Society for Organizational Learning
Isaacs’ Dialogue is at the Core of Monkey Business
Dec 5th
As I wrote couple days back in the blueprint of our mission statement, dialogue is at the core of what we do. There are couple of books that have inspired a lot in the field of Dialogue. E.g. William Isaacs’ Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together as well as Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline. Moreover, we can go back to Bohm’s Dialogue, and then we are talking! Here’s a great illustration by Pernan Goni about the four disciplines for dialogue as stated by William Isaacs in his seminal book, the dialogue and the art of thinking together. I got the book back in 2003 from my Godmother and it’s been with me ever since.
The picture is licensed with Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License so feel free to use it when appropriate.
For a higher quality version get in touch with Ville.
Mental Models Game
Oct 22nd
Hi All!
Sorry for the silence of the blog. Let’s see if we can pump some life in here. I want to share with you about a game, a mental models game. We have been using it quite a bit lately, and want to play more in the future because it seems to work rather well.
The game is based on the Peter Senge’s discipline Mental Models from the book Fifth Disciple. It was back in 2006 when we had a creative intelligence and flexibiblity session coached by LeTim where we came up with the game. Homework for the session held in Pukkila was to read the part from Fifth Discipline about Mental Models. On the session we visited Kiasma and Heureka, where happened to be a game exhibition. I think it was because of those visits in the birth giving we came up with the game about mental models. The world of innovation is indeed interesting. In that session there were many great people such as Erkki, Teppo, Olli-Matti, Virpi along with to-be-monkeys myself, Henna and Hanne. There were others as well but I am sorry cannot recall everyone.
What’s the game like? You can play it from three to hundreds of players, I guess, but the basic unit to play with is usually between 10-20 people. That’s a good size to practice dialogue. What’s the goal? To gain understanding about existing mental models we hold, and maybe question or enrich some of them. The main point is to become aware of them by talking about them.
I think the mental model game works because it’s really a game. It has a serious content but not so serious approach. There are time limits for dialogues, there is unpredictability, there are surprises in the game and there’s an end. The game is a platform, I think, and people really get to participate.
We have found the game successfully taking dialogue into meaningful levels very soon, and thus it creates value even in short workshops (e.g. 2 hours). Usually the impact with such a short workshop is not so big, but I think the mental models game can really give participants food for thought.
I will travel to Central Europe twice in November first to Strasbourg and Brussels between 3rd-10th of Nov. And then to Basque Country, Spain from the 22nd – 29th or so. It would be great to play the game with you, so if interested, let me know and let’s fix a time and place!
Keep it yellow! Ville
Ps. About the future of the game. I forgot to mention that you can use it with any theme. E.G. we can use it to talk about our mental models related to social media, experience economy, leadership, team learning etc. In future we want to build a place online where you can download new sets of questions for example from Jarkko Könönen, Esa Saarinen or Peter Senge and so on.
“Follow that yellow man!”
Sep 9th
We allmost missed a flight on our way to Oman SOL Global Forum April 2008 to do our world kick off. In Frankfut Airport staff pointed way for Johanna&Hugo by pointing me running ahead and yelling:” follow that yellow man”. At the same time Henna was holding the Plane… (Btw. my Iphone went just blackout when writing this.)
Since Oman we have been creating more action here and there. And despite that we are still smiling. We see the world as we look at it. Yellow, sunny and bright. As that photo taken yesterday in our office upstairs. Or this one taken in our hoods today morning when cyckling here.
We made our record revenue in August. But we still must improve to keep our enterprise sustainable. Yellow man has got company, friends to work with us. We have been doeing right things right. Maybe. And information board downstairs is updated too!
Hey! I am happy. Life is good. Love. (Iphone still blackout.)
Thanks Monkeys & All. Wouldn´t be here alone.
Tantourist.
Mexican Exemplar Meeting Harvest: Poem
Mar 26th
Recently I have come across people who express themselves through poems and poetry. First in the Art of Hosting training in Karlskrona and then now in the Exemplar meeting in Mexico. That’s something I have hardly experienced at all in the past few years. So I feel lucky this new art form is starting to enter my life. Here’s a poem written by Manish Srivastava of Presencing Institute but as he puts it: Its ‘our’ poem as we (all the exemplars) inspired it. So here we go! Manish is the young gentleman with red T-shirt on the right hand side of myself, Ville.
