DOL Webinar on workforce transformation

This afternoon, I participated in a webinar on workforce transformation, led by the Department of Labor. Over the past year, the DOL has sponsored three forums -- one in Seattle, one in Chicago, one in Baltimore -- for workforce teams focusing on improving alignments within their system.

In our webinar today, we had about 60 workforce professionals participating from across the country. They represented federal, state and local organizations, a good cross section of the workforce development system.

I told the story of the Governor's Workforce Development Summit in Idaho, where we engaged 200 leaders from around the state in a two day workshop on strategic doing.

The picture is from one of our sessions. 

In participating in the webinar, I was asked to make a brief overview statement to introduce strategic doing.

My statement follows.

Ed Morrison

Purdue Center for Regional Development

DOL-ETA Webinar on Transformation Forums

December 8, 2008

Today, I want to talk to you about how we at Purdue are changing our thinking about leadership, strategy and workforce transformation. 

I’ll introduce to you the basic approach of Strategic Doing and what we did in Idaho recently at the Governor’s Workforce Summit.

Let’s step back first.

We are trying to make complex transformations in a situation in which no one can tell anyone else what to do.  To transform our workforce systems, we need to build new alliances across organizational, political and geographic boundaries.

At the same time, our economy is shifting dramatically in ways we cannot predict.

In this situation, developing a transformational strategy -- figuring out where we are going and how we will get there --  appears to be a daunting challenge.

But it doesn't need to be.

Thinking and acting strategically has never been more important. We all need a strategic action plan to focus our efforts.

But how we develop this action plan has changed dramatically.

Strategic doing helps us develop a strategic action plan quickly. To make improvements and adjustments, we can revise our action plan regularly, in three or six month intervals. We start with an alpha version. Then move to a beta version. Then version 1.0, 1.1, and so on. Like software, we release our action plans early and often.

Through constant revision, we develop new versions that improve upon the old. Our strategic action plan continuously evolves.

Through strategic doing, we make decisions about where we want to go quickly. We then start moving in that direction almost immediately.

Our strategy emerges from a continuous process of thinking and acting in ways that align, link and leverage our assets to our opportunities.

So, let me explain how this approach works. Two weeks ago, Idaho held its first Governor's Workforce Summit. We had about 200 people from around the state representing five different regions. We spent a day learning the discipline of strategic doing. And then another day applying these new habits.

Strategic Doing involves asking and answering four core questions:

• First: What could we do together?
• Second: What should we do together?
• Third: What will we do together?
• And finally: How will we learn together?

It sounds simple. And it is. But like a lot of disciplines -- like sticking to a diet or hitting a tennis ball -- it’s not easy to follow.

In Idaho, we conducted our Strategic Doing workshop and every region developed the first version of a strategic action plan.

But more important, I think, the participants learned about the importance of collaborating in open networks. They also learned that effective collaboration involves intense focus on core issues, not casual conversation.

So, we are now planning the second strategic doing workshop in Idaho early next year, in February.

This approach makes sense to people. It involves a new role for leadership and a new discipline of focused conversation. Most important, though, strategic becomes fun. It’s an opportunity to learn.

We are continuing to develop the disciplines of strategic doing, and it holds a lot of promise for transforming our public workforce system.