RSS FeedAn invite to “Your body & your health - doing what works” with Sherry Strong
Posted by Coordinator 15 May 2008
The CIN is pleased to announce that back by popular demand we have Sherry Strong to deliver another one of those A-HA moment seminars on getting healthy.
In 2006 Sherry presented to 200 CIN members and ran a highly successful healthy eating pilot programme for the CIN - the benefits of which are still being realised by participants.
Join us on June 2 to find out how to cut through the misunderstandings and misinterpretations about what we are eating and what the marketers are telling us, and get around the hype that is creating so much consternation around what is truly good for us.
Sherry will share a simple approach that will assist in empowering us to make consistently wise decisions about our health and what we put into our body.
- Find out why the truths associated with your health are so difficult to uncover and how to get around this
- Find out how to determine the difference between fact and fiction from food marketers
- Find out how to get your family to support your efforts to get healthy
- Work out which of the the many food guru’s preachings are right for you
- Find out what stops your progress when getting healthy and turn that around
- Simple things that you can do today that will have you wake tomorrow with more energy and a smile
When: June 2, 12:00 - 2:00pm
Where: Treasury Theatre, Lower Plaza 1 Macarthur St East (Mel Ref 2F, K3)
A healthy repast will be provided to participants
To RSVP for this event, click here
An invite to “Applying Lean Thinking in Govt Workshop”
Posted by Coordinator 15 May 2008
Come and participate in a process improvement role play, which will explore a typical government process from a Lean Thinking point of view. This experiential workshop will allow participants to actively drive, learn from and improve the process as the workshop progresses.
Attendees at the session will take on active roles which will enable a variety of insights and perspectives on process improvement to be gained, and they will leave the session with fresh insights and an enthusiasm for putting some process improvement into action.
- When: Friday June 27, 8:45 arrival for a 9:00am - 12:00pm
- Conference Room 1.01, Dept of Human Services, 50 Lonsdale St Melb
- Report to ground floor reception for security pass, then take lift to level 1
As this will be the first time this session has been conducted, participants will play a key role in not only the workshop process, but also in the future design and continuous improvement of the session.
All materials will be provided and place will fill quickly so please RSVP to: bpr@dhs.vic.gov.au
Mental Floss (79)
Posted by Coordinator 15 May 2008
Well done to Wotan Swiegers of Sustainability & Environment who correctly responded with : The pentagon was built in the 1940’s when the State of Virginia had strict segregation laws requiring that blacks and whites used different bathrooms. This week’s question is:
In what place did the local authorities increase the price of electricity to help ensure increased tourism ?
The first CIN member in with the correct response, using the Comments function below will win a signed copy of the Organisational Zoo.
Richard Hames visits Airlie
Posted by Coordinator 15 May 2008
Today, CIN presenter Richard Hames made a flying visit to the Airlie Leadership Development Centre and joined in a sweeping discussion across a range of topics from bicycle borne gendarmes, the creativity of the Thai constabulary and the very future of policing itself.
Richard who works closely with many governments across the world including the Chinese leadership on a regular basis.
The session scheduled for one hour quickly extended into a third as all attendees shared a wealth of experience and ideas on leadership and what effective leadership might look in the coming years. Many innovative leadership behaviours were highlighted and discussed with specific regard to Richard’s best selling book, The Five Literacies of Global Leadership .
Chief amongst discussion items also was the application of interventions such as Open Space, Design Theatres, World Cafes and Thinking from Within in making sense and developing strategy in an increasingly complex world.
Another interesting discussion point was the frustrations associated with the non-value adding red tape that is typical of Government, not that our departments have any of that ……..
Many thanks to Richard and to Airlie for their contribution to a discussion that everyone emerged from a little bit wiser than when they entered.
Change Projects - 10 common & costly mistakes
Posted by Coordinator 15 May 2008
The Hargraves Institute is having a session in melbourne later this month around the common pitfalls in change management. The session will be presented by Catherine Handley of MYOB, whose role there is to develop and drive the “Accelerate Innovation” programme.
