Developing an international mindset and preparing for the multi cultural world, with Sally Anne Gaunt | Monday June 20, 2011

Australia has emerged in recent decades as an integral part of a thriving international community especially with China and the entire Asia Pacific region. Whilst we have significant trade and commercial dealings in our region, can we also expect that communication flows easily in our interaction with these very different cultures?

This session is designed to explore how versatile and flexible a person can be when asked to work with someone whose values are very different from theirs. Our culture is a key influencing factor in shaping our values, so it’s not surprising that our internal belief system becomes challenged when travelling or simply working with people from other parts of the world.

If not addressed, people often end up blaming the other party for inappropriate behavior, when in reality they have failed to convey the necessary context, hence breaking vital relationships.

In this session we will act out simple strategies to ensure you build bridges rather than barriers when dealing with people from a different culture. Finally, we will investigate basic culture differences that, if not understood, can easily divert even an experienced facilitator off track.

About Sally Anne Gaunt

Prior to arriving in Australia in 2003, Sally Anne spent 15 years working throughout Asia, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Philippines, and parts of Sub-Sahara Africa. Her roles ranged from regional key account management for a major publisher, starting her own business based in Singapore and Malaysia, and working for a NGO based in Fiji. Upon arriving in Australia, Sally Anne established her career as a training consultant and has worked with a wide variety of organizations in a number of industries. She specializes in helping Australian companies communicate with stakeholders from Asia Pacific, and build successful multi-cultural teams.

Sally Anne is a Lecturer at the University of New South Wales for the Cross Cultural Management Undergraduate Program, which ensures she is abreast of the latest research and thinking in the field of managing diversity. Sally Anne has a Masters Degree in Asian Studies, a Post Graduate Certificate in Vocational and Workplace Learning, a Jansen Newman Certificate in coaching, and has completed conflict management training at ACAP. She is also an NLP practitioner.

“Wildcard” – Short processes for fun and energy | Monday May 9, 2011

“Wildcard” – Short processes for fun and energy

At a 'Wildcard' meeting, volunteer facilitators, in an open space style, step-up from the group to run a short session of between 5 and 20 minutes.

Typical processes suitable for the “Wildcard” include ice breakers, opening and closing rituals, energisers, thought provokers, experiential activities, games, simulations - anything at all that can be done in 5 - 20 minutes.

Sessions are not scheduled in advance. There is usually time for six (6) or more entries on the night including a short debriefing.

Come with a short process 'in your pocket' or just come along and have fun

**** Special Notice Change of Venue - This meeting Only****

CM05C.01.29 – UTS QUAY St, Level 1 Room 29

University of Technology Sydney (UTS),

Haymarket Campus
(Opposite Market City Shopping Complex and Paddy's Markets)
Near Cnr. Quay St & Ultimo Rd
Haymarket, NSW, 2000

University of Technology Sydney (UTS),

Room CM05C.01.29 (Level 1, Room 29 - follow the signs)

5.30pm - 7.30pm

“Strength Flags” - Applied Creativity meets Positive Psychology with Sally Swain | Monday April 11, 2011

Let’s value our achievements - however big or small.

Let’s strengthen our strengths.

Have you succumbed to the Western epidemic of self-niggling-and-nagging? When faced with facilitating a big group, or with art materials …or just with daily living…does your Inner Critic run riot?

In this session, you’ll be guided through Sally’s ‘Strengthogram’ – a strategy for identifying and reinforcing your successes.

We look at the skills, passions, positive traits and values that contribute to an activity you enjoyed. We translate your observations into visible form. We play with simple art materials to create a ‘Strength Flag’. We fly this flag as a symbol of personal/professional power and joy.

Both ‘Strengthograms’ and ‘Strength Flags’ are adaptable tools you can apply at any time. You can use them even with the tiny activities you manage to do on a Low Self-esteem Day (psychological equivalent of a Bad Hair Day), or use them with clients.

Sally believes that creativity flourishes in a safe, encouraging, respectful environment. Whether you have art experience or not, feel free to come along and explore.

