Glossary of Termsx

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Activity Systems
Such a system is composed of sub-systems that combine to produce an outcome. For example, if a doctor is the system in focus then they rely on rules, instruments, a community, division of labour and a patient to be active as a doctor. If you focus on a nurse, they may serve the same patient, but their activity system will be different. These and other sub-systems must flow together if their is to be a seamless service for the patient. The whole system is in a state of dynamic change. The patient can be the object of the system in one moment and it's subject the next. Collective activity (which is composed of lots of small actions) is connected to the same object or motive of which the individual participants may not be aware. But individuals engage in actions that meet a need or goal. The challenge is to connect collective objectives and personal goals to give direction and energy to the system. This is often described as linking vision and action. Businesses see these actions as commodities with prices.

Active Listening
This is a way of listening that focuses entirely on what the other person is saying and confirms understanding of both the content of the message and the emotions and feelings underlying the message to ensure that understanding is accurate.

Adaptation
An attribute that an organism has to secure its survival or reproduction. It can respond to changes in its environment to remain viable in that environment.

Advocacy
Advocacy is the process of taking and working for a particular sides interests in a conflict. Lawyers engage in advocacy when they represent a client in a legal proceeding. Defendents can also engage in advocacy themselves, arguing for their own position in negotiation, mediation, or a political debate. Any attempt to persuade another side to consider your demands offered on behalf of another is advocacy.

Appreciative Inquiry
AI is an approach to change that enages people in working with optimism, creating ne possibilities and celebrating the human spirit in change. It's about appreciating the best of what exists, applying knowledge of what works, provoking creative thought regarding new ways of organising and collaborating to build colective capacity, expertise and resources.

Alignment
This happens when the actions of employees directly supports the key goals of the organisation. It therefore requires clarity about the key goals of the organisation, commitment to initiatives that promote the key goals and accountability for actions that affect those goals

Analytical Problem Solving
This is an approach to deep-rooted or intractable conflict that brings those ion dispute together to analyse the underlying human needs that cause their conflict, and then helping them work together to develop ways to provide what is necessary to resolve the problem

Attunement
Strategic visions (and the plans that follow them) are typically linear and limited. People go through the process of change by aligning themselves to the goals but not attuning themselves to the heart and passion issues that are required fora real commitment to change.

Archetypes
Predefined patterns of behavior that we are each born with. You display your archetypal psyche in the way you think, feel and act. Archetypes comprise psychological patterns derived from historical roles in life, such as the Mother, Child, Trickster, Servant, etc., as well as universal events or situations, including Initiation, Death and Rebirth.

Assumption
A statement of information or a belief accepted as truth without proof. It may be necessary to encourage others to question their own and other people's statements to clarify the meaning applied, the conclusions drawn or inferences made. The reasoning then becomes clear.

Attractors
Attractors can be the basis of an approach to organisational change. It's a representation of where behaviour in a given situation may be leading. That direction is influenced by the rules and forces operating at the time. Think of a river. As it digs deeper into the landscape it attracts more rainwater from the surrounding land. Values, goals, theories, leadership in groups are all attractors - bringing people together for a shared purpose.

Autopoiesis
The tendency of nature to be autopoietic addresses one of life's mysteries - how we create and recreate ourselves as independent entities with unique identities. It makes us resistant to change because we reject anything that we do not recognise as us. It enables our bodies to reject viruses and our minds to reject ideas that are seen as a threat.

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Brainstorming
A team talk exercise that encourages creative or divergent thinking. It involves the holding of all ideas and deferring judgement until everyone's ideas have been expressed. It reduces the domination of the group by one or two individuals.

Beliefs
The thoughts we use to guide our decisions and actions, although we tend to forget and see them as indisputable facts. With any action a belief comes first. We find evidence to support our beliefs in our experience. Once we've got a belief, we tend not to question it, unless a bad experience forces us to.

Blindspots
This happens when a person's visual field does not work, yet can see other things clearly.

Business Plan
A plan is a statement of intent and a business is a collection of activities in an entity. A business plan is therefore a way of focusing the activities of an individual, group or organisation to achive a desired result. There needs to be a return on the investment or consumption of resources. If not, what is the purpose ? Good business plans extend to customer-facing staff. They are clear about what amount of service is to be given to which types of customer, how it will be delivered, how much it will cost to support and deliver and what the benefits will be for the funders or investors. More ... free Business Plan Outline.

