A Non-Residential Group Relations Conference in
the
Tavistock Tradition
Authority, Leadership and Learning
in Organizational Life
April 2 – 4, 2004
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland
Sponsored by
The
Washington-Baltimore Center,
an Affiliate
of the A. K. Rice
Institute
for the Study of
Social Systems
The James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University
of Maryland
The International Leadership Association
Authority, Leadership and Learning in 
Organizational Life
The
21st century is filled with fast-paced change and we are constantly
being
challenged
to understand, manage and implement change in
various aspects of our personal and professional lives. However,
life provides no clear-cut “how to” operational change
manual. Thus, to be effective or successful “change agents” both
organizationally and/or individually requires that we increase
our effectiveness as learners. Learning and adaptation to change
are fundamental processes evident in all living systems from the
single-celled microorganisms, to the small family-owned business
and/or to the international multi-mega corporation. Be it our family,
our school, our faith/spiritual/religious communities or our workplace,
our learning and adaptation occurs in the context of others, often
around a specified task. Most of our learning is informal, built
upon our spoken and unspoken reflections about the work, the workers,
the technology and the organization in which the task occurs. Mentors
and role models are great resources for helping us learn because
we can learn a great deal from observation of other(s). The authority
invested in individuals as well as the exercise of their own authority
impacts their ability to work, learn and adapt in groups and organizational
life. The many ways in which authority is perceived and used affects
not only individual adaptation and learning, but also that of others
in the organization and of the organization itself.
Primary Task
This conference is designed to provide members with opportunities
to experience and examine systemic processes – overt and
covert, conscious and unconscious – encountered in the
exercise of authority, leadership and power. The conference design
and staff consultation will focus particular attention on the
multi-layered process of interdependence and consequent issues
of leadership, authority and learning within the context of a
temporary organization. Members learn primarily through experience
and reflection on their experience during the conference.
The Purpose
The underlying purpose of the conference is to promote increased
learning/understanding and leadership/followership competence
in personal, work and community arenas.
Conference participants will have opportunities to:
- Learn about
group processes from participation in groups that vary in size,
structure and task.
- Discover
aspects of group life that create vitality, and differentiate
from those aspects that create resistance.
- Observe
the impact of individual characteristics such as race, ethnicity,
nationality,
gender, sexual orientation,
and age on
leadership.
- Recognize
personal and collective reactions to crisply defined authority
and frankly delineated boundaries.
- Discern
the variations between authority formally delegated by a superior,
the authority
sanctioned by subordinates,
colleagues
or clients, and the actual or imputed power that the
individual brings to his or her role.
- Experiment
with behaviors of collaboration, competition, coalition building,
and commitment.
- Identify
underlying patterns of group interaction by forming groups,
establishing governing structures
and
relating with
other groups.
- Understand
the difference between the stated task of the group and the
task it actually appears
to
be pursuing.
- Apply conference
learning to situations in their personal lives, work lives,
and professional
development.
The Learning Model for this Conference
As the group relations conference unfolds, it creates a temporary
learning institution that provides opportunities to study experientially
the conscious and unconscious elements that affect systems and
organizational life, paying particular attention to concepts
such as authority, leadership, tasks, roles and boundaries. By
holding certain factors constant (task, role, time and place)
while observing others emerge in the “here-and-now,” members
become participant-observers who make meaning of the very institution
they are in the process of co-creating. This temporary organization
inevitably mirrors the patterns and relationships of our work
and personal lives, allowing us to progress on intellectual,
emotional, political and even spiritual levels. Consultants provide
observations and interpretations to promote awareness of emerging
themes regarding authority, leadership, task, role, and boundary
formation. While intellectual learning about groups and organizational
behavior is available in many different forums, group relations
conferences are rare enterprises that allow members to learn
experientially.
This model of working and learning evolved from the work of pioneers
in group relations theory: A. Kenneth Rice, Wilfred R. Bion, Gordon
Lawrence, Pierre Turquet, Eric Miller and others associated with
The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London in the 1950s.
