Feedback on Test Drive Interviews

The "Test Drive" began in mid-January, after almost two months of planning from the Test Drive Committee, which was chaired by Russ Gaskin and had Effenus Henderson, Ann Herington, Julie Cincotta and Ed Letchinger as members. The 'roll-out' of the Test Drive is nearly complete now, and we'll begin our analysis of the data collected beginning on February 19th. Our objective is to have a preliminary report ready to present at the conference, and judging from the comments of a few of our interviewers, below, it should be a very productive part of the conference!!

My sense is that the interviewing process is so powerful. I have been struck by how people who were new to the principles brought a very differ net and great perspectives to them -- and in particular how their lens and experiences (and context) raised some important questions and saw angles that I/we may not have seen as we worked on them - Judith K.

...it seems to me that while the principles we developed at last years conference are excellent, in order for organizations to truly adopt and identify with principles of inclusion, they need to develop them on there own. They could use this list to generate ideas and understanding, but for an organization to adopt a list, lessens the chance that there will be internalization, identification and buy-in at all levels.
I think the feedback... on how the interviews alone are generating thought and ideas among organizational leaders may have more of an impact than the actual adoption of the principles. - Jeremy H.

-I too think the interviews are helping to generate ideas for refining the Principles. I also think that the interviews are very generative - beyond wordsmithing. They ignite people to think about these issues more deeply -- they are in intervention. So -- I ... would suggest we first build on the energy that we are generating before, during and after the conference. I suspect that some people who might not have the time or energy to commit prior to our meeting will certainly find the time and energy after. -Ilene W.

Join the 2008 Conference!

Our 2008 Conference will be held at the Hilton Crystal City Hotel, near National Airport, just outside of Washington, DC, in Arlington, Virginia, on March 2nd and 3rd.

Attendees are only asked to make their own travel and lodging arrangements, and pay a $50 token amount to help defray meal expenses. We will be relying on sponsors to pay for the facilities and equipment and most of the meal costs for the conference, which begins on Sunday at 1 pm and ends on Monday at 3 pm.

The work of the Institute occurs most profoundly at our Conferences, where people listen and contribute and absorb new ideas and breakthrough thoughts. Attendees then go back into their 'normal' existence changed and challenged by the experience. They create new programs, relate to people differently, think differently, sometimes. thus the Intellectual Capital developed at each conference makes its way out into the world via the attendees. Documentation of new work influenced by their experiences at the conference are appreciated and will be posted on our website's document repository section.

So come, and be changed, and create new work out in the world, and report on it back to us, so we can keep the wheel spinning!!