SimuReal: Action Learning in Hyperdrive

simureal

After the first Action Period, during which the participants tended to stay within their

beginning groups, the facilitator called everyone together for Analysis. The facilitator helped the

group make connections between the insights of the participants and their behavior, both during

the SimuReal and at work generally.

The second and third Action Periods resembled a moving mosaic! Groups formed, unformed, and re-formed as participants broke into different groupings to move the task. The

SimuReal event closed with the Integration Team seated in a circle in the middle of the room,

with the rest of the group gathered around them. The Integration Team reflected on the day,

summarizing what they heard and what they saw as their role in the coming weeks. The result was

that the client system was reorganized successfully with very little resistance, dramatically reducing implementation time.



What Is SimuReal?

SimuReal is a large group method that provides a structure for participants to do real work,

examine how they do it, and adapt it in real time—all in the course of just one day. It is not a roleplay. SimuReal has real people doing real work in real time. What is simulated is the organizational structure in the confines of a room. As a result, SimuReal is like action learning in

hyperdrive. Participants in a SimuReal event work together, examine how they work, and spontaneously adjust their structure or process to work more successfully.

• To improve current operations, the “psychological” structure of the organization is often

included. For instance, if decision making is conducted on the golf course, a small putting

green might be placed in the hallway.

• To test-drive new structures or plans, one might simulate the proposed organizational

structure. For instance, if the organization is planning to move to a team-based structure

instead of a functional approach, participants might be seated together in teams, and asked

to do some specific work together.

A one-day SimuReal workshop usually includes three stop-action periods, in which participants do real work (action) and then stop to debrief (analysis). The debriefing is focused on what

people are noticing about how they work and how they contribute to or detract from the task.

The goal is to help the organization learn from its experience and determine what to change for

the next action period (figure 1).

In advance of the SimuReal, a planning group of six to eight people works with the facilitator for one to two days to decide on the task, the organizational “map,” and the process for decision making during the event.

Following up on a SimuReal event is largely based on what occurs during it. However, the

planning group can take the initiative by designating an implementation group in advance so

that it is clear who is responsible for next steps. After a successful SimuReal, participants leave

with new awareness, real work progress, and an improved organization or process.



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adaptable methods



Decision to proceed

with SimuReal



Post-event follow-up on

activities determined

at event



Planning Group decides task,

mapping, and decisionmaking process



The

SimuReal

Event:

• Introduction

• Action Round I

• Analysis Round I

• Action Round II

• Analysis Round II

• Action Round III

• Summary Round



Figure 1. The Basics of SimuReal



What Are the Benefits?

Our experience is that amazing insights have been gleaned simply by seeing how the organization works in its “usual” way. People often take advantage of action periods to try new methods or behaviors, and they can see the impact of their changes immediately. SimuReal is a

wonderful tool to assist restructuring efforts. If used at the kickoff point, it can identify issues that

need to be addressed. If used in a “test-drive,” it can show how the new organization might

respond to its work challenges, and what gaps exist in the design. Clients estimate that SimuReal

helped them reduce implementation time on major decisions or projects by up to 18 months.



Table of Uses

Typical Setting



Elapsed Time



Key Events/Participants Involved



To ‘‘test-drive’’ a restructuring plan before it is implemented.

Example: School Health Department

• Goal: Get staff feedback on a reorganization plan that would significantly change the way school health

services are delivered.



1 month



• Design session: 2 days with a small group

of 8 people who were also members of

the Planning Council involved in the redesign.

• SimuReal Event: 1 day, 125 people. All

school health personnel were involved, as

well as a handful of principals and representatives of community resource agencies, with whom the school health personnel would have to interface.



simureal

Typical Setting



Elapsed Time



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Key Events/Participants Involved

• Follow-up: 2-day Planning Council meeting.



When you have a complex, concrete

problem or decision to make.

Example: Psychology Department, Major University

• Goal: Decide whether or not to introduce a proposed new doctoral program in Community Psychology.



1 month



• Design session: 2 days with a small group

of 8 people who were also members of

the Planning Council involved in the redesign.

