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OWL BOOK REVIEW
AVIARY
Winning Through
Participation, Meeting the Challenge of Corporate Change with the Technology
of Participation
by Laura J. Spencer
Kendall/Hunt Publishing
Company, 1989
ISBN: 0 8403 6196
3
Winning Through Participation is based on the techniques of The
Group Facilitation Methods of the Institute of Cultural Affairs. They have
very powerful endorsers of their methodologies: United Airlines and
McDonald's.
The "participation
technologies" are based on three premises:
-
Managers don't
have all the answers, so they have to be facilitators to get the group
to produce the appropriate approaches.
-
Most managers don't
know how to get their staff to participate, and many are afraid of losing
control if they open these doors.
-
Teaching managers
how to facilitate a group process will enable staff to participate and
reduce managers' fears about losing control.
This is
a book you have to read and study, but we have summarized two of the techniques
and principles on which the technology is based.
-
Managers have to
know how to ask the right questions that make the most of employee wisdom
and experience.
-
Critical thinking
rests on four steps: objective, reflective, interpretive and decisional.
Each step requires certain interactive styles on the part of managers or
facilitators.
For example,
Spencer describes a person who sees someone pointing a gun at them. In
the objective step, the person draws the conclusion that a gun is being
pointed at them, and there is on one around to help them. In the reflective
step, emotions are experienced: "I'm scared, and I want to get out of here."
In the interpretive step, the person thinks through the situation. "I would
rather lose my money than my life. If I give the robber my money, chances
are he'll leave me alone." And finally comes the decisional step. "I'll
give him my money, and then call the police."
The problem,
according to Spencer, is that most of us jump right to the interpretive
step. In particular, we tend to skip right over our emotional reactions,
having been taught that they are irrelevant at best. According to the author,
people are more likely to implement better decisions, if they have gone
through this process, step by step.
The techniques
described in this book are deceptively simple. The "Card Technique," is
known by many and used by a number of group facilitators. But Spencer goes
into great detail so it is not just a technique, but a procedural way to
get group support for final decisions that are made. Otherwise, the technique
can be a simple, but fancy, brainstorming technique.
One way to learn
these techniques is to attend an Institute of Cultural Affairs workshop.
This book will also walk you through the steps. Then all you need
is practice!
Janelle Barlow, President
TMI USA
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