Finally managed to get my idea of a series of Masterclasses off the ground here; the first one is next week and will be facilitated by Dr. David Lamond and is on the subject 'Community, and what it means to Emerald'.
I'm a little apprehensive about this. I hope it works but I'm not sure what I even mean by saying 'works'. I guess there should be Actionable Outcomes - things that can be done that can be subsequently measured but in my heart I think this would be to miss the point. I have managed to get together a number of senior staff for the afternoon and this in itself is quite an achievement - time is precious (and costly) so I'm sure on a management by measurement basis something tangible needs to emerge.
Actually I'm hoping that the session becomes much more conversational and comes to be regarded by those present as a means of sense-checking and learning from each other about what is meant by 'Community' from the perspective of their part of the business. I think if this was to happen, and we arrive at a common understanding and a sense of where community sits in the overall view of the business then that would be a good thing. I also believe that much of the really valuable outcomes will occur in people's heads and that if they take something away with them that is internal and new, this is as much (if not more) valuable than a collective set of Actions and Deadlines.
This is an important distinction and one that I've come to value after experiencing knowledge cafes (David Gurteens are really good) which are a more open approach to discussion and peer learning. Too often there is debate (or the defense of one's view and ideas) rather than discourse, which I hope is more open and conversational, and this session is designed to be the latter.
Still, not sure how it will all play out. I hope people enjoy the day, I think if they do that then with David's leadership something very useful and longlasting will come out of it too.
