Marcel van Marrewijk's Blog, page 187

Meet & Share met Achmea

Kom aankomende vrijdag 29 mei naar LAB 55 in Apeldoorn. Een unieke kans om met een guiding coalition in gesprek te gaan over digitalisering binnen Achmea.

Jij krijgt als ondernemer de kans om je eigen pitch te doen en de “grijze” pakken uit te dagen rondom digitalisering, innovatie en vernieuwing. Heb jij ook een mening over onze digitale bediening? En durf jij het aan?

Meld je dan snel aan. Er zijn nog een beperkt aantal plekken beschikbaar!

Waar: LAB 55 @ Centraal Beheer Achmea in Apeldoorn

Tijdstip: wij ontmoeten je graag om 12 uur in LAB 55

Meedoen: Stuur een mail naar Silvia.onos@achmea.nl

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Sustainability Integrated Reporting

On 28 May CSR Meetup Amsterdam is hosting an event at MeetBerlage about Sustainability Integrated Reporting. We aim to connect professionals, students and individuals interested in, or working with corporate social responsibility. The group will be hosting events and workshops highlighting topics within this field. CSR Meetup Amsterdam is part of a global Meetup network with partners in London, Geneva, and New York to name a few.

We look forward to seeing you at our next event, this time with Enrique Torres. Enrique Torres established and headed the GRI Certified Training Program that is offered by around 70 GRI Training Partner organizations in over 65 countries worldwide. Check out an interview by Michael with Enrique recently in Nairobi.

Our event will explore how to get companies to stop talking only about their “sustainability strategy” and move them from what they are doing to integrate sustainability into their overall strategy and business model. Enrique will present the concepts behind Integrated Thinking and Reporting with company examples. You will hear what sustainability means for the business and what impact the relationships with business stakeholders have on the value creation story.

Enrique has worked in training and management positions for private, governmental and non-governmental organizations such as the Ministry of Education in Australia, the Mozambique Ministry of Education, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) over the last 20 years.

Enrique’s talk will be followed by a moderated discussion and networking opportunity. Payment is €10 if paid beforehand via Paypal, or €12 at the door.  The payment also includes one drink.

Please find more information about our event here and ask as many question as you like!

See you next Thursday!

CSR Meetup Amsterdam

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Serendipiteit in de praktijk!

Serendipiteit. Het woord kom je steeds vaker tegen, maar het is nog geen gemeengoed. Het klinkt wat ingewikkeld en hoogdravend. Maar eigenlijk kennen we allemaal wel een serendipiteitervaring, klein of groot.

Als je wel eens op Seats2meet-locaties werkt, zul je in ieder geval herkennen dat je vaak een onverwachte relevante ontmoeting (serendipiteit) bij ons hebt.

Wij zelf komen dagelijks in aanraking met serendipiteit op onze twee Seats2meet-locaties in Amersfoort. Hoe dat kan? Seats2meet is veel meer dan een vergaderlocatie met een open boekingssysteem en gratis werkruimte voor zelfstandige professionals. Wat ons bijzonder maakt is dat het faciliteren van toevallige relevante ontmoetingen (serendipiteit) in onze bedrijfsvoering is geïntegreerd.

Via een wekelijks blog delen we graag de serendipiteitervaringen uit ons waardenetwerk. Want wat is serendipiteit wonderlijk, onverwacht, relevant, soms groot, soms klein en wat is het belangrijk voor beweging, verandering en groei!

In onze volgende blogs daarover heel veel meer. Nu eerst wat theorie over serendipiteit. Voor degenen die nog onbekend zijn met het begrip. Wikipedia geeft de volgende definitie: Serendipiteit is het vinden van iets onverwachts en bruikbaars terwijl je op zoek bent naar iets totaal anders.

In de wetenschap en techniek komen we bijvoorbeeld ook regelmatig serendipiteit tegen. Zo was de ontdekking van penicilline door Alexander Fleming een voorbeeld. Terwijl Fleming zijn laboratorium opruimde, viel hem op dat een schimmel zich gevestigd had op een kweekplaat met kolonies stafylokokkenbacteriën en dat rondom die schimmel een zone lag waarin de bacteriën niet groeiden. Later analyseerde hij de door de schimmel uitgescheiden stof en dit bleek penicilline te zijn. Deze waarneming was voor Fleming waarschijnlijk al door tientallen anderen gedaan; maar Fleming was wel de eerste die erbij stilstond.