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Change Zone
That place in time and space where anything is possible. It exists in the zone of change between order and chaos. It is a state of dynamic unpredictability that makes it the opposite of being in a 'comfort zone'.

Capability
A capability is a combination of tasks, relationships and processes that together deliver performance as defined by your goals.

Chakras
The body contains seven energy centers, known as chakras. Together, these energy centers -- data banks, as they are sometimes referred to - are an archetypal depiction of your individual maturation through seven distinct stages of development. The chakras represent levels of psychic power and intelligence that extend around the body, and connect
us with other spiritual bodies and souls. Their natural energy that can be accessed around each chakra enables you to grow, heal and change yourself.

Charisma
Possession of individual traits and skill such as articulate speech, flair, self-confidence, and strong convictions that connects well with followers. It can be used as a powerful tool to motivate or inspire others.

Coaching
Helping self and others gain new perspectives their intentions and behaviours, to understand what's posible and how to access inner resources such as motivation, commitment, passion, etc.

Coevolution
A process whereby living things adapt to each other's needs over time. The relationship is said to be symbiotic, as one entity adapts to its environment, other entities that connect to it also adapt. For example, as one company adopts IT and wins customers other follow to stay competitive.

Coherence
This is an alignment of context, viewpoint, purpose and action that enables everyone involved to work together towards a shared vision

Collaboration
The ability to multiply people's strengths to deliver a result that no one party could have achieved alone. It creates synergy. This happens because collaboration creates simultaneous ownership, it allows independent actions yet produces multiplied results.

Common Ground
Common ground or commonalties refers to the things two people or groups share, or hold in common. These may include living in the same place, having similar values, interests, or needs, or even similar experiences or fears. Although people in dispute often assume they have nothing in common with their opponents, they almost always have some common ground, even if it is only a common desire to live in peace and security without having to fear the other.

Complicated
A state in which a large number of parts are intricately combined, making the situation very difficult to analyse and understand without help. When we try to cram in more things then problems become more complicated. Machines are complicated - people are complex.

Communication Channels
Communication channels are the means available to communicate with another person or group. They may include direct face-to-face communication, telecommunications (telephone, e-mail, written communications), or indirect communication through third parties or the media.

Community Organising
This is a process through which an expert helps a group of individuals engage in collective action to address a social problem. Community organisers help people work together to get what they want or need: they may help people work together to get more jobs in a community; they may help people fight an unfair government law or ruling; or they may help people work together to force a polluter to clean up their industrial process so it no longer pollutes the local environment.

Complexity
A state in which the parts are meshed together into a web of intricate relationships. It is possible to see the whole but not how the constituent parts (subsystems) fit together. When we try and make use of connections and understand mutual dependencies things become complex because the connections are 'hidden' and unpredictable.

Complex Adaptive Systems
Living things are, by their very nature, complex, adaptive and systemic. Their behaviour results from the interactions and relationships between the entities that make up the 'system in focus' and the environment, or the bigger system of which the 'system in focus' is a part. For example, the body is composed of subsystems such as the nervous system and cardio-vascular system, while at the same time it is part of an environment with an ecosystem and a social system.

Compromise
A solution to a mutual problem that meets some, but not all, of each parties' interests.

Concessions
Concessions are things one side is prepared to give up to try to de-escalate or resolve a conflict. They may simply be points in an argument, a reduction in demands, or a softening of one side's position.

Conciliation
Conciliation involves efforts by a third party to improve the relationship between two or more people in dispute. It may be done as a part of mediation, or independently. Generally, the third party will work to correct misunderstandings, reduce fear and distrust, and generally improve communication between those involved in the conflict. Sometimes this alone will result in dispute settlement; at other times, it paves the way for a later mediation process.

Conflict Management
This term refers to the long-term management of intractable conflicts and the people involved in them so that they do not escalate out of control and become violent.

Conflict Resolution
This term (along with dispute resolution) usually refers to the process of resolving a dispute or a conflict permanently, by providing for each sides' needs, and adequately addressing their interests so that they are satisfied with the outcome.

Conflicts of Interest
This term refers to the situation in which a person has a vested interest in the outcome of a decision, but tries to influence the decision making process as if they did not. In other words, they stand to benefit from a decision if it goes a particular way, but they participate in the decision making process as if they were neutral. An example would be an expert from the tobacco industry testifying that tobacco is safe and does not cause cancer. If he argued this on the basis of scientific merits, rather than his connection to the tobacco industry, he could be charged with having a conflict of interest which altered his position on tobacco research.

