OD Event – Deep Democracy and Organization Development: A New Approach to Resistance and Collaboration

October 26, 2022

9am-10:30am PST

Deep Democracy and Organization Development: A New Approach to Resistance and Collaboration

Presented by

Maya Townsend and Ipek Utun

The idea that every consulting project will go smoothly, without a bit of conflict, is a lovely dream. But it’s just that: a dream. Whenever people come together to share expertise, design something, or implement a plan, we encounter differences, yet people at work are not adept at creating healthy spaces to explore opposing points of view.

Frequently, one point of view wins while other views go underneath the surface and turn into resistance. Unfortunately, these voices of resistance often represent those who hold lower positional power in our organizations, who belong to groups that have been marginalized within the United States, or who simply represent ways of thinking—voices that are desperately needed in order to sustain resilient, flexible, and agile organizations. Many times, organizational leaders find out too late that there was truth in what the voices of resistance had to say and regret not understanding this truth sooner. As OD practitioners, we have many tools that can help people have conversations in productive ways.

In this session, we will introduce participants to the Lewis Method of Deep Democracy, a methodology created in South Africa to help organizations recover from the trauma of apartheid and develop equitable organizations. Deep Democracy uses a group-as-a-whole perspective to help shift participants away from individualistic blaming and shaming to collective explorations of what is valued, important, and necessary. The tools are simple enough to be learned quickly. They can be used for a range of situations from light, cognitive differences of opinion to deep, emotional conflicts in values. Please join us if you are interested in adding a new tool to your toolkit for working with resistance, change, conflict, and collaboration.

A recording will be sent to attendees following the webinar, and will be available for on-demand purchase within three business days.

Fee

OD Network Members: $25
Non-Members: $45

SHRM Professional Development Credits

OD Network is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP℠ or SHRM-SCP℠. This program is valid for 1.0 PDCs for the SHRM-CP℠ or SHRM-SCP℠. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit www.shrmcertification.org.

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