Leadership for Resilient Futures: Programs 2009
A program for leaders committed to learning & applying new thinking in complex times
Leadership for Resilient Futures
Redefining Leadership. Addressing Complex Issues. Innovating Resilient Outcomes.
What are the burning issues, problems and opportunities that keep you awake at night!
How are you dealing with them? How can you deal with them?
How do you understand and contextualise the disruptive environment in which we are working and living so you make decisions that work?
Is the thinking and method that you use robust enough to deal with this complex environment, to manage the risks you are taking, and to achieve resilient outcomes to which you are committed?
Introduction
The extreme and complex conditions underlying such questions demand us to take time out to re-think our role and actions as leaders in organizations, business, community and government. They also demand that we re-think leadership itself, redefine the processes leaders use, and reorient the behavior of leadership networks. If not, some of our best leaders may use the use and intention of the word resilience and at the same time risk promoting non-resilient activities at a time when both the best leadership capability and a commitment to resilient outcomes are critical to local and global moves toward resilient futures.
It is also a time when we must posses a heightened understanding in applying the term resilience, and not use it as a throw away line to look like we are on top of the situation, and will get it fixed – never to repeat itself again. The inappropriate use of the word resilience by leadership in this way without the appropriate understanding of what it means and how resilience is attained, will lead to the creation of more problems than are solved, and worse, false promises to people who need appropriate leadership thinking and capability to guide them through significant change.
Leadership for Resilient Futures (LfRF) is a platform and program based on the understanding that events like rapid change, the economic crisis, climate change or freak weather, energy security, loss of access to water and social ‘mood swings’ represent strong evidence of a state-change demanding a major reorientation, and not a simple step-change relying on a moderate correction of ‘business as usual’. They are also evidence that to view these conditions as being predictable, controllable and measurable where we can deterministically plan our way out of problems with linear processes, is a highly dangerous approach. On the other hand if we understand and address the world as a dynamically changing, non-linear, resilient complex system requiring complimentary processes, we have within our reach an immense opportunity to release and rethink our past and problems to innovate a prosperous and resilient future.
The first step in doing so is to recognize and embrace the extreme conditions we face, and to understand the risk we take in applying conventional thinking and actions to such unconventional and complex issues. In this environment planning must be more about a dynamic process of strategy in action that forges proactive transformation to rapid and radically changing conditions. We must also frame the world in which we live and work as a non-linear, complex adaptive system that cannot be predicted or controlled, but when understood, can be worked with to synchronise complimentary social, economic and ecological outcomes that secure a favorable way of life. In doing so we must apply our best creative capability and innovation systems to generate a virtuous cycle toward resilience rather than unwittingly pursue a vicious cycle of ad hoc, but managed, adaptive decline. And in the end possess a cast of leaders willing and able to continue this journey beyond our immediate need and crisis.
The Resilient Futures Network
The Resilient Futures Network (RFN) is a global and local network of people committed to addressing these challenges and supporting our businesses, communities, organisations and individuals in a move towards resilient futures. The RFN teaches, facilitates and advises on the use of the Resilient Futures Framework (RFN) in programs like the LfRF, and is also currently working on local and global projects.
Projects and programs are lead by RFN members who come from diverse backgrounds that include practitioners in business, strategy, community development, economic development, environmental management, planning, urban development, risk management and academia. All have been trained in the Resilient Futures Framework, a process designed to address, at a local level, complex issues like economic recovery, business innovation, sustainable land use planning, resilient communities, energy security and regional collaboration. In doing so it views the places, businesses or organizations we live and work in as whole systems that require understanding at a complex, non-linear systems level, and change through the application of a dynamic, strategy in action approach.
The definition of resilience can follow many agendas and paths from the ability to bounce back …. to being chaos compliant. The working definition of resilient futures the RFF applies goes beyond the conventional idea of experiencing shocks, adapting in an ad hoc manner and returning to function, to a role where leadership guides a process of seeing the shocks emerge in an holistic form, proactively transforming and bouncing forward in a flow with changing conditions. In the broader sense, the RFF definition of resilient futures is: whole systems, proactively transforming in a flow with conditions, and prospering through a continued move toward resilient futures.
The LfRF Program: New Thinking for Leading in Complex Times
The Leadership for Resilient Futures (LfRF) program provides an intensive and highly interactive learning environment for individuals and teams to network together to work on their individual and joint projects while practicing the Resilient Futures Framework (RFF). In doing so, participants have the opportunity to apply the RFF thinking and process to issues, problems and opportunities that are of concern to them while also connecting to a local and global network and learning community for sharing information and experience.