More detail can be found in the pdf attached: Invite.pdf
For interested non-members of the Institute please call the Hargraves Institute (02) 9954 5483 for more information.
Network Narrative (7)
Posted by Coordinator 14 May 2008
Narrative from the CIN impact evaluation conducted in 2007.
Different pathways in Sense-making and Complexity: I am constantly seeking ideas and practical examples of continuous improvement initiatives that have worked in other organisations. I am also interested in seeking out what may be considered by some to be failed attempts but which are rich in learning.
I’ve found through CIN events I’ve been exposed to new concepts such as working with complexity and social network analysis. I have continued on a journey with both of these concepts and they have influenced the work that I do. Even more important I have increased confidence in making sense of uncertainty which provides me with the courage to test out interventions that I would not have considered prior to such exposure.
A new way of framing problems: The Cynefin framework has provided me with a useful tool in terms of framing problems in terms of being ordered or un-ordered and to position any interventions accordingly. Unfortunately very few colleagues in my business unit participate in CIN and fewer still have been exposed to the Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework.
Applying benchmarking in the workplace: We are going to benchmark the things we are doing in the training area as a result of the benchmarking session on July 20 with Sue Williams. In this instance there are no barriers to prevent the uptake of this initiative.
Pilot program participation: We participated in a work/life balance session and and subsequent to this had over 30 staff do a 30 day pilot program. This proved very popular and apart from the health benefits it brought together parts of the office that do not usually get together at all. This has been great as being in the country we do not usually have access to these sorts of things.
Sustaining an Ethical Culture with Howard Whitton
Posted by Coordinator 12 May 2008
On May 7, State Services Authority Commissioner Susan Pascoe introduced CIN members to Howard Whitton who provided a most enlightening session on organisational ethics.
Howard is the Director of the Ethicos Group - a London based consortium of international specialists in the field of public sector ethics, integrity systems, anti-corruption policy, human resource development and whistle-blower protection - which he co-founded in 2005.
The seminar commenced with a reminder that former Qld Minister for Racing and Local Government, Russ Hinze, had at the same time owned race horses and been a property developer. When a reporter asked him if this constituted a conflict of interest, he responded with “That’s not a conflict of interest, that’s a convergence of interest.”
Public Sector ethics has come a long way since those days and Howard explained why the approaches being taken today provided better results.
Codes of conduct are a public statement of how we treat Government, the community and each other. The general principles they contain are supported by standards. Public Sector employees must be competent to interpret the general principles the codes contain. They must think about their actions and the reasons for their actions. They are not simply following a set of rules as no set of rules or code can cover every situation.
Managing conflicts of interest is important for the integrity of an organisation and for its employees. A conflict occurs when there are competing interests. These are different to corruption. Conflicts of interest are about the situation and corruption is the outcome of that situation.
If an employee has a conflict of interest between their work and private interests, they must seek to remove the conflict. If they must make a decision but cannot remove the conflict, there must be a fair and transparent decision making process.
For more information, Howard recommended CIN members read the OECD Toolkit, Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Sector.
The themes covered in this seminar will be taken up with two State Services Authority events in May. One, an Ethical Leadership Master Class for Departmental Secretaries, Dep Secs and CEOs, and the other the Distributive Leadership Workshop for HR Managers, Organisational development Officers and Ethics Officers.
A copy of Howard’s presentation is attached: Microsoft PowerPoint - Howard Whitton’s presentation
For more information on these events contact: luise.raeder@ssa.vic.gov.au
Mental Floss (78)
Posted by Coordinator 12 May 2008
Well done to Shirana Nash of Planning & Community Development who correctly responded with: Salvador Dali died at age 7. Nine months later his brother was born and was also named Salvador. It was the younger Salvador Dali that went on to become the famous surrealist painter. This week’s question is:
The HQ of defence operations in the USA is the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Why does it have twice as many bathrooms as it needs ?
Submit your answers using the Comments function below. The 1st CIN member in with the correct one will receive a copy of the Organisational Zoo.