Consensus
Consensus decision making requires that everyone agrees with a decision; not just a majority as occurs in majority-rule processes. In consensus-based processes, people must work together to develop an agreement that is good enough (though not necessarily perfect) that all of the people at the table or in the room are willing to agree to it. This would result from an Open Space Event for example.

Constituents/Constituency
Constituents or one's constituency refers to the people a decision maker or service provider represents. The constituents of a governmental leader are the citizens he or she represents in Parliament or other legislative body. The constituents of a negotiator are the people he or she is negotiating for; members of a union, perhaps, or of an interest group or business. A constituency is the geographical area or describes the type of people referred to.

Connection
The ability to share information and ideas. For example, you may create a company Intranet or get people to a meeting, but what people do with the connection depends on the organisation's culture and structures.

Constructive Thinking
Instead of confrontational thinking which creates conflict and confrontation, there must be an attempt to build on everyone's contribution to find a way round the problem that enables everyone to achieve something that they value.. It requires both/and thinking (two positions seemingly in conflict that can both be true in a different context. To get better results you need to think more constructively.

Cooperation
Is marked by a desire for mutual gain or benefit. Each party has to contribute something so that both can achieve a positive outcomes linked to shared goals or objectives. This is because both parties are dependent on each other. One outcome of this is that mutual co-operation between individuals only occurs when a threat is perceived or a huge gain is expected and where confidentiality can be "guaranteed". Thus, there is little day-to-day co-operation because of the risk of individual affairs being exposed.

Coordination
This is the ability to act alongside others who are working independently. It usually accompanies an agreement to share information, telling each other of their policies, plans and outcomes.

Core Competencies
The central skills and value creating capabilities that are perceived as strengths within an organisation. It is the responsibility of management to identify them and then set in place a strategy to develop them.

Cost Benefit Analysis
 When consideration is given to both the positive and negative effects of an action or process, where the net effect or evidence is expressed in both numerical and narrative terms.

Creativity
Can be seen as the connecting and rearranging of knowledge in the minds of people who allow themselves to think flexibly, in order to generate new, often surprising ideas that others judge to be useful.

Credibility
The quality of trustworthiness and other capabilities displayed by a leader that goes beyond their use of positional power to get compliance and respect from peers. It is enhanced by responsible behaviour, dedication and open communcation, and eroded by dishonesty and inappropriate behaviour.

Change
A process that alters a position or state of being so that it is replaced or takes on a completely different form. A transformation. Not to be confused with improvement which is a modification of an existing form.

Change Management
Managing change requires careful planning, extensive consultation, engagement and sensitive implementation. Change must be SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. There needs to be clarity and focus for every intervention introduced, which should not be imposed. More ...

Chunking
The mental act of placing knowledge or data into larger 'chunks' in order to connect smaller chunks to each other.

Cognitive Dissonance
This happens when we try to hold two opposing thoughts at the same time. The mind finds it difficult to cope with, so it either reduces the importance or significance of the dissonant beliefs, or increases the number of consistent beliefs or reinterprets the disonant beliefs.

Common Sense
A seeming rarity in life when something is both logical (from our conscious) and intuitive (from our subciscious), from which we get a "that's obvious" feeling.

Coping Strategy
Is a pattern of behaviour that we use repeatedly as a defence against things we fear we can't cope with. They're habits and, like anything else, can be helful or hindering depending on the situation an the use you make of them.

Culture
A set of beliefs, practices, standards of behaviour, assumptions and values that are shared by employees, stakeholders and other members of the organisation. They guide the behaviour and through adoption reduce uncertainty, anxiety and confusion about what is acceptable.

Cybernetics
The theory of communication and control mechanisms in living system as and machines. Also seen as the study of form and pattern.

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Defensive Routines
The tacit (hidden) practices or experiences developed by the mind to reduce embarrassment, save face, or lessen conflict, but in so doing limit individual and team learning.

Development
Refers to learning that is not tied to a particular role and which implies growth and a better situation. It is often associated with training outcomes, but it can emerge from any event or experience from which new knowledge is created and then used to improve things.

Dialectical Materialism
A form of materialism that sees matter not as something static on which change and development have to be imposed, but as something contained within itself where the tensions and contradictions provide the very motivation for change.

Dialogue
Dialogue is a special kind of conversation. New thoughts and possibilities emerge from the interactions in unpredictable ways. It brings forth previously hidden meanings and understandings. It is also a process for sharing and learning about another group's beliefs, feelings, interests, and/or needs in a non-adversarial, open way, usually with the help of a third party facilitator. Unlike mediation, in which the goal is usually reaching a resolution or settlement of a dispute, the goal of dialogue is usually simply improving interpersonal understanding and trust.

