OpenSourceOD
Available on Desktop
Overview
Video Run Time: 9:04
Facilitation Time: 1hr 20m
In this immersive simulation, participants step into the role of an OD consultant hired by a technology firm that has long struggled with a deeply ingrained harassment culture. Despite numerous training initiatives and policy measures, the CEO and CHRO feel their efforts have fallen short, leaving employees dissatisfied and disengaged. The leadership team is diverse in personalities, but disconnected in their approach to addressing cultural issues.
The participants, as the consultant, are tasked with identifying the root cause of these systemic issues while navigating conflicting personalities and leadership blind spots. As the simulation unfolds, participants must engage with the CEO, the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and other key managers who each have their own perspectives and biases. The challenge lies not only in discovering the deeper organizational issues but also in managing these high-stakes conversations without falling into the traps of ego-driven expertise and surface-level solutions.
Conscious OD is a mindfulness-based approach to change that emphasizes a balance between rational decision-making and intuitive, relational awareness. Conscious OD encourages people to step outside the conventional focus on expertise and control, and instead cultivate openness, inclusion, and innovation. By rising above ego, members of organizations (and consultants themselves) can learn to sense underlying dynamics at play, foster environments of psychological safety, and move the organization toward a healthier, more inclusive culture.
Facilitation
Part 1
Participants meet the CEO, who, while committed to the company’s success, admits to having little direct contact with employees and suspects his friendship with the executive team might cloud his judgment. He’s heading on vacation soon and has left the task of improving company culture to the consultant (participants), with little input on where to start.
Starter Question:
"What assumptions does the CEO seem to make about leadership and his relationship with the company? Reflect on a time when your leadership approach may have been influenced by blind spots or assumptions. How did this impact your decisions?"
Follow-up Questions:
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"How does the CEO’s hands-off approach reflect an over-reliance on expertise or control? How might his lack of direct contact with employees affect his awareness of the company’s culture?"
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"Consider the role of ego in leadership. How might the CEO’s confidence in his executive team create a blind spot when it comes to the harassment culture? What might be missed?"
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"How can mindful leadership help you move beyond assumptions and foster a more inclusive and open dialogue with your team?"
Part 2
The CEO describes his vision for the company—financial success and a work-hard, play-hard culture. He emphasizes trust in the leadership team but downplays the potential of meeting with them to discuss the issue further. He seems unaware of the discrepancies between his vision and the actual company culture.
Starter Question:
"How does the CEO’s vision for the company culture align or conflict with what’s happening on the ground? Reflect on a time when your vision for a team or project didn’t match the reality. What adjustments did you have to make?"
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"How might the CEO’s detachment from daily operations hinder his ability to lead inclusively? How does this reflect the need for conscious awareness in leadership?"
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"What role does mindfulness play in reconciling vision and reality? How can leaders ensure their vision is inclusive and adaptable to the real needs of employees?"
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"Consider how an over-reliance on vision or expertise can prevent innovation. How can openness and inclusion foster a more innovative culture?"
Part 3
The CHRO provides more detailed insights into the culture problem. She recognizes the “boys’ club” dynamic in leadership and discusses the ongoing harassment complaints. She is eager for change but constrained by limited resources and budgetary concerns.
Starter Question:
"What do you notice about the CHRO’s approach to the problem? How does her position between the CEO and employees reflect the tensions of navigating inclusion and expertise?"
Follow-up Questions:
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"How does the CHRO’s perspective highlight the need for conscious awareness of power dynamics? In what ways might she be stuck between advocating for employees and maintaining leadership relationships?"
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"What does her acknowledgment of limited resources suggest about how organizations often prioritize expertise and control over inclusion and relational awareness?"
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"How can mindfulness help leaders like the CHRO navigate these difficult positions while advocating for cultural change?"
Part 4
The CHRO reveals that while they provide training on systems and processes, as well as harassment training, these measures seem insufficient to tackle the deeper issues of harassment and discrimination across departments. Budgetary constraints limit the ability to offer more advanced leadership training.
Starter Question:
"How effective do you think the current training efforts are in addressing the deeper issues of culture and harassment? Reflect on a time when training didn’t lead to meaningful change. What was missing?"
Follow-up Questions:
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"How might a focus on technical expertise (e.g., processes, systems) overlook the relational and emotional dynamics at play in an organization?"
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"In what ways can a mindfulness-based approach to leadership development move beyond surface-level training and address the deeper issues of power and bias?"
