> I'm looking for a "getting started" or "icebreaker" type exercise to
> be used at a leadership conference. The focus of the conference is to
> create a sense of connection and alignment. The divisions and
> departments of our bank have long worked in independent silos. We're
> looking to create a sense of unified direction. Ideally, the exercise
> will be more than the usual introductions and instead allow the
> participants to experience an "ah ha"...a collective understanding of
> the need to be aligned and moving together. There will be
> approximately 125 participants, representing the top third of our
> management.
As I am hot on the social network mapping trail, I'll spin something out
from that domain. You could do an "action sociometry" map: As people to
mill around and center themselves on their awareness of themselves and the
others in the room. Ask people to put their right hand on the shoulder of
the person who they have the most contact with: this will give the current
affiliation structure. You could then look for 'weak ties', i.e., people
who could by their position in the network act as a bridge to a group that
they are not currently connected to. By facilitating these 'emergent'
connections the group begind to self organize for greater alignment and
movement potential.
A good reference for background on this exercise is Daniel Brass,
"Creativity: It's All In Your Social Network" In: Creative Action in
Organizations, Ford &Gioia.I'd be happy to discuss this further if you'd
like,
Rich DiNapoli
dinapoli@nh.ultranet.com
--dinapoli <dinapoli@nh.ultranet.com>
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