Diversity
The result of an increased variety of members in a workplace who are diverse in background, experience, attitudes, ethnic origin, religious persuasion or gender composition. It requires respect and tolerance for individual differences of all kinds.

Divine
Something that defines your spiritual connection with your God - be it Buddha, Jesus Christ, Allah, etc.

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Ecosystem
Everything in the natural world is connected to everything else. As Barry White the singer would say "everything is part of everything else baby". Actions in one system can affect the actions and reactions in other system, and vice-versa. Relationships are interdependent, interrelated and interacting between systems and sub-systems. What affects one part of an organisation is bound to have an effect on the others - directly or indirectly.

Edge of Chaos
Order is just a pattern that we interpret as predictable or stereotypical. We like habitual behaviour because it creates feelings of order and comfort. There is order in what we perceive as chaos, it's just that we are unable to see or understand the underlying patterns. As soon as we move out of our 'comfort zone' we enter a 'change zone' which puts us at the 'edge of chaos'. This is where we are at our most creative, where anything is possible and we learn how to cope with different circumstances.

Ecological Change
One of the fastest growing areas for understanding change as a phenomeon that involves the behaviour of an entity in an ecology. It is challenging the traditional view of organisations as mechanisms with a rational closer to organisms. This makes chnage an intricate 'dance' of cooperation and competition, in which cooperation normally dominates. It also provides a framework for understanding the dynamics of change with it's inside-outside dynamic with systems operating at different levels, reflecting the top-down dynamic. x

Emergence
Cooperation can emerge for the benefit of all when independent agents are able to self-organise their interactions for personal gain. Conversation is about emergence because it brings forth new and previously hidden meanings and understandings. It is unpredictable and creative.

Emotions
They are different from feelings, because they are mental states (coming from our thoughts) whereas feelings are physical sensations. Emotions can generate feelings as with anger or a tight feeling in the chest, but they are separate. The same feeling can be associtaed with two emotions - fpr example a churning stomach can be fear or excitement depending on our thoughts. The thoughts are often driven by our needs at the time.

Empathy
The ability to attune one's moods and feelings to a wide range of emotional signals, so they can be felt and appreciated without a word being spoken. It enables people to get on well with each other. But beware, empathy is not putting ourself into someone elses shoes if we take our own frame of reference with us. We need to look at things fro the other person's perspective.

Empowerment
Empowerment means giving a person or group more power. This may be done by the people alone, through education, coalition building, community organising, resource development, or advocacy assistance. It can also be done by a mediator, who can work with the lower power person or group to help them represent themselves more effectively. Although this approach causes ethical dilemmas (since helping one side more than another compromises a mediator's impartiality), it is quite commonly done in the problem-solving or "settlement- oriented" approach to mediation, since this approach works best when the two parties are relatively equal in power. It is sometimes advocated that the empowerment of both parties simultaneously through transformative mediation, which seeks to restore disputants' "sense of their own value and strength and their own capacity to handle life's problems." This approach avoids the ethical dilemmas of one-sided empowerment, though it sacrifices emphasis on achieving a settlement as primary.

Energy
In general terms it is the capacity or power to produce an effect, such as motivation, passion, commitment, etc. It can also be seen as potential power to transform, as in the case of electrical. chemical nuclear, radiant and mechanical energy.

Espoused Theories
The way we explain our actions to ourselves and others. They are often in conflict with our theories-in-use. There is nothing as powerful in the process of change than a practical theory.

Evolution
The process of unfolding or opening out. In biology the development of individual plants and animals which has direction and progresses over time. Some think of it as purposeless while others view it as a creative force. The entire universe is an evolutionary system. Evolutionary change is incremental but not always linear.

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Facilitation
A well timed intervention that makes it easier for people to speak openly, make a decision, resolve an issue or generate creative ideas. It requires clarity of role, the skills and confidence to deal with disruptive individuals or difficult situations, and the ability to move a group forward towards an assessment of their own performance. Facilitation is done by a third party who assists in running consensus-building meetings. The facilitator typically helps the parties set ground rules and agendas, enforces both, and helps the participants keep on track and working toward their mutual goals. While similar to a mediator, a facilitator usually plays a less active role in the deliberations, and often does not see "resolution" as a goal of his or her work, as mediators usually do.

Feedback
The return of information, formal and informal, about the results or status of an event, question or process. It may be any signs we can pick up about reactions to what we are doing. It's not just the formal feedback it's all thye little signals we don't necessarily notice conscoiusly, but that our subconscious picks up and uses to adjust our thinking, behaviour and actions.

Fitness Landscape
There is no such thing as a level playing field. The factors that maintain a system are constantly shifting - they are dynamic. Spotting the trends enables you to get into a position that takes advantage of natural energy flows. This is why jewelry stores, banks and mopbile phone shops are found in close proximity to each other. Customers are attracted to places where making choices is easier and the supplier maximises their chance of a sale. You only survive on the margins if you are different enough.

Force
Can be seen as active power, strength or energy brought to bear in a situation or problem. It has the ability to nudge or shift something from one state to another and is herefore a key ingredient in the change process.

Form
The shape, configuration or structure of something like a mountain or an idea. One transcends space and time while the other doesn't.

Future Search
Usually takes the form of a conference over 1-3 days when a large representative group, from a community or organisation, come together to create a shared vision for its future.

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Game of Life
Making frequent small changes and observing the effects this has on those around you is how nature changes most of the time. Watch birds flocking and you will see this phenomenon in action. Only occasionally are their major transformational changes. Global rules acting locally reveal the power of simplicity. xxx

Gestalt
A German term roughly meaning form, shape or essence. It is used to refer to unified wholes, complete structures or totalities which can be more than the sum of their parts.

Groupthink
The tendency of decisionmakers to join together around a policy or person without questioning basic assumptions. An emotional bond of conformity can cause a group to filter out rational information that may call its own thinking and actions into question.

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Habit
A bodily or mental disposition to act in a perdictable way, generally acquired by repetitive behaviour. It can refer to a practice or custom.

Holism
The doctrine that wholes are more than the sum of their parts.

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Identity
Identity refers to the way people see themselves, the groups they feel a part of, the significant aspects of themselves that they use to describe themselves to others. Some theorists distinguish between collective identity, social identity, and personal identity. However, all related in one way or another to a description of who one is, and how one fits into his social groups and society over all.

Identity Conflicts
Identity conflicts are conflicts that develop when a person or group feels that their sense of self, who one is, is threatened or denied legitimacy or respect. Religious, ethnic, and racial conflicts are examples of identity conflicts.

Increasing Returns

Information
To put data into a form or shape that is meaningful. This helps us give shape and form to our thinking, observation, behaviour and ideas.

Innovation
It is the first, practical, concrete implementation of an idea done in a way that brings broad-based, outside recognition to an individual or organisation.

Inspiration
The ability to move people to new attitudes and behaviours with a compelling vision of a better future. People feel connected to and driven by a higher purpose.

Interest groups
Interest groups are advocacy groups, groups of people who join together to work for a common cause. Environmental groups, groups defending human rights, and groups working for social causes are all interest groups.

Interests
Interests are the underlying desires and concerns that motivate people to take a position. While their position is what they say they want, such as "I want to build my house here!", their interests are the reasons why they take that position (because I want a quiet lot with a good view of the city). Often parties' interests are compatible, and hence negotiable, even when their positions seem to be in complete opposition.

Intolerance
Intolerance is the unwillingness to accept the legitimacy of another person, group, or idea that differs from one's own. It may result in an effort to get rid of the "objectionable" person or idea, or it may simply result in treating them in a subservient way, as occurs when people of certain racial or ethnic groups are discriminated against by the dominant groups in society.

Internal Regulator
This maintains our standards of behaviour at the level our subconscious thinks is right for us, based on our beliefs about ourselves.. It's job is to pull us up or drag us down. If we don't think highly pof ourselves, we can settle for lower standards than we are capable of, or we push ourselves to achieve perfection - either way we feel bad about ourselves. We can't change our internal regulator until we change our beliefs about ourselves.

Intuition
Is a feeling of knowing something, without knowing how you know.The skill of interpreting the language of human energy and the forces of will. Strong intuitive abilities are a gift, but they can be learned or enhanced as long as you believe they can. You have to trust yourself and be honest about your feelings. You must view events, people and challenges as having symbolic meaning.

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Johari Window
This is a tool for improving self-awareness and mutual understanding between individuals within a group and between groups. Developed by Joseph Luft & Harry Ingram it is used to influence the use of 'soft' skills, such as behaviour, empathy, cooperation, interpersonal and inter-group development. It has been extensively developed by many other people. In essence it is very simple. It links the individual's characteristics to those of a group. They include the open/free, the hidden, the blind and the unknown. For example in new teams the open free space for any team member is small because shared awareness is small. More ...

