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Convergence 1997
- K e y n o t e r s -

In 1991, this Swedish hearing aid manufacturer (the oldest in the world) completely eliminated formal organization and offices. Instead, employees work on projects of their own choice (there is an open market for resources among project champions). All work is done by project groups using mobile stations which can be combined into project "pods." The results of this unique environment are incredible: Oticon develops products twice as fast as their competitors and profits are ten times the 1990 level ... in a market that has been flat for the past five years.

In this session you will learn how Oticon replaced departments and hierarchies with project groups in order to liberate creative resources from its staff. This change led to breakthrough products and impressive growth.

Lars Kolind has served as President of Oticon Holding A/S since 1988. He also contributes much of his time to volunteer work which he credits as much of the inspiration for his unique views on organizations. He was named "Man of the Year" in 1995 by Denmark's leading business journal.

We all have our jobs because there are problems to be solved and continual challenges to be addressed. Solving problems requires the use of our creativity and the Kirton Adaptor-Innovator (KAI) inventory helps us understand how we use our creativity and how we can use it better.

How you prefer to use your creativity as you solve problems is measured by the 33-item KAI inventory (which you will complete prior to this session). Your style of solving problems determines what roles in the innovation process you prefer, and why some tasks are comfortable while others drive you crazy. While every style of problem solving is valuable and equally important, understanding the differences and your own preferences can be extremely important in developing effective problem solving processes.

In this session, you will receive your own KAI feedback reports. Come prepared to take a leap in self-awareness and self-appreciation, but most of all, come prepared to have a great time.

Participants will:

• Receive individual KAI feedback reports.

• Learn the basics of the different styles of creativity measured by the KAI.

• Learn to appreciate the importance of each of the styles in the problem solving process.

Only the elegant, efficient and powerful ideas attract management's attention and get the support necessary to make it into the world. And once in the world, they are the ones that will attract and maintain the interest of your customers. While the focus of idea generation sessions is generally on quantity of ideas, aesthetics can help you improve the quality of ideas.

In this session, you will learn about the research foundation for aesthetics and creativity and discover why aesthetic development is a core competence required for building sustainable creative capacity in organizations and individuals.

Participants will:

• Discover new sources of creative ideas imbedded in beauty.

• Learn how to use existing aesthetic resources in your organization or personal surroundings to build aesthetic awareness and creative capacity when designing new products, services and processes.

• Learn how to use simple methods to increase the quality and quantity of aesthetic experiences in your life.

Why would a successful company such as Levi Strauss & Co. begin a massive reengineering initiative when it is already recognized as a market leader in product innovation and marketing creativity? This session will explain why and how Levi embarked on this complex initiative to completely reengineer customer service and the supply chain. Kasten will also identify the critical success factors necessary to make a large scale initiative work.

While acknowledging the importance of the visual, pattern-making aspects of the brain, most creative problem solving techniques are locked into a verbal mode. Betty Edwards believes that we need to learn to bypass language, a left-brain activity, and go directly to the visual thinking center. Starting in a visual mode is a good way to improve problem solving abilities.

Learning to draw stimulates problem solving abilities as drawing is a parallel language to the spoken word, communicating through line, shape, relationships and light and shadow rather than through words and sentences.

In this session, Edwards will outline methods for making drawing accessible to ordinary "drawing-challenged" people. The real goal of learning to draw is, in her view, to improve thinking by bringing to bear on problems the powerful visual mode of the brain.

Join Gordon MacKenzie on a rollicking roller coaster of parables and anecdotes that speak metaphorically of the ways and rewards of achieving balance between bureaucracy and creativity, normalcy and originality, formula and invention, selfless loyalty and cooperative individuality within an organizational environment. A funny, kinetic, eccentric, tender, pragmatic interactive, non-threatening presentation.

John Renesch is dedicated to building a critical mass of leaders who can cause a revolution in the business world. Rather than being soft-spoken advocates of transformation, Renesch says we need to be cheerleaders, speaking out courageously for what we believe is right.

In this powerful session, Renesch relates stories of business people who are wrestling with the conflicts of spirit and business, consciousness and global enterprise. He will also share ideas about how Convergence 97 attendees can become transformation cheerleaders, active agents for change in their organizations and communities.

Ned Herrmann is a pioneer in creative thinking in the corporation and founder of Whole Brain Technology. He is also a living example of the concepts he promotes, applying his creativity not only to business and science but also to the arts as a painter, sculptor and musician.

In this session, Herrmann will help us learn how to access and master that human spark within us that is capable of igniting not only a fleeting idea but also a big bang that can change the world. He will share ideas for knowing what our personal creativity is and how to free it, apply it and stake our creative claim in the world.

Join your peers in this exciting opening activity that will not only help you know more about the people you'll be spending the next few days with but also about yourself. As you play this unique version of the Diversity game, you'll actually experience thinking style differences and have a chance to jump start your conference learning. Designed especially for Convergence 97, you'll never experience a conference opening quite like this one.

Explore synergy as an essential ingredient to building a learning organization. In this exciting and meaningful session, participants will use percussion instruments from around the world to create a spirited and precise musical ensemble. Synergy will be achieved through shared leadership, continuous learning, and modeling of powerful training methodologies. Ensemble playing is a dynamic new model for assisting training professionals and change agents in creating innovative, participative learning organizations.