Executive Secretaries & Administrative Assistant’s Conference
Posted by Coordinator 10 May 2008
This June 2 Melbourne conference from PICS presents expert professionals addressing the issues that Executive Secretaries and Administrative Assistants need to be informed about to meet the challenges and responsibilities of their key and multi-faceted roles.
The number of participants will be limited to allow meaningful networking and interaction during the workshops and presentations.
For more information see the document attached: Exec Secs & Admin Assistant’s Conference.pdf
“The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps” by Tony Buzan
Posted by Coordinator 6 May 2008
This is a brief review of the book “The ultimate book of mind maps” by Tony Buzan. Tony was a recent guest speaker at the VPSCIN luncheon on Feb 20 which I attended and enjoyed thoroughly. I’m a great fan of mind mapping. I’ve been using the technique - including some very good mind mapping software - for many years.
According to Wikipedia, Tony “developed the technique of mind mapping in 1970 whilst at University, out of the frustration that traditional notes took up so much time to create and review.” being the number one mind mapper around and the author of over 100 books, my expectations about this book were fairly high.
Chapter 1 provides a clear explanation of the recommended steps in constructing a mind map. I was a little surprise by some of this material. Tony’s philosophy, when constructing a mind map, is to use both halves of the brain: the visual/creative half as well as the logical and analytical half. he stresses the importance of pictures, colours, curved - rather than straight branches and the need to use only one key word per line.
The book is certainly clear, colourful, easily read and visually appealing. A lot of effort has gone into the aesthetic aspects.
Perhaps I’m too left brained, but I found the style of presentation a little overdone to the extent that it detracted a bit from the content. Examples being the colour coding of chapters, large font sizes, and extensive use games, quizzes and illustrations. Given the book’s title I found much of the content of limited relevance to mind mapping. Chapter 5 “physical fitness for mental power” devotes 44 pages to the importance of keeping fit to enhance brain function. I agree this is important, but seems out of place in a book with this title.
In summary this book itself has limited relevance for CIN members in terms of practical application for continuous improvement, however I believe the technique has a great deal to offer in this area.
Review kindly provided by Mark Rubenstein of Justice.
Mental Floss (77)
Posted by Coordinator 5 May 2008
Well done to Russell Charles of Justice who responded with: The Guinness book of records - after 19 years of publishing it became the 2nd best selling book of all time, and got into itself. This week’s question is:
Some time after Salvador Dali’s death, his younger brother became famous as (believe it or not) a surrealist painter. This younger brother had great international success and the word genius was used to describe him. His name was Dali and he did not change it. Yet today, the word remembers only one Dali and few even know he had a brother. Why is this ?
The first CIN member in with the correct response will receive a signed copy of the “Organisational Zoo.”
Understanding & Communicating Web 2.0 Conference
Posted by Coordinator 5 May 2008
This May 15/16 conference is divided up into two days and provides an opportunity to get on board with some of the new Web 2.0 technology and its potential application across government.
The first day is aimed at assisting non-technical professionals to come to grips with the mastering the new world of Web 2.0 and the second day is about moving past the technical jargon to be able to engage the organisation in ways that will resonate with senior managers.
The CIN has one complimentary pass for the first member that can confirm their attendance and briefly describe how they might apply the learnings in their area (using the Comments function below) .
Full details are in the brochure attached: C011 Web Capabilities.indd
Mental Floss (76)
Posted by Coordinator 28 April 2008
Well done to Eleanor Li of Treasury & Finance who responded with : The button for the ground floor. All of the tenants must not only go up, but also down. This week’s question is:
What took nineteen years to get into itself ?
The 1st CIN member in with the correct answer using the comments function below, will receive a signed copy of The Organisational Zoo.
Facilitating with Confidence
Posted by Coordinator 28 April 2008
If you are fair dinkum about learning to facilitate, here are the details of a programme run by two of Australia’s best facilitation trainers, Viv McWaters and Anne Pattillo.
These Facilitating with Confidence sessions are broken up into three lots of two days and are designed to build significant skills and confidence in working with groups, teams, community consults and leading with greater effect.
The training is delivered in 3 x two day modules, separated by 3-4 weeks to allow for practice and feedback.
Full details are in the document attached: FWC
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