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L

Learning Lab

Leverage
A strategic advantage, power to act effectively or a way to amplify potential gains.

Learning - personal

Learning - team

Learning - organisation

Learning - community

Learning Contracts

Learning Reviews
This can be done on a one-to-one or a whole group basis, depending on the issue. It involves considering questions such as what went well or less well, what we learned about my own and the behaviour of others, insights gained and how what has been learned has been applied. Many things may need toi be unlearned first. It involves considering, where and when I can use the insights to improve performance.

Learning Sets

Lock-In

Logic
AMeans our unique concept of rational cause and effect. Everone has their own logic, so if you work backwards from the effects people achieve and ask yourself why someone would want to do it, you will find the belief that caused them to produce that effect.

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Mechanistic Theory
The theory that all physical phenomena can be defined by calculation without reference to goals or purposes.

Mediation
Mediation is a method of conflict resolution that is carried out by an intermediary who works with the disputing parties to help them improve their communication and their analysis of the conflict situation, so that the parties can themselves identify and choose an option for resolving the conflict that meets the interests or needs of all of the disputants. Unlike arbitration, where the intermediary listens to the arguments of both sides and makes a decision for the disputants, a mediator will help the disputants design a solution themselves.

Mental Model
A representation of the whole body of knowledge unique to an individual; enabling the individual to perform complex thinking tasks. Defining mental models is important in analysing the causes of problems and the definition of success.

Mind Mapping

Mission Statement
A written proclamation that describes the purpose of an organisation and outlines the type of activities to be performed for stakeholders and customers. It should highlight the unique value or services that will be the result of its work.

Meme
A term coined by Richard Dawkins, who defines it as a unit of cultural inheritance that is passed on from brain to brain to secure its own survival and replication.

Metaphor
Words that stimulate and link idaes in new ways so that new knowledge and insights can emerge. They are a powerful way of using language to engage with complex situations and ideas. For example - "an organisation is like an ecosystem."

Mutation
A sudden change. Mutations are changes that emerge from a new combination of interactions producing a different outcome.

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Needs
Psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested that all people are driven to attain certain biological and psychological requirements, which he called fundamental human "needs." Several conflict theorists, for instance John Burton and Herbert Kelman, have applied this idea to conflict theory, suggesting that the needs for security, identity, and recognition underlie most deep-rooted and protracted conflicts. Most ethnic and racial conflicts, they argue, for instance, are not interest-based conflicts (and hence cannot be negotiated), but are driven by the subordinate group's need for these fundamental needs. Only by restructuring the society so that all groups' fundamental needs are met can needs conflicts be resolved.

Negotiation
Negotiation is bargaining. It is the process of discussion and give-and-take between two or more disputants who seek to find a solution to a common problem. Negotiation occurs between people all the time--between parents and children, between husbands and wives, between workers and employers, between nations. It can be relatively cooperative, as it is when both sides seek a solution that is mutually beneficial (commonly called win-win or cooperative bargaining), or it can be confrontational (commonly called win-lose or adversarial) bargaining, when each side seeks to prevail over the other.

Networks

O

Operating Context
This in effect is the outside-in perspective. It includes anything or anyone in your external environment that affects performance. Primarily, that means customers, suppliers and other external factors such as the economy.

Organisational Change

Organisational Development
A belief that planned change is possible through a systems approach. It adopts a joined-up perspective of organisational relationships and learning in teams, groups and the organisation as a whole. It relies on assessments of situations, structures, systems and people to decide how best to intervene. It involves regular monitoring and evaluation of those interventions as a basis for the development of change plans.

Organisational Learning
The intentional use of learning processes at the individual, team and system level to continuously transform an organisation in a direction that satisfies its stakeholders.

P

Paradigm
An example or pattern of the way we see the world (after TS Kuhn) that is shared with others. It has coherence and meaning, making it an acceptable approach to solving problems.

Partnership Working

Performance
Action in accordance with requirements and expectations; purposeful activity using an individual's mental, physical and emotional capabilities; generally a qualitative measure of how things are done; often contrasted or combined with productivity, which is a quantitative measure of output over input.

Performance Appraisals
Appraisals are considered to be an essential part of managing the performance of individualls in organisations today. The process should be linked to the organisation's aims and businessplanning objectives It can include interviews, observations, skill analysis, assessment centres, psychometric tests, etc. More ...

