Final Exam

Christopher Payne
LDRS_802VA
Organizational Systems, Change, and Leadership
Fort Hays State University
1. What expectations did you originally have for this class?

When I first started this class, the title was intriguing, because up until this point,
all of my leading has been done based upon a book I’ve read or an example of a leader
that inspired me. Uncovering the thought processes behind their leadership or
dissecting the systems that they had created was very interesting to me because I felt
like it would tools in my pocket as a leader and help me develop my own style as a
leader.
I’ve often felt like the things that I got right as a leader were only later revealed
to me, because I didn’t really have the tools to self evaluate my systems or processes,
even if I had an end result that was mostly positive. To be able to intentionally create
structure and provide an environment where people want to work, feel valued and are
inspired to grow in their craft is a lifelong desire, so kicking off my first post-graduate
class with a class like this has helped me stay focused.
And lastly, I really hoped I would do well. I don’t consider myself an “academic” of any
sort, so starting a graduate level field of study has been terribly intimidating, at least at
first.

2. What has really worked well for you in this class? What new “learnings” have you gotten
excited about? Why? (Probe around prior/current organizational experiences that may
have come to mind during various topics)

The discussion forums worked really well for me in this class. I participate in
multiple automotive forums and have actually made some pretty deep friendships in
real life because of them. The forums are great because they cause us to think deeper
about our responses because all of us in this class understand that we have to carefully
consider our wording and tone as they will be in print for everyone to read. And as
such, each person seems to respect one another more.
My favorite concept presented in this class has to be the concept mapping work
we did. I tend to think all over the place and jump from idea to idea until I land on
something worth going after. The concept map exercise helped me quickly narrow my
focus so I know how to approach my applied final project. I’ll also be using it to help
teams at my church zero in on the main thing to make meetings more productive.

3. What have you learned about yourself through this class? (Dig deep here and identify
new insights, ideas, or ways that you look at your talents and abilities).

I’ve learned two very specific things about myself. The first one is that my desire
as a leader to create an environment where people are valued, grow in their craft and
become leaders themselves is a right-thinking desire. I’ve served under and observed so
many leaders who simply crave the title and position of authority who just want to get
the job done, that I often felt that my goals were more idealistic than realistic. This
class, the teacher, the texts and my classmates has shown me that I’m on the right track,
and there are systems designed to help make it possible.
 The second thing is that it seems like I can be a dad, be a husband, be a pastor
and be a student. The road isn’t as long as it seems to be if I can look at my education in
bites instead of one giant meal that has to be eaten at once. The pace of this and my
other class seem to be tailored to people in my life situation. While it isn’t easy, my
head is still above water, and I’m encouraged that I can do it.

4. How can you use the material taught in this class in any of the organizations that you
are currently part of? How? Give concrete examples. As you contemplate the future, how
do you see the material taught in this class being of use to you?

What I enjoy so much about this course of study, is that almost all of it is
immediately applicable to what I do. My job as a pastor is to invite people in to
community with other Christians. The Bible encourages people to be in community with
one another and to invite others in. We’re also told to educate and send people to
create more community. The problem most churches face is that eventually, you run
out of these little communities (small groups) because they reach a certain size and
cannot grow any more, either because they become exclusive or for physical reasons
like meeting space or leader capacity. By the time we get to this point, we then need
more leaders. Ideally, we could simply go to these groups and have their leaders
identify those in their groups who have some leadership capacity. Except we’ve been
telling these people to do life with each other and now we’re asking them to go do life
with someone else.
We have a limited resource in community, and the system itself becomes a
tragedy of the commons (Meadows 2008). If we’re not careful, the system we designed
to bring people in actually begins to keep people out. So, we’ve launched new groups
that know from the onset that their highest goal is to multiply. In the very DNA of the
groups we’ve made very clear that their purpose is not simply to get as big as they can,
but to develop their people so that they can launch more groups, with the ability to
invite more people in to community, thereby increasing the resource of community.

5. Reflect on the material that has been covered. What content or subject matter would be
useful to add to this class?

I’ve really enjoyed reading others’ responses to these questions. My suggestion would
have been to have everyone chime in on how they would use the course material in
their jobs, but this whole exam already does that. In my opinion, adding something
would require taking something away, because I already feel like I’m drinking from a
firehose. This is an excellent course and I look forward to applying many of the things
I’ve learned to leading and raising up other leaders at our church.

6. Have you identified additional topics that you plan to learn more about as a result of this
class? What are they? Why those topics?
 When describing his office, Weisbord (p. 18) talked about the wall, and then the steps
he took to remove that wall. I would hope that in any given organization that I’m a part
of, I’d like to think I’d be able to identify the dysfunctions and then take the necessary
steps to resolve them. As a result of this class, I’ve been pursing materials that help me
ask questions that will get to the root of whatever problem I’m facing. Its one thing to
make changes and take the necessary steps, but I’d also like to get good at identifying
the problems so that I’m making the right changes and taking the right steps.

7. Describe your vision of a learning organization and your role in it.

My vision of a learning organization is one that is lazer-focused on its purpose, but

recognizes that many approaches will be necessary to accomplish that purpose over the
passage of time. A learning organization requires leaders that know what they don’t
know(Maxwell 1998). Learning organizations must have humble, teachable leaders who
establish a culture of learning and learning must be a part of its DNA. If the leaders
aren’t learning, what does that say to those who are employed by it?
My role in it would be (and currently is) to invite other leaders to the table to present
either something they’ve learned or a challenge that they’re currently facing that a
leadership team could weigh in on.

References:

Weisbord, M. (2012). Productive Workplaces Dignity, Meaning, and Community in the

21st Century. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Meadows, D. (2008). Thinking in Systems: a Primer. White River Junction: Chelsea Green
Publishing

Maxwell, J (1998). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc.