Focused Discussions
Neurodiversity in Higher Education: Building a Culture of Innovation, Creativity, and Persistence
Focused Discussion Jimmie Smith
Institutions of higher education are organizations in constant change in order to meet the neurodiverse needs of adult learner. Neurodiversity was first developed as a term referring to a social and clinical movement to explain that the world is made up of individuals with a wide range of skills, perspectives, and abilities. This movement took on a social justice stance by working to create and develop better support for the diverse needs of individual people and at the same time create a better understanding and acceptance of differences and strengths. The neurodiverse approach is to adapt the environment to meet the needs of individuals rather than forcing individuals to adapt to an unsupportive environment. In so doing, the higher educational institutions are evolving more in to organizations of change and knowledge management, and are developing a culture of innovation.
Healing after Organizational Trauma: What Leaders Should
Focused Discussion Lynda Byrd-Poller, Jennifer Farmer, Valerie Ford
Effective 21st century organizations build cultures that adapt to an unpredictable and changing environment. This work endeavors to make a contribution to knowledge about organizational trauma and leader behaviors - specifically what leaders can do when there are signs of trauma in the organization due to organizational change. This session will focus on the conceptual relationship between organizational trauma, organizational change, transformational leadership behaviors and their influence on engagement and professional identity. Through our discussion we hope to gain insight to inform future research that will help to validate the conceptual framework and further the understanding of organizational trauma.
Developing Leader Behavior to Effectively Balance Exploration and Exploitation and Create Organizational Capacity: Critical Factors to the Innovation Process
Focused Discussion Jennifer Groh, Claudia Santin
Innovation and change are hallmarks of modern organizational success, requiring the complex and often polarizing need for both exploration and exploitation to build capacity and achieve sustainability. Tabeau, Geyser, Halting, & Wijnber (2016) citing Levinthal and March (1993) noted that exploration activities relate to activities that search for new knowledge, while exploitation activities relate to the organization’s efforts to improve current knowledge. According to Rosing and Zacher (2017), exploration and exploitation are critical to the innovation process and are leader behaviors that require attention and balance. Leaders, therefore, are challenged with utilizing behaviors and fostering a culture that balances the extremes of exploration and exploitation to build organizational capacity and sustainability through innovation. Shapiro, Wang, and Peltason (2015) proposed mindfulness, Hollywood, Blaess, Santin, and Bloom (2016) proposed holistic mentoring and Groh (2016) proposed pragmatic energy. Gabriel (2004) discussed how to use narratives as devices to engender collaboration between managers and employees and Boje (2001) discussed how organizational narratives and storytelling apply to innovation narratives. This presentation reviews the literature on leader ambidextrous behaviors and examines the aforementioned approaches for their potential in developing leader behaviors that effectively balance exploration and exploitation in creating organization capacity and sustainability. The discussion will also include practical application narratives; attendees are encouraged to bring their own practical examples of leader approaches to balancing creativity and execution to develop the dialogue.
Image in the Arena of Presentation and Public Speaking: The Importance of Appearance as well as Content
Focused Discussion Gillie Haynes
Distance that one will travel to absorb a well-crafted speech or presentation is never too far. However, the knowledge being presented could possibly be lost if the presenter fails to place an equal share of attention on Image. The Image projected by a presenter has the potential to enhance the receiving of the message or possibly create a distraction for those in attendance. I propose a Focused Discussion to include – Choosing and rehearsing the best way to present the information...Reviewing and assessing if the language and words to be used will be understood by all...Understanding the importance of eye contact and gestures...Exercises to work through nervousness...Clear, proven ways to eliminate “um’s” when speaking...Techniques to speak with confidence in any setting...Selecting and using supporting visual and printed materials in the most effective way...How to maintain composure despite unforeseen distractions...The most appropriate look and style of dress for the occasion. The attention to detail given during the formation of a presentation or speech will serve to create a memorable experience for both the presenter and the audience. Respectfully submitted by…Gillie Haynes
A Dialogue on Organizing a Community of Practice for Conflict Intervention
Focused Discussion Terry Neiman, Tara Kowalski, Kent Highnam
The goal of this session is to increase our personal and collective understandings of how we attain the benefits that come from working for change within organizations. Over the last 40 years, there has been huge growth in the art, understanding, and practices of leadership through building a commitment for change. The art of leadership demands finding an equilibrium to deal with conflicts where organizational goals must be met and people have an appetite for autonomy and human connection. The Justice Institute of British Columbia is at the forefront of Canadian efforts to advance conflict resolution through skills-based training and partnerships involving industry, government, and the professions. This approach is informed in significant, and often subtle ways, by influences ranging from “Getting to Yes,” to counseling psychology research, to the phenomenology of Paul Ricœur, to Adam Kahane’s four stages of dialogue. This session’s panel of practitioner/educators will reflect on the complexities, challenges, benefits, and emerging developments in organizational conflict education and practices worldwide. They will share their personal experiences of the conflict change process via play, audience participation, and dialogue. This session is open to all, and will be of special interest to scholars and professionals involved in conflict intervention, mediation, facilitation, and negotiation.
