Portland Program
July 15, 2004

Nature of Knowing - or
Living in Reflection and Action
with Dennis Sandow

Overview

This session was very successful at the ASTD International Conference in 2003 and 2004! 

While many of our corporate training and development programs are aimed at teaching new skills to individuals, research shows that knowledge and innovation are created in dynamic and collaborative social networks. Are you helping your organization tap into this resource to improve performance? The speaker for this session has worked with many organizations to do just that . . . following are a few examples he will share with you.

• Learn how Wacker Siltronics saved the State of Oregon over $800,000 in the employment of a worker with developmental disabilities while maintaining stringent production standards.
• Understand how a self-organizing network at HP eliminated quality escalations saving the organization over $200 million.
• In a time where ‘balance in life’ seems to be just a token phrase for many organizations, see how workers in China and Puerto Rica have self organized to create social, biological and financial well being. 

Does it all sound like a lot of hocus pocus? In this presentation, you will learn that it is not and there are things you can do to assist your organization's performance by having a better understanding of this cutting edge work. While social network thinking is founded on the systems sciences of Peter Senge, Meg Wheatley, Fritjof Capra and Humberto Maturana, Dennis Sandow has broken it down to a very pragmatic, simple process that will be explained utilizing real world case studies. 

Participants attending this session will be able to:

• Recognize that performance occurs in dynamic social networks
• Learn how to reveal those networks
• Understand how to expand performance through those networks in your own organization

This will be an interactive session with participants having the opportunity to apply Dennis’s research to their own situation. The session is primarily geared toward mid-level managers and HR Development and Training staff; however, anyone involved in the world of adult learning and performance will gain valuable insight from this session.

Speaker

Dennis Sandow
Dennis is seen here (man with beard) toasting Water Department workers at Ancai Group in China for producing hyper pure drinking water for their co-workers.

The ASTD-Cascadia Chapter is pleased to welcome another Oregonian that has national speaking and consulting recognition in our field. 

Dennis received a BS in education and psychology with a minor in biology. After leaving the University of Idaho, he started an electronics business employing people whose lives were at risk in backwards of institutions in Oregon. Dennis's business served as a national model for employing people with developmental disabilities and in 1980 the business became one of Hewlett Packard's highest quality vendors.

Dennis joined the University of Oregon in 1983 as a research assistant and managed two research grants. The first studied human and social capital in employing people with disabilities and the second studied the social network's of relations between people with and without disabilities in the workplace. Both projects became nationally known for their demonstration of how social support networks improve social capital.

In 1995 Dennis became a research trustee with the Society for Organizational Learning and created a small research business, Reflexus. During the late 1990's he worked with Chilean biologist Humberto Maturana and sponsored Humberto's lectures in Oregon and at the SOL annual meeting.

Currently, Dennis continues his studies and consultancy at Hewlett Packard and the National Securty Agency demonstrating how value is created in dynamic and collaborative social networks. He has also joined Peter Senge in conducting research in China showing how social, biological and financial well being are interdependent outcomes in Chinese companies.

Dennis lives in Eugene with his wife of 32 years, two adult children and a new grandchild. He enjoys biking, gardening and photography.

Details

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