• SimuReal Event: 1 day. Participants included faculty members; advanced graduate students in each doctoral program, the

department chair, and those advocating a

specific new doctorate.

• Follow-up: Within the confines of the normal structure of the department.



To uncover the structural or procedural

blocks to solving a problem effectively.

Example: Clothing Manufacturer

• Goal: Decrease the time it takes to

move from design to manufacturing

of a new product.



1 month



• Design session: 1 day, small design team of

6–8 people.

• SimuReal Event: 1 day. Participants included key professional personnel and

managers plus top management staff.

• Follow-up: 2 permanent, multidisciplinary

coordinating committees emerged from

the SimuReal Event: (1) Design and Implementation, (2) Manufacturing Review.



When the organization and its management are prepared to engage in selfexamination.

Example: Medical Research Center

• Goal: Develop ways to reduce interpersonal and interunit conflicts by

dealing more effectively with differences regarding space allocation, use

of scarce resources, and other continuing areas of disagreement.



6 months



• Design session: 1 day, small design team of

6–8 people.

• SimuReal Event: 1 day. Participants included senior investigators and staff

members of three laboratories; unit chiefs

and senior staff members of three hospitalbased research groups; center director and

administrative team.

• Follow-up: A new group of laboratory and

unit heads formed itself.



About the Authors

Catherine Perme (cathy@cmperme.com) has been facilitating and leading groups and organizations in the process of change since 1978. Her background includes 15 years in line management

and leadership positions with IBM and Minnesota state government before starting her business

in 1990. Cathy has been studying and applying a whole-system, integrated approach to organizational change since 1995. Along with Alan, she provides shadow coaching and support to organizations and individuals in the use of large group methods.



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adaptable methods

Alan Klein (alan@klein.net) has worked in a variety of public and private settings as a coach,

trainer, consultant, facilitator, administrator, and teacher. Currently, he specializes in the areas of

leadership, diversity, team building, and communication. He also provides organizations with

support and facilitation in the use of large group methodologies such as SimuReal, Future Search,

and Open Space Technology. He was elected to membership in the NTL Institute in 1998 and is

currently serving on its Board of Directors.



Where to Go for More Information

References

Bunker, B. B., and B. T. Alban. Simu-Real. Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System

for Rapid Change, 159–167. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.

Klein, A. A., and D. C. Klein. SimuReal: A Large Group Method for Organizational Change.

Columbia, MD: Sea Otter Press, 1997.

Perme, C. M. “Whole Systems Change: A Case Study in the Use of Large Group Interventions and

OD Methodologies to Effect Change in a Local School District.” OD Practitioner 30, no. 2

(1998): 12–17.

Organization

Klein Consulting—www.kleinconsulting.com



29

martha l. mccoy



Study Circles

Democracy needs a place to sit down.

—Hannah Arendt



Helping to Strengthen Local Democracy

In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, public dialogue and collaborative decision making are becoming a hallmark of community life. Over the past several years, community groups and the city

have engaged hundreds of residents in “study circles”—small group discussions that take place

across the entire community. In the process, people have found their voice, the community’s

decision-making process has become more democratic, and people have begun to solve critical

issues. Through the circles, Portsmouth has addressed bullying in schools, school redistricting,

community-police relations, and priorities for the city’s ten-year plan.

Portsmouth’s study circles began in 2000, when 200 sixth-graders from Portsmouth

Middle School and 75 adults discussed bullying and other school safety issues. These circles led

to new school policies and a decline in bullying.

A year later, a member of the school board who had taken part in the circles recommended

the same process to address a school redistricting issue. Prior attempts to resolve the schools’

enrollment and space problems had failed in the wake of bitter public argument. This time, the

public had an opportunity for a productive conversation aimed at seeking better answers. The

final report from the circles provided new direction for the redistricting plan and resulted in only

65 students being relocated.

In 2002, the city planning board endorsed study circles to generate citizen input for the

city’s master plan. The program unfolded in stages, involving more than 400 residents in its two

years. In the first stage, participants defined what “quality of life” meant to them and recommended ways to sustain it. In the second phase, they identified issues affecting quality of life, dis-



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adaptable methods

cussed what they could do, and made recommendations to the planning board. When the revised

plan was released, it was clear that the city had incorporated advice from the circles.

