transformational

The mirror we are ourselves

On 18 mei 2013, in meetings, participation, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan

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‘Well! If you can’t handle it, I’ll do it!’ She almost screamed the sentence then stood up and left the meeting room. She went straight to her working space, fell in her chair and gazed through the window. She felt exasperated. Her team was not able to pull it off. The past 2 years, [...]

What leadership for groups in confusion?

On 14 maart 2013, in meetings, participation, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan

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Sometimes I’m just a participant of a meeting. I cherish these meetings. I’m just one of the pack, do not need to lead the meeting and can decide my own role according to my whims. This time I was in an observing and learning mood. A crowd of approximately 40 participants had gathered around the [...]

Creating clarity within a group

On 7 november 2012, in change, methods, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan

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The discussion heated up. I simply asked all participants, a management team, to take a stance by physically putting on a scale a coloured dot. For this growing organisation I was curious to know what the management wanted: more systemisation of processes on the one hand or more self-organisation and responsibilities on a lower level. [...]

‘An iPad is not a device’ – Interview with Dave Gray

On 28 oktober 2012, in creativity, improvisation, innovation, meetings, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan

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Dave Gray, founder and chairman of the visual thinking company XPLANE, has just released his new book ‘The Connected Company’. The speed that information moves across, customers, markets, investors and beyond, changes the environments in which our companies are operating. More and more, customers request special and tailor-made treatments. In ‘The Connected Company’ Dave Gray [...]

Organising a miracle

On 12 juli 2012, in change, meetings, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan

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There’s a fine line between pushing others into something new and letting them decide for themselves. It was only a matter of time. The decision to cut the budget by more than 50% was formally not yet taken, but only a miracle could save the organisation, a big music school in the South of the [...]

The hidden blessing of failure

On 28 maart 2012, in change, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan

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I’ve already been blogging here and here about the importance of failure when changing or innovating. Despite the lessons I write about failure, I try to avoid them. Just like any other human being. Failure is not something I have built into my normal operation mode. I don’t wake up in the morning with [...]

Yes, and… let’s revolutionize the world

On 28 juni 2011, in change, improvisation, methods, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan

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Not long ago I discovered and joined the Applied Improvisation Network, a worldwide network of more than 1800 dedicated professionals using improvisation within their work. Their work is typically in the field of education, training, leadership, creativity, innovation and organisational development. The basic rule for all improvisation work is: ‘yes, and…’ During [...]

Letting the new emerge

On 9 juni 2011, in change, innovation, transformational, by Ruben van der Laan

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On the card John wrote the word ‘listening’. He was proud of it. ‘I learned the importance of listening today. It’s makes for better teamwork. So that’s what I’ll do starting tomorrow back at the office’. As usual I was closing the meeting by asking participants to write down that single action they would do [...]