Terug naar onze eigen omgeving en situatie. In onze Seats2meet-locaties in Amersfoort komen dagelijks veel bezoekers, waarvan een groot deel betaalt met sociaal kapitaal. Ze staan open voor ontmoetingen en delen hun kennis met elkaar. Dé ideale ingrediënten voor het ontstaan van serendipiteit! Mensen die open staan voor ontmoetingen en kennisdelen, allemaal opzoek naar kennis en inspiratie. Toevallig of onverwacht zijn de ontmoetingen dus niet geheel, maar wel onvoorspelbaar en in heel veel gevallen erg relevant!

Seats2meet Connect is trouwens een recent gelanceerde online tool die enorm helpt bij het creëren van onverwachte relevante ontmoetingen. Klik hier voor meer informatie over deze tool.

Tot slot

Via deze blog zullen wij vanuit Amersfoort onze serendipiteitervaringen en die van anderen op en rondom onze locaties met jullie delen! Om te zorgen dat ons waardenetwerk nog meer open gaat staan voor serendipiteit. Want dat is wat ons drijft…. van onze locaties krachtige serendipiteitmachines maken en zoveel mogelijk onverwachte ontmoetingen faciliteren die waarde creëren! Waarde die een bijdrage levert aan de grote uitdagingen van deze tijd en een betere toekomst!

Wordt vervolgd!

Tianne van Woudenberg

Eigenaar Meet & Discover!, powered by Seats2meet.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Basic Lecture [appreciative inquiry #020]

[from book part 4 – SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM]

Sometimes, professor Alexander Maas sends out his students to go to the supermarket, they are instructed to place a liter of milk in their shopping basket and try to negotiate a lower price at the cash counter. Can you imagine this? Here’s another experiment: at home, behave as if your house was a hotel and if you were a guest, for a few days… How would your family react?

The idea behind this is to make us aware of human patterns we regard as ‘normal’ and what happens if we try to make a ‘difference’. Difference is what matters, according to Alex Maas.

In the Netherlands professor Maas is associated with Erasmus University / Rotterdam School of Management and the University of Humanistics. In our AI100 program, he teaches our students a full day on a short history of social constructionism and the principles of ‘being socially constructionist active’.  This is no easy stuff, but everyone senses that this is important knowledge with respect to AI.

On one if his first slides the following small story is shown:  “Once I, Chuang Tzu, dreamed that I was a butterfly and was happy as a butterfly. I was conscious that I was quite pleased with myself, but I did not know that I was Tzu. Suddenly I awoke, and there I was, visibly Tzu. I do not know whether it was Tzu dreaming that he was a butterfly or the butterfly dreaming that it was Tzu. Between Tzu and the butterfly there must be some distinction. [But one may be the other.] This is called the transformations of things.”

Dreaming plays a major role in Appreciative Inquiry. In dreams, as we all know, sometimes very unusual things occur. The ability to dream is very much like the ability to see things besides the normal. Alexander Maas suggests the following three-step approach in order to observe situations carefully. As I said before: no easy task, but you can try it at home.

Firstly, become aware of what you and others consider ‘normal’. This can be called the existing ‘discourse’. Can you image that this ‘normal behavior’ can be dominant, that usually we are not aware of our own ‘discourse’ and that it can block us from discovering ‘reality’?

Secondly, ask yourself the question whether the same situation can be seen differently. Can you ‘deconstruct’ it? Can you come up with things or behaviour that is excluded from the ‘normal situation’ but without which the normal couldn’t exist? What do you see differently? What is obvious, and what is not so obvious?

Finally, focus on the difference between the obvious and the not so obvious, between the normal and the difference. Grasping this ‘differance’ is perhaps the essence of being someone capable of change, the core of being a social constructionist…

It must be hard for professor Maas to choose from such a tiny selection to fill one day’s teaching, compared to all of his wisdom. And still, that day is so rich… This chapter could only try to summarize it. The question to you is:

 

How slow can you listen?

 

You’ve just read one of the 100 chapters of my book Appreciative Inquiries of the 3.0 Kind. Find out more (and a special pre-ordering offer) on www.appreciativeinquiries.eu. 

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Share your event outdoor: Seats4silence

Photo: “Meeting in the meadow” Farmlab: Piet van Meintjes Hoeve

Nature or countryside may be the perfect space for your summer event. Even when you need a whiteboard or a good meal for your group. Did you ever think of this possibility? Seats4silence has green space in abundance to share with you.

