International OD Conference planned 2017 – Cape Town

What a privilege it has been for me (Stan Horwitz) to be elected to serve on the Main Board of the International Society of Organisation Development & Change (ISODC) – www.isodc.org based in the USA over the past 2 years.

These thought leaders are shifting the frontiers of thinking in the OD Field as organisations position themselves for impact, radical change and transformation in a disruptive world.

Later this year (2017), the ISODC will also be collaborating with IODA and the SAODN right here in Cape Town, South Africa. I am thrilled and honoured to be part of the Global ISODC team who will be attending and part sponsoring the international conference.

In 2014 I was invited by the Board of the International Society of Organisation Development and Change (ISODC), to present HR Network’s ground breaking approach i.e. “Tapping Individual and Organisational wisdom through Transformational Storyboarding” at this highly prestigious, annual, global event.

The conference was attended by OD experts, leading academics, organisational leaders and internal OD practitioners from around the world. Colleagues arrived in Amsterdam from Canada, America, Argentina, Singapore, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine, Ghana and myself from South Africa. In total around 80 leaders participated.

The conference centred around a number of themes: • Relevance of Organisational Development and change in the global community

• Transcultural competency for development and change professionals

• Culture, information technology, and organisational development consulting (ODC)

• Issues and methods in ODC

• Whole system change: collaboration is a new competition

My presentation and workshop was extremely well received and highly commended by all. Needless to say, it was impossible to fully share a two day workshop in an hour and half! Without going into detail on what was covered, it was most encouraging to realise that the method and approach is not only leading edge in terms of thinking and application, but that it was well appreciated, relevant , welcomed and endorsed by such a leading community.

For more details on how we can assist you in your organisation to achieve transformation please do not hesitate to contact me.

It was concerning to note that South Africa is fast being left behind in terms of competitiveness and growth. The endless, unresolved obsessive debates still centre on race, redressing past imbalance and redistribution in terms of equalising the playing field. While there is no question that the past needs to be addressed and economic gaps closed (speedily), the focus should really be on how to do so through growth and redressing these imbalances through growth strategies in the Public AND Private sectors. These should focus on creating a Knowledge economy, a technologically and digitally innovative literate society. This can be achieved through public – private partnerships.

While we are focusing on infrastructure and industrialisation as a form of job creation in our developmental state, the rest of the “developed” world has moved way beyond to establish the “knowledge worker, knowledge economy” – fully embracing the digital age. South Africa isn’t even playing catch up – it is lagging and dramatically so. Enter the Exponential organisation….

If the South African state continues to centre policies with itself at the core for driving economic growth, job growth will continue suffering! The type of jobs being created by the state are not meaningful i.e. “jobs in the real sense of the modern, competitive global economy”. These types of jobs created are not sustainable or enabling of future growth.

Further, the belief that it is the state that must create jobs through industrialisation is erroneous. The state has largely neglected to focus on the best sector to drive economic growth i.e. the Private sector (business and entrepreneurs). The state’s job is to create a visionary climate and environment that enables and encourages such through legislation and oversight. The centrist tendencies do not bode well for socio economic growth and job creation.

The digital divide between “developed and developing economies” will become the new form of global labour divide, economic colonialism and oppression. We will then bemoan the past even more. Leaders in both the Public and Private sectors need to, jointly as partners, move beyond their own secular narrow interests and paradigms. The state needs to treat business as a true partner as it does with the labour movement. Dialogue on labour reforms needs to critically take place.

We need to shift into an era of “digitally leaping ahead change” with all engaged social partners. This as opposed to gradual “catch up change”. Our organisations and businesses will need to take the lead if we are to grow our economy locally and in Africa. If government do not act they will experience capital flight as investors invest in emergent high ROI global techo advanced economies.

South Africa has written its past story. Now individuals, teams, businesses, organisations, society, and the state can and should create a new, inspirational vision and new stories of and for success. What story do we want to tell our grandchildren? What legacy do we as a nation want to leave? About a failed state or about our societal socio-political and economic success beyond Mandela?

Transformational storyboarding enables multiple levels of conscious understanding of how wisdoms from the past can be applied through presencing for the emergence to occur. If we cannot and do not speedily move beyond the past as individuals, businesses, and as a country, the world will relegate us to that past and bypass us. Our future is now for us to collaboratively and consciously create by tapping wisdoms.  Let HR Network show you how…now! We are preparing and partnering our clients to build and grow their Exponential Organisations and fast track their growth.

info@hrnetwork.co.za