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Method

Every single situation is different, History, culture, personalities, market environment... No cookie-cutter "methodology" for creating and implementing a deep VBO strategy can possibly work.

There is, however, a framework and a preferred sequence of actions in each of the three phases of VBO - Awareness, Enrollment and Implementation - a well as in the essential work of applying the Common Framework© in order to make life easier for everyone.

It is important to note that the three phases usually overlap, i.e. while some groups are in Awareness, others are in Enrollment or involved in Implementation.

Awareness

The path taken will vary substantially with the level of - you will have guessed it - awareness of the groups addressed.

ISM's help in this phase in this phase typically includes:

* Debunking the six False Dichotomies: Workshop or Presentation
* Discovering the Core Foundation: Retreats, Interviews Workshops (I)
* Effective Communication: Workshops (I)
* Leadership Development: Coaching and Retreats (I)
* Operating in the Networked Economy; Retreats, Workshops, Presentations

Events marked with an (I) are usually run by our sister company Indiggo Associates

Enrollment

We use the term Enrollment for the conversations and actions that motivate, energize groups and individuals and align them for a common purpose, not like a regiment of marching soldiers but as thinking, caring individuals whose synergies create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

This opens the individual and the group to a set of expanded possibilities and creates a safe climate for innovation.

The central vehicle for enrollment and, indeed, for the entire VBO process is the Community Dialogue©.

The seed of the Community Dialogue© is the of a Core Group created at the start of the whole process. This small (5-9 people) group, which is preferably headed by the organization's head and includes key decision-makers and change agents, is typically the first group that completes the Awareness phase, from which it emerges with an initial version of the Core Foundation and of the Common Framework©. The Core Group has enrolled itself.

This sets the stage for the Core Group to produce an initial version of the VBO Roadmap. This involves several choices, such as

* Enroll the whole organization or choosing two or three pilots, preferably on a geographic basis?
* Elicit elements of the Core Foundation (Values, Purpose, Vision) from the whole organization or, for the time being, only from the chosen pilots?
* Select all four mission-critical processes or only one or two?
* Provide key training, i.e. Awareness, Effective Communication ... to all senior management or only to selected pilots?
* Vehicles, content and initial targets of the Community Dialogue©.

This set of decisions constitutes the rollout strategy.

The stage is now set for the spawning of the next set of 5-6 Groups chosen in consistence with the rollout strategy. Each of these goes through the awareness raising and enrollment processes. It is vital for the groups to stay "in synch" with each other. The Community Dialogue© helps them share experiences and stay aligned.

Early Results.

To sustain momentum and "keep the faith" it is essential at this stage - i.e. at the time of the creation of the second wave of Groups - to start implementing, be it on a small scale. Lessons learned from these pilots are invaluable for further rollout stages.

Third wave

The spawning of the third wave of groups by the 5-6 second wave groups closely follows the launching of the first implementation pilots.

ISM helps in:

* Creating the Core Group
* Eliciting and Clarifying the Core Foundations (usually run by Indiggo Associates)
* Identifying and involving internal and external Core Stakeholders
* Structuring and monitoring the Community Dialogue©: target, contents and vehicles
* Making choices between "wide" and "focused" options
* Choosing process pilots and sites
* Selecting internal change agents

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Implementation

The Implementation phase involves re-examination and modification of existing processes and measurement systems to make them fully aligned with the organization's Values, Purpose and Vision.

Depending on the process involved and the company's current culture, this modification can vary from minor tweaking to a project that fully redesign a process .

Unique leadership tools are used in these projects and processes, as well as in the redesign of metrics to ensure consistency and relevance and to facilitate the inevitable changes of course. These same tools ensure that the risk/reward ratio stays low.

Each project and process modification is continuously included in the Community Dialogue©. This produces enormous benefits to both the team directly involved and to other teams.

In the Implementation phase ISM helps in:

* Structuring and monitoring Projects
* Structuring and monitoring Processes
* Redesigning measurement systems
* Keeping the risk/reward ratio low
* Helping management ensure that the VBO process pays for itself

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