ebbf Spring Event, Lisbon, Portugal
The ebbf - Ethical Business Building the Future spring event was held on
28-31 May 2015 at a lovely hotel in Turcifal, near Lisbon, Portugal. The
Governing Board met the day before, and then 40 of our most active members
were invited for a two day pre-event of facilitated consultations on the
future direction of ebbf, based on the Governing Board's redrafted vision
and core values capturing "the ebbf way", as well as a document on social
action.
Pre-event consultations
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There was deep reflection and wide consultation on the fundamental
principles and operational concepts that make up "the ebbf way"
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Different discussion groups report on their findings, including one
with very linear thinking
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There were various proposals for future activities and ways of
organizing
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The interchanges were dynamic and constructive
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A timeline from the beginning of ebbf 25 years ago allowed everyone
to post their involvement in ebbf activities over all that time; Jason
Maude makes a point
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Despite the diversity of the group, there was a remarkable unity of
vision
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The consultation was ably facilitated by Ralph Blundell, not an easy
job with 40 active participants
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discussion continued between sessions, and everyone left with a new
enthusiasm for ebbf
The Spring Event
The theme of the ebbf spring event was "Interconnected
business: how can organizations improve people and people improve
organizations?" The 80 participants were each provided with a
learning guide to record questions, summarize insights, note people met and
potentials for collaboration, and prepare inputs for social media.
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ebbf events organizer Jason Maude opens the meeting; round tables
facilitated meaningful discussions
Friday evening started with opening keynotes by Vafa Akhavan on "the true
seeker: a strategic imperative for enterprise outcome" and Luis Monteiro on
"people-centric organizations, I just love them!", each followed by a
meaningful conversation around the tables.
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Vafa Akhavan; ebbf Director-General Daniel Truran introducing Luis
Monteiro; Luis Monteiro
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To get to know each other, we ranked ourselves across the room by
various characteristics
The Saturday keynotes were by Alain Gauthier on "evolutionary co-leadership:
the next stage in leadership and organizational development?", and by Marc
Rivers on "is it easier or more difficult to create an interactive
empowering environment in a global corporation?". There was also time for
two sets of parallel learnshops.
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Alain Gauthier; Marc Rivers
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Meaningful conversations after the keynotes
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A learnshop by Valerie Davis on "power as a key differentiator in
collaborative cultures"
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After dinner, a number of young entrepreneurs presented their
innovative projects and receive accompaniment and advice from all of the
participants
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An ideas and projects market place where members presented their
projects and how we could support and learn from them
The last keynote on Sunday morning was by Emanuel Gävert and Majke Rønne on
"it's all about the little things".
Emanuel Gävert and Majke Rønne