Does Your Team, Department or Organization Need a Jolt of CPR?

Generating and Facilitating Imagination, Open Communication

and Mission Success through Creativity, Passion and Risk-Taking

Hi, 

Wanted to share the latest successful stress, change and team building work with the military.  I'm exploring an intriguing collaborative concept for a half day to full day retreat applicable for almost any organization.  It's a two step-process: 

1) start with a dynamic and interactive, inspiring and FUN two-three hour Stress Doc workshop in the morning followed directly by  

2) an in-house (department, division, management team, etc.) team problem-solving led by an in-house leader (with or without facilitation or participant observation assistance from the Stress Doc) in the afternoon or late morning.  (Of course, additional follow-up workshop sessions -- days, weeks or months down the road -- can be designed.) 

The initial high energy and highly participatory session will definitely jump-start people's creative and cooperative juices while reducing solo or silo-driven defensiveness.  As captured by the following testimonial, the morning group interaction -- the safe and fun emotive-expressive sharing and problem solving – really freed people of different rank to productively risk and creatively brainstorm in the afternoon.

15th Support Brigade, 1st Cavalry, Ft. Hood, TX
[Two-Hour Stress, Change and Team-Building Program for 40 Officers and Spouses]

From: Phelps, Lawrence COL MIL USA FORSCOM <lawrence.phelps@us.army.mil>
To: StressDoc@aol.com
Sent: Mon, 28 Jul 2008
Subject: Thanks Mark!

Mark:

What a great program you engineered at our Command Offsite!  It could not have been better if we had orchestrated it!  Your session on managing change and stress was the perfect lead-in to the work we had to accomplish throughout the conference.  It set the conditions for the free, uninhibited work (regardless of rank) that we needed.  Our “drawing” exercise was absolutely enlightening.  I cannot tell you how valuable it was to me as the “CEO” to see these products and see how the differing sections and commands worked together.  The spouses loved the briefing and the interaction just as much as the uniformed members did. 

Here’s the BLUF: Your session was the critical building block on which we built the rest of the conference. 

My sincere thanks.  Job well done.

COL Phelps

COL Larry Phelps
Commander, 15th SB
Work: 254-287-8250
Cell: 254-702-1318
Every Day...Better!
SUPPORT THE ACTION!
------------------

Let me reaffirm and expand upon Commander Phelp’s note, especially these two key sentences: 

Your session on managing change and stress was the perfect lead-in to the work we had to accomplish throughout the conference.  It set the conditions for the free, uninhibited work (regardless of rank*) that we needed.

(*Other diversity factors were race, gender, age, time in grade, various operational departments and specialties in addition to commissioned and non-commissioned status.) 

Key Problem Solving Success Indicators 

Now let’s delineate some key outcomes of the afternoon session, based on talks with Col. Phelps and several officers: 

Ø       open and genuine communication among a diverse participant group

Ø       reduction of solo- or silo-driven thinking and defensive territoriality

Ø       successful win/win problem solving and genuine consensus experience

Ø       negotiation without thorny contentiousness, self-defeating power struggles and lingering frustration or resentments and

Ø       stronger sense of team building and strategic planning for the greater good and goal
  (and I can’t think of a process being more strategic than planning for redeployment in Iraq!)
 

Key Problem Solving Success Drivers
 

From my perspective, several factors produced the dynamic, inspiring, jump-starting morning session: 

1. Illustrating Change and Conflict.  Opening up with a thought-provoking presentation on change and conflict, and then identifying personal signs of transitional stress

2. Problem Solving Reenactment.  Problem-solving creatively a “real life/war zone” change-conflict scenario

3. Dynamics of Loss and Change, Conflict and Creativity.  Providing conceptual understanding of the dynamics of loss and change and the applied connection among change, conflict and creative problem solving

4. Dynamics of Aggression and Power Struggles.  Engaging in a high energy, purposeful yet playful power struggle exercise that allows for some “outrageous” expression and interplay.  Remember, the middle word in “out-rage-ous" is “rage.”  Helping people express frustration and channel their rage constructively is a key to working through power struggles, regaining positive control and letting go of negative control, breaking out of the box and even building trust.  (And as a former "Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant" for the US Postal Service I know something about the issue.) 

