Place is one of the key elements of change - Interview with Doug Gilbert

As a city founder Doug Gilbert starts this interview with explaining what challenges concerning change management in developing new communities he encountered. Place is for him a key element of change and he shares his ideas on how desinging places can contribute to changing the way people live and the way people work. Doug is ready for his workshop on place at the Berlin Change Days, are you?

Who is Doug Gilbert?
Doug is someone who has long been involved in substantial change and transformation efforts.  I spent 11 years in Switzerland including working for Novartis in a number of change management roles—as second in command for the Crop Protection merger integration team, introducing shared services in Pharma, and in two major acquisitions. After returning to the U.S. my role was that of a strategy and transformation consultant for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young in the life sciences area with projects both in Europe and the U.S. Currently I hold a position in academic leadership at the University of Phoenix.

In early 2010 I completed a doctoral dissertation about the power of management education to create change and transformation in developing countries. My present research includes documenting change and transformation activities in developing countries of a German international development organisation—Salem International in including Ecuador, Togo and Uganda.

In the research phase of my doctoral dissertation I learned of Holger Nauheimer and was impressed by his fresh approach to change management models, his Change Management Toolbook, and the change management facilitation network. The Berlin Change Days has been a tremendously valuable spin-off of his work. Some of the current topics concerning community aspects of change are highly relevant to what I see as key world issues and are especially relevant for international development organizations.

You are a city council member and involved in change management activities in developing countries. Has this changed your perception on change?
This is an interesting question. I was one of the founders of the City of Castle Pines in 2008.  Presently I am a city council member and what is called mayor pro tem, the person who steps in when the mayor is unavailable. One of my current publication projections is a book entitled Creating Castle Pines. A story of community.  The book will highlight the significant issues of initiating and sustaining change in a social movement such as designing, starting, and standing up a new city. I hope to feature some of the content from the new book in the Berlin Change Days 2012.

The main challenge concerning change management in developing new communities such as Castle Pines was in coping with the negative social misconceptions around the role of government in community. A successful change method for these challenges has been appreciative inquiry, through which people celebrate the success of their past, start from their point of view and share their ideas about moving towards the future. The community will never end up exactly as planned but there will be consensus around the results.

What was surprising to me is that the issues we faced in starting a new city closely parallel those faced in civic renewal in East Germany. There is definitely an opportunity for a contrasting case study on two cities—Castle Pines and one from East Germany.

Your workshop is called ‘Place and space as element of organizational change’. Why do you think place is important when talking about change?
Place is a key element of change along with other elements such as the process of change, the stakeholders, and technology. If place isn’t incorporated as element in the change process, change will fail. When we founded the City of Castle Pines, we faced this issue in a real way. To keep costs down, little was done to change the look and feel of the city. During the start-up period streets needing repair still needed repair, there were no new houses built, and the commercial area continued to decay. All were problems we hoped to address with becoming a city but addressing the problems was secondary to the significant task of started a city government.

During this time, two ideas were bubbling up in my mind, one was about changing the way people live, the other one about changing the way people work. In my workshop I will present some ideas around these two themes:

1. A first model involves how people live. In the design of a housing model called co-housing the place is designed to foster and even require human interaction. Co-housing was originally a Danish concept developed 20 years ago. It consists of 35 to 50 homes, built around community common house and oriented in such a way that people have a mixture of public and private spaces. The flow of moving through the area creates frequent person-to-person interactions by design. In this model there is stronger sense of community, greater levels of mutual help, and people live longer. This is an example of designing places in such a way that human interaction is stimulated, contributing to changing the way people live.
2. My second idea was focused on how to get innovation to happen in a company. One of the companies that did a marvelous job is Novartis with its Campus Project in Basel. This is an example of changing architecture to foster innovation and to move the company forward in an innovative way. Novartis actively used the concept of place for innovation. From what I have seen of the renovations at the St. Johann Werk, where my office was based a little over a decade ago, the architects understood that they had to design different places for different types of change. The range of places included those for casual social interaction, serious working on projects, team working, etc. Novartis is one of the most innovative pharma companies in the world today. Other examples of companies that have used place to foster innovation are Nokia and Google. What Nokia will show over time is that place is an element of change but not the only element. There is a need to pay attention to the process of change, the technology to enable change, and stakeholders.

How do you link the concept of place with social media?
For me social media is an amplifier of what is happening in the real social world. There have been many situations lately, such as the riots in the UK, where social media was the catalyst, and effectively amplified a social movement. The current challenge concerning place as an element of changes is to design place around collaborative technologies such as social media. An example that I like to use in this respect is the Accelerated Solution Environment (ASE) developed by Capgemini. The company created physical spaces all over the world where individuals are stimulated in creative thinking. In the ASE environment multimedia is actively brought into the place as one technique to stimulate and accelerate collaboration.

What is your own favorite innovative place?
The first thing that comes up in my mind is the location where the Berlin Change Days were held in 2010. The combination of the vibrant character of the city, the old factory environment, the way the space was furnished, and the high level of human interaction in the open floor plan made it an innovative place for me.

My own office is a bit similar to that, without having the character of an old factory. We work in low cubicals, ideas are spreading around the place, you hear different web meetings and phone conversation, and a nice coffee bar invites you to have coffee and share thought with your colleagues.

What can participants expect from your workshop? What will be your core message?
In this workshop we will explore a model of how place serves as an element of the change equation. Some topics we will cover include a definition of the notion of place, how place interacts with other elements of change, and the influence of technology.

For me place is an element that relates to other elements of people, process and technology. Together we will take a closer look at how these elements interact. Furthermore I will present some examples that I came across in the past years. So the workshop will be partly brainstorming, partly experiential.

You participated in 2010. What were your impressions from the Berlin Change Days last year?
Last year my high expectations were exceeded. Everyone who is attending the conference is open for sharing thoughts and approaches, exploring new ways of thinking about change and there is an advanced level of learning. Most fun I had was while attending other presenters’ workshops and experimenting with many innovating ideas. I was also able to carry thoughts back to my client from our session on appreciative strategy.

What do you expect from the Berlin Change Days 2011, what are you yourself looking for?
What I hope to bring home is more pieces together on a model of change that incorporates place with other elements, and develop new ideas for additional research. I am especially looking for co-authors!

Why should people come to the Berlin Change Days?
The Berlin Change Days are characterized by an informal approach and the high degree of social networking that takes place. It is one of the most unique, interactive session on change in the world, attended by eminent change professionals. And it is also a chance to advance your skills and share opportunities.