July 14, 2011
Linking a working organization’s future goals to a big global challenge is not easy, but every discussion of the possibilities for Compression Thinking Groups digs deeper into how to bring this closer to reality. Discussions in Cardiff, Wales were no exception.
Several exercises tasked people from real companies to project how their organizations might be different using Compression Thinking. All had reduced the resource footprints of operations using the current business model, and they extended that thinking. However, moving beyond that to contemplate changes in business models would obviously take serious reflection over a longer period than a two-hour exercise.
Although daunting, that is the mission of the Compression Institute. Wording that mission is far from complete. Roughly, it is to help small-to-medium working organizations cope with the crunches that are coming and learn to give their customers excellent outcomes while using far fewer natural resources to do it. Large concerns may have the staff to tackle this. Smaller ones don’t, but still have equally difficult situations.
We’re in the process of creating a legal entity for the Compression Institute as a 501(c)3 organization, but organizationally structured in a fashion similar to the vigorous learning organization proposals that many of you have read about. It is challenging for a group working virtually to emulate the best practices we have ever seen in working organizations.
Facilitator/guides are intending to form local learning groups in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Northern New Jersey. We have more prospects studying how to go about this, and it’s a learning process for everyone involved.
Our intent is to begin with 4-6 such groups and absorb lessons from their experiences before trying to extend the network. The infrastructure to do this has to be built. If a group starts, just having meetings to discuss Compression Thinking is a warm up. Then working through the confusion of how to migrate a business to a new way of thinking in a world that is not yet receptive is the heart of our mission. That’s where feedback from real experience will be crucial.
After dispelling the fear that a company will go broke making these moves, we must help them determine how to develop an unprecedented level of operational competence in order to make them.
Compression Thinking is an adventure not quite like any other we have seen, but if you are game to begin a study group with us, just e-mail doc@compression.org.