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"How can leaders use awareness and conscious OD practices to foster a more inclusive environment, even within budget constraints?"
Part 5
The CHRO provides a candid view of the diverse personalities and working styles within the leadership team. Each leader has a distinct approach to management, ranging from highly structured and metrics-driven to visionary but hands-off. These differences in leadership styles have led to ongoing conflicts and fragmented communication across departments. The CHRO hints that these interpersonal dynamics may be fueling the harassment culture and advises the consultant (participants) to spend time getting to know each leader individually before addressing the team as a whole.
Starter Question:
"How do you think the differences in leadership styles are influencing the overall organizational culture? Reflect on a time when you experienced similar personality clashes within a team. How did it impact your sense of belonging or safety?"
Follow-up Questions:
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"What role do you think ego plays in these leadership dynamics? How might a mindfulness-based approach shift these interactions from competition to collaboration?"
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"How can recognizing and appreciating different leadership styles foster a more inclusive and psychologically safe environment? What would it look like to create space for diverse approaches while still working toward a unified vision?"
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"Reflect on the CHRO’s recommendation to meet each leader one-on-one. How does this advice reflect the value of building relational awareness before addressing group dynamics? How might you apply this strategy in your own organizational context?"
Part 6
Participants meet the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who expresses a sense of urgency and impatience regarding the cultural challenges. He believes that the root of the problem lies primarily within the Sales and Marketing teams, where a hyper-competitive and aggressive atmosphere is creating friction and feeding into harassment complaints. He suggests focusing on these teams first, rather than involving the entire leadership group. His focus on quick fixes and immediate solutions is indicative of an expertise-driven approach that prioritizes efficiency over understanding the deeper relational and cultural dynamics.
Starter Question:
"What stands out to you about the CFO’s approach to problem-solving? Think of a time when you were under pressure to fix a problem quickly. How did that pressure influence your decision-making?"
Follow-up Questions:
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"What are the potential risks of taking a quick-fix approach to complex cultural issues? How might these short-term solutions inadvertently reinforce the deeper issues at play?"
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"How does the CFO’s perspective reflect an over-reliance on control and expertise? How could a more mindful and conscious approach help address the systemic nature of the problem rather than just the symptoms?"
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"What would it look like for the CFO to step back from his need for control and engage more fully in a process of exploration and co-creation? How could this shift in mindset impact the larger organizational culture?"
Part 7
The CFO expresses strong opinions about the lack of leadership in the Sales and Marketing departments, highlighting issues of power imbalances and conflict avoidance within the leadership team. He dismisses the need to meet with all leaders together, advising the consultant to focus on the areas he believes are most problematic. This resistance to convening as a leadership group reveals underlying power struggles and a reluctance to engage in open dialogue. The CFO’s comments about certain leaders’ lack of control and the presence of “locker-room talk” in some departments suggest that harassment and exclusionary behaviors are being tolerated, if not implicitly condoned, due to a lack of cohesive leadership.
Starter Question:
"What do the CFO’s comments about the Sales and Marketing teams reveal about power dynamics and leadership blind spots in the organization? How might these dynamics be perpetuating the harassment culture?"
Follow-up Questions:
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"Reflect on a time when conflict avoidance or power imbalances in leadership impacted a team or organization you were a part of. How did it influence communication, trust, and overall morale?"
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"How could a conscious, mindful approach to leadership help surface and address these power imbalances? What practices might foster a more equitable and open dialogue among the leadership team?"
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"What does the CFO’s resistance to convening the full leadership team suggest about his willingness to engage in collective problem-solving? How might ego and a need for control be influencing his decisions?"
Part 8
As the simulation draws to a close, participants are encouraged to reflect on the insights and tensions that emerged throughout their meetings with the CEO, CHRO, CFO, and other managers. They will consider how Conscious OD principles—such as relational awareness, mindful conflict engagement, and inclusion—could be applied to help the leadership team move beyond their current limitations and foster a healthier organizational culture. The facilitator’s role is to guide participants through a process of synthesizing their observations and formulating a strategic plan for how to facilitate change within the organization, using a Conscious OD lens.
Starter Question:
"What has been the most surprising insight for you during this simulation? How has your understanding of the organizational culture evolved throughout these conversations?"
Follow-up Questions:
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"Reflecting on your experiences in this simulation, what specific strategies would you recommend to foster more inclusive leadership within this organization?"
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"How can you apply the principles of Conscious OD—such as mindfulness, relational awareness, and conscious agility—in your own work to address similar cultural issues?"
