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March 21, 2008

Are you a positive deviant?

NSLS usually sends some staff to the Pegasus Conference. This is an outgrowth of Peter Senge's work and involves various forms of systems thinking and leadership methods. As a result most staff get an e-newsletter called Leverage Points from Pegasus Communications. I was particularly intrigued by this issue and "positive deviance."

Here is a the quote that got me intrigued:

Jerry Sternin, a proponent of the change approach known as "positive deviance," has been quoted as saying about large scale transformation, "You can't bring permanent solutions in from outside. Instead, you have to find small, successful but 'deviant' practices that are already working in the organization and amplify them. Maybe, just maybe, the answer is already alive in the organization--and change comes when you find it."

I went to the positive deviance webpage and watched the film about the "Palmer Method" It is interesting how it captures the brilliance of doing something simple in an efficient and effective manner. I am sure Mr. Palmer does this a thousand times a day. How many things do you do that seem simple but are really brilliant? Try to keep track of them and think about how you can build on these successes. What kind of change might it bring to your organization? Tell me what you do?

This posting is dedicated to that person who responded to our survey and said they missed my blog. Whoever you are, Thanks!

Posted by anna at March 21, 2008 2:25 PM

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