Beyond the Boundaries: OD from the Outside In

As a living field, OD has incorporated thinking from a wide variety of practitioners, academics and disciplines.  In today’s rapidly evolving world of interconnections and increased specialization, there is much we can learn and utilize in our work–from fields we might not have thought much about before.

In a highly interactive program, we’ll discuss key concepts from diverse fields including their models, vocabulary and core ideas. Working in groups, we’ll have a chance to apply these ideas to our own work, as well as consider implications for our field and the OD Network of Chicago.

We’ll have fun, generate insights and take home strategies. Our work here will create the input for Part 2 of this program later this year.

Join “The Incubators” — former OD Network of Chicago presidents and board members — to see what you can discover.

Presenters

Neesa Sweet

Neesa is a past Director of Learning & Development at the Chicago Sun-Times and, over 25 years, has supported change, consulting and communication initiatives at BP, Allianz, Underwriters Labs, American Airlines, Hyatt, Sears, Case IH, Allstate, Xerox and more.  She has worked in industries ranging from retail to pharma, insurance, human services, grocery and safety, and has developed leadership and change- related training, focusing on influence, innovation, systems thinking, values, brain-based leadership, polarity thinking, narrative for business, and communications.  She is a Certified Coach from the Neuroleadership Institute, a Master Practitioner of NLP and certified in Change Management from La Marsh Global.  She is also a writer and video producer.  She is a past president of the OD Network of Chicago and her company is the Braided River Group LLC.

Mike McGovern

Mike is a seasoned change management, organizational development and leadership development professional with more than 25 years of experience in a variety of industries including: oil/natural gas, pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, mass media communications, publishing, financial services/insurance, automotive, manufacturing, healthcare, and public transportation. Mike has made contributions in operations, human resources, and information technology as both an internal and external consultant. Mike’s clients and employers have included Dover Corporation, BP/Amoco, Abbott Labs, Navistar, Tribune, the Chicago Transit Authority and State Farm.  Mike is consistently effective in identifying business needs and designing, developing and deploying pragmatic organization effectiveness interventions to build capabilities and improve business performance.  He has an Master’s degree in Organization Development from Loyola University of Chicago and an Bachelor’s degree in Education from DePaul University.

Eric Sanders

Eric is a scholar-practitioner in organization development. He has a Ph.D. from Benedictine University, an MBA with concentrations in economics and international business, an MA in economics, and a BS in psychology from other universities. Eric has practiced as a consultant since 2004 with clients in financial services, manufacturing, health care, and non-profits, and worked in retail sales and management for 20 years prior to that. He has taught for most of the past 20 years in several different business schools including Benedictine, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Loyola Chicago and Marquette. He is an active member of the Organization Development Network (past president of OD Network of Chicago), and the Academy of Management where he is the 2018-19 Program Chair of the Management Consulting Division.

Bruce Mabee

Bruce has practiced OD for over 40 years, as an internal consultant for 10 years and as an external consultant for 30 years, including 14 years as Managing Partner at Milestone Partners, LLC. He has combined strategy, design and innovative use of problems with Walgreens, ConocoPhillips, Motorola, Rush University and over 135 organizations in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific. He has also designed and taught OD, leadership and strategy programs in eight graduate schools. Bruce holds an MS in Organization Development from George Williams and a BFA in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana. He is a former president of the OD Network of Chicago and has served as a CPLP reviewer ATD’s global award programs for ten years.  NOTE:  Bruce cannot attend the March 14th program but contributed to its design as he has been active with this informal incubators group all year.

For more information

For more information about this program and dinner, contact Maggie Shreve, administrator, at 312.730.0041 or admin@odnchicago.org.