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"What would it look like for this organization to truly embrace a conscious, inclusive approach to leadership? How might it transform the way employees experience their work environment and the way leaders engage with each other?"
Purpose
This immersive experience that aims to develop participants' ability to facilitate dialogue with conscious awareness and mindfulness in a complex organizational environment plagued by deep-seated cultural issues. Rooted in the principles of Conscious Organization Development (Conscious OD), the purpose of this simulation is to help participants cultivate the agility to navigate ego-driven dynamics, transcend the limitations of expertise, and foster inclusion, innovation, and a deep sense of shared responsibility in the workplace.
In this simulation, participants step into the role of a consultant working with a technology firm struggling to address a persistent harassment culture, despite numerous training and development interventions. The leadership team is disconnected, overly reliant on expertise, and blinded by their own egos, which limits their ability to see the root causes of the organizational dysfunction. Participants are tasked with addressing these issues, not by imposing surface-level solutions, but by applying Conscious OD principles that transform how people lead, communicate, and collaborate.
This simulation will give participants a chance to experience:
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Cultivating Conscious Awareness:
Conscious OD emphasizes the development of conscious awareness, which goes beyond intellectual understanding to encompass intuitive, emotional, and relational dimensions of leadership. Participants will practice staying present and attuned to the emotions, energy, and subtle dynamics at play during the simulation. By bringing attention to their own biases and blind spots, participants will learn to create more inclusive and empathetic spaces for employees.
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Mindfulness in Facilitation:
The simulation provides an opportunity for participants to practice mindful leadership, where they learn to observe without judgment, respond rather than react, and foster a culture of openness and trust. By moving beyond ego-driven decisions and focusing on relational awareness, participants will explore how mindfulness can be used to defuse tense situations, foster collaborative problem-solving, and create environments where employees feel valued and heard.
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Transcending Expertise and Ego:
Conscious OD teaches that facilitation is not about asserting expertise or control, but about creating space for others to contribute and grow. Participants will examine how the ego can obstruct innovation, inclusion, and team cohesion. Through reflective practice, participants will learn how to transcend their own egos and engage with the leadership team and employees in a way that encourages openness, vulnerability, and collective intelligence.
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Fostering Inclusion and Psychological Safety:
A critical aspect of Conscious OD is fostering inclusion by creating environments of psychological safety where employees feel free to express themselves without fear of retribution or exclusion. Participants will be challenged to recognize the power dynamics and exclusionary practices within the tech firm and develop strategies for creating a more inclusive culture. They will practice active listening, empathy, and non-judgmental awareness to uncover the root causes of the harassment culture and implement more inclusive solutions.
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Conscious Agility and Adaptability:
Conscious OD also emphasizes conscious agility, which is the ability to shift between different modes of awareness—such as intuition, rational thought, and relational engagement—depending on the needs of the situation. Throughout the simulation, participants will develop this agility by balancing analysis with intuition, allowing them to adapt more fluidly to the complexities of the organization. This flexibility will help them respond effectively to evolving organizational challenges, fostering resilience and long-term growth.
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Creating Collective Solutions:
Innovation in Conscious OD arises not from top-down mandates or expert-driven solutions, but from creating space for collective intelligence to emerge. Participants will learn how to facilitate conversations that tap into the collective wisdom of the leadership team and employees, helping them co-create solutions that are aligned with the values and needs of the entire organization. By fostering a more inclusive, collaborative culture, participants will help shift the firm toward sustainable, systemic change.
Debrief
Following this simulation it is essential to create space for participants to process their experiences and connect their insights to the foundational principles of Conscious Organization Development (Conscious OD). The debrief will help participants link the scenarios they navigated with the key concepts of mindful leadership, ego transcendence, inclusion, and relational awareness that are central to fostering a healthy, conscious organizational culture.
Transcending Ego and Expertise
Throughout the simulation, participants were exposed to leadership dynamics heavily influenced by ego, expertise, and a need for control. Leaders were focused on quick fixes, competition, and short-term gains, often at the expense of deeper cultural issues. The simulation provided an opportunity to observe how ego-driven leadership stifles inclusion, trust, and innovation.
Debrief Reflection:
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How did the leadership team’s focus on expertise and control impact their ability to address the harassment culture?
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Reflect on a time when your own expertise or ego may have limited your ability to see the broader dynamics of an issue. How did that affect your approach to leadership or consulting?
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How might letting go of ego and embracing vulnerability allow leaders to foster a more collaborative and inclusive environment?