About Sally Swain:

At age 3, Sally painted people with large bellybuttons. At age 30, she conceived, painted and wrote the internationally bestselling book, ‘Great Housewives of Art’. Somewhere in between, she studied Psychology, then wondered why. In 1993, Sally brought together her twin passions of creativity and personal growth. She began running creativity workshops. This evolved into her current Art and Soul practice of creativity groups, individual coaching and consulting. She loves introducing people to the joy and power of creativity and helping them to blossom.

Sally continues her own creative practice through painting, writing, dancing, ukulele and Playback Theatre.

She has led groups in a variety of settings, including Relationships Australia, Quest for Life Foundation, NSW Writers’ Centre, the George Institute, Pollak Learning Alliance, University of Western Sydney, TAFE and community colleges. Contact Sally 02 9552 6164 bus hrs | sally@artandsoul.cc | www.artandsoul.cc | Paintings on Facebook: Sally Swain Art page

Venue:

**** Special Notice****

****Our Usual Venue - Different Room for this meeting****

University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Room CB10.02.410 (follow the signs) Building 10, Cnr Jones and Thomas Sts. Ultimo (same as usual venue – different room) Time: From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up

“Playing to Learn” - is this an oxymoron [like ‘”fun run”] - or a viable option for today’s complex world? With Dr Elyssebeth Leigh | March 14, 2011

Dr Elyssebeth Leigh enjoys playing to learn and considers learning as the most vital and continuing task we all undertake everyday. Considering ‘learning’ as a ‘serious’ task critically inhibits our capacity to adapt ‘in the moment’ to changing demands on our thinking and our capacity to act sensibly.

Considering ‘learning’ as a plaything and observing ourselves learn through play is what we did as children all our early years. Then we encounter the ‘formality’ of ‘school learning’ and being to lose that capacity to ‘play with’ knowing and doing.

In this session Elyssebeth will invite everyone to revisit your childhood, recapture those moments when you knew you were learning something important and were nowhere near a classroom. This series of fun ‘mind games’ will help you address your own unique take on your childhood and your present approach to learning in the hope that you too will see how much fun you can have while playing to learn.

About Dr Elyssebeth Leigh:

Elyssebeth leads FutureSearch - an educational consultancy using action and experiential learning and simulations and games for organisational development and personal improvement.

As an experienced communicator and learning facilitator, as well as a designer of simulations and games, she works in multi-cultural contexts. She has been an educator of adults for more than 20 years in business and academic contexts, and was a keynote speaker at the 2010 conference on “Public Administration in the XX1st century – traditions and innovations” hosted by Lomonsov Moscow State University.

Elyssebeth publishes books and articles - the most recent being Wills, S. Leigh, E. Ip, A (2010) The Power of Role-based e- Learning, New York, Routledge. She leads the Technical Committee for the SimTecT conferences (http://www.siaa.asn.au/)

Note Change of Venue for this Meeting

University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Room CM05C.01.05 UTS (University of Technology) Sydney Haymarket Campus (Opposite Market City Shopping Complex and Paddy's Markets) Cnr Quay St & Ultimo Rd Haymarket, NSW, 2000 Mobile contact Greg Jenkins 0418 486 501

"Planning from the Future Backwards – How to strategically plan in times of turbulence" with Lee Carsley | Monday, Feb 14

Strategic planning is an organisational constant. In fact, planning is a constant in our personal lives. But how often do events arise that derail that beautifully documented strategy plan? That, in hindsight, we kick ourselves and say, ‘I should have seen that coming’. Most strategic planning processes start from the current state and propose a future, based on what we know now. Because of the way our minds work, this often means we miss those events or relationships which could have been turned into real strategic advantage for organisations, or ourselves! You are invited to this workshop to explore the use of a strategic planning process that works from the future backwards. It has been successfully been used in government, the not for profit, the corporate sector to help leaders and their teams navigate their organisation. Drawn from the complexity field, and initially developed by Snowden and his team at Cognitive Edge as a response to complexity in organisations, this updated process integrates the known and unknown dimensions of the future, requiring people to use both their mind and their heart. As facilitators, you will experience and examine the process, learn about the fundamental principles of complexity and chaos and see their application in strategic planning. You will see practically how creating the future from the future, helps us identify those diffusion and tipping points so many of us experience in complex change. About the facilitator Lee Carsley: Lee has worked in a variety of roles, from economist, business advisor, stage manager, OD Head, and change practitioner consultant over the past 25 years. Her organisational experience has ranged from strategic planning, leadership pipeline and individual leader development, to running multiple service delivery teams, globally and in Australia. She has facilitated large and small groups, virtually and in real time, in organisations and the community. She was Vice President of the Society for Organisation Learning Australia for 5 years, from where her initial experience and passion for complexity tools started. Over the years, as the research and practice in complexity evolved, Lee has incorporated these developments in her complexity toolkit. She is currently in final stages of writing a leader fieldbook on complex change, titled ‘Change Matters’. Venue: University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium foot bridge, walk straight ahead to room 580. Time: from 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up