Between,
Those heartfelt laughter,
Breath-giving winds and chirping birds,
Moist soil and tamarind seeds,
Between,
The rocks that spoke,
The wells that nurtured,
The depths that connected,
The pyramids that centered,
The communities that flourished…
In midst of,
This rich flow of life,
Streams of timeless energy,
And our inspiring stories…
I am falling in love…
With a new possibility,
A new community
A new depth,
A new horizon…
Oh here I am,
A moment when it all becomes one,
The living and the emerging,
Across our hearts, lives and work…
The new is emerging…
I am so full of life… full of hope!
And here are many pictures by Sue Sweitzer from the Sustainable Food Lab.
Team Mastery 2 last session starts today
Sep 16th
I am so excited. And I just can’t hide it. I ‘m about to loose control and I think I like it.
The Team Mastery 2 (TM2) process’ last session starts today here in Jyväskylä. We got friends coming from Basque Country and Madrid, plus Strasbourg and Angers as cross-fertilizers. We have had a great process that started 16 months ago in May 2008. Then we had first session with this team that is nowadays known as the Power Rangers. (Partypeoplesayyeah!)
I participated in the Team Mastery 1 (TM1) process together with Tatu between December 2006 and January 2008. It was great and that is were the foundations of Monkey Business were born. For those of you who haven’t heard Team Mastery, I should tell you that it is a coaching program for people who want to learn team learning coaching the Team Academy way aka with Partus methods. It’s organized by Partus and coached by the legendary Johannes “Partus” Partanen along with Hanna Heikkinen, and myself (Ville) now in the second process.
This TM2 process has been quite special. Ever since the second session in Markina, Basque Country where our theme was customers and marketing there have been external customers / partners involved in our sessions and at least in the birth givings. Also in Markina we came up with a concept “Tribe Fiesta”.
The third session about leadership and leading thoughts was in Strasbourg hosted by TM1 participants Pascal and Claude. In there we had many cross-fertilizers from the TM1 and also we celebrated the 1st anniversary of the Team Academy in Alsace (TAA). It was phenomenal, and the challenge the Power Rangers faced with the birth-giving was for the entire tribe of TAA.
In the fourth session about Innovation we were in Haarlem, and worked intensively with the local Team Academy. Yet again the Power Rangers found themselves in a challenge bigger than before, this time with the teamsters and the dynamic situation of the Team Academy in Haarlem (TAH). There we got to see the real power of this Power Rangers team, and they did amazing job coaching and empowering the teamentrepreneurs of the TAH.
For the fifth session we travelled back to Basque Country and were hosted by Mondragon University Team Academy team, Sain, Sari, Jose-Mari and Aitor and all. First celebrations in San Sebastian and official launch of LEINN, the Teampreneur program in Mondragon University, which got awesome press coverage (11 or so articles published in Basque and Spanish media). The session was about brand management and offerings, and we made it simultaneously with the new teams of Team Academy Euskadi. Whuh. “How do you coach brand?” was the question and I think the new teams got to see what the Team Academy brand is all about.
So here is a little diagram about the levels of challenge the Power Rangers have faced. And this time it’s even bigger. The rumours tell that it’s going to be about 150 people in the Team Mastery Arena event where we have our Team Mastery 2 process going on within it. Hmm 
Very exciting indeed. This challenge include coaching the Partus Learning Network coaches and the SoL Network’s leaders and Academics. I mean, now the friend leaders coaching skills are being tested. “Intervene when you feel like you shouldn’t and do not when you feel like you should.” That’s the rule number one of team coaching by Johannes. Maybe that one is something to remember now? Maybe not? Maybe we need to abandon all old theories and come up with something completely new by standing on the shoulders of the giant. I am curious. Also our Monkey Man Tatu is MC’ing the whole event!
Power Rangers, I am proud of you. I am sure this won’t be the last time we meet and we are about to engage into a new journey. Thank you!
Ps. Here are some more pictures about our process.
Ps2. I have been taking notes throughout the process, and made some notebooks on the go, so after putting them all together and maybe some further co-creation it will be published as a book or pamflet of some kind. That’s exciting, too.