The program also provides participants the opportunity to build and enjoy a network of like-minded professionals at a local, regional and global level, and the opportunity for further personal and professional engagement with the Resilient Futures Network in projects and events that follow.
Project focus: The project participants bring into the program will be up to them. It may be at an individual or a team level and could represent a problem or an opportunity. Where a project needs to be held in confidence, participants are not required to share intimate details of their project, but they are expected to fully participate in learning activities with the group at large.
The Framework and Outcomes: Though a large element of what participants take-away is personal to them and the focus of their project, there are some generic outputs that participants are expected to work toward:
· Integrating the principles of resilient futures that go beyond sustainability,
· The understanding of how to distinguish between complex and simple problems and opportunities. Those that can be treated in a relatively linear manner, and those that are highly non-linear and cannot be planned for or mitigated against, but demand proactive transformation,
· A deep understanding at a local and regional level of the immediate and emergent conditions at the local, regional and global scale,
· The understanding of how systems and networks connect and work – especially social, economic, ecological and innovation systems and networks,
· The ability to resiliently agglomerate capability through a systems approach,
· The ability to catalyze self-organization that is resilient and perpetuates a locally and regionally owned move toward resilient futures at a local and regional level,
· Adaptive, strategy in action to leverage changing conditions in a timely manner,
· Open platform innovation systems (OPIS) – thinking of innovation like LINUX or open source software – the fastest way to proliferate innovation the world has ever experienced,
· An appropriate use of the term ‘resilience’ and ‘resilient future’, and what the use of these terms imply and where they can and can’t be used,
· Working with the RFN to advance personal and professional capability and projects, and,
· Proactively averting managed, adaptive decline (MAD) at all costs.
Delivery: The program will be delivered by RFN partners – Larry Quick: Complex (Vic), Fred Presley Resilience Planning (USA), and David Platt of CUSP Consulting (WA) – see www.resilientfutures.org for bios.
The LfRF program environment is an intensive, interactive and experiential learning event. It uses as its mainstays participant input and output (existing knowledge, experience and feedback), open discussion, work-shopping, theory in practice, perturbation and reflection.
Participant numbers and networking: To ensure appropriate levels of interaction are achieved, this program will be limited to approximately thirty (30) participants. As a key element of the program is about networks and the stimulation of resilience within networks, participation is primarily through network invitation and self-organization, with some places taken through mass broadcast.
Format: The program format for the April program to be held in Melbourne, Victoria will be:
· Pre-workshop activity – reading, watching, thinking, linking and doing – commences with registration.
· Workshop – venue to be confirmed:
o Evening Session – 7pm to 10pm
o Day One - 9am to when complete
o Day Two – 9am to 5pm.
· Post-workshop practice within learning circles – over 4 weeks – as determined by groups
· Program completion event – 4 weeks following workshop – as determined by the group
· See guide below for local program detail
Cost: The cost of the program is:
· Individual fee – See local prices below
· Team fee (two participants or more) – less 10%
· Scholarships – There are four scholarships for either students or community leaders working on community-based projects that do not have funding available for this type of learning and practice.
Payment: Payment is required by bank transfer or cheque at time of registration. If participants are unable to attend, substitution is preferred or payment applied to subsequent LfRF programs.
LfRF Programs in First Quarter 2009
Melbourne, Australia – 2/3/4 April 2009
Program:
· Workshop – venue to be confirmed:
o Thurs 2nd April – Evening Session – 7pm to 10pm
o Fri 3rd April – Day One - 9am to when complete
o Sat 4th April – Day Two – 9am to 5pm.
· Program completion event – 4 weeks following workshop – as determined by the group
Free Introductions: To provide potential participants with background information introductions will be held as follows:
· Wed 11th March – 8:30 to 10:0am – venue to be announced
· Mon 16th March – 4:00 to 5:30pm – venue to be announced
Cost: The cost of the program is:
· Individual fee – $485 plus GST
· Team fee (two participants or more) – less 10%
· Scholarships – There are four scholarships for either students or community leaders working on community-based projects that do not have funding available for this type of learning and practice.
Register or Inquiries: To confirm attendance or inquire about this program contact Larry Quick at:
· Mobile: 0414 886 742
· Email: Laz@lqa.com.au
RSVP is required by March 13th 2009 – but please register early to confirm a place in the program.
Other Programs:
• Southern New England USA – March 25/26/27 – Rhode Island
• Western Australia – April 16/17/18 – Perth
Related posts
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:13 am
Interesting to know.