Perspective
Is what we see from the position we are looking at things from. Anyone who is in a different position from you is going to see the same thing differently. As our actions are based are base on our interpreation of what we see and hear, a different perspective will lead to a different action.

Perceptions

PEST
This is a method for analysing markets or the situations in which groups and organisations have to operate. Like SWOT is uses four key perspectives, but they are external as the Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors used for assesment. More ...

Possibility Space

Power
An individual's capacity to influence the behaviour and attitudes of others. This usually also results in the ability to influence events, decisions and possessions. It can be used productively or destructively. Power is the ability to get what you want, or as conflict theorist Kenneth Boulding put it, to "change the future." This can occur through force (sometimes referred to as "power-over"), through cooperation (referred to as "power-with" or exchange power) or through the power of the integrative system--the system of identity and relationships that holds people together in groups.

Projecting
This happens we see in others some 'thing' ( a thought, belief, characteristic) that we have in ourselves, but don't see and wouldn't like it if we did (which is why we don't. We reject anything that threatens our view of how we like to see ourselves. Our subconscious wants us to be mentally helathy, which means accepting every part of us. The bits we deny get projected onto others.

Project Management
A complex set of tasks should become a project to be managed. A project is a set of sequenced activities where the who, how, where and when are clearly identified, against which progress can be monitored. More ...

Problem Solving
This term is sometimes used to refer to analytical problem solving workshops that seek to analyse and resolve issues or conflicts based on identifying and providing the underlying causes or human needs. In other situations, it refers to an approach to mediation that focuses primarily on resolving a conflict (as opposed to transforming the relationships of the people involved).

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R

Real Change Leader
Someone who does not necessarily have authority by virtue of position, but fills the role of change agent in a team or organisation as an encourager, facilitator or helper to those who choose to follow their lead.

Reductionism
The doctrine that more complex phenomena can be reduced to their constituent parts to understand how they work. The parts can be classified or categorised and they have fixed, linear relationships between them. Closely associated with Mechanistic Theory.

Reframing
This happens when we change our interpretation of an event, usually by challenging the beliefs that underpin our original interpreatation. It can involve the shifting of perspective to analyse and examine various frames or windows of an organisation's environment. Each frame holds the potential of presenting its own image of reality and can help the leader to develop greater appreciation and deeper understanding of organisations. It often means looking at a problem or situation from a number of different perspectives.

Responsibility
AIn our moments of choice, we recognise that we don't just hav to react, we can respond. It means looking at our aptions forresponding, weighing up the possible consequences of each option, deciding which one will achieve the best results, and esponding on that basis.

Reticular Operating System
This is a brain function that makes us notice only those the things that are important to us at the time. We need it because we couldn't possibly process all the information we could potentially take in - we would go mad. The subconscious does this work for us.

S

Self-Managed Team
Self-awareness holds the key to accountability in teams. Everyone must be held accountable for keeping the work on track and facilitating the input of other members through open dialogue - helping them to reflect and learn from experience. This behaviour is vital to secure a common understanding of what's important and what success will look like and feel like.

Self-Organisation

SMART

Synchronicity
From a Jungian viewpoint, synchronicities are meaningful coincidences; they are events that seemingly have no causal relationship, but are in fact related. On an energetic level, you attract synchronicities into your life, such as when you are seeking guidance. Use your intuition and your archetypes to uncover the significance and meaning of your synchronicities.

Synergy
The effect of 1 + 1 = 5 or 10 or 20. It can be the result of effective collaboration This is because the result has emergent qualities that could not be found by breaking things down into their constituent parts. A team of people can achieve more than the individuals could acting independently. Their heightened motivation, creativity and commitment emerges from their interactions.

Search Engines

Stakeholders
Can be seen as interest groups and impact groups. Impact groups are those that can prevent you from achieving the outcomes. Interest groups will be affecrted by the outcome but can't prevent you from achieving it. You can't ignore the needs of either group., but the distinction is helpful when managing a conflict of interest.

Stress
Mild anxiety can focus attention and energy, whereas prolonged anxiety can sabotage relationships, productivity, clarity of thought, etc. In a state of stress our minds are preoccupied and we feel agitated. The antidote to stress is positive emotions. Positive interactions lead to positive feelings.Good leaders know the importance of creating an enthusiastic and cooperative environment.

