS NOT ENOUGH?

A joint meeting of the UK OD InterNetwork,the Centre for
Tomorrow's Company and the London and South-East Deming Network.
In association with New Intermediaries. Hosted by the Human Potential
Research Group, University of Surrey.

WHEN?	Thursday, 24 July 2003, 18.00 for 18.30 until 21.00

WHERE?	Room 18, Third Floor, Senate House, University of Surrey, Guildford

Directions and campus map at: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/corporate/visitors/.
Please let us know if you intend to come by emailing C.Sanger@surrey.ac.uk
or phoning 01483 682364 (direct line).

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CREATIVE CHAOS:
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? HOW MUCH IS NOT ENOUGH?

An exploration, with Chris Robertson and Cathy Rowan of Spiral Consulting

Some managers and CEO's take pride in order and keep a tight rein on their
organisations, inhibiting innovation in the process. There are also some
enthusiastic advocates of chaos, running risk of plunging their teams into
states of anxiety that are difficult to handle. Too much chaos can inhibit
productivity, just as too much order inhibits creativity.

Chaos theory, however, has found that there is a third state between tota
chaos and order, which is a transitional state of great adaptive flexibility.
It is an uncertain state with low stability, but the 'butterfly effect' as it
is known, shows that small changes in these states can have large impacts.
This state requires that managers develop the ability to contain their anxiety
about mistakes while enabling experiment to explore new potentialities that
were not possible in the old stable state.

In this informal evening, Chris Robertson and Cathy Rowan will explore with us
our own 'third state', from where we can 'manage' uncertainty while keeping the
door open to the unplanned and unpredictable, which are key ingredients behind
the synergetic effects that make some teams so creative.

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CHRIS ROBERTSON is a registered psychotherapist and has been working as a
supervisor and group trainer since 1978 in several European countries.
He is a director of Spiral Consulting Services Ltd and of ReVision,
a psychotherapy training centre which aims to ground spiritual vision
with clinical excellence. His present work with Spiral brings together
the subtleties of engaging with unconscious psychological dynamics,
the new science of complexity and the demands of working in rapidly evolving
organisations. He is the co-author of the recent Open University publication
on Emotions and Needs.

CATHY ROWAN has a background in human resource management and management 
consulting.
Her current work is in career transition and leadership development. She took a
diploma in the Inner Craft of Leadership at ReVision in 1998 and became a
Director of Spiral Consulting Services, which offers training and supervision
to consultants and leaders for work with emergent change, in 2002.

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The UK Organisation Development InterNetwork is complementary to
and intersects with the Centre for Tomorrow's Company Individual Members' 
Network,
the London and South-East Deming Network and New Intermediaries.
It is affiliated with the OD Institute - www.odinstitute.org .

The Centre for Tomorrow's Company - www.tomorrowscompany.com - is a think tank
and catalyst, researching and stimulating the development of a new agenda
for business. It works to create a future for business that makes equal sense
to staff shareholders and society.

The London and South-East Deming Network exists to learn, apply, and extend
the philosophy of Dr. W. Edwards Deming and to help others do the same.

New Intermediaries - www.newintermediaries.co.uk - is a community of practice
of internal and external change agents.

The Human Potential Research Group within the Department of Educational Studies
at the University of Surrey - www.surrey.ac.uk/Education/hprg/index.htm  - 
has been
a centre of excellence in experiential learning, facilitation skills and 
holistic
personal and professional development for over thirty years. HPRG engages 
in teaching,
research and consultancy in higher education and other organisational and 
community
settings.

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