Insights Learning and Development

The success of all relationships is dependent upon how well the parties involved can connect. The more we know about ourselves, the better we can figure out how to connect. Insights Discovery tools are easy, well researched, and practical ways to increase self-awareness.

When two or more people come together to accomplish something, one of the first things they encounter is how alike or different they are in their thinking and communication style. This is true in business, family, friend and romantic relationships. The success of all relationships is dependent upon how well the parties involved can connect. The more we know about ourselves, the better we can figure out how to connect, and understand what creates disconnects.

As a licensed Insights practitioner since 2007, I have had hundreds of opportunities to use the Insights Discovery tools with individuals, and it has shown me that this tool is an easy, fun, reliable (well researched), practical way to increase self-awareness. Whether you are looking for an individual breakthrough, leadership development or increased team effectiveness, Insights Discovery tools can help. You can read more about these tools and many of the success stories at www.insights.com.

Facilitation

What is the role of a facilitator? I've been in situations where they think my job is to provide input on decision making, or keep the agenda moving or take notes or write on flip charts. Some of those tasks are performed by a facilitator, but only in service of the core function.

The root word of facilitator is facil, which means easy. A facilitator is there to make something easier. When I am asked to facilitate something, I always ask, "What do you need me to help make easy?"

Examples include:

• Having a difficult conversation

• Making a decision

• Increasing participation

• Planning an effective meeting

• Creating a safe space

• Clarifying issues

• Keeping us on track

• Behave (listen, be respectful, etc.)

Artful Inquiry

Depending on the work we do together, I may ask you to put down the pen and paper and pick up the camera. Why? Because creative expression, via the right brain, has a way of revealing truths that our left brains simply cannot access.

I have always loved looking at pictures. When I would get sick as a little girl and needed to stay home from school, my favorite part of the day was when Mom would pull down her old photo albums. The pages were yellowing with age and the black and white photographs were starting to curl on the edges as they pulled up from the page under dried out scotch tape. I would go through each page and carefully look at the faces and make up stories about these people – many whom I had never met.

As I got older, I begged for a camera and began taking pictures of anything and everything. Somehow, life looked different through the lens of a camera and I was fascinated by that. As an adult, I became obsessed with scrapbooking. I loved capturing memories on film and documenting history with the pictures and stories I would tell. Not only was it fun for me, but also my friends and family loved to flip through pages of scrapbooks. The conversations over scrapbook pictures were almost more fun than the actual events at times.

As part of my doctoral program I developed a series of interventions involving pictures that could be used with teams. I developed an expertise for developing questions that could be answered through the images people captured on film. As a matter of fact, one of the two data collection methods used for my dissertation was "artful inquiry". Yes, my dissertation has photographs in it: Pictures of Transition: A study of the leadership journey into unfamiliar territory.

Over the years, I have continued to use images as a key element in my work. There is a scientific reason that supports my use of artful inquiry, in addition to the fact that I love pictures and using them with a group is great fun! Images (and metaphors) are processed by the right hemisphere of our brain. The left hemisphere can take the information you already have and reorder it, but it cannot come up with new information. All new information comes into the brain through the right hemisphere. We all can use new information! As an example, if I asked people to give me a word that described a strength of their team, they would give me words that they already knew – collaborative, flexible, results driven, fun, etc. But, if I asked people to think about the strength of their team and select a picture that resonated with them, I know for a fact that I would get descriptors that would never come up if I limited the exercise to a list of words. I know this is true because I have seen it work dozens of times. If we work together, I can guarantee that at some point I will ask questions that I want you to answer with a picture, or some type of metaphor because we all need access to new information.

BEabove Leadership

This study of consciousness is fascinating, but until I found BEabove Leadership, it was too academic and unavailable for practical use. This training enables me to bring scientific research to individuals, teams and organizations in a fascinating, fun, actionable way.

Being and doing are two sides of the same coin, yet we tend to spend much more time thinking about what we are doing, not necessarily realizing that the actions we take are coming from who we are being. Human development must look at both sides of the coin. If we focus solely on the actions we take, we miss the deeper understanding of why we do what we do. If we don’t move to action and spend our time looking inward, nothing changes. To grow, stretch, develop and become increasingly more effective in our lives, we must make a conscious choice to look at who we are being and notice the impact that has on those around us and our lives in general. When a person can tap into the ability to view their actions from a higher level of conscious thought, that enables them to have greater choice and increases their level of effectiveness. Who we are being greatly impacts the quality of life we live, including our health. I use BEabove’s 7 Levels of Effectiveness to help people live life more intentionally; this brings new meaning to the oft used term “personal accountability.”

In addition to the 7 Levels of Effectiveness perspective I bring to my work, BEabove training has provided me with a broad, practical understanding of neuroscience. I am not a neuroscientist, and because the brain is a beautifully complex messy mystery, there is much that I (and the field of study) do not know. However, my training allows me to help my clients create new patterns and eliminate unwanted patterns, and actually improve their health by developing a more integrated brain. The tools are simple, fun, based on scientific research and THEY WORK! Thanks to BEabove I am honored to be a Certified Neurotransformational Coach (CNTC). This unique model is where coaching, neuroscience and consciousness meet.

To learn more about Ann and Ursula’s work visit www.beaboveleadership.com.

Organization Development

Over the years, many people have mistaken my degree in Organization Development as education focused on organizing things. Here is a high level picture of what OD is and how it influences both the “what” and the “how” of my client work.

Allow me to get a bit academic...

OD is a process of planned intervention(s) utilizing behavioral and organizational science principles to change a system and improve its effectiveness, conducted in accordance with values of humanism, participation, choice and development so that the organization and its members learn and develop. (Jamieson & Worley, 2008)

OD uses a multi-disciplinary approach to help organizations learn and increase effectiveness. We can trace OD back to the 1950s and it has roots in anthropology, psychology and sociology – throw in a bit of business to keep it grounded in usability.

Interventions (a scary word) include, but are not limited to, strategic planning, team building, leadership development, coaching, process re-engineering, process consultation, vision and mission creation, organization learning, culture work and change.

I have done work in all of these areas, but have recently narrowed my focus to all things change related. Individuals and systems in change are what initially drew me into the field, and after 20 years and two advanced degrees, I am still fascinated by the process of change. I feel blessed to be able to call this my field of study and am proud to say that I know OD can make a difference. I have been a part of changing many systems for the better, and I appreciate being able to bring my OD perspective to all parts of my life. I am a better wife, mother, sister, friend, teacher, employer, employee and citizen because of my education and experience in OD.