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MSOD
Alumni Conference
October
24-27, 2002, Lake Tahoe, CA
From: Carol Gausz-Mandelberg
(Gamma Prime)
"CGM Blue Heron Associates"
OVERVIEW
Approximately 75 alumni, representing 21 classes gathered
Thursday evening until Sunday midday at Lake Tahoe for the
semi-annual alumni conference. Five Gamma Primates attended
(Brian, Jen, Mark, Trish and I). It was a great opportunity to
catch up with friends, get to know other MSOD alumni, and learn
through presentations, activities, and discussions with others. The
attached matrix summarizes the focus of each day.
CONFERENCE DESIGN & TOPICS
The conference design provided us plenty of choices in
breakout topics.
KEYNOTES
included
the CEO with whom 2 MSOD alumni work and an outside speaker. I
thought the CEO presentation was particularly good. click
here for more ...
Alumni presentations
were designed in two ways: 1) briefings on four different topic
tracks each of which included 3-4 alumni showcasing (10-15 m. ea.)
their most current work; 2) experiential sessions designed to
provide content that supports alumni from a practical, relevant,
and theoretical standpoint (90 m. ea.). See
the attached matrix for more information.
Faculty
provided 2 presentations:
Chris on strategy and Anne with a panel on International OD. Chris
primarily drew from an article by Don Hambrick and James
Frederickson that recently appeared in the Academy of Management
Executive. It would likely be an interesting read. It basically
separates strategy out from goals, mission/vision etc. It also
defines the choices in strategy a bit differently than others have
done in the past. It does not however integrate culture.
the Arts and Mind/Body Issues
were integrated into the conference effectively in both
presentation and early morning participative sessions.
A singer and humorist added a great touch serving as “conference
weaver”, opening each morning with humorous and inspiring
songs and quick quips relevant to conference discussions. He also
did an excellent job of closing after a moving presentation by
Tony Petrella. Check his website out at www.GregTamblyn.com
and you can review some his songs and materials. One of my
favorites for a good laugh was Railroad Bill, which is #15 on his
CD entitled Grand Design.
Also,
thanks to Jen, the group got a chance to hear MSOD Blues, which
was met with great laughter and applause!
Tony Petrella
spoke of leading from the heart “through the lens of
Patrick”. Tony shared some insights into his relationship with
Pat and the dream they shared (“putting a human face on the
world of work”). The characteristics of
leaders with heart include:
Ø
Able to dream
Ø
Willing to follow their passion
Ø
Courage: in the way of the explorer, a willingness to go
into: uncharted territory and be happy there or into a fight
unafraid
Ø
Love of humanity
Ø
Loyal to others and their cause
Tony shared that Pat’s power and his
leadership stemmed from his courage, his love of humanity (which
he said he didn’t often want to show obviously) and his loyalty.
MSOD alumni network – Options
& Opportunities for our future
Throughout the conference there were opportunities to provide
input on what we each want out of the alumni network. This input
was summarized into a list of topics and reviewed with the full
group on Saturday afternoon. We each selected the topic we most
wanted to discuss and develop and worked in small groups for a
short time.
Topics included:
- creating regional/local alumni groups that can meet more
frequently;
- helping to assure a steady stream of good candidates into
the program;
- supporting new students (mentoring, etc);
- enhancing MSOD.org website content and use to support
information sharing to and among alumni;
- planning the next conference;
- opportunities for alumni to continue “real work” with
other alumni, faculty and students in two primary areas
– involvement in current curriculum (e.g. China trip)
– and creation of other collaborative opportunities
domestically and internationally for continuous learning and
service.
[
note: for more information about the Alumni Network
sessions click here for the Going
Forward pages ]
For More Info:
The proceedings book provided at
registration includes the schedule, intro to each presentation and
the speaker and, in many cases, the speakers’ handout or
presentation.
Take
care,
Carol
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