Where:  Exelon Management Development Center, 2011 Swift Drive, Oak Brook, Illinois
Agenda:  6:30 - Social and networking; 7 pm - Meeting begins
Cost:  Free to members, $15 to nonmembers
RSVP: Please call (773) 561-4919 or email odnchicago@aol.com

Speaker:  Jim Gilmartin.  Mr. Gilmartin teaches marketing and strategic planning concepts to organizations.

Topic:  The Art of Strategic Thinking
Learn the principles of strategic thinking and planning, and the dynamics of change management. See how to apply these principles to make your case more compelling. You will be exposed to the basic language of strategic thinking. We will explore why it is essential to use this language to collaboratively 
create a motivating vision, and a process to identify and prioritize, goals, strategies and action plans. You will see how commitment is essential to achieving major strategic initiatives, how sustained commitment is the cement that provides the critical adhesion between people and goal achievement, and how it can be expensive. Finally, we will look at how the concept of “Pain Management” helps to identify and manage resistance while executing goals & strategies. 

Location:  Exelon Management Development Center, 2011 Swift Drive, Oak Brook, Illinois.  Exit 294 at 22nd Street West, going to Windsor Drive, which is a few hundred feet east of York Road, and an 1/8 mile west of 294. Turn north on Windsor Drive and stay on Windsor until it deadends into Swift Drive. Then, turn right to 2011 Swift Drive, and turn left into its parking lot. Drive to the far parking lot near the fence that separates it from I-294. Park and enter. 

ODNC January Downtown Monthly Meeting
Thursday, January 23, 2003

Where:  Harris Bank, 111. W. Monroe, 20th Floor, (20C), Chicago
Agenda:  6 to 7 pm, Open Space; 7 to 9 pm, Program
Cost:  Free to members, $15 for Nonmembers
RSVP:  Unnecessary

Prep Materials:
http://www.odnetwork.org/odnc/ODDefinitions-Jan172003.doc

Speakers:  Maggie Shreve (convener), Julie Benesh, Toby Berkun, Jean Bruno, Josie Corbett, and John Madden

Topic:  Are You a Competent OD Practitioner?
Some would say that OD as a profession is elusive - that it can't be pinned down. Indeed for some practitioners, that is its appeal. Yet most have opinions about what constitutes competence in a particular practice. How firmly can -- and should -- OD competencies be made explicit? Join us for a stimulating and provocative evening of exploration, dialogue and challenge to refine your own set of OD competencies; required and optional. And together we will explore the interface between skills and values in our practice. Whether you feel confident in your OD competencies or are just beginning to explore this field, this evening will help you develop insights and relationships that can forward your career. 

One of the task groups formed at the ODN/C Renewal (Appreciative Inquiry) retreat in April committed to design and sponsor a Skills Fair for OD practitioners. This Skills Fair would then result in a printed and on-line directory describing the competencies of members who wish to be included to support the process of discovering communities of practice and the forming of self-managed mentoring and information-sharing relationships. This event is a necessary precursor to that one.

Should you like to reflect on this in advance of the meeting, our initial versions of a skills and value list, culled from a variety of respected sources, will be posted to the ODN/C website before the meeting.  You will receive an e-mail when this is done. At the session, ODN/C members will have the opportunity to self-identify as having skills in the various areas and that list will also be posted to the website. Should you not make this meeting, you will still be able to participate in another Skills Fair but you will miss your chance to influence the categories used at that event.

This will be an engaging meeting, providing a context for the kinds of powerful conversations that grow professional alliances and friendships. You will leave clearer about where you stand in your professional development and more able to articulate your value, and your limits, to colleagues and clients. And it will be fun!