June 11, 2020 Meeting

Meeting Notes
1

Meeting conducted at 09:00 Eastern / 14:00 UTC / 15:00 CET

U.S. Dial-in number: 408.915.6466
Meeting ID: 4569610770
Video: https://redhat.bluejeans.com/4569610770/

Housekeeping

  • June is our fifth anniversary, and we’re celebrating all month. We’ve already ported to @OpenOrgProject on Twitter, will finalize a new logo and brand shortly, and will launch a new website after that. Busy month!
  • @laura has started work on a community presentation repository. Please consider helping populated it with your great materials!
  • Office hours went well in May, and we’ll do them again. Who wants to lead this time?

Special guest: Shauna Yohemas

Shauna just earned her Master of Arts degree in Leadership from Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, and completed a thesis entitled “Revolutionizing the Architecture Industry through Polarity Management.” As part of that research, Shauna embedded herself in an architectural firm seeking to evolve its organizational model. Through extensive field research, Shauna assessed the organization’s current state and has proposed that the organization adopt an open organizational model as it grows. Her thesis cites Open Organization community resources and models.

At this meeting, Shauna joined the Open Organization Ambassadors to describe her research, explain her findings, and open a dialogue with the ambassador team as she embarks on her mission to help an organization transform.

Read here: Revolutionizing the Architecture Industry through Polarity Management

Presentation from Shauna

  • Shauna’s background is in human resources, and in organizational consulting (formerly in retail management)
  • “As I’ve been working for the past 16 years, I’ve always felt like we’re missing something.” … “I’m a bit of an outlier.”
  • Now interested in understanding distributed leadership. How can we truly and authentically empower people in organizations?
  • Now finished a Master of Arts degree in Leadership (began April 2018), focused on organizational change and systems thinking
  • Spent the past year focused on how organizations can live the values they set out for themselves
  • Thesis is entitled “Revolutionizing through Polarity Management”
  • Thesis work involved Next Architecture firm, whose leader is retiring and wants to ensure the organization’s unique culture persists
  • Shauna presents her research, her journey, her findings, and her recommendations for Next

Q&A with Shauna

  • Jonas: What was the organization’s initial reaction when you introduced new theory and concepts? A: Really, no issues! Attribute this to focusing on human-centered design approach. It helped that the materials Shauna brought were pragmatic, actionable.
  • Ron: What’s the relationship between the owners and the staff? A: The organization is working on transitioning to co-ownership model, where all employees will also be owners.
  • Bryan: How can we continue working together? How can we help empower you to better help this organization? A: I want to be as involved as I can be, as much as you’ll have me. I do not want to be an island. My goal is to get into research and consulting, so I can help multiple organizations.