Chatting About Change with Dr. Jim Maddox Jim Maddox

My guest this episode is Michael Clifford, who combines his unique talents of zoo science and conservation with his expertise in organization development and change in his role as the Strategy Director for Reverse the Red. Reverse the Red is a global movement that ignites strategic cooperation and action to ensure the survival of wild species and ecosystems and reverse the negative trend of biodiversity loss. Michael shares how he utilizes OD concepts in facilitating strategic change and building partnerships and coalitions, among governments, various partner organizations, and communities.  We discuss how he uses his unique skill set to facilitate change, in an environment where he has no authority or power, just the ability to understand ecosystems and systems in general, and the ability to cast a vision and provide a pathway for change to occur.  The chat is a great example of process consulting skills in action.  The conversation also highlights the value of cross-cultural competencies in working within diverse communities and systems.  Michael mentions that with 196 different countries, there are 196 different ways of approaching conservation.

My guest this episode is Ron Banerjee, who is an experienced Change Leader, Financial Advisor, Speaker, Author, and Innovator.  Ron is also the Vice President of Partnerships and Affiliations for the International Organization Development Association (IODA).  Ron shares his Rapid Response Organization Development (RROD) model, which is featured in a chapter of the recently released book, “Building a Coaching Culture”.  Ron and I discuss the value of approaching OD efforts rapidly and how the process does not necessarily need to take a year to intervene in an organization.  Ron shares his interactions with Ed Schein and David Cooperrider in the development of his RROD model.  The model is a great tool to have for anyone who is tasked with guiding change in an organization.

My guest this episode is Dave Jamieson, Ph. D., retired professor and president of the Jamieson Consulting Group. He is passionate about coaching & teaching to change the way we change & change the way we lead.  He is dedicated to organizational leaders becoming more skilled at change leadership and systemic solutions and integrating the increasing complexity of technology with the need of supporting the humanity of their employees and customers.  We discuss how many people in organizations do change in ways that doesn’t pay enough attention to what it takes for human beings to move past their resistance and to be a part of the change.  Much of the focus is on what it is about the work that needs to change and overlooks the role of the people in change.  Dave discusses how change itself is changing.  The environment used to be stable which allowed change to be something you could manage as a separate project.  Today, the change must be integrated with the people who are doing the work and be led by those directly engaged with the change.  The need now is to approach change from a very systemic lens, and we need to understand the complexity and disruptive nature of change in very interdependent systems.

My guest this episode is Scott Spradlin, who is a consultant, educator & media developer at Wise Mind, Wise Life: Engage, Enchant, Elevate.  Scott is a licensed Dialectical Behavior Therapist, and author of the book, “Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your Life: How Dialectical Behavior Therapy Can Put You in Control”.  Scott provides education and workshops on Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness, and has a special passion for working with those with ADHD.  We discuss the changing landscape of mental health practices and dive into what is meant by wisdom and having a wise mind.  Scott shares his ideas and strategies on more deeply understanding one’s self, managing one’s emotions, and living your best life. Scott shares his insights and perspective on what is meant by the idea of dialectic and what is so impactful about the use of DBT as an approach to mental health. 

My guest this episode is Mary Quant.   Mary combines her unique skills in organization development and design thinking, to partner with global business leaders to accelerate business strategies and execute people- and organization-focused solutions. We discuss how she works with cross-functional teams to challenge the status quo and navigate ambiguity at the intersection of people experience, design thinking and technology.  She describes how she uses visual sensemaking in guiding change along with culture mapping.  Mary shares her passion and obsession with helping individuals, teams and organizations achieve peak performance, and helping them create healthy, creative, and inclusive cultures. We discuss some creative and innovate ways to work in the virtual space so many organizations are operating in.

My guest this episode is Kathryn Goetzke, the Chief Hope Officer at the Shine Hope Company.  She is activating the science of hope globally.  She shares her personal story and her passion around the science of hope and how she is bringing her ideas to organizations, schools, and communities around the globe.  We discuss the widespread pattern of a sense of hopelessness, especially among our youth.  She shares some of her fundamental ideas, which you can find in her recent book, The Biggest Little Book About Hope.