Today, Portsmouth Listens—a study circle organization that involves a range of community groups—is considering how to make deliberation an ongoing part of public life. Table 1 contains examples of action and change that have already occurred from study circle programs in the

community.



Changes in individual behavior and attitudes



A participant in a study circle on school redistricting

who had consistently opposed tax increases saw the

cramped conditions in three schools, heard the concerns and commitment of parents and teachers, and

publicly supported a $1.7 million plan for school improvements that entailed a tax increase.



New relationships and networks



After circles on racism, the deputy chief of the police

department commented that now when an issue or

question comes up, it is easier for someone from the

NAACP to simply call him or another officer rather

than go through formal procedures.



Institutional changes



After the circles on school safety, new plans included

the following student recommendations: cameras on

buses, a peer mediation program, and increased adult

supervision at school events. Since the plans have been

implemented, school bullying appears to have declined.



Changes in public policy



After playing a leading role in organizing study circles

on Portsmouth’s ten-year master plan and meeting

with participants, the planning board used input from

the circles to learn residents’ priorities. Resulting

changes to the plan included approval to purchase ten

acres of green space for conservation and rezoning to

gear waterfront residences and studios to artists’ needs.



Table 1. Examples of Action and Change from Study Circles in Portsmouth, New Hampshire



The Basics

In the study circle process, facilitated, small-group dialogue is at the heart of a community-wide

initiative for public dialogue and community change. Community organizing coupled with

large-scale small-group dialogue creates opportunities for everyone to have a voice, and links the

dialogue to sustained changes in people, in institutions, and in policies.

The Study Circles Resource Center helps communities develop their own ability to organize

this process. Many leaders and citizens are drawn to study circles because they provide what’s usu-



study circles



A study circle . . .

• is a small, diverse group of 8 to 12 people.

• meets together for several, 2-hour sessions.

• sets its own ground rules. This helps the group share responsibility for the quality of

the discussion.

• is led by an impartial facilitator who helps manage the discussion. He or she is not

there to teach the group about the issue.

• starts with personal stories, then helps the group look at a problem from many points

of view. Next, the group explores possible solutions. Finally, they make plans for

action and change.

A study circle program . . .

• is organized by a diverse group of people from the whole community.

• includes a large number of people from all walks of life.

• has easy-to-use, fair-minded discussion materials.

• uses trained facilitators who reflect the community’s diversity.

• moves a community to action when the study circles conclude.



ally missing in community life. Because the study circle approach combines multisession smallgroup deliberation with large-scale community change processes, it helps individuals and communities make significant progress in all the “streams” of work approached through dialogue and

deliberation—exploration, conflict transformation, decision making, and collaborative action.



Figure 1. The Study Circle Process



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adaptable methods

In a large-scale study circle program (see figure 1), many people meet in diverse study

circles over the same period of time. All the study circles work on the same issue and seek solutions for the whole community. At the end of the round of study circles, people from all the

groups gather in one place to prioritize action ideas that come out of the study circles and begin

implementation work. Study circle programs take place in a number of settings—neighborhoods, cities and towns, states, school districts, schools, and college campuses—to address a wide

range of social and political issues, such as racism, poverty, police-community relations, education, and growth and sprawl.



Table of Uses

Typical Setting



Brief Description



Project Length



Number of Participants



Study circles are organized in neighborhoods,

cities and towns, states,

school districts, schools,

and college campuses.



Programs take on issues

that relate to the concerns and daily lives of

many different types of

people in the community. Study circle programs often result in:

• changes in individual

behavior and attitudes



The community organizing process takes several months.

The dialogue portion

runs 4–6 weeks.

The action phase lasts

several months.

Ideally, communities

sustain this cycle as a

permanent way to address public issues.



Depending on the size

of the community and

the scope of organizing,

programs engage hundreds, and sometimes

thousands, of participants.



