It was a fantastic opportunity to participate in the inaugural ISP Practitioner's workshop in New York recently - and to connect with such a switched on and diverse group of people.

John, Jay, Dale, Tom, Diane and Ed, it was a pleasure to meet you and to participate in such interesting conversations during the two days we had together. 

It was a particularly rich experience for me to meet William and Debra for the first time and to reconnect with Alain. You are doing a brilliant job in developing ISP.

Although the online world provides the tools for communication, the value of human connection for revitalising and strengthening relationships can't be underestimated.

So now I'm settled back into the chilly South Australian winter, it's time to get this show on the road! 

So here's an invitation to you...

Now we're a few weeks down the track and had time to reflect on what emerged for you during those two days,  here's a couple of focus questions to get the conversation started:

What was a highlight for you and what did you learn?

How does this learning relate to your own practice?

What would be one small action that would motivate you to actively participate in this Practitioner's forum?

What other ideas, issues, questions do you have?

Looking forward to connecting with you as we explore the breadth and depth of what is possible with ISP.

Kind regards

Marie

 

 

 

 

 

The highlight for me was validating the sense that we are creating something wonderful here, and how we can truly touch other people's lives with this work.

The learning that was reinforced was the importance of appreciating and developing how the ISP can be and is being integrated into other work to create value... very important to me as I develop the tools to support the ISP application and the community.

What will motivate me to participate is others' participation -- so join in!

A question I have is "Is it too early to focus on participation in the community, do we not have enough critical mass yet?" and "How can the community add value to your practice/work?"

Thanks Marie.

Hi Alain,
Good question - do you need a 'critical mass' to build  a community! Of course numbers help, no doubt about that, but what draws numbers is purpose and activity!

When a new person joins any community, if there is activity, there's more potential for participation. It's like going to a party - if you are first there, it's tougher, but if it is in full swing, it's easier to join in, especially if the conversation is appealing and you feel you can contribute. 

So here's a party conversation you are invited to join.....

On a couple of occasions I've used the four innovation styles and related questions  as a framework to promote conversations around a key issue.  In this case, it was how to apply some recent research on models of professional development to redesigning a PD framework. The participants had not done the ISP or were even aware of it. 

For example:

VISIONING: What would be the ideal application of the research findings?
EXPLORING: What assumptions to we need to test about how we currently offer professional development?
EXPERIMENTING: How could we realign what we currently offer to more fully reflect the key research findings?
MODIFYING: What is one small step we could take that would have the most significant impact on implementing the research findings?

Even without an awareness of the ISP, participants found this a very useful framework. It's  a bit like reverse marketing.  If participants see the value in such a framework, then imagine how the process could be strenghtened with the addition of the underlying knowledge the ISP could bring!

So here's my question: Is it always necessary to start with the ISP, or can it be introduced in a more subtle way, with the offer of strengthening a process that has already been experienced?  In other words can the use of ISP tools lead to an interest in utilsing ISP?

Would be keen you hear everyone's feedback on this!

Jay, Dale, Tom, Diane, Ed, John, William, Debra, Alain ... what's your opinion?

 

Marie, I'm sure you're right -- introducing the framework and realizing the value without ever explicitly mentioning Innovation Styles is a great way to go.

Marie and Alain, et al,
Sorry for the delayed response. I was having trouble with the website or thought I was. Alain, it obviously is working.

On needing critical mass, I do think it is helpful, but then how many people constitute critical mass? I agree with Marie that it is more about establishing a need, purpose and activity. If we can get people interested then they will join and participate. If there is no obvious purpose, then it doesn't matter how many people you have, littel will come of it.

On the question of needing to start with the ISP, I will give the standard consultant's answer; it depends. What has the concusltant been engaged to do and is the desired outcome? If the engagement is for formal innovation, then starting with the ISP can work. If the engagement is about someting else and a need for innovation arises, formally or informally, then the ISP may be a useful tool. It also depends on the client group. Are they open to new tools and tehcniques or not? I have found some groups are open to new things and some aren't. Using the tool formally or informally is not the right question but how to best achieve the desired result. If you accompish that, then the client will be happy. Deliver the desired results or more and the client will be more open to things.

What do you think?

Regards,
Jay

Jay, I agree with you. So the question for me is, given that we have one set of tools at InnovationStyles.com but are supporting consultants -- is that a workable model for a community? And if so, how?