Ps3. I will also ask Henna to write some’s reflections about this journey from a participant’s point of view.
Team Mastery Arena in Jyvaskyla in September
Aug 20th
We are in somewhat close relationship with the organizers of the Team Mastery Arena event coming up in Jyväskylä in 4 weeks. It’s organized by the folks of Team Academy, supported by Partus and SoL Finland. That if something should guarantee a good spirit!
This picture with Tatu, Ville and Matti the BatMan of DialogueLife is courtesy of the organizers of the event and its form their VIP customer event held a week ago. More of them in this link.
Monkey Business will be on stage with Tatu as the MC and Henna as a participant of the Team Mastery 2 whom will be the main ingredient for the second day summing it all up together all together with every participant. I am excited if I have understand it all right, and how it’s going to end up.
We’ve negotiated a special deal for the Monkey Business’ friends! Sorry, no discounts this time, but when registering, if you add to the field allergies etc. (for meals) “I like bananas!” we will provide you with a free notebook in the event.
Keep it Yellow! Ville
Pictures from Illikka aka Eräelämys
Jun 23rd
The summer is here in Finland and some of the monkeys are already having their holidays. I wanted to do a little post with a link to a photo gallery about this wonderful place that we have been using for some coaching and also for own retreats. It’s called Saimaan Eräelämys and I find it amazing. Every time I go there my mind starts to relax and I feel good. We did organize the second part of the Penquin Expedition 2008 there last August. This year the place is booked around the time of the Penquins arrival so I think we will offer you a possibility to do a something like the Jaworski’s solo experience explained in his book Synchronicity right after the Team Mastery Arena event on Saturday the 19th of September.
Here are the pictures of Illikka behind this link (requires flash player).
Festivals in the Workplace – Presentation by Roosevelt Finlayson at SoL Finland Meeting
Apr 4th
Couple weeks ago I had a chance to listen a presentation by Roosevelt Finlayson. He’s a man from Bahamas and he has done 12 years of inquiry about the connection and similarity between a workplace and festivals of Caribbean e.g. Carnivals. He started to wonder why people give everything for organizing their shows for the carnivals but do not do the same in their work places.
I got to know Roosevelt a little bit when we met in the SoL Global Forum in Muscat, Oman in April 2008. And now when I heard he will give a presentation at SoL Finland’s members meeting I had to go there because I am quite interested in his work for couple of reasons.
Fireworks of one show of Rio Carnivals 2008
Firstly, I was in carnival in Rio last year during my trip around the world. See the picture above. That was a great experience, thank you Paulo for hosting me and Tapio there. Secondly, I think Team Academy is using festivals quite a bit in it’s processes. Third reason is the Esa Saarinen’s fantastic James Bond philosophy. In that the 5th point is following the real meaning of things is revealed in Bahamas. So one day I want to go to Bahamas and understand the real meaning of things.
What Roosevelt told about people who participate organizing festival reminded me of what Pekka Himanen talk about people writing code in his book the Hacker Ethic. In both cases, people are enthusiastic about what they do, are willing to work long hours, they want to do their best and get even better, they feel that they are appreciated and part of something bigger than themselves could achieve alone. The challenge is to bring this into practice. How can we build workplaces where people are like coders at their best or people working for the festival?
In the meeting there was also talk about power of images in building the vision and the power of self-organizing. He mentioned open space as a starting point for a new way of organizing.
This is a question that has no simple answer. (Maybe?) But for this complex issue of building organization Roosevelt brings the ideas of Festivals. He encourages people to organize festivals in their workplaces also literally. They offer people chance to take responsibility and thrive in a position other than their usual one. They are also good for bringing up the spirit of the organization, networking both internally and externally and celebrating success and learning. Like Kouzes and Posner say in their book The Leadership Challenge: Encourage the Heart! Is there a better way to bring up the spirit than celebrating together?
In Team Academy, where I used to learn on a daily basis, there are many festivals. Some are internal and some are open festivals for the whole network including customers and partners. When new penguins (first year teampreneurs) join the Team Academy in August there is a so called baptism party for them. After that they are officially part of Team Academy. That’s usually on the first week when they arrive. About after a month in early october there are the first ones of the bi-annual rocket days. The Rocket Days is a two-day event where whole Team Academy participates. This is the real carnival. All the teams are dressed according to a theme. For example once the general theme of the rocket days was the middle age and thus one team was dressed as farmers, the other one as monks, third one as nobel folks, some as slaves etc. So teams are clearly distinguished from each other. The other Rocket Days are held in March.