“Reflection Wildcard" | Monday Dec 13, 2010

Reflection is rare in real life and almost unheard of in an organizational context. “Let’s move on”, “what’s done is done”, “no point in looking back”…you know the drill. You’ve probably heard or even used grabs such as these.

As facilitators, reflection is a key part of our toolkit. Not only is it important for us to reflect on our own practice, it’s critical that we have a repertoire of reflection tools to use in our own practice.

In a wildcard there is no official guest facilitator. The space will be open offering an opportunity for anyone who wishes to offer a reflection process to step up. Maybe you have one to share. In which case you would be the guest facilitator. We will have time for between 3 and 5 reflection processes.

Social Dinner

Our practice of many years has been to walk down to Haymarket to the Vietnamese restaurant. Economical Vegetarians catered for. Pay your own. BYO.

SAIGON METRO, 760 GEORGE STREET , HAYMARKET – directly opposite Ultimo Road in George St Haymarket.

The Organisational Learning Australia Special Interest Group | Special Guest Speaker: Professor John P Milton

The Organisational Learning Australia Special Interest Group, extends a warm invitation to all organisational learning professionals and other interested parties to its November 2010 event.

Special Guest Speaker: Professor John P Milton Professor John P. Milton has worked with CEOs and leaders worldwide including Royal Dutch Shell, Kraft, Sony Ericsson and Nokia, led work for the World Bank and advised governments.

He is the spiritual mentor of business luminaries including, amongst others, Peter Senge (5th Discipline), Otto Scharmer (Theory U) and Joe Jaworksy (Presence) and he is referenced in these books.

John will be in Australia in November to lead and teach a Sacred Passage on Flinders Island, and will be giving a talk to SoLA, to share: · How he works with Peter Senge and Otto Scharmer - both in the corporate sphere and in the more personal, spiritual space. · The work he has done with the Talberg Forum in Sweden, where 500 World Leaders were taken on a solo experience in nature, in the French Pyrenees · How this work impacts on the individuals and organisations he works with, About Professor John P Milton:
John, a revered global Elder of the environmental movement, served as one of the first ecologists on staff at the White House, studied as a Woodrow Wilson Scholar at the Smithsonian Institute, and for many years directed the International Programs Division of the Conservation Foundation, now a part of the World Wildlife Fund. He is one of the founding members of Friends of the Earth and has served on various committees at the National Academy of Sciences.

In addition John has spent decades studying with practitioners of Ancient Eastern spiritual pathways, including Taoism, Buddhism, Shamanism, Tibetan Dzogchen, Tantra, and Hindu Vedanta - as well as the Native American Way and Christianity.

From these broad and deep experiences, John has developed a powerful approach to leadership in both business and life, which he calls the Way of Nature. This is taught on the nature retreats which he leads. For more information on the Sacred Passage on Flinders Island go to http://ensemble.net.au/aus/.

Date: Wednesday 24th November 2010

Event Time: 6:00pm Networking
6:30pm Presentation

8:00pm (approx) Meeting Close
Venue: UTS, Broadway Campus Room 580 Building CB 10 on Level 5 Map Directions Link <http://datasearch.uts.edu.au/about/mapsdirections/map.cfm>
Cost: IIM/solA Members $15 KM Members $20 Non-Members $30 (Charge to cover catering)
RSVP: By Monday 22nd November 2010 by online registration - Link <http://solnswnov.eventbrite.com/>