Sharingweek 2015 June 7-13th

In the sharingweek  you can try it out for “free” if you want to share your expertise for social capital with your clients and with us. You can direct share your idea in our coworking group on FB and find the perfect match with a green location in the area of Utrecht or under the big rivers. After you can easily share your event at our Seats4silence event page. If you need help you can join this webinar on May 29th (in dutch)

Join us in workation

Your very welcome to organize an event yourself or enjoying the sharing events of others.

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Seats2meet viert de Deeleconomie, doe je mee?

Van 8 t/m 12 juni viert Seats2meet de deeleconomie, en doet dit samen met de internationale Global Sharing Week

Op de Seats2meet locaties Amersfoort, Meeting Plaza Utrecht en Utrecht CS zijn tal van activiteiten georganiseerd waar je aan mee kunt doen. Zo kun je kleding, boeken, platen, en planten ruilen. Je kunt ingrediënten voor de Sharing Lunch meenemen, en meepraten over de deeleconomie tijdens de Monday Meetup op 8 juni.

Kijk de vlog voor meer informatie over het programma en daaronder vind je links waarmee je je kunt opgeven en mee buzzen. We zien je graag!

Yoga Marloes woensdag 10 en vrijdag 12 juni door Marloes te Riele

Yoga break donderdag 11 juni door Maud Michels

Spatverandert.nl Bootcamp sessies, houdt deze post id gaten voor tijdstippen/locaties

Monday Meetup edition Sharing Week, geef je hier op:

http://events.seats2meet.com/event/36317/Monday_Meetup_Deeleconomie_Seats2meet_Utrecht

eigen event aanmelden op de internationale Sharing Week:

http://events.globalsharingweek.com/signup

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To be Present [appreciative inquiry#015]

[from book part 3 – SOURCES BEHIND APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY]

In my modest opinion, Appreciative Inquiry can be regarded as the practical application of Theory U.

Excuse me?

Rethinking my enthusiasm for Appreciative Inquiry, I lean to the conclusion that this all resonates on ideas that struck me when I read the book Presence. I regard this book as a plea to organizations, and especially their leaders, to set an example for good citizenship; to be Present.  The Marblehead Letter, mentioned in Presence, describes quite conclusively the desired corporate social responsibility of organizations.

 

The Marblehead Letter

A natural agenda of issues is shaping the future, especially for corporations with global scope

The social divide: the ever-widening gap between those participating in the increasingly interdependent global economy and those not. How long can 15% of the people get 85% of the benefits of globalization?
Redefining growth: economic growth based on ever increasing material use and discard is inconsistent with a finite world. How long can we keep piling up more junk in the same box?
Variety and inclusiveness: developing inclusion as a core competence in increasingly multi-cultural organizations. Who is the “we”?
Attracting talented people and realizing their potential: developing commitment in a world of “free agents” and “volunteer” talent. What are we committed to, really?
The role of the corporation: extending the traditional role of the corporation, especially the global corporation, to be more commensurate with its impact. Just how accountable will society expect us to be?
The system seeing itself: the challenges of coordination and coherence in social systems. How can we stop going faster while our ability to see further ahead is decreasing?

June 2001

 

The journey towards such a state of ‘connected being’ follows the path of Theory U as presented by Claus Otto Scharmer: “Learning to See is the preparation for a deep dive into the Silence – being present, connecting to the whole context – out of which we arise to become a Force of Nature.”

The intentions behind Theory U (‘transforming the system’) and Appreciative Inquiry (‘strength based generative transition’) are – in my opinion – very parallel, and both methods include ‘the whole system’. In some interpretations of Theory U, there’s a  ‘discovery’ stage at the bottom of the U, a state of co-presencing, out of which co-creating and co-evolving can take place. Put this alongside the Discover- Dream-Design stages of Appreciative Inquiry and you might discover resemblance. What appeals to me in Appreciative Inquiry is the practical instructions for people in the room to follow the necessary steps. That’s why I dare to suggest that you can try Appreciative Inquiry at home.

Practical, you might ask? Do you consider this a practical text? Excuse me! In this chapter, I’m identifying my AI sources, and the authors of Presence are definitely valuable sources to me. To spend just one page on their valuable insights could be considered not very appreciative. So I’ve decided to add my essay Has Presencing a Future? – a critical book review of Presence – as an appendix.

Let me ‘present’ another source. In the Netherlands, professor Andries Baart is famous for his ‘Presentietheorie’, based on years of pastoral work with people in the shadows of our society: homeless, addicted, depressed. To be ‘present’ in the view of Baart is nothing more and nothing less than just being there, with the other. Refrain from the urge to help, or to train, or to force to change; just be there. Be present. This might be the ultimate form of suspending your own believes and be open to the other’s actual situation. Isn’t that appreciation in it’s purest form, or isn’t it?