Stewardship
A philosophy developed by Peter Block as an idea that reflects how leaders should behave as if you are looking after the people and the resources so they can be used well and passed on worth more than they were when inherited. It is a wliingness to be held accountable for the wellbeing of the organisation or community as a whole, without the need for direct control or compliance..

Storying
Narrative rich discussions where people tell you everthing in detail, including nuances and feelings. You can learn so much more about what's happening than you can when you just get the facts.

System
A dynamic entity like a cell, organism, organisation or environment which is comprised of interdependent parts, fundamentally characterised by inputs, processes or throughputs, and outputs; parts in interrelationships that work together for the purpose of the whole.

System in Focus
This is the individual or sub-group that is the subject of analysis. Because system exist within systems it is important to be clear which system yoy are looking at so that reference can be made to its environmental system and its sub-systems. For example, a restaurant exists in an environment and is made up of many sub-systems such as cooking food which has sub-systems such as purchasing the ingredients.

Systems Theory
A form of holism concerned with the organisation of 'systems' at all levels of complexity. The inspiration for this theory comes from attemts to see links between physiological systems in biology and human systems in the social sciences.

Spirituality

Social Inclusion

SWOT
This is an extrememely useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations. It's an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It's very simple to use and reveals valuable information to support Business Planning and Decision-Making of all kinds. It can be used for teambuilding, brainstorming, assessments of partnerships, suppliers, methods, etc. More ...

T

Team Learning

Teambuilding
Is the process by a leaderto enhance cooperation, identification and cohesiveness of a group. This might involve emphasising common values and interests, initiation of rituals, symbols and ceremonies, cultivating appreciation and tolerance and incentives to reward mutual cooperation.

Theories-in-use
These are the sources of meaning that link ideas together in our minds to support our everyday if-then thinking. They mediate action and often in contradiction to our espoused theories.

Trial & Error
This is the way we learn from experience - trying to do something, noticing what doesn't work, and changing our approach until we find what works for us. Much of this is based on the feedback we get.

U

Uncertainty
The very act of observation affects what is being observed. The more you focus on one aspect the more you mis on another. The mind only pays attention to its intention, ignoring the things it decides are not important.

V

Values
Values are the ideas we have about what is good and what is bad, and how things should be. We have values about family relationships (regarding, for instance, the role of the husband with respect to the wife), about work relationships (regarding, for instance, how employers should treat employees) and about other personal and relationships issues (regarding, for example, how children should behave towards adults, or how people should follow particular religious beliefs).

W

Win-Lose (Adversarial) Approach
This is the approach to conflict taken by people who view the opponent as an adversary to be defeated. It assumes that in order to win, the opponent must lose. This is opposite to the win-win approach to conflict that assumes that those in disputes will cooperate, a solution which provides a victory for all sides can be found.

Win-Win (Cooperative or Problem Solving) Approach
This is the approach to conflict taken by people who want to find a solution that satisfies all parties. In "win-win" bargaining, the disputing parties try to cooperate to solve a joint problem in a way that allows both parties to "win." This is contrasted with the "win-lose" (adversarial) approach to conflicts that assumes that all opponents are enemies and that in order to win a dispute, the opponent must lose.

Win-Win Situations
Game theory makes a distinction between positive-sum situations (often called "games") which everyone can win (also referred to as "win-win"), negative sum games (also referred to as "lose-lose"), and zero-sum games in which one side wins only if another side loses.

World view
A world view is a person's fundamental image of the world - one's set of core beliefs about how their social environment is put together. It involves one's fundamental values about what is good and bad; it involves beliefs about who does what and why; it involves assumptions about what causes events and what those events might later cause. World views are closely linked with a person's sense of identity. People see themselves as part of some groups and not part of others, of having a particular role to play in society, and particular relationships with others. One's image of who one is results from one's fundamental image of the world and one's image of how one relates to other people in it.

X

X and Y Theory
This theory was proposed by Douglas McGregor, an American social psychologist. It is referred to in the management of motivation. Whilst questioned in some quarters it is still a valid basic principle from which to manage. X refers to an authoritarian management style and Y to a participative style. Clearly good management requres a balance of the two styles, each dominating at different times to meet different circumstances. More ...

Y

Z

Zero-Sum Games or Situations
Zero-sum games or situations in which the only way one side can get ahead (or get more of something) is if the other side gets less. This occurs when there is a finite amount of a resource to be distributed, and the together the parties want more than is available. In this situation, no side can get what they want unless the other side gets less than they want. This is also referred to as win-lose situations.

Zone
An area with distinguishable features or character.