• new relationships and

networks

• institutional changes

• changes in public policy



About the Author

Martha L. McCoy (martham@studycircles.org) is executive director of the Study Circles Resource

Center (SCRC), the primary project of The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, and is president of the

foundation. She has made important contributions to the fields of deliberative democracy, community problem solving, and racial justice. One of McCoy’s greatest passions is to create close

links among these fields. Under her direction, SCRC has helped more than 400 communities

organize large-scale study circle programs.



Where to Go for More Information

References

Organizing Community-wide Dialogue for Action and Change. A step-by-step guide to organizing

study circle programs, www.studycircles.org//en/Resource.39.aspx.



study circles

Scully, P., and M. McCoy. “Study Circles: Local Deliberation as the Cornerstone of Deliberative

Democracy.” In The Deliberative Democracy Handbook, edited by J. Gastil and P. Levine,

199–212. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

Organization

Study Circles Resource Center—www.studycircles.org



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30

todd siler



Think Like a Genius

Realizing Human Potential Through the

Purposeful Play of Metaphorming

You can’t teach people anything. You can only help them discover it within

themselves.

—Galileo Galilei



Building Wild-Looking Symbolic Models

One of history’s greatest inventors, Thomas Edison, once said, “There’s a better way. Find it.” He

meant this in the broadest context of life and not just the visionary acts of every inventor.

One snowy morning at a village mountain retreat in Beaver Creek, 22 veteran venture capitalists, CEOs, and CFOs from Colorado rolled up their sleeves and started building these wildlooking symbolic models that represented their multi-billion-dollar ideas for a whole new

telecommunications industry. They didn’t just want to be the first to invest in it. They wanted to

create it from scratch. In effect, they resounded the noted historians and coauthors of Civilizations, Will and Ariel Durant, who said, “The future didn’t just happen. It was created.”

The focal question posed for this half-day strategic planning session prompted them to

reach for their ideals, “Identify the boldest vision of a Shared Network that Centennial Strategic

Partners (CSP) can create together which delivers interactive, broadband access faster and better.” To rev the creative engines of their collective imagination, the facilitator first told the group,

“Define some of the most ingenious models of shared networks that you know exist today. They

can be either human-made or nature-made systems.” As they percolated on that catalytic assign-



think like a genius

ment, the group was reminded to consider ways they could incorporate this information into

their collaborative models.

Over the course of three hours, the four teams were engaged in several interrelated activities that involved: (1) collaboratively creating these imaginative symbolic models; (2) showing

and telling the meanings and implications of their models, in order to mine them for fresh

insights, discoveries, and innovations; (3) distilling and prioritizing their ideas, as they searched

for the big innovations illuminated by their models; and (4) putting together an initial road map

to establish a collective goal and identify some practical ways of accomplishing it.

Their models cast the big picture of what this new Shared Network might look like, and

how it would work. They also showed what the rich financial benefits would be to each partner,

having first identified what each partner in this alliance could potentially contribute, and what

the results from their contribution might be under the best circumstances.

As it turned out, it was a profitable day. By morning’s end, the group scoped out their initial

multipart, multiphase plan that would lead to a multi-billion-dollar payout. Their calculations

were based on a myriad of opportunities they envisioned that would advance communications

technology.

The expressive, physical models demonstrated that “genuine understanding comes from

hands-on experience,” to quote Seymour Papert, the twentieth-century mathematician and pioneer

of Artificial Intelligence who noted this fact from a lifetime of research on human communication.

The models also made evident that genius thinking is easier done than said. They also drove home

this one inspiring realization: Genius is everywhere, every day, in everyone, in every way imaginable!

That’s the hallmark of our Think Like a Genius® (TLG) work: Helping people experience

the blissful rapture of discovery and innovation.



Frequently Asked Questions

What Is It?

The Think Like a Genius process provides a better way:

• to brainstorm and express ideas;

• to invent and innovate;

• to create and share new knowledge;

• to solve urgent problems;

• to set and achieve goals;

• and to discover and apply people’s creative genius, which enables us all to realize our potential.

The TLG process helps people “give form to” their thoughts, feelings, ideas, knowledge, and

experiences by creating symbolic models in response to an important or urgent issue they want to



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