 

Can you recall a situation in which you were really Present?

What would you consider ‘the right thing to do’?

You’ve just read one of the 100 chapters of my book Appreciative Inquiries of the 3.0 Kind. Find out more (and a special pre-ordering offer) on www.appreciativeinquiries.eu. 

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Based on Strength [appreciative inquiry #014]

[from book part 3 – SOURCES BEHIND APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY]

Undoubtedly, the primary Appreciative Inquiry source is David Cooperrider. Although I’ve never had the opportunity to meet him, David is so active in facilitating AI, publishing and speaking about it, that you can’t miss him when you start exploring AI.

In 1986, Cooperrider completed his doctoral dissertation “Appreciative Inquiry: Toward a Methodology for Understanding and Enhancing Organizational Innovation” at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1980, at the age of 24, David studied Organization Behavior, and started researching the question ‘what’s wrong with the human side of the organization?’. His object of research was the Heart Clinic of Cleveland. What started as a conventional ‘consulting’ study, developed into curiosity for the positive cooperation, innovation and egalitarian governance he experienced in the clinic. David’s research adviser Suresh Srivastva, suggested him to keep focused on the ‘excitement parts’ of the research. This experience set the stage for David’s dissertation, from 1982 highly inspired by Ken Gergen’s writing Toward Transformation of Social Knowledge.

If you like to learn more about the impressive arising of the Appreciative Inquiry approach, there’s a nice ‘AI History and Timeline on the internet. In his ‘slip stream’ Cooperrider generated many many early adopters, who all can be considered founding fathers that brought AI further. It was – and still is – all about co-creation!

To bring it back to ordinary proportions: instead of asking ‘what are the problems in this organization?’, David Cooperrider suggests to ask questions like ‘would you tell me about your best practices?’ and ‘what is it that makes this organization stay successful?’.

 

How about you?

Where and when are you going to apply the question “What is going well over here?”

You’ve just read one of the 100 chapters of my book Appreciative Inquiries of the 3.0 Kind. Find out more (and a special pre-ordering offer) on www.appreciativeinquiries.eu. 

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Article about S2M in Japanese Worksight Magazine: Learning to share with Dutch-style co-working

Less than eight years after it was set up, co-working space Seats2meet.com (S2M) has 77 locations across the Netherlands, and 6 countries abroad. The secret to such rapid growth lies in the fact that the service is provided to individuals free of charge. Or rather, it doesn’t cost them any money. S2M has come up with an innovative system that leverages individual users’ social capital in the form of knowledge, skills and networks, rather than actual cash. Let’s start by taking a look around. We were given a tour of three separate locations, each differently designed but all run on the same business model. The Amsterdam location has corporate tenants alongside its co-working spaces. Built in 1911 as a stock exchange, the building has an interesting history. It was designed by Dutch

architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage. “Over 100 year ago, Berlage wrote his brother a letter while building the Beurs van Berlage. Berlage was a socialist and wrote: I realise this will become the most capitalistic building in Amsterdam, but as soon as the economy crashes this will become a pallazo pubblico. A place where meeting others, sharing knowledge and working together will be the central themes’. It took 100 years, but thanks to this letter the vision of the Beurs and Seats2meet.com are now perfectly aligned,” explains duty manager/user, Simina Jonker. S2M themselves sees this as a special, symbolic location.

Next, we visited Almere, a commuter town outside Amsterdam. In an example of the S2M concept being successfully incorporated into a public space, there is an exclusive 20-desk S2M area inside the library. Unlike S2M in Amsterdam, there is no commercial element; this is a cooperative space rooted in the community. Our final visit was to S2M headquarters, which is directly connected to Utrecht station. Co-owner Ronald van den Hoff describes the design concept as “a space that builds creative tension.” The interior features a multitude of colours and materials; it’s the opposite of minimalist decor. Corridors are curved, and ceilings and floors don’t necessarily run parallel. All of this is designed to create tension in the space and stimulate thought. Each location is bookable online, and users are asked to provide details of their knowledge, skills and expertise at the time of booking. This information is displayed on ‘Serendipity Machines’ at each of S2M’s locations for anyone to use. One can tell at a glance the social capital of everyone using S2M at any time. This is the basic system which makes the free co-working spaces possible. “In my case,” says Yonker, “I’ve put ‘Amsterdam based PR and event manager…’ If anyone seeing that wants to ask me a question, or wants to talk about something, I’ll help them

out. For example, if they’re organizing an event and ask me if I know a good catering company, I’ll be able to tell them the name of one. I’m sharing my social capital. That’s how you pay at S2M. But it’s not a chore. You just have to talk to people normally and exchange information, that’s all.” The Serendipity Machine functions as a help desk, sales team and even an advertising department.