Mindful Facilitation and Conflict Engagement
One of the key takeaways from the simulation is the role of mindful facilitation in navigating conflict and addressing systemic issues like harassment. The CFO’s reluctance to engage the whole leadership team and his preference for controlling the narrative reflect the avoidance of conflict. The simulation provided space for participants to explore how a mindful, present approach to conflict can help surface hidden dynamics and foster collective problem-solving.
Debrief Reflection:
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How did the CFO’s conflict avoidance and need for control influence the overall leadership dynamic?
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How might a mindful approach to conflict help leaders and teams address underlying tensions in a more constructive and inclusive way?
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Reflect on your own experience with conflict. How have you navigated situations where avoidance or control hindered progress?
Inclusion and Psychological Safety
A central theme in Conscious OD is the creation of inclusive spaces where all voices are heard, and psychological safety is prioritized. The simulation revealed how the company’s leadership, particularly the CEO and CFO, failed to foster a culture of inclusion, with certain departments feeling excluded and disconnected from decision-making processes. This exclusionary culture fueled the harassment complaints and created a toxic work environment.
Debrief Reflection:
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Reflect on how the leadership team’s lack of inclusion and psychological safety contributed to the persistence of the harassment culture.
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What steps can leaders take to foster a more inclusive and psychologically safe work environment, where all employees feel valued and heard?
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In your own practice, how do you create conditions for psychological safety? What role does mindful listening and empathy play in this process?
Relational Awareness and Systems Thinking
In the simulation, participants witnessed how leaders’ failure to understand the interconnectedness of organizational issues perpetuated silos and conflicts. The CEO’s friendship with the executive team, the CFO’s dismissal of diversity concerns, and the CHRO’s frustrations highlighted the lack of relational awareness and a tendency to view problems in isolation. Conscious OD teaches that addressing cultural issues requires seeing the organization as an interconnected system, where individual actions and decisions have ripple effects across the whole.
Debrief Reflection:
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How did the leadership team’s lack of relational awareness and systems thinking contribute to the organization’s dysfunction?
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What practices might help leaders develop greater relational awareness and see beyond their individual roles to the broader system they influence?
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Reflect on how systems thinking has impacted your work as a consultant or leader. How has this perspective shifted your approach to solving complex challenges?
Conscious Agility and Adaptive Leadership
A core principle of Conscious OD is conscious agility—the ability to shift between different modes of awareness depending on the needs of the situation. Throughout the simulation, participants were invited to practice this agility by balancing rational analysis with intuitive, relational, and emotional engagement. The need for adaptability was especially apparent in the tensions between short-term fixes and sustainable, systemic solutions.
Debrief Reflection:
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How did the leadership team’s focus on short-term results prevent them from addressing the deeper, systemic issues at play?
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How might conscious agility help leaders adapt to evolving challenges without losing sight of long-term cultural transformation?
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Reflect on a time when you had to shift between different modes of awareness—rational, intuitive, emotional—in order to navigate a complex situation. How did this adaptability influence the outcome?
The debrief concludes by encouraging participants to consider how they can integrate the insights from this simulation into their own practice as consultants, leaders, or organizational change agents. The facilitator should emphasize that Conscious OD is an ongoing journey of learning, awareness, and growth, and that the real work begins with deep reflection, commitment to inclusion, and conscious, mindful leadership.
Final Reflection Questions:
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What key insights have you gained from this simulation that you can apply in your work?
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How can you continue to cultivate conscious awareness, inclusion, and agility in your leadership or consulting practice?
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What actions will you take to foster more mindful, inclusive, and systemic approaches to the cultural challenges within your organization?
Resources
Email Invite
Set expectations for your participants with this email invitation.
Syllabus Snippet
Introduce the theoretical and practical benefits of this experiential learning tool. Copy, paste, and edit the following description into your course syllabus or workshop description.
Key Readings
Give discerning participants the chance to dive deep into the literature with these key readings.
Conscious OD (OD Journal)
Conscious Inclusion (OD Review)
Certified Facilitators
Bill Brendel
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Jasmine Kirby
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"I really appreciate how OD Immersives give professionals a chance to learn and grow in a space where that feels safe and supportive. It brings a new level of engagement and personal development that random 'on-the-job' training just can't match"
~ Jasmine Kirby
"OD Immersives breathe life into case studies and bridge sensing and thinking for a more fully integrated knowledge of the practice and theory of Organization Development"
~ Bill Brendel