The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science

This article describes the history, practical applications, and possible future of a unique and powerful technology for changing the way that organizations change: whole systems changing themselves in real time. This technology addresses several key challenges to bringing about change in large and complex organizations: (a) increased ownership of and commitment to change efforts by all interested and affected parties, (b) faster implementation of plans rather than merely leaving more "binders on shelves" at the end of the day, and (c) ongoing decisions made by organization members aligned behind the organization's overall strategic direction, thereby creating significant leverage for change. This article illustrates how groups of up to 600 people working interactively can collaborate in creating their own and their organization `s future. Two case studies demonstrate the successful application of this technology to implementing strategy and total quality management.

The Conference Model". is a process that uses search conference methodology and sociotechnical systems principles to redesign an organization. Axelrod and Associates, Inc. developed and piloted this approach at a division of R. R.Donnelley and Sons Company, the world `s largest commercial printer The Conference Model involves a series of four conferences; in this case, each conference involved up to 80 participants. The results produced were similar to those that occur when traditional design methods are used but with greater speed and increased commitment and greatly reduced resistance by the rest of the organization. Over 60% of the organization participated in one of the four conferences and thus had direct input into the new design. The organizational design was completed 3 months from the time of the first conference, as compared with the full year it usually takes for traditional design methods. Most important, the design is supported by the overwhelming majority of the organization at all levels because they were part of the consensus that developed it.

This article presents an application of a future search conference in a California middle school. The future search conference, detailed by Marvin Weisbord in his book Discovering Common Ground, is an event where large numbers of people from across, down, and outside an organization gather to focus on an issue. In the case presented, the central theme was the clarification of the school's vision for the year 2002. In attendance were teachers, administrators, parents, students, district representatives, union representatives, business, higher education, school board members, feeder school teachers and principles, and school support staff. The article addresses the conditions that made the school receptive to action, the planning process, the conference design components(the past, the present, the future, and planning), successful outcomes, and lessons learned.

The search conference as a method of participative planning has been undergoing development for over 30 years. Its success depends on careful planning, design, and management. For groups larger than about 35, the multi search has been invented. The Workplace Australia conference was the largest multi search ever tried. This article critically examines the planning and design of Workplace Australia and isolates two interrelated weaknesses. The first was lack of conscious awareness of the organizational design principles and their effects. The second was inadequate appreciation of the need for search conference managers with conceptual knowledge and experience. Both contributed to planning failures, poor conference coordination, and loss of learning opportunities. There were, however; many successful features of this multi search and much to be learned from its mistakes.

Health care organizations are facing dramatic changes. Given their complexity and the value of autonomy held by many of the key professional groups, much of the adaptation to these changes will require working in large groups with multiple levels and different units present. Yet it is known that leading large groups is difficult. They are either over structured, thereby reducing the learning component, or they are under structured, thereby allowing participants `anxieties to lead to dysfunctional splitting, fight/flight, or dependency. This article addresses the challenge of structuring large groups, what the authors term the social architecture for participation.

Examining a case study of a consultation to a synagogue community, this article describes how the community polarized around its Rabbi's support for the Palestinian rebellion in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. By studying both the processes of polarization and the dynamics of the consultation, the article explores how a polarized community can destroy the real and psychological public space that it needs to heal its divisions and proposes that consultants can help a polarized community revitalize its public space by providing structure and boundaries inside the consultation process itself; by facilitating conversation so that substantive differences can be explored, and by interpreting the consulting process so that unconscious fantasies and unverbalized feelings can be examined. The article suggests that as we enter into a multicultural world where identities are negotiated, we need to develop a consulting technology that can help communities tolerate, protect, and sustain the many identities embedded in the texture of community life.

Simu-Real is a method that uses simulation to help an organization become more visible to itself It enables key members of organizations to work together on tasks and issues while at the same time helping them to become more aware of and skilled in dealing with organizational dynamics. Consisting of action periods followed by analysis sessions, the method is used to help client systems explore differences, solve complex problems, work on redesign, determine goals and priorities, and engage in future planning. This article describes how to configure a 1-day, all-person simulation of the basic components of a client organization in a single large space in which participants work within and between groups to deal with a predetermined task that is important to the well-being of the organization. It describes the Simu-Real method, summarizes ground rules, and discusses the role of the Simu-Real facilitator in both action and analysis periods.