Ville & Tapio in Rio Carnival 2008. We got to pose by the truck.
The biggest festival of Team Academy is the anniversary held around the 19th of January. The biggest party so far was the 15th anniversary which was also the day when Team Academy reached it’s vision to be the top unit of entrepreneurship in Finland. We had about 300 people in a seminar on Friday and 500 people celebrating in a gala on Saturday night. That was a nice party. Monkey Business (Ville and Tatu) were the MC’s of the seminar and Tatu even continued to host the gala. That was probably also the most international of our festivals as it had Ignition participants there as well as people from the first Team Mastery who actually did their final birth giving at the seminar and people from a Learning Expedition. All that was a good fun.
What are the festivals of your organization? Or your tribe and network?
Ps. Yesterday we were working at Aivomyrsky. It was loads of fun. Good action. I’ll post about that soon. It was a one kind of festival for young people interested in Entrepreneurship. Written by Monkey Ville
Ps2. Pictures and post in Finnish about the above mentioned Rocket Days at LeTim’s blog. Highly recommended!
Learning Expedition to Team Academy
Feb 15th
Ever since I started at Team Academy back in 2004 I have been actively taking part into Learning Expeditions as a representative of Team Academy. I remember my first one in October 2004 when for example Etienne Collignon, Javier Ruiz and Claude Zauber came to see Team Academy. Now, about 4,5 years later I am organizing a yet another Learning Expedition to Team Academy with these same people who actually have by now all started their own Team Academy initiatives. And n fact, Etienne and Laurent wrote an article for the SoL Reflections about their first Learning Expedition. I thought you may find that one interesting as well if you haven’t seen it yet.
So there is a new Learning Expedition coming up and we are expecting an interesting week with plenty of dialogue and good thinking together. This time, besides the normal program, there’s a real speciality as we get to see the birth-giving of the Young Leader Special Training program and enjoy the dinner and Finnish sauna with them on Friday night. Promotional slides are here below. You can also download them here. Inquiries and any questions can be sent to me to ville@banana.fi
Ps. All the Finns and especially ones around Jyväskylä. Next Wednesday you have a chance to see something special as the first international team of Team Academy IPOTA gives birth about their learning from being a team at Team Academy. It starts at 9am at Team Academy. I can also organize a Skype so that people from abroad could follow it through a video call. Drop me a line if you are interested in that.
Written by Ville Monkey
Team Academy Alsace 1-year old.
Dec 8th
Long long time ago I can still remember when I was a penguin at Team Academy. The first year teampreneurs are called penguins over here. Back then and still I am very interested in international co-operation because I believe the more different people the more ideas and better thinking together. So it happened that a group of people especially through the SoL Network from different parts of Europe came to visit Team Academy. among them Javier Ruiz from Bilbao, Basque Country and Etienne Collignon from Paris, France. But with these network masters there was also a man who spoke only few words of English and he was very happy that Sanna Tossavainen (now at Entrepart) could speak French. I don’t remember talking much to him personally but I remember his overwhelming enthusiasm when he took the mic on the last day. He said few words, and I think Sanna translated to us, but what I remember was his energy and enthusiasm. Already then he had a nice big beard. Maybe some of you know his name by now, Claude Zauber.
Me and Henna had the honor to be in Strasbourg 1.5 weeks ago for the local Team Academy Alsace‘s 1st anniversary party. We were there thanks to Pascal’s invitation as a part of the Team Mastery process, me as an assistant coach and Henna as a participant. On Friday they had organized an amazing network celebration where the Team Mastery group gave birth to their new insights on leadership.
Over there and then I realized that this was the dream of Claude that maybe was born four years ago. I felt deeply touched having been there then when the dream was born and now seeing it in reality. Amazing! He had managed to get Pascal on board in fact I don’t know since when. They both were with me and Tatu in Team Mastery that ended this January 2008.
The pictures from the event will tell more than my words. I think celebrations are important because they are a way to encourage the heart.
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