As we consult to purpose-driven organizations, we share our learnings, experiences, and insights on how purpose and strategy, organization design, change activation, and executive coaching are practiced across the social impact space.
Podcast: Social Impact Organization Design + Culture
11A Founder Julian Chender kicked off Season 3 of the Unpacking Organizations podcast with Rupert Morrison, Founder of Orgvue, and Shradha Prakash, VP Talent & Org at Mastercard. They discuss organization design for social impact (why it’s different and how it’s done), how to incorporate culture into organization design, and the first six months of 11A Collaborative.
Downsizing by Design: A Guide for Nonprofits
Nonprofits across the country are facing the task of quickly downsizing to match their reduced budgets. How organizations go about downsizing will have long-term implications for their organizations and the field. Downsizing by design is a process 11A Collaborative has been using across a number of clients. It offers a trauma-informed approach to collective change, engaging the organization in intentionally designing a new path forward in the face of lost funding.
An Interview with Jessica Phillips
In this blog, Jessica Phillips reflects on the lessons she’s learned throughout her career: from implementing a supportive tenure process at the Met to reshaping how music education prepares students for the complexities of modern artistry. She shares her insights on fostering creativity, advocating for change, and embracing failure as a stepping stone to success.
Podcast: Designing for Impact
How can organizations design themselves for success in a world of constant change and limited resources? In this episode of the People Dividend podcast, Julian Chender sits down with host Mike Horne to explore how strategic design and alignment can make or break an organization's impact.
Music Lessons for Organization Design & Development
It was in Paris that music reinforced the need to engage clients in the dynamic co-creation of organizational outcomes. In the booming nature of the Philharmonie, Yannick Nézet-Séguin suggested the musicians “let the hall finish the notes.” Rather than producing a complete package, he encouraged them to be in conversation with their surroundings, to play with the environment rather than for it
Podcast: Organization Design in the Arts
In this episode of the The Narrative is Changing / The Offstage Mic, Julian Chender talks with Aubrey Bergauer about the intricacies of designing arts organizations. The conversation focuses on structure, both the vertical (silos) and horizontal (integration points) needed to create a cohesive arts organization responsive to its audience.
Culture at the Core: How Orchestras Move Forward
In the music industry, it is time for us to confront our deeply held cultural norms. Musicians are taught to do things the way they have always been done. Rarely do we hear that it could or should be different. Recently, however, a growing number of people in the industry have found the status quo unacceptable. To move forward, we must confront the tension between maintaining the traditions of our past and the necessity of creating modern, inclusive, and safe cultures.
Podcast: Collaborative Negotiations in the Arts
In this episode of the The Narrative is Changing / The Offstage Mic, Jessica Phillips sits down with Ted Nelson and Aubrey Bergauer to discuss unions, management, and negotiations in the performing arts. When it comes to finding common ground in negotiations, Aubrey Bergauer says Jessica Phillips is “an expert shining, beacon of light on this topic.” Jessica served as players committee chair the Metropolitan Opera during two negotiations, one contentious and one collaborative, while Ted Nelson served as chair of the players committee at the Cincinnati Symphony where he worked toward a collaborative agreement. They share their first-hand experiences here.
Podcast: Transformative Organization Design
I had a great time speaking with Garin Rouch and Dani Bacon of Distinction Business Consulting about the fundamentals of Organization Design and the history of the field for the OrgDev Podcast. It is a wide-ranging conversation that touches on everything from “trauma snags” to the discovery of the Zeigarnik Effect. And of course, Organization Design.
Video: Designing A Purpose Driven Organization
This video presents 11A Collaborative’s early work supporting the incoming Manhattan Borough President with strategy and organization design. The presentation describes some fundamental concepts of horizontal organization design, the bringing together of the different parts of an organization to work collectively on strategic outcomes, which in this case were Equity, Climate Resiliency, and Public Health.
Collaborative Diagnosis in Organization Design & Development
After spending seven hours in the emergency room, one notices the similarities between doctors and consultants. Both are helping professions that rely on external intervention in complex systems where accurate diagnosis of system behavior leads to measurable improvement. More so, both use shared participation and accountability.
The Causes of War: Implications for Organization Design & Development
What does war theory tell us about Organization Design and Development? 15 years ago I took an undergraduate seminar in the causes of war at Swarthmore College influence my understanding of organizations and their leaders. This blog shows how Prospect Theory explains leadership and organizational behavior, and the role of the advisor in working with it.
Awareness, Humility, and Will: A Three-Element Process for Self-Concept Development
After the arrival of COVID-19, the “Organization Development Review” requested papers on how we could face the challenges of 2020 and beyond. Julian Chender and Dr. Corrie A. Voss wrote this piece with the help of Dr. Frances Baldwin. It builds on the work of the late Dr. Irv Rubin, exploring how self-concept development is needed in times of disruption. While ingrained self-concepts can be altered, very little is known about how this occurs. We offer an initial model of how experiences might dislodge and reshape the self-concept using the elements of Awareness, Humility, and Will.
Video: Organization Design for Opera
Julian Chender gave the keynote address at OPERA America’s 2021 virtual conference, discussing how to integrate across organization silos for opera’s new post-Covid world. The talk discusses how it is possible to arrive at a “new normal” without returning to old department structures and modes of operation.
Video: The Theory and Practice of Organization Design
Julian Chender sat down with Brandon Curry of WorkArts Advisors to discuss their shared love for Organization Design. They touch on the important skill of marrying both theory and practice to deliver high-quality work. Check out the video.