RITE OF PASSAGE FOR
CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION

Length of Program: Four months to two years
Number of Participants: Up to 2,000
Physical Setting: Off-sites meetings, on-site consultations, outdoor programming of various sorts.

Basic Premise:

Bill Roberts has written two books. Both deal with major transitional stages in personal development and describe a distinctive approach to enabling profound transformation - a Rite of Passage.

• INITIATION TO ADULTHOOD: AN ANCIENT RITE OF PASSAGE IN CONTEMPORARY FORM was published in 1982. It deals with the passage of adolescence.
  
  
• CROSSING THE SOUL'S RIVER: A RITE OF PASSAGE FOR MEN was published in 1998. It deals with the deepest issues that men face at midlife.

If he ever writes another book, it will be on A RITE OF PASSAGE FOR CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION. It will apply the ancient wisdom to the corporate scene.

This primitive wisdom identified three major "moments" in any great transitional stage. Those "moments" can be expressed graphically.

In classic Rites of Passage the first moment is experienced through a dramatic Rite of Separation, in which the initiates are separated from their previous life.

• childhood for adolescents
• an over simplified notion of "making a name for yourself" for men at midlife.

The Rite of Separation helps underscore that no gain can be made without enduring the pain of significant losses. If the losses are not dealt with effectively, the success of the entire process will be hampered.

The second stage is the Transition when both confusion and conflict become the hallmarks of the organization's life.

When the confusion becomes too great the trust begins to erode; on the other hand when the confusion is recognized as a part of the change process, new patterns of communication can be developed. (We call it a Redundant Communication System.) ·

Furthermore, when the conflicts become acute, the system is ready to convert simple conflict into creative conflict, using training sessions in conflict management and creativity development.

The final stage involves a Celebration of the Transformation. The mood of a successful transformation is enthusiasm, when people experience a renewal of energy for their work and the confidence that they can adapt in this world of "constant and chronic change."

Our Rite of Passage for Corporate Transformation generally begins with an intensive team-building workshop (generally using insights from either the Myers Briggs Type Indicator or the Enneagram). During the workshop the participants become aware of…..

• the forces that come to bear in high change situations (The Seven Principles of Effective Change Management)
• the diversity of the group and the distinctiveness of its members
• the dangers that are presented by the changing work environment ·
• the oportunities to use this limited period of time - generally four to six months - to transform the way we work.

Also during this initial workshop the team begins to identify the primary challenges, set strategies and appoint task forces to address them.

When we move into the transition itself our job as consultants is to monitor the work of the task forces and to focus attention on the two great danger-opportunities - confusion and conflict. We frequently do workshops designed to develop an effective communication system with reliable feedback mechanisms; we also offer workshops on conflict management and creativity training. It is also common for us to provide executive coaching to leaders and special attention for work teams that have gotten stuck in conflicts.

As the process begins to move to its final stage we remind all participants of the great wisdom of Albert Einstein, who said, "No problem can be solved with the consciousness we bring to it."

• Deep change is not merely a matter of adjusting to a new leader or a new work space or even a new corporate identity.
• Deep change is a matter of transforming the way we work so we can be adaptive to the challenges that will continue to present themselves.

Most commonly we conclude the Rite of Passage for Corporate Transformation with a retreat that allows us to identify the changes we have successfully accomplished even as we proclaim that no corporate transformation is ever complete; rather it gives us a new consciousness, we call it enthusiasm, to embrace the challenges that have yet to present themselves.