November 16, 2011 @ 2:00 PM EST – Completed

w/ Dr. Steve Cady & Serena Williams

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Are you seeking new ways to more effectively meet one or more of the following challenges?

• Widely dispersed organizations involving internal and external stakeholders
• Immediate crises with little time to respond and high need for collective action
• Developing the next generation of talent
• Technology’s potential for collaboration
• Polarized and politicized environments
• Diverse groups and communities
• Global and cross-cultural initiatives

If you answered YES… then join us as we explore the emerging field of Whole System Collaboration & Change.  Our focus will be on the current state of research and practice.  The field is still divergent with people who practice, lead, research, and educate based on a collection of approaches often referred to as Large Group Methods, Large-Scale Change, Large-Group Interventions, etc.  The approaches are unique because they create conditions for dramatic transformations in whole organizations and communities based on two powerful assumptions: high involvement and a systemic approach to improvement. High involvement means engaging the people in changing their own system. It is systemic because there is a conscious choice to include the people, functions, and ideas in order to leverage the highest possible value for the effort invested.

This emerging field is exploding.  The pioneers have influenced each other’s work.  Inspired by the potential, seasoned practitioners are inventing a wide variety of creative processes.  Approaches are surfacing from completely different disciplines, such as strategic planning and process improvement to the arts and urban development.  Vibrant, international communities of practice are fast growing around many approaches.

In 2006 and 2007, two books have been published that bring together the latest knowledge on these methods and their applications: The Change Handbook and The Handbook of Large Group Methods.  The books are setting the stage for something important.  How do we move forward from here?  6.8 billion people are waiting for us to bring this body of work and knowledge in a bigger way to the world.

About Dr. Steve Cady

Dr. Cady is recognized for his expertise in Organizational Behavior and Development, specifically with a focus on Whole System Change and motivation.  His current researchinvolves a study of Whole System Change, defining the field, which is a collection of collaborative methods from around the world and an examination of their impact on organizations and communities.  Dr. Cady is also conducting research in motivation and performance, with a specific focus on passion, and publishing his newest book “Stepping Stones to Success”and his“Life Inspired” DVD with WBGU-PBS.

His work centers on ways to empower all participants, both at the individual and collective levels, in the change processes connected to OD.  This includes collaborating with others to create online forums as well as blending contexts to develop the best of both online and in-person learning environments.  Together these goals and activities help him stay on the cutting edge and passionately contribute his work to support the BGSU community in being the best it can be.

The professional accomplishments he is most proud of include developing and teaching the first online course for the College of Business, holding the first “Nexus for Change” conference at BGSU, and publishing “The Change Handbook” the definitive resource on today’s best methods for engaging whole systems.  He has also developed the first graduate course of its kind related to the book titled, “Engaging Whole Systems for Change” and delivered the first White Belt Certification in South Africa.

Dr. Cady became a professor because he “wanted to be in the world of exploration and research, education and teaching, and the world of practice and dealing with real issues.  For me, the great thing about being a professor in business has been the opportunities to be in all those worlds and have them inform each other.  It’s a continuous learning and personal growth experience.”

According to Dr. Cady, the key experiences he brings to the classroom is his work in personal development and growth, speaking in workshops and conferences, facilitating events, and working in large-scale change initiatives helping them to develop strategy for their community or organization. Dr. Cady says his most memorable experience is “less about the place as it is about a moment in a place and time.”

“The moment I was sitting with the top 150+ leaders of ConAgra in an open space forum when they began to have a real conversation with each other, where the senior leadership team was  asked a pivotal question and they answered with such honesty that the room broke out in applause.

Meeting with a group of people in South Africa saying ‘We have something to offer the world; the world keeps coming here to share with us what they know as if we have nothing to share in return.  We want to create a gathering here in which the world can come and learn about what we know…and what we can offer the world.’

…Sitting on the side of Big Bald Mountain when the sun rises watching people reflect on their future.  Then come back from that activity into the group and share a poem that really captured the essence of doing work that matters to the world.”

About Serena Williams

Serena is a cum laude graduate of Yale University, where she earned a degree in economics, organizational behavior, and psychology. Serena earned her Masters in Organization Development from Bowling Green State University.

Serena began her career in New York, where she worked with multi-national advertising agencies, D’Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles and Ogilvy & Mather, where she became the youngest vice president in the agency’s history. After moving to Toledo, Ohio, Serena joined Fahlgren Advertising & Communications as senior vice president, Midwest Account Group Director. In 2000, Serena founded Daedalus Marketing LLC to focus on helping clients develop and align their organizations with their brand and go-to-market strategies. Currently, Serena is National Sales Manager – Retail for Libbey Glass Inc.

Serena also serves as a Trustee for The Toledo Opera, and is former Vice-Chair for the United Way of Greater Toledo, former Trustee for the Toledo Symphony, and former Trustee and Marketing Committee Chair for the Toledo Day Nursery.