5. Acclaimed Team Discussion/Team Drawing Exercise.  Involving diverse groups in a high energy/high imagination team discussion and team drawing exercise that focuses on sources of stress/conflict and barriers to being CPR – “Creative, Passionate and Risk-Taking."  Open sharing of and reciprocal playing with ideas and images result in synergistic “products” that helps one and all:

a) not feel so alone, b) see “the bigger picture” and c) allows people to draw out instead of act out their aggression and frustration, d) feel a vital part of a supportive, productive and creative problem-solving team.  In addition, e) time limits compelled groups to forsake perfection and risk jumping into the problem-solving pool and f) research indicates that when diverse teams (as opposed to ones more homogeneous) engage in open communication and genuine collaboration more imaginative problem solving results.  And when participants see that g) top management can accept the reality of shared frustration and are open to hearing some “negative input” there is an increase of organizational trust.

In other words, there is both diagnostic and strategic potential in this team building exercise.  Again, to quote Col. Phelps:  “Our “drawing” exercise was absolutely enlightening.  I cannot tell you how valuable it was to me as the “CEO” to see these products and see how the differing sections and commands worked together.”

Next Step

I would appreciate greatly your thoughts on the above collaborative workshop/foundation building and jump-starting facilitation process.  Please email stressdoc@aol.com or call 301-875-2567 with any questions or comments.  To good adventures and collaborations.

Sample Program Blurb and Outline/Objectives

 Does Your Team, Department or Organization Need a Jolt of CPR?

Generating and Facilitating Imagination, Open Communication

and Mission Success through Creativity, Passion and Risk-Taking

 Today's 24/7, "always on" world often cycles between "do more with less" downsizing and ever faster upgrading...and the pressure keeps mounting.  How do you counter a tendency to hold on to the familiar; how do you help people productively and creatively grapple with the future?  How do you foster resilience over resistance while disarming self-defeating power struggles?  Ready for an individual and organizational mindset that encourages productive risk-taking and imaginatively envisions diverse and united perspectives and possibilities?  Do you need a framework and foundation for jump-starting future problem solving and strategic planning?  Tough questions, still, have no fear the Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, the "Stress Doc" ™ is here.  An acclaimed speaker and OD/Team Building consultant, the Doc delivers a unique blend of dynamic and inspiring presentation along with thought-provoking and passionate, purposeful and playful group interaction to help you bring "Fire, Focus and FUN" to today's leadership challenges.  During these turbulent times, let the Stress Doc help you break down barriers and build bridges toward a more motivated, coordinated, creative and higher performing workplace.

Objectives

A.  Creatively Managing Transitional Tension

1.  Understand the "danger and opportunity" of change and conflict

2.  Explore creative systems intervention through group brainstorm

3.  Discover the "Six 'F's for Managing Loss and Change"

B. Defusing Power Struggles and Building Trust

1.  Discover self-affirmation and tactful negotiation in the face of challenge and conflict
2.  Replace "blaming" messages with cooperative and face-saving communication skills

3.  Build trust through the power of asking courageous questions

C.  Developing Resilience and Hardiness

1.  Learn to constructively confront a critical aggressor through the "Fumbled the Data" Exercise
2.  Affirm our common humanity through "Embarrassing Moment" Exercise

3.  Discover four keys to "Creative Risk-Taking:  Confronting Your Intimate FOE"

D.  Group Visioning and Creativity

1.  Identifying "Barriers to More Creative Risk-Taking Environments" Exercise
2.  Discover a Four "P" Passion Power Tool Set for maximizing energy and impact
3.  Recognize stress barriers and generate CPR -- being Creative, Passionate & Risk-Taking