Users connected via the network volunteer to take on these roles as necessary, resulting in huge cost savings. But if co-working spaces are free to use, how does S2M make money? The answer lies in the meeting rooms it also provides. Charges are on a per-seat basis, and are higher at busy times. But there is another unusual part to the business model. In Amsterdam, for example, lunch is provided between 12 and 2pm, and costs five Euros. What’s surprising is that everything else is free. Coffee is free. Soft drinks and snacks have no set prices, but users put what they think is a fair amount into a bottle that’s left there for the purpose. This unique system was the brainchild of co-owners Marielle Sijgers and Ronald van den Hoff. Ten years ago, they ran a rental meeting room business, but “it was a really old-fashioned industry,” says Sijgers. “We wanted to start something new.” It was then that they noticed a change in the market. “With companies getting smaller and business stagnating because of the economic crisis, entrepreneurs started leaping into action. Advancements in technology made it easy for individuals to carry out transactions directly, one-to-one. But marketing is harder for individuals than it is for corporations. That’s when we came up with the idea of opening up and sharing knowledge. That way, individuals would be able to find people who have need of their social capital,” says van den Hoff. S2M also turned out to be an excellent research opportunity for companies. Companies looking to hire creative individuals with innovative ideas need look no further than S2M. This suits the freelancers, too, enabling them to forge connections with companies without any marketing effort, and potentially leading to new business opportunities. And when companies and individuals start to connect, there are profits to be had for S2M, too. Workers who previously only used the free co-working spaces might now have more cause to pay to use the meeting rooms. The business model manages to benefit individuals, companies and S2M, all the while keeping the free co-working spaces at its core. A survey of S2M users carried out by Rotterdam School of Business drew comments such as: “I’d started a new project within two weeks,” and “I’m getting more freelance work.” Eight years after opening it has 77 locations. Now S2M is apparently known as the place to go to meet talented people.

Read the complete article (In English!)

Read the original Japanse article here

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Between the noses [appreciative inquiry #013

[from book part 3 – SOURCES BEHIND APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY]

In my opinion, two important representatives of AI sourcing in Europe are Griet Bouwen and René Bouwen. Within our AI100 learning journey, we are very proud they are available to inspire our students on their opening day.

Griet is to be admired for ‘doing AI’ on a large scale in the Belgian society. She was co-founder of Vuurwerkt.be: an impressive emerging AI-network around empowering people to enter the labour market again. Afterwards she memorized her valuable experiences in her book book ‘Leiden naar Talent en Bezieling’ (‘Leading towards Talent and Inspiration’). Until today she is constantly active in AI-practices like generative journalism.

René is – besides being Griet’s oncle – emeritus professor at Leuven University, Faculty of Organizational Psychology.  René Bouwen can be considered a true source of the emerging Appreciative Inquiry movement in Europe. The story goes that when René hosted a ‘positive psychology’ presentation by David Cooperrider, in the early 90’s in Leuven, the audience of fellow professors in psychology responded with cynical laughter.  Apparently, René survived (as well as Cooperrider did) and nowadays Leuven can be seen as the place to be for studying organizational development on a social constructionist basis.

When René is teaching, he invites his students to practice High Quality Communication. Within René’s perspective, the essential ingredient of Appreciative Inquiry is not merely the focus on the positive; it is about the Quality of the Relational Practice: together we construct connections, out of which future is being produced – generative connections, as he calls it.

Furthermore, René tells us, knowledge is not a substance, something we have, but it is something we create in interaction, all the time. Subsequently he presents his brilliant one-liner, summarizing all his wisdom into one beautiful saying:

“Knowledge is not something between the ears, it’s something between the noses.”

(And because we have only one nose, now you know where to find knowledge…)

Being a co-creator himself, René ends his lecture with the following quote by Sheila McNamee: ‘There is no method, just watch the relationship’.

 

When did you take part in ‘high quality communication’ and what happened afterwards?

What would you like to see growing in your community, or family?

You’ve just read one of the 110 chapters of my book Appreciative Inquiries of the 3.0 Kind. Find out more (and a special pre-ordering offer) on www.appreciativeinquiries.eu. 

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