Their ideas have since been adopted throughout the world.
Conference Events
The conference is a series of events to provide opportunities to
learn through examining one’s experiences in a variety
of learning contexts. Experiential learning events of this kind
may be stressful, so individuals who are ill or experiencing
a period of personal difficulty may wish to forego attendance.
The events begin and end promptly at the times designated. Since
the conference is designed as a whole, persons who know they
will not be able to attend all events are encouraged to find
another conference they can attend in its entirety.
Plenary Events
There are two Plenary events scheduled, the Opening and Concluding
Plenaries. Each Plenary will bring together the entire staff
and membership to discuss questions regarding the conference
and or its parts.
Small Study Group
The task of the Small Study Group is to learn about and to study
its own behavior as it occurs in the “here-and-now”,
with special attention to authority and leadership and learning
issues. No more than twelve members will be assigned to each
group and a consultant will aid in the task.
Intergroup/Institutional Event
Intergroup and Institutional Events, also conducted in the “here-and-now,” provide
members and staff to learn about the dynamics authority, leadership
and learning occurring among and between groups within the temporary
organization. Members develop groups. Staff functions in a variety
of roles during these events and, as part of the management function
of the event, it conducts its own work in open session.
Role Analysis and Application
Role Analysis and application groups are designed to facilitate
understanding of the roles members “take up” within
the temporary organization and encourage direct application of
the learning gleaned from conference experiences to the workplaces
and professional lives of the members. Staff attempts to create
relatively homogenous groups, based upon members’ work
roles.
The Staff’s Function
Throughout the conference, staff members serve in a variety of
roles designed to encourage awareness, analysis, reflection, and
understanding of the emergent conference dynamics. Working from
specific but varied roles, the staff works with the members to
learn about the processes evident in this particular temporary
educational institution and to facilitate application of this learning
to other institutions and organizations. The staff’s analysis
and interpretation of emergent dynamics are conducted at the group
and organizational level, but the experiential nature of the conference
allows significant opportunity for learning about how individuals
affect and are affected by themes, myths, and actions in the subsystems
and whole system.
The conference is authorized by the Executive Committee of the
Washington-Baltimore Center.
Administrative Staff
Director
Rufus L. Barfield, II, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Nicholson School of Communication, University
of Central Florida; Principal, Barfield and Associates, Organizational
Communications Consultants, Inc.; Associate, Washington-Baltimore
Center (WBC), an affiliate of the A. K. Rice Institute for the
Study of Social Systems (AKRI).
Associate Director
Rene J. Molenkamp, Ph.D.,
Co-Director, The Alexander Institute International, Washington
DC; External Consultant, International Institute for Management
Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland; Director, AKRI Leadership
Institute; Associate, WBC; Associate and Fellow, AKRI.
Pre-Conference Administrator
Zachary Gabriel Green, Ph.D.
Co-Director, The Alexander Institute International, Washington,
DC; External Executive Coach, The World Bank Group; Senior Scholar,
Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park; Associate,
WBC; Associate and Fellow, AKRI.
Consulting Staff
Rufus L. Barfield, II, Ph.D.
Ron Becker, M.S.
Associate Director, Smithsonian National Museum of American History
(recently retired). Consultant in museum management and organizational
development. Associate, WBC and AKRI.
Laura K. Dorsey-Elson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Morgan State University; Independent Organizational
Consultant & Trainer, Washington DC; Associate & Chair
of the Consultation Committee, WBC; Associate, AKRI.
Elaine S. Goldberg, Ph.D.
Clinical psychologist in private practice; Board Certified Art
Therapist; Medical staff, Hospital for Sick Children, Washington,
DC; Associate, WBC and AKRI.
Rene Molenkamp, Ph.D.
Joseph Schmidt, M.Div.
Project Manager, Health Policy Institute, Georgetown University,
Washington DC; Associate, WBC and AKRI.
Staff is subject to change.
Practical Information
|
