Creating the Future - BDA London & GroupMtg, TUES, 13 July

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

Dear DEnizens,

You are warmly invited to...

British Deming Association  London & South East Group

CREATING THE FUTURE: Why Solve Problems When You Could Create The Results
You Want?

Alan Mossman, The Change Business Ltd

WHEN?   TUESDAY, 13 July, 13.30 for 14.00,  to 17.00 

WHERE?  Royal Mail Conference Centre,
        Mount Pleasant,
        London EC1A 1BB

        Entrance in Phoenix Place, WC1

Nearest tube: Chancery Lane or Farringdon.

We welcome visitors from further afield.  
Please copy this to anyone who may be interested.
There is no charge for the meeting. 

Please let Steve Ashley know if you intend to come by using the 
FAXBACK below.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

CREATING THE FUTURE: Why Solve Problems When You Could Create The Results
You Want?

Alan Mossman, The Change Business Lrd

This fourth meeting in our 1999 cultural change and organisational
transformation programme takes up where we left off at the end of 
the May meeting, with the question "How can we create our own futures?"

"Why solve problems when you could create the results you want?"
is Alan Mossman's starting point for an afternoon talking about,
thinking about and experimenting with the creative process, 
underlying structure and ways in which they can be put to work in our
organisations.

The creative process was first described 25 years ago by Robert Fritz.
You use it, as Mozart, Beethoven and Ted Hughes did, in some areas of
your life. You can learn to create in other areas of your life too.  

Fritz identified the Creative Process after he became curious about why
many of his poet and composer friends were able to create wonderful things 
in their professional lives, but, in other areas, couldn't create for toffee. 
What was the difference that made the difference?

During the first part of the afternoon you will have a chance to:
 
   * Explore the difference between Problem Solving, moving away from
     or eliminating something you don't want, and Creating, bringing something
     into being which has not existed before

   * Explore the results you want to create in your life and your work

   * Get an overview of the creating and the co-creating processes

   * Get acquainted with the concept of structure

   * Understand how the creating process is relevant to creating a sound 
     business strategy. 

In the second part,"Structure determines behaviour", we will examine the role 
of underlying structure in enabling us to create the future we want.  

Over the last ten years Fritz has been looking at the organisational
applications
of the creative process and particularly of Structure, a label that he uses
in 
the sense that it is used in music, literature, drama and cinema. (This is
very 
different from the conventional usage of "organisational structure" as the 
blame/responsibility hierarchy.) Alan will show how this links with Deming
and 
can help us understand some ofthe key aspects of the Deming Management Method 
(common cause variation for example).
  
Working from this starting point you will get insight into some of the
following:
 
   * the elements that make up the structure of an organisation 
   
   * why structure is the most influential factor in organisational life 
   
   * why some training and some change and development interventions produce 
     results in one context but not in another (e.g. TQM, BPR)
      
   * organisations that oscillate 
   
   * structuring an organisation to produce lasting results 
   
   * how to use structure and the creative process to support Policy
Deployment 
    (Hoshin), project management and the creation of the future you want. 

If you like to read ahead, Fritz's best exposition of the organisational
applications 
of creating and structure is in his new book: 

   The Path of Least Resistance for Managers,(Berrett-Koehler,1999)
   - it is excellent and has a forward by Peter Senge, Fritz's former
colleague
   and author of The Fifth Discipline.
    
   Corporate Tides (Berrett-Koehler,1996) is pretty good too. 


For the creative process read:

   The Path of Least Resistance (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1994), or

   Creating (Butterworth-Heinemann,1994).
   
Alan will have a few copies of the books with him on the day if you like to
read afterwards.


THE PRESENTER

Alan Mossman is an independent consultant based in Stroud in Gloucestershire. 
He specialises in Organisational and Managerial Development and continual
improvement. 
His clients have included companies in the Shell Group, Barclays, Local and
Health Authorities.
He studied with Fritz over a period of five years and has produced indices
for all Fritz's books.  He has been a member of the BDA since 1994,and is
Secretary of the BDA Bristol Network and Assistant Membership Secretary of
the BDA Alliance of Consultants.


*** ADVANCE NOTICE - SEPTEMBER MEETING

Monday, 6 September

Organisational Renewal: Mergers, Acquisitions and Demergers

Led by Bill Tate, author of the highly-acclaimed
Demerging Organisations:A Guide to Best Practice (FT Management Publishing,
1999).


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

FAXBACK to  STEVE ASHLEY on 0171 239 2601



I will be attending the BDA meeting on TUESDAY, 13 July starting at
13.30 for 14.00.


Name:


Organisation:


Address:


Tel:                                                                  
                                                              
Fax:                                                                  
                                                                